Un-Christian Images

The t-shirt that you see to the left is one that I found at an ordinary Christian bookstore on the web. Actually I have seen many t-shirts like this including Taco Bell take offs that insert the name of Jesus, Reeses logo that insert the name Jesus and a wide variety of other corporate and easily recognizable logos that insert the name of Jesus to replace the actual word. To be blunt: I believe it to be blasphemy.

I am not speaking about the t-shirts that might say "Jesus said to love one another," or even the t-shirt I saw my niece wearing this weekend that said, "So What if I Pray Like a Girl." Some of them are quite clever and I have no problem with making a public statement through a t-shirt or a bumper sticker or whatever. There is a difference, however with the t-shirt you see here and the one my niece was wearing.

The t-shirt you see here is conforming the image of Christ into the image of a corporate logo. Jesus Christ written in Cocoa-Cola letters does not identify you as a Christian but Christ as a Coke drinker. Or, if not a Coke drinker, at least it gives an image to Christ not his own. In Colossians we read that Christ is the image of the invisible God and in 1 John we read how we are going to be like him. Christ is the image we are being transformed into. He is the ultimate image of God that we are seeking to live up to. Being perfect, Christ is everything we should be and will be.

So how is it we put perfection on a t-shirt in someone else's image (or logo for they are synonyms in this instance)?

In the Old Testament, the Israelites dared not even speak the name of God for his holiness should not come from unclean lips. I am not saying we should return, but Jesus is more than a best friend that we can give a nickname to or put on a t-shirt. He is also our king and our judge. Everyone of us will stand in front of his throne someday and be judged. Do you want to explain to him why the powerful name of Jesus, the name above all names, was used to sell t-shirts and make money. How dare we make money off his name. It transgresses the sacredness of his name. It is blasphemy.

The balance between friend and king is an important balance. The friend allows us to come to the throne unashamed. But the king allows us to understand that we should have been ashamed to approach such light. It is in humbleness that we hold his hand and at the same time bow at his feet.