It’s That Easy
In my opinion there aren’t many more offensive “Christian” t-shirts than this one. I’ve seen it before and literally thought about it for hours after I saw it for the first time. As if all of the world’s problems just vanish before our eyes the second we accept Christ.
There’s no more hunger, no more death, no more pain, no more sin, no more struggle and I’ve got the Staples rip-off t-shirt to prove it.
This post is a response to a Tweet with this shirt on it that, at least on my end, originated today from Charlie Lowell then I re-Tweeted it, and so forth. Here’s what it said along with the picture of the shirt. “Wow, what a grave insult to anyone who desires to truly follow Christ.” -@cdlowell Now that it’s become sort of a “conversation” I thought I’d bring that conversation here to see what you guy think.
Now, I understand the “idea” behind this ridiculous product, but I’d love for the guy who came up with this to take a trip to any number of third world countries and sit down with a mother and her starving baby and give his ‘pitch’. Or maybe a part of the world where Christians are forced to sneak around because their faith will get them killed. Maybe the conversation would go something like this:
“See, there’s this store in America that sells office products and they came up with this commercial. People that are having a hard time ordering paper can just push this button and then paper shows up in their office and their boss loves them and all their problems go away. It’s sort of like that but with Jesus…. and you’re the slacker office worker… only you’re child is starving.. or you’ll be shot if someone catches you praying. But if you accept Jesus all that goes away… except for the part where your kids need food to survive or you’re killed for what you believe. Get it? We’ll sell hundreds!!”
Maybe I’m way off, but this shirt has always bothered me. And I’m sure I’m just scratching the surface of the issues with this shirt but I’d love to know what you think.
Ready? Go.
The “Jesus Is My Homeboy” shirt is equally disturbing to me. It’s almost as if we in the West have lost the wonder of the fear of God amidst our leisure-laden church activity and easy believism. Would Edmund say Alsan was his homedog?
Aslan. Not Alsan.
There is no real excuse for a Christian company to make this shirt if they even read a Bible.
The disciples lived tell a story of anything but “easy.”
Many had much harder lives after they decided to follow Christ than before.
Following Christ is not an easy button. I dare say it is much “easier” to live life thinking the world spins around you.
Ugh. I just looked at the shirt again. What a joke.
Brody you nailed it. It is as if the advertised message is Find Jesus and all worries melt away. This is farther from the truth than can ever be said. The pain suffering and dying on this world will go on and the only “easy” about Jesus is the spelling of his name. When we finally leave this world and make Heaven our home will serving be easy. Forgive my shortness and any mistake. I am on my touchscreenn phone.
Like you stated, the premises makes since…there’s nothing else easier than to have salvation through Jesus Christ. All you have to do is confess that Jesus is your Lord and Savior – If you truly mean it you will want to follow what is taught in the Bible and live your life accordingly.
But to over simplify one of the most important decisions you could possibly make, can have adverse effects. This type of belief system, that everything will be wonderful once you “push the Jesus button,” sets new believers up with disappointment! Some of the worst years of my life have been since the day I prayed for Christ to come in my heart and be my personal savior! I have struggled with severe physical pains, emotional distress, and loosing many people who I loved.
Being a Christian to me, is a lot harder than it ever was before my conversion in 2003. Then, I was living for myself and looking for earthly pleasures. Am I a lot happier than I used to be? Absolutely! The peace that I have knowing that I am going to live in eternity with my Godly Father, is very precious to me!
I have been to other countries such as Peru (South America),Mexico, England, and Vancouver (BC) serving on short term missions trips. Places where we were being used to de-worm children and go through villages where the sun gods are still being worshiped. It is incredibly sad! It would be wonderful to be able to tell the children in the orphanages that all they had to do was push a button, but that it’s not reality! Those Children and villager’s, are going to live a tough…sometimes painful life!
It’s hard witnessing to people in those conditions, but I go every year if financially possible – and hope to never loose that passion in my heart!
I think the fact that it bothers you is an indication of the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart that something just doesn’t gel with what Christ has said to us that we must choose to live holy lives, vice slogans.
As a Pastor, I see church after church thinking their signs out front have cute sayings on them to try to get folks in the door, without really take responsibility for getting the message of the cross out. For example, this was a sign seen on a church in Texas which was located next to a funeral home:
“Come in and see us BEFORE you go next door”
Now, the message is … OK … I get it … but where is the repentance and acceptance of Christ here folks? To a regular passer-by it might be flippant, and there you have given the world one more chance to blow off the Gospel. I’m not saying your sign needs to say “Repent or ye therefore shall perish” (Luke 13); but being flippant with the Gospel is a direct violation to the message of Jesus who said that we SHALL see trials and tribulations in this life, but be of good cheer because He has overcome.
So, I am in agreement with you Brody on this issue, it’s a cheap marketing ploy bent on getting folks to buy into a catch phrase. My Jesus is not a slogan — He is a Savior who gave His life willingly for my sin. Anything short of that is an outrage, period.
Brody, once again, you have “hit the nail on the head”. Nothing about pushing the Jesus button is easy. It is hard work to stay in the Spirit. If it were that easy, the whole world would be saved. Push a button, no energy required. Wrong. As humans, life is a daily struggle. Even if we are walking in the Spirit! Be Christian is not always a walk on streets of gold. There are, like you remind us, people around the world who need to be reached. We all have struggles, but we live & survive through them. This is how it works. I have embraced struggle because it makes me who I am. The wonder of how God works to make these struggles a lesson. To show those who don’t believe why Jesus died for me. To live a life of humility. Of courage. Of selflessness. Of patience. Of non-judgment. Of empathy. Of compassion.
Foxes book of martyrs.
Advertising for Easy Jesus shirt = FAIL
Christians should stop making “trendy” shirts with sayings and stick to the basics. Most people who aren’t Christians think these shirts are ridiculous. I think they’re equally as embarrassing for those of us that are Christians.
What’s our message? Love. Everything else should follow. LOVE isn’t EASY….it’s an action we have to work out in ourselves and with others. And, if everything was that EASY, then we would have hunger or war.
I’m doped up on nyquil right now, so maybe it’s not the best time for me to be sharing, but I agree. I kinda thought “maybe if I knew the guy’s intentions and thoughts behind it,” but nope. I don’t see that helping. All I’ve seen Christian advertising like this do is shrink Jesus down to something more compact which we can sell to the public. And then the consumers who buy them think they’re doing their Christian witnessing-duty by wearing them. It makes us believe we can save the world through a slogan. Jesus didn’t go around pushing merchandise to further glorify the kingdom of heaven. He did it by showing the world what it means to love and to have a relationship with our heavenly father, and he did it through sacrifice and suffering, niether of which were made easy by a button. There’s a dying world out there that needs saving, and we can push our religions and our shirts and our church signs on them all we want, but the truth is that most of them are never gonna get it at all until we get it right.
Now back to hibernating I go
I agree with Evan, mine is the Jesus is my Homeboy. =(
I agree with all here as well… it isn’t easy. Jesus said, “they hated me first,” and look what we did to Him. It is a narrow, difficult road to travel.
I do have a few slogan shirts, but can understand this one’s error. Thank you for bringing it up.
It mite work if it was satirical, but hmmm…
I think Oswald Chambers and C.S. Lewis would despise this watered-down version of the gospel. “Spinning in their graves” is the phrase that comes to mind, actually.
And I certainly wouldn’t wear it on a missions trip to South Africa.
Derek Webb wrote this song a few years ago… pretty much encompasses how I feel about “christian” t-shirts…
T-Shirts (What We Should be Know for)
Derek Webb
they’ll know us by the t-shirts that we wear
they’ll know us by the way we point and stare
at anyone whose sin looks worse than ours
who cannot hide the scars of this curse that we all bare
they’ll know us by our picket lines and signs
they’ll know us by the pride we hide behind
like anyone on earth is living right
and isn’t that why Jesus died
not to make us think we’re right
chorus
when love, love, love
is what we should be known for
love, love, love
it’s the how and it’s the why
we live and breathe and we die
they’ll know us by reasons we divide
and how we can’t seem to unify
because we’ve gotta sing songs a certain style
or we’ll walk right down that aisle
and just leave ‘em all behind
they’ll know us by the billboards that we make
just turning God’s words to cheap clichés
says “what part of murder don’t you understand?”
but we hate our fellow man
and point a finger at his grave
chorus
they’ll know us by the t-shirts that we wear
they’ll know us by the way we point and stare
telling ‘em their sins are worse than ours
thinking we can hide our scars
beneath these t-shirts that we wear
I almost want to buy one as a gag gift for someone. and then hope they never actually wear the t-shirt in public.
Tee shirts are often (not always) a cop out way of saying “see I share my belief with the world” rather then really doing it. “If I wear it I won’t have to share it” way of getting around “go therefore”.
The problem with this is as more and more people have worn these and gotten less and less attention from them, the more and more attention grabbing they had to become. When many believers decided that starting the conversation was more important then how they stated the conversation, this became the outcome-offensive statements they cannot even recognize as offensive. Why?- because the attention is more important then the message. Problem-no one is going to come to believe when the message is lost.
My take:
http://takeyourvitaminz.blogspot.com/2006/05/christian-t-shirts.html
I think you guys are completely missing the point of this shirt. Of course, Jesus’s sacrifice for us was far from easy. It is definately not easy being a Christain in this world either. Following Jesus and hearing Him isn’t easy either. But what I think this shirt is saying is that the CHOICE to follow Him should be easy. Sure, it’s not like we magically press a button and all of our problems go away, but are you really going to sit here and say that nothing is good is happening in this world? I have personally seen firsthand the problems that Jesus can solve. He may not cure the hunger and the poverty, but He does give us a life line to cling on to. And what is greater then that? The shirt isn’t saying Jesus is easy. It is saying the choice- the acceptance of Jesus – IS easy. All we have to do is press that button and make that commitment. Dive in. That part IS easy, and the greatest decision I have ever made. The path to following Jesus is hard, but He makes it easy for us to find it. It may be some stupid corny shirt you see someone wearing or a tiny act of kindness, but it could really make a difference in someone’s life. If they see our actions AND see who we live for, they will begin to question if there is a connection between the two. And questioning is the first step to believing. I fully believe that making the commitment to follow Jesus is the most important decision you can ever make. And it is just that easy.