College-shirt v. Christian-shirt

As a Michigan State alum, you can imagine I’m wearing green & white in anticipation of the championship game tonight, as I was Saturday before the semifinal game vs. UConn. (And as I was during worship last Sunday, if I recall...) But wearing it lately has brought some interesting reactions.

They started last Saturday morning when I zipped over to Costco to grab some things for the pantry. And the first couple times they happened, I flashed a puzzled look, not quite ready for it. What I’m talking about are the responses I got to my “Michigan State Spartan” Underarmor running shirt. I got tons of “good lucks,” “you’re in my bracket” and a lots of variations of “I’m a KU fan, but I’ll be a Spartan fan in the Final Four.” Now, all of us have started conversations with what we wear (especially with our parents, back when we were rebellious teenagers). But I was amazed at how much feedback my Joe-College Spartan shirt evoked.

Especially because I wear other silk-screened shirts that elicit far fewer comments: my Christian ones. Now, granted, I may be unique. Maybe I look unapproachable, uninteresting, or just mentally unstable in my Jesus T’s. Maybe those of you who look more holy (or less self-righteous!) than I do might get more social mileage out of your Christian shirts. Or maybe, and quite understandably, a college T-shirt is just an easy conversation starter—about a comfortably superficial topic.

But there’s no doubt about what happened to me in Lenexa, KS this weekend. I was flooded with feedback—not about my faith, but about something as trivial as my former college. In contrast, my relationship with Jesus, which I proudly advertize on T-shirts of all kinds, hardly ever starts a conversation. And I understand: Most folks feel that faith is a profoundly personal and life-impacting thing, even to someone wearing a ‘casual on the outside’ kind of shirt. So it’s not the kind of thing about which a stranger can easily make jokes or start a conversation.

But whether or not my Jesus-shirts start any conversation, I pray today that my life, my words, and my love will. And that the Spartans win.