Communicate - When Necessary Use Words - digg this
Just make sure that you choose them and the order you put them in, carefully.
This post was inspired by the above cartoon I found at Wordsell. They're sponsoring a little contest and so I might win a Nano. I might not, but anything that serves as inspiration for a post is a good thing.
So anyway, it got me to thinking about how we as Christians market our message. There seem to be two major means these days as far as the written word is concerned. The first would be the ubiquitous Christian tee. You know the kind I'm talking about, that say things like "Property of Jesus" or the ones that rip off a popular logo. They usually have some sort of scripture verse attached and occasionally that verse might even have something to do with the logo/slogan being put forth. There was a time in my life when little other casual wear existed in my closet. I thought to myself, "Now this, this right here is evangelism!" I honestly thought that someone would see my "Not Without Jesus" tee and immediately fall to their knees in repentance, or something like that. Surprisingly it never worked that way.
The other thing I'm seeing everywhere is the Church Sign. You know what I'm talking about. There have been a hoard of memes thanks to sites that let you create your own. In case you don't though, in place of the typical Name of Church followed by the times of worship, you get pithy sayings like “Give God what's right--, not what's left!” or the ever popular “Make your eternal reservations now--- 'smoking' or 'non-smoking'?”. If that doesn’t make you want to veer into the parking lot and jump into the pew…
So what am I saying here? Are the signs or tees bad? No. I still have a few of those shirts left and if the sign is pithy enough I could see it drawing me in, of course I’m already a believer. I think what happens in most cases though is that if any thought occurs in the mind of the unbeliever that sees these attempts at distilling down the gospel into bite-sized chunks, it’s rarely a positive one. If you really want to communicate the gospel to your community, I would recommend starting with your actions. When necessary, you should certainly use words. Those words need to be filled with love and wisdom and it may take time to use them to good effect. Sure it’s not as funny, but it is in fact What Jesus Did.
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Total Number of Comments: 10
The church signs you are speaking of are entertaining and memorable, but I'm not sure they are still getting across the message they are going for, no pun intended.
Excellent point, Scott. I think it was St. Francis of Assisi who said, "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words." There's more wisdom in what you and he are talking about than in a truckload of tee shirts. Thank you for participating in my contest!
Yup, Janet. I don't fault my broters for trying, but if you are going to try and be pithy with the gospel (not easy) you need to work harder than "Pump This".
Thanks to you Brad! I only crib from the coolest Saints.
I don't usually comment on your religious and philosophical posts, but I thought I'd chime in here. I used to wear shirts like that when I was in High School and in the groups associated with church. I think the idea of this is that it's feeding a niche market. These shirts and even Christian Metal/Rock bands to a point, are more accessory and self-flagellation than advertising and marketing for the faith.
Much the same way the gay community has its flamers and all-out queens, the christian community has its own sect of people who are proud of being what they are being. These people are usually aware that they're not going to convert anyone with their actions or outfits, no matter how flamboyant. They wear stuff and show off with what they are and what they do because they're just proud of it.
Can it be taken a tad too far?
Sure. I don't like seeing a sticker of Jesus peeing on a tiny Calvin slapped on the back window of some redneck's pickup. It makes me want to give it a brake fluid hose-down, but in a tiny, lost place, deep in the cockles of my cold, blackened heart, I have a tiny little bit of respect for them being at least a little bit open about their spirituality.
...until I see the mullet-wearing toolbox getting into his truck with an open beer and a Johnny Chimpo tattoo on his girlfriend's 200-lb asscheek.
Pat, I wish you would comment on those posts. I actually like your analogy and I have zero problems with someone who wants to be a queen for Jesus. The "problem" I have is that often this stuff cheapens the gospel more than a little. I mean Jesus' name on a Reese's cup logo??? Whew. So I think we agree there.
I just think that no matter how "on fire" one may be, it's best to remember how easy it is to miscommunicate your message. I'm thinking here of the God billboards, the one that says "Don't Make Me Come Down There - God". That's not what I would want to communicate. And with a message as important as the one we have is I think care is a good thing.
Hello Scott,
Nice post. I can shed some light on how nonbelievers react to these types of evangelizing. The most common reaction is that I roll my eyes (or the mental equivalent if I'm trying to be politic). The thought that goes along with this is usually something like, "Don't these people realize that everybody has already heard this several hundred times already?"
Depending on the particular packaging, another thought is often, "That style was popular like 5 years ago. It often seems that Christian marketing lags popular culture. If I owned a Recess tee and saw that shirt you linked to, I'd go home and likely give mine to Goodwill because I'd know that it's no longer fashionable.
When it comes to the Church signs and billboards, I'll sometimes get offended/mad. This occurs when the message is especially authoritarian or anti-liberal. That's fine, of course, since free-speech pretty much guarantees that everyone is going to be offended and pissed off now and then.
The worst Christian shirt I ever saw was an image of the crucifixion. Just below Jesus' outstretched arms, text read "I love you this much". Pretty gruesome stuff. I have my own martyred heroes, but I wouldn't go around displaying their executions in public with messages designed to guilt people into revering the martyrs.
The funniest I saw was a Church sign that read the following, punctuation and all:
We need to talk "God".
Classic.
Sid, I figured that that was the case, but it's nice to get the info straight for the horse's mouth.
That was me btw.
"The worst Christian shirt I ever saw was an image of the crucifixion. Just below Jesus' outstretched arms, text read "I love you this much". Pretty gruesome stuff."
I would probably fall to the ground laughing. I would feel horrible, but I would still laugh hysterically.
To add something, I do recall seeing a church sign with something along the lines of, "Before the Constitution was the real founding document!" Nope, no implications of state subversion here...
Well I don't know about subversion, but I don't see the point of using a church sign to make a political statement.