My Christian tee shirts are both eye-catching and mind-blowing. They combine God’s Word with humor and stir the pot of the human heart. Designing them is fun and tricky, like writing comedy. Writing comedy is risky enough; writing comedy for Christian crowds is tough. I have my own ideas of what is funny and profound and this is how my shirts are designed. I get an inspiration from God’s word for a pun and if it makes me laugh, I believe that God thinks it’s funny too. Then I ask myself why it’s funny. I don’t always know, so I ask others and of course I get differing opinions. Sometimes I just say “I don’t know why, but it is!” And a shirt is born. I have to take a risk. Nothing good is ever free from risk. Safe is boring. Of course, some people can be offended by what others think is funny. Some shirts are only funny if you already know the verse. When creating a shirt idea, I often think of the risky skit created by Raymond and Debra Barone. It was funny and yet it wasn’t. Comedy is like that. They discussed whether it was funny or not the same way I consider my shirts.
Like Debra, I argue my humor a lot. My shirts are either profound or funny or both but the main thing is to bring attention to Bible verses. One thing is for sure, you remember the verse on the shirt and most likely will discuss it with the wearer or look it up, pondering it. There are some that really stretch a verse out of context and therefore could be offensive but that’s okay, I am used to making waves and riding them.
Humor is spiritual. Laughter is spiritual. You cannot predict whether something is going to be funny based on one opinion. It’s amazing and unpredictable. My Violets Tee is an example of humor and risk. I was thinking of a verse for my granddaughter, Violet, one day and I considered the verse in Matthew which talks about the kingdom of heaven saying “the violent take it by force.” A vision of marching violets came to me. A pun on the word violent is there. It made me laugh and I can’t tell you why it’s funny. In fact when someone wants the shirt, I always say “Really?? Can you tell me why?” I get all different reasons. I don’t know why but it is one of our favorites. Some people get tweaked because a word is changed in the verse. It’s one of my faves because the verse is meaningful to me. I got a revelation on this verse about healing, so I love the verse now..and the shirt.
Another very risky one for Halloween made a few laugh and a few frown. “By the which/witch we draw nigh unto God” KJV. A play on the verse in Hebrews 7:19, this one capitalizes on the King James awkward wording “by the which” and draws attention to this verse
by the very risky but cute little witch who, holding a Bible, attempts to fulfill the verse out of context and by adjusting the spelling a bit! I like it because it’s not only funny to me because of the wrong interpretation of this cutie but also because so many verses have been interpreted as badly as this one by scholars. I blogged about such a one recently in November called “A Little Lower Than Who?”
I’ll blog my tees as much as possible since each one has a point and a story. In the meanwhile enjoy these examples of risky Bible humor and order one today! Order at HisabiliTees.com
The first time I see religious t-shirts with elements of humor – a very interesting idea. Indeed, true faith is a joy!