Lynn Neal, professor of religious studies at Wake Forest University, said clothing has long played an important role for religious groups. It provides a sense of identity for a religious community and communicates something about a person’s beliefs to the outside world. For evangelical Christians, Neal said, clothing — especially T-shirts — can be a way of sharing their faith. Clothing also gives a sense of identity for a religious community and communicates something about a person’s beliefs to the outside world.
“In our polarized world, the identity piece is as big or bigger than the evangelism piece,” she said.
T-shirts also have an important role in American culture, often symbolizing individual belief and the right to speak your mind. And finding the right T-shirt — one that captures your identity or beliefs — can reinforce that identity or those beliefs and help you feel seen.
“If you can buy a nerdy T-shirt or a Make America Godly T-shirt, that tells you there are other people like me,” she said. “There is a community out there. I just need to find them.”
Evangelicals, Neal said, are often good at finding messages that are clever and intriguing, where the message is not always clear. Or where the T-shirt sends more than one message at the same time.
More Lord Kingdom, for example, sells a T-shirt with the word “faith” over the word “fear.” That’s a common religious message, said Neal. But that message has taken on a different connotation during COVID, often used by those who think the response to the pandemic is overblown.
The company also sells a T-shirt with the word “intercessor” over the word “activist.”
“Maybe before we pick up a bunch of signs and go protest or go get in a big room and yell and be mad — we might want to spend some time just in prayer and see what God is actually saying,” said Fitch. “The most powerful place for us is in a place of prayer.”
This article originally appeared here.
