Christian T-Shirts

Last night, my family took me to my fave restaurant for dinner. We were all in a good mood, cutting up and joking around and not paying much attention to the people around us....until our food got to the table. Once everyone started eating, I was made all too aware of the conversation in the booth behind us. I missed the first part of the conversation, but from what I could gather, the girl talking was telling her parents how she told someone “exactly how it was”. My 11 year old’s eyes were as big as dinner plates as this girl continued to rant....using “colorful” adjectives to punctuate her story.

I whispered to Brian “Remember, people who are not Christians do not live by the same standards you do. We can’t expect people who don’t know Jesus to understand how ugly that sounds.” He was satisfied with that. He shook his head and went on about his meal.

To my astonishment, when the group from the table walked past us to leave, the parents had on t-shirts with (presumably) their Church’s logo and mission statement on them and the daughter (the one with a mouth that would make a sailor blush) had on a t-shirt with the same church information but the back said “Praise team”. HUGE yellow letters on a blue t-shirt....couldn’t be missed! Was this person leading worship in her church?? If so, what must the people she is with everyday think being a “Christian” is all about?

My 11 year old looked at me as if to say “what ya gonna say now?”

In all honestly, what COULD I say? My argument that Christians don’t talk like that is out the window. Instead, We had to spend the ride home trying to explain to an 11 year old that some folks “just don’t get it”. It’s sad, because they are only selling themselves short and missing the blessing of a life overflowing with the love of Christ.

My sweet Brian summed it up for me.....

“I guess that is like Dad wearing a Mississippi State t-shirt.”

And he is exactly right. See, Calvin is a die hard Ole Miss fan, and Ole Miss and Mississippi State are state rivals. So, Calvin could WEAR a Mississippi State shirt, even go to the ball games and sit with the State fans, but eventually someone would catch him supporting the wrong team.

So I am now asking myself..."Do my words, my actions, and my attitudes agree with my t-shirt?"