So……I came across this t shirt while watching a sermon online. The pastor was wearing it. Now let me say that I owned a t shirt similar to this one a couple years ago. It depicted Jesus as a Luke Skywalker character with a light saber and all. At the time, I thought it was harmless. In all honesty, I guess I thought it was “cool”. Whatever that is. What’s all the talk about t shirts, you say? Well, I have since changed my mind about being completely okay with these kinds. I realize that this discussion could lead down several different avenues…marketing Jesus, the Church as a business, etc. But I would like to stick solely to the topic at hand….a t shirt.
I guess my main conviction about this is that in the Bible, God reveals to man that He is holy. So holy sometimes, that we are offended at His holiness. So holy, that man would drop dead if they were in His presence. Isaiah and the disciple, John, fell completely on their face at the sight of the Lord. John even fell on his face at the sight of an angel in the book of Revelation. How much more at the sight of the risen Lord?! This is strictly my opinion. Call me crazy. Call me conservative, but when I think about Jesus, I don’t see Him behind turntables. Or holding a light saber. And I don’t think that He is my homeboy.
I would love to hear your thoughts….even if they differ.
Thanks for reading.
Joy
I think it is a little irreverent… this is the man who was crucified for us, the least we can do is show some respect…
I believe that we should give respect.not wear a t-shirt with some kind of Jesus picture on it doesn’t mean we not Christian. Non-Christian can wear them. We should show people Christ through our actions and the way we treat people.
I so agree Joy. I was raised Catholic and that is one of the most important things I was taught….anything to do with our Lord should be reverent and holy. We wore our “Sunday best” to church, we knelt before the cross, etc. If we even said “gosh” it would upset my dad. Nothing even resembling the name of God was allowed if spoken in vain. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe what we wear to church is important to God. Just using that as an example.
Here lately as I begin to pray, I stop in my own thoughts and remind myself that I am in the presence of the creator of the heavens and the earth and should act accordingly.
You’re not crazy. I’m not sure I’d be brash enough to wear a shirt like that. I would stay indoors during a lightening storm for sure. How have we come from being afraid to utter His name to wearing on our t-shirts in dress-up gear?
I think the best example would be how parents are to be parents and not their children’s friend, otherwise the child won’t respectfully fear their parents. In the same way, we have THE God that could and should utterly destroy us and we christians ought to be careful how we display our Saviour. Is this a God that absolutely loves us butalso means very serious business or is some guy behind some turntables at some party we might or might not go to but either way it’s whatev because it’s just Jesus, the random guy behind turntables?
Why not display what really matters? At the end of the day how many guys could you put on a tshirt capable of doing turntables? How many guys could you put on a tshirt of a guy fully capable of taking care of every screw up because He loved me and so He died so I didn’t have to for eternity?
I’ll take that last shirt…
I agree. There is already too much sacred in my life that I take too lightly. I certainly don’t want to irreverent to the One who gives me breath & eternal life.
I can’t understand why people would want to ware anything like that. The bad thing about it to me is you have people making money off this stuff. It is Satan at work to me. Maybe if we start seeing people with these shirts on that will remain us to talk to them about who our Jesus really is.
Its a personal decision. I dont mean like whatever your taste is, I mean its based on where your heart is. There is also the thought of is it the right place to wear it. Generally speaking I wouldnt wear this shirt or the “homeboy” shirt to my parents church, but would to mine. We are called to be in the world. to love the world. I can do that fine with this shirt on. It would probably start some great conversations and chances to share why its the heart that counts.
Amen–A whole other conversation later. I keep feeling He wants real–He wants action and He wants service. No facades.
On the pastor wearing the shirt…the context he is wearing it in would determine my opinion in that situation. I wouldn’t wear it. Then again, I’m also very aware that it can be a thin line to walk between being respectful and being legalistic. Like I said it depends on the context that guy wore it in. If the shirt was for some kind of Christian based group of spinners or something then they aren’t being disrespectful, they’re being blunt about their stand. If its just a shirt at Wal-Mart or something then I would lean more the other way. The lightsaber thing…well that’s a different story.
I agree Joy.
Though I believe as the old hymn says…”What a Friend we have in Jesus”… I also believe that many people have lost their “Holy Fear” of God. We could use a lot more reverence.
well, maybe the thought is, God’s the DJ of my life. God can spin my turn tables anytime, cause he won’t let the beat droppppp
I totally agree with you Joy.
I don’t picture Jesus behind the turntables, or busting out some beat box on the microphone.
I certainly wouldn’t wear a shirt like that. It would be a lack of respect. We all should humble ourselves and walk in his light.
Anyway, Love your music, I can feel the emotion in your lyrics.
Rick
I imagine that this kind of thing bugs us a lot more than it bugs Jesus. It seems to me that Jesus’ holiness, his absolute difference from us, lies in part in his not taking recourse to the notion of ’sacrilege’ in order to pass judgment on his friends, his brothers and sisters (’I no longer call you disciples…’). Similarly, I’d say that God’s holiness consists, in part, in his not being subject to ‘the knowledge of good and evil.’ The lying serpent implied, among other things, that by achieving this knowledge we would be like God. But the serpent was, precisely, a liar. It is *we* who ‘know’ this difference, who divide the social order up in accordance with these categories, who get uptight over the distinction between that which is sacred and that which is profane. This is anthropology, not theology. The problem with depicting Jesus in the ways you describe - if there is one - must lie in not taking him seriously on the terms that he himself sets up (including not taking his critique of religion seriously), not in failing to have the right kind of religious piety in relation to him. To my mind it is an open question whether there is any such problem here. To the contrary. (Just say no - to religion.)