I recently read a Gallup Research poll, on data collected prior to this past Easter, that found “79% of Americans currently identify themselves as Christian — either Protestant, Roman Catholic, or some other Christian religion”.  With recent population figures topping 300 million people in America, that means there are roughly 237 million “Christians” in America.

How many of these Americans do you think have a drawer full t-shirts displaying various brand names or messages?  I’d say it easily tops 90%, and if that’s right, we’re now talking about more than 214 million Americans, who both identify as Christians and wear t-shirts.

Even if you cut these figures in half — 118.5 million Christians in America, of which 45% wear t-shirts — that’s still 53.3 million people, which is more people than those who voted for either candidate in the 2000 presidential election!

So you can imagine my first thought when I read this.  “Why don’t I see more theological (Christian-message) t-shirts when I’m out around town”?  I’ve travelled from coast-to-coast, in large metropolitan cities and small towns, for several years now, yet it’s still a fairly rare occurrence when I see someone wearing a “Christian t-shirt”.

Are Christians not aware of a company that makes “theological message tees”?  (we like to call them “theolotees”)  Are the ones they’ve seen in a style that is out of date?  Have they only found the shirts that lack style and/or a truly great message, like “I may not be perfect but Jesus thinks I am to die for“?  Is it that these companies don’t have a million-dollar marketing budget, and therefore, are unable to reach this gigantic consumer block?

Someday, I will capture video of people’s reaction to our girls theolotee that says “A girl needs to be so lost in God, a guy needs to seek Him to find her” and post it.  It’s been my experience that when Christians find really good t-shirts, they buy them and wear them, proudly.  I hope that more people learn about our shirts and the bar is raised, so that I see more of them when I’m pumping gas, or at places like the grocery store, Home Depot, fast food joints. I’ve found that people’s attitude changes when they are wearing the name of Jesus on their chest.

Maybe if Christians wore these message tees more, and preached their message less, the ones they’re trying to reach would see the witness in them, rather than be forced to hear it from them?