Monday, August 31, 2009
Cream Get Fresh With God
Posted by Tracy Moore on Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 2:34 PM
What with these damn-it-all-to-hell economic times we've been living in, when I saw a little news write-up on a new line of clothing around for people who want to get their Christ on, I was all, "Thank God!"
Made by local label Kingdom Swag, the T-shirts they produce proudly advertise "Church Girl Fresh" and "Church Boy Fresh"--gray for guys and popping, vibrant green for ladies. According to a write-up on the Examiner, "Kingdom Swag is not a t-shirt line (per se) but a lifestyle website dedicated to making the Christian urban music scene a reality in Nashville."
How can we help? By wearing the T-shirt? On the company's website, the 'About' section claims, "KingdomSwag.com is an online, urban gospel magazine and clothing\product catalog designed to cultivate a daily life style of Jesus Christ centered, kingdom living in youth and young adults through promoting and providing gospel Music, videos, clothing, and more!" They use the story from the book of Daniel to elucidate their position:
The following passage in Daniel describes our commitment to this lifestyle:Daniel 1:8 "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portions of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank, therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. 15). And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies."
Like Daniel, we choose [to] pursue the things of God, rather than what's popular because God's way of doing things is the best way of doing things.
Yeah, nothing says "I don't care about what's popular" like staging your urban Christian clothing line on railroad tracks against an inner-city graffiti backdrop.
Look, I don't have the theologian's background to argue exactly how Christianity should coexist with the modern world, but I can tell you what it shouldn't do: ape secular-world aesthetics and values and disguise them as Christian. Only don't disguise them. Only kinda do. I know, it's basically the same old Rocketown argument. But I continue to be on the fence about the ways Christians try to reach out to teenagers, and I'm not targeting Kingdom Swag per se. They're just a useful jumping-off place for this argument.
Rocketown works to me because it brings the secular into the Godly arena and confronts it head-on. It discusses it. It allows it to coexist. It finds ways to help teens address it or experience it, all the while keeping their heads on straight about it. You can show up with your Skinny Puppy T-shirt on and your ridiculous inverted cross and still be treated decently. And even for all its successes as a decent place where kids can hang out and listen to Misfits, it still has a cheesiness/uncool factor that's unavoidable at times.
But when Christian music/lifestyle efforts have all the seeming edginess and pose of rock, or a T-shirt line has all the tropes of urban fashion, and then says, 'Oh hey, we don't care what's cool--we follow God,' that's when I begin to get confused. It looks like a Misfits shirt, but really up close it says, "Jesus was a misfit" or something.
Can't J.C. just be righteous or whatever? Does he have to be cool? Maybe the fact that teens don't instantly flock to J.C. means they should wait till they're older to even start thinking about their religious beliefs. You know, after their brains have formed. Also, shapeshifting to attract a new flock of followers sounds eerily like that one dude you're not supposed to be like in the Bible. Holla?
Comments (8)
Showing 1-8 of 8
I know this much, these clothes will make it easier to pick out who's sexualy frustrated.
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Wow and they are only 18 bucks! Church Boy Fresh is the most awesomess slogan ever, I think I'll buy ten!!!!!!!!!I wan't to have a lot of different colors of em and be all urban and shit yet conservatively stylish at the same time!
@Tracy Moore: From what I gather about your argument, which was nicely put, you seem to have a problem with how Christian institutions (or one's that claim to be Christian) try, in a sense, to trick kids.
"It looks like a Misfits shirt, but really up close it says, "Jesus was a misfit" or something." Hilarious and true.
The truth is, mainstream Christian music (and culture) is uncool. It caters to housewives who live in the suburbs. Their kids hit about 12 and they realize that the 3rd Day album mom and dad bought them sounds like a really awful mix of Pearl Jam & .38 Special with terrible lyrics.
That's where things like Rocketown and Kingdom Swag become necessary in order to keep kids interested in the church. That's the theory.
As a Christian, one can't help but feel uneasy when a company like Kingdom Swag invokes the word and name of God. Why? Because Kingdom Swag has a bottom line, they are trying to make a dollar and they know mom and dad Christian would love to throw down some bucks to keep their kids looking cool and acting faithful.
Tracy, you hit the nail on the head. Jesus isn't supposed to be cool. Christians are told in scripture that the world will reject them for their beliefs and to be okay with it. Coolness, after-all, is such a fleeting concept, to base one's spiritual choices on such a thing would be foolish.
I don't want to make this comment too long, just wanted to throw in my thoughts and tell you that, from a Christian's perspective, you brought up great points in a challenging but respectful way. Be well.
Why do "Christians" feel the need to hit people over the head with their belief system and that they are right about their beliefs?Why can't they just respect that there are other belief systems in the world?
The funny thing is, a kid could look cool without being a slogan for anyone, and could still not look like the devil. (Sorry bands) but shirts with shit on 'em are out anyway. The walking billboard look (ironic or not) went out with trucker hats with ironic phrases on them. A christian kid could look cool without advertising for girbaud, guess, or geesus.
Alliteration.
And the Godphobia mass media bashing continues. Like it or not God created this world and everything in it. Like it or not Christians are here to stay so deal with it ...You deal with Muslims terrorizing you into Sharia law submission, you deal with music artists shoving their Satanic beliefs in your face. Enough of the complaining about Christians this and that. If the kids love Christ and want to dress cool that's their business you don't have to buy their clothes, serve their God or follow their beliefs just mind your own business and get a life...
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