August 18, 2007

  • Godtube

    You know what's weird?
    GodTube.com

    Picture 1

    This kind of thing is exemplified in these ridiculous t-shirts (on sale now at your local Christian bookstore--wink):

    Picture 2 Picture 3  Picture 4  Picture 5

    What is up with Christians ripping off something good and changing it to look/seem stupid?
    If I walked down the street wearing one of these shirts I would NEVER engage in conversation about anything with anyone. I spark up more conversations with strangers when I'm wearing my "Go Away" or Anchorman shirt (or even my sweet "this is why I'm hot" Super Mario shirt). Stuff like this is a turn off.

    Is it:
    Smart? (no)
    Clever? (nope)
    Appealing? (no way)
    Original? (are you kidding?)
    Creative? (uh-uh)
    Excellent? (heck no)

    oh man.

    And then I stumble upon GODTUBE--the Christian answer to the incredibly popular youtube.com
    God Tube? Really?
    That is not cool...

    You know what WOULD be cool? If Christians actually USED the things that everyone else was using (myspace, youtube, facebook, etc...) to reach out and build relationships with people instead of just cutting off a corner of popular culture and reshaping it to separate ourselves from the rest of the world. It's absolutely diametrically opposed to the Great Commission.
    It's just unfortunate that we're too blinded to see that.

    You've got to read the book "Fearless Faith" by John Fischer.
    It will change your life--quite literally.

    And for the love--DON'T buy one of those T-shirts.

Comments (13)

  • If I walked down the street wearing one of these shirts I would NEVER engage in conversation about anything with anyone.

    You'd be surprised at how many people think those shirts are funny and clever. It's quite sad...

  • >>You'd be surprised at how many people think those shirts are funny and clever.

    maybe until they figure out what it actually says.

  • I've always hated those shirts too. Every time I see them for sale I wonder who in the world would wear one. The bumper stickers are even worse. The people who wear them don't realize they look stupid. But there are "dorks" on both side of the spectrum. You have other spin off shirts that aren't Christian, like that dumb ButtWeiser shirt etc etc. There are dorks in every walk of life, and there are a fair percentage of Christians who aren't the coolest by the world's standards so not a shocker, you know?

    We are supposed to be in the world but not of the world and I agree we should be living as a part of the world in the places that common people are. I wonder how far you would take that, though? I've wondered this question for myself. How about hanging out at a local bar forming a relationship with a bartender and his clientele? Jesus did that and people called him a winebibber and friend of prostitiutes and lowlifes. How about the other places we wouldn't be caught dead as Christians going to? I know alot of Christians who have MySpace pages and I don't know of any Christian who doesn't watch YouTube clips so I don't see the issue there. Godtube? Hadn't heard of it until last night and I don't have a problem with it, any more than I have a problem with Sermon Spice or any of those... it's the name that might bug since it's obviously a spin off name.

  • I HAD a shirt like one of those in high school, and I proudly wore it all the time to share my faith proudly. In retrospect, I wish I had had another Christian in my life that could have told me that what I was doing was alienating people in the wrong way. Like the bible says to rejoice when people persecute you for living for Christ. I mistakenly thought being persecuted for wearing the t-shirt was the same thing. So do many people today. In reality, we can rejoice if we are LOVING people and DOING things for them in the name of Christ, and we are persecuted. I often think I might have had a greater impact on my friends in high school if I knew more what I know now about living in the world and loving with Christ's power.

  • I don't think they necessarily alienate people, Christy. Some people, maybe. But for the most part I think they are purely inside jokes, and for non-Christians they're just eye-rollers if anything. Kind of like if we saw a Buddhist pun shirt - we're not going to really be alienated by that, just think it's lame; certainly nothing that would make us want to also be a Buddhist or listen to the words of te Dahai Lama.

    Ocassionally, one comes along that actually is clever/original, but that's the exception to the rule. The other kinds of Christian-wear you find are the branded kind. Stuff like NOTW, Thorn, etc. They're "Christian" in that they're made by Christian companies and may have a cross or a verse somewhere on them but unless you look really close you're more likely to just think they are another of a hundred different kind of trendy lines that are out there. And these, even more than the ripoff/pun shirts, are self-identifiers - when you wear them you're giving a wink and a nod to other Christians out there who know what brand that is and also think that C28 is, like, the coolest place to shop at the mall ya know? There's nothing wrong with that, per se, but they're not evangelistic tools in any real way shape or form either. It's like putting a Jesus fish on your car.

  • I took a Jesus fish OFF of my car once. People know what those things are, and they automatically put you in a category in their brain of "Crazy Chritian" or "Religious Freak" or "Hypocrite" without even knowing you or talking to you.
    I'd rather NOT have anyone form an opinion about me without getting to know me first. There's a poor stigma with those things--one that I think works AGAINST one of our purposes as Christ-followers.

    Yes?

  • I think I meant alienate instead of "build bridges to share faith". Things like that are marketed at witnessing tools- and ways to get people talking about your faith. Of course they are fine between Christians, but they are certainly not witnessing tools. And people thinking you're an idiot can alienate them from wanting to talk to you.

  • Word.
    I don't talk to idiots...

  • I think you do talk to idiots. And you secretly enjoy it.

  • I talk to you.

    OH SNAP!

  • That response was so obvious...

  • It was a good setup.

  • when i see people in shirts like that, i want to urinate on them.
    UPM

Comments are closed.

Post a Comment