I Love Jesus And I’ve Got The T-Shirt To Prove It!
Commodification
I must admit, I had no idea what commodification meant. I liked the sound of it but had no idea how to use it in a sentence. So, of course, I looked it up. Commodification the act or fact of turning something into an item that can be bought and sold.(1) If I understand this correctly, which I’m not sure that I do, the Christian t-shirt industry may qualify as an example of commodification. I feel like I’ve contributed to this in so many ways. I have so many shirts and I feel a bit compelled to share a few of the messages. A few of my favorites are I left it all in the water, I am voting for Jesus, I did my best and God did the rest, All I want is to love Jesus and take naps, and my all-time favorite…I am half holy and half hood. I have participated in turning Christianity into a product. Although my intentions were not capitalist, I have been participatory in the commodification of Christianity. I have been an active consumer. It is a growing industry. Here are a few t-shirt industry facts:
• Revenue in the U.S. T-Shirts segment was US $5.04bn in 2022. The market is expected to grow annually by 3.97% (Statista)
• The custom t-shirt printing market was valued at $812.7m in 2021, and has a 10.1 % expected compound annual growth rate
from 2022-2030 (Grand View Research)
• Over 2,000 million (2 billion) t-shirts are sold every year (Credence Research)(2)
While I do not have the specific statistics on sales from Christian t-shirts alone, I found that “In America, this Christian clothing industry has a total sale of more than $4.5 billion every year.”(3) The branding and marketing of Christianity in the clothing industry is quite lucrative.
Consumption
In Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture, Vincent Jude Miller writes about the changes in advertising and how it has impacted consumption. Miller writes, “Early advertising emphasized the usefulness of the object. It elicited desire by fitting the product in to the consumer’s already constituted world.”(4) The focus on the product and how it fits into your life, a practical way appeal to the necessities of life. Yet, “twentieth-century advertising emphasized not the life of the consumer but the “imaginary lives” of the products themselves.”(5) As we fast forward to the twenty-first century, advertising and marketing have moved beyond promoting the usefulness of the product and portraying the imaginary lives of the products. Advertising and Consumerism in this century has global reach with the aid of technology and digital platforms. Consumers can have real time access to images, messages, and perks.
Influencing Consumers
Currently social media, Influencers, and Corporate Sponsored Messages are a major driving force in consumption of products. When I think back to my childhood, advertising relied heavily on jingles, some of that I still sing today. For example, the McDonalds Big Mac Jingle, “Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.”, I used to sing it every time we pulled up to the drive thru. I remember very few images from those commercials, but I remember the song. The jingle focused on the product and the quality of the ingredients. I wanted it based on what it was on how it was made. Today I couldn’t tell you what jingles or music that McDonald’s uses in advertising, but I do know that Cardi B. curated a meal deal and at one point so did Travis Scott. How do I know this? Well, my kids told me, and we bought each meal based on who was promoting it. Miller offers useful insight, he states, “consumption is transformed into an “imaginary” act. People are no longer primarily interested in the goods themselves, but in their images.”(6) It really didn’t matter what the meal deal was, it was important that these celebrities curated the meal. I believe that Miller would explain this as “Consumption becomes an imaginary activity whose object is the advertisement as much as the product itself.”(7)
Church Perks
I wonder how many Church goers are influenced by advertising. In Texas, the land of the Mega-Church, there are so many commercials, billboards, radio spots, and mailers inviting you to attend Church. I am taking a few liberties but here are a few examples that I have created, “Come Join us, we have 2 Saturday Services and 3 Sunday Services!”, “Come Worship with us, you will receive a Starbucks gift card on your first visit!”, “Come to our Worship Service, God is Waiting on you!”, “If you are concerned about parking, Valet Parking is available!”. I wonder if this is actually what it takes to help fill the pews. As I consider these advertising methods, I hold these questions:
Do we have to entice people to attend?
How far will we go?
How far is too far?
Can we even see the line?
I sincerely pray that when it relates to religion, we lean into the usefulness of the experience and not on the novelty of it.
1.Dictionary.com, accessed October 21, 2023, http://www.dictionary.com/.
2.Bryan Robinson, “35 T-Shirt Industry Statistics (2023),” TshirtGrowth, May 16, 2023, https://tshirtgrowth.com/t-shirt-industry-statistics/.
3.www.fibre2fashion.com, “Christian Clothing Becoming the Latest Fashion in US,” Fibre2Fashion, accessed October 25, 2023, https://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/2902/christian-clothing-becoming-the-latest-fashion-in-us.
4.Vincent Jude Miller, Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture (New York: Bloomsbury, 2013), 57.
5.Ibid.,57.
6.Ibid.,57.
7.Ibid.,57.
About the Author
Jonita Fair-Payton
12 responses to “I Love Jesus And I’ve Got The T-Shirt To Prove It!”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Jonita these are SUCH good questions that I have to wrestle with often.
I would imagine most of these churches have or start with good motives. We want to expose people to the message of the gospel and the presence of Jesus. And we start doing “whatever it takes, short of sin, to make that happen”.
But it’s classic (though slightly modified with “short of sin”) ends-justify-the-means approach which is dangerous.
I know I have been a part of embracing the commodification of church not just in my person but in my leadership. This week, and your blog, have given me pause and called me to question some of our own practices that may inadvertently disciple people deeper into a ‘consuming religion’ instead of the all-consuming-fire of God.
Tim,
This statement that you wrote, “And we start doing “whatever it takes, short of sin, to make that happen”, has me thinking more about my questions. Are we getting too close to the line? Does “doing whatever it takes” cause us to justify unscrupulous behavior? These are more questions that I don’t have answers to.
You’ve opened my eyes to American churches “advertising.” This is not something I’m familiar with. Is it a relatively recent phenomenon (as in, I don’t remember this happening when I was growing up) or is it just in Texas?
The examples you give are just icky (I recognize you took some liberties – I hope that means these are not real ads!) but it begs the question, what level of visibility and/or promotion is appropriate for a church? Certainly some is appropriate, but how do we discern how much is too much?
Kim.
I wish that it was unique to Texas but it’s not. I took some liberties, but I have actually received gift cards for attending a Church service. Discerning what is too much is the issue. I’m not sure how to do that but I know that at a point it feels like a gimmick and not a religious experience.
I’m also intrigued by the motives behind these gimmicky approaches. For example, if they are driven by an assumption that full pews equals full offering plates, well that is one thing. Its an entirely different thing if they are driven by the idea that this is truly how the lost are going to be reached.
I agree with neither, by the way, but it changes how I feel about the gimmick if I understand why the marketing is happening.
There is really no way to know what the real motives are. I know that I don’t like them, and I question whether it is necessary.
Hi Jonita,
You wrote, “Currently social media, Influencers, and Corporate Sponsored Messages are a major driving force in consumption of products.”
Ain’t that the truth. I have to say, that living on a limited budget (overseas) tempered my consumer wants versus needs.
However, back in the U.S. I can see my ‘consumerismness’ resurface. At the snap of a computer key Amazon.com delivers almost my every need. Sigh.
I think what keeps me rooted is my work in Hungary, Slovakia, and now Ukraine. The priorities are different there and sometimes I do feel “shame” for all the little things I MUST have.
Sometimes a knock to the head, or a Near Death Experience helps to readjust our life priorities. Sometimes war does the same…
Shalom…
Yes…we have so much at our disposal. Two clicks and it can be delivered tomorrow. My recent travels made me more aware of how spoiled American life is… how spoiled I am. I received a 2-hour massage in Bali that cost me $25 US Dollars…in the US that quality of a massage would have easily cost $250 plus dollars. I felt so guilty after it was over that I tipped her four times the amount and I had to insist that she took the tip. I felt like a greedy, entitled American Consumer. I did not like that feeling.
Ooooh, the commodification of Jesus is such a great topic for a blog and you were right on in my opinion. I just went to dinner and a broadway play with a friend last night. As we were talking, she admitted some of the struggles she has with other friends in our group who at times can come across as judgmental. She is not a Christian, and I don’t blame her for how we can profess one thing and be something different in private. We then went to see Les Miserables. A play so well written about Justice, Forgiveness, and being so locked into our righteousness that we can’t handle it when we are given forgiveness that we feel we don’t deserve. I would go to a church that demonstrates the Les Mis story more than one who promises me a “Starbucks” card. And they will know we are Christians by our love, not by our love and a Latte:) Thank you for your insight.
Thank you for the validation…I was not sure that I understood commodification correctly. This entire passage, ” A play so well written about Justice, Forgiveness, and being so locked into our righteousness that we can’t handle it when we are given forgiveness that we feel we don’t deserve. I would go to a church that demonstrates the Les Mis story more than one who promises me a “Starbucks” card. And they will know we are Christians by our love, not by our love and a Latte:)” is brilliant! Thank you for sharing it. You ROCK, Sis!
Hi Jonita!
Your writing is very insightful! I like it!
You wrote, “I wonder how many Church goers are influenced by advertising. In Texas, the land of the Mega-Church, there are so many commercials, billboards, radio spots, and mailers inviting you to attend Church. I am taking a few liberties but here are a few examples that I have created, “Come Join us, we have 2 Saturday Services and 3 Sunday Services!”, “Come Worship with us, you will receive a Starbucks gift card on your first visit!”, “Come to our Worship Service, God is Waiting on you!”, “If you are concerned about parking, Valet Parking is available!”.
The question is, what is the main motivation when we promote our church and invite as many people as possible to join it? Do we sincerely desire to share spiritual food with them? Do we want something from them, such as an offering of their money?
Dinka,
These are great questions that I can speculate on what the primary motivation is, but I don’t know for sure. I pray that the motives are pure.