T-Shirts

I was just thinking and observing when a thought came to my mind: what’s with the Christian T-shirts? Ok. The comment may seem kind of harsh but I am not totally against T-shirts bearing Christian logos/verses/camp symbols/etc. Its kind of cool actually but a thought struck me: shouldn’t we be more concerned when we actually wear those shirts?

When people look at the shirts, they will think: “oo.. this person is most likely a Christian.” Immediately, high expectations are put on us and all the more important to guard our behavior and the testimony which we bear as ambassadors of Christ. We can’t be arguing when our shirt says “Love thy neighbour”, can we?

Furthermore, do we really mean some of the stuff we print boldly on our shirts? For example: we print boldly on our shirt “Light of the world. Salt of the earth.”. Are we really being one? Do people, especially unbelievers, see us differently?

One may argue: but this is one of the ways to reach out to unbelievers. True. It may work but consider this. The apostles in the New Testament didn’t go around wearing shirts saying, “God loves you” or “Jesus is the way”. They also didn’t stick stickers on their donkeys saying stuff like “God is peace”. The apostles didn’t display fancy bling-blings or eye-catching stuff but look how the church grew. Read it in the book of Acts.

Again, like other articles before this, it’s about action. I am not saying that car stickers and T-shirts are wrong. It’s just that we have to really measure up to what we are really displaying and I can assure you myself that it is NOT easy.

I joined St. John Ambulance when I was in Lower Secondary. We had two sets of uniform: the official one and also a plain St. John T-shirt. After the usual Saturday meeting, I changed from the official uniform to my St. John T-shirt and was about to leave school when my senior warned me with words something like this, “Eh…cannot simply wear the shirt in public. You will bear a big responsibility. If someone suddenly faints in public, you have no choice but to go and help because you are wearing that T-shirt and its your responsibility to help whether you want to or not. This is because you are considered to be trained in at least basic emergency procedures and that T-shirt identifies that.” See my point?

By donning a shirt that says “Jesus saves”, we have the extra responsibility to go and tell others about this Jesus who saves. Every camp we go to-church camp or youth camp-we will surely get a T-shirt about the camp’s theme and so forth. I have no qualms about it but the question is: are we really living out what we learned at camp or are we just showing off our new flashy T-shirt that says “God’s servant”? By the way, there is nothing extra special about the shirts besides its Christian theme. I was in the LRT one day when I saw a T-shirt just like a Christian T-shirt but it’s a Buddhist youth camp or something like that. Even the unbelievers have it. What’s the difference? Our actions will be the deciding factor; not the shirts.

Those who see me most of the time will notice that I very seldom wear any ‘Christian’ T-shirt except maybe in church. When I wear those shirts, I feel the responsibility to live out what I am wearing. I seldom wear it because I know I don’t measure up to that statement on my shirt. I have often failed to live a life that is pleasing to God. I fail very often and I feel like I have let down my Father and my Best Friend. Its not a good feeling and I can assure you of that. Its heart and sometimes gut wrenching. I can only cry out, “Have mercy on me because of your unfailing love. Blot out my transgressions”(Psalm 51:1-2). The worse thing is that I often make the same blunder over and over again. One thing: God’s grace, mercy and love is so great that I can’t understand it. I just can’t. That’s why I think twice before wearing a ‘Christian’ T-shirt.

Again, I am not saying you should not wear those shirts but just be more aware that a heavier responsibility rests on you. Are you prepared to convert those statements on your shirts into pure action? Do it.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Ian

ps: feel free to comment yah...:P