2014 I Heart Church Boys T-Shirt by JCLU Forever

Context:

By the 1970s, American evangelicals had built a parallel popular culture that was sold through Christian bookstores. These outlets offered Christian consumers goods that aligned with their theological views and functioned as an alternative to their secular counterparts. These goods not only gave their purchasers a way to infuse their lives with sacred meaning, but they also served as tools for evangelism, one of the hallmarks of evangelical identity. This two-fold purpose provided a powerful foundation for the creation of a vast evangelical popular culture industry. Products included Christian rock music, Christian romance novels, Christian home décor, and Christian T-shirts. While marketed toward and mostly purchased by evangelical Christians, these goods, at least theoretically and ideally, also worked to introduce others to their version of Christianity—invite someone to a concert, give them a book to read, or wear a Christian T-shirt.

In recent years, with the growth of online retail, Christian bookstores have declined in number and Christian goods have become part of the mainstream economy. Products that were once the province of the Christian bookstore can now be bought on Amazon, at Etsy shops, or even in brick-and-mortar stores, such as Walmart. This has resulted in a proliferation of products and styles, especially for Christian T-shirts. 

Christian T-shirts typically feature a combination of graphics and text that identify them as “Christian.” The content of the graphics and text, though, vary. Some Christian T-shirts emphasize biblical verses, such as Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding” (see Kerusso.com), while others sport elements of evangelical theology, such as “In Case of RAPTURE this T-shirt will be empty” (McDannell 1995, 251). Another subset of Christian T-shirts utilizes parody and mimics slogans for popular items, including sodas, condiments, and candies. As you can see in Figure 1, the familiar color and script associated with Reese’s peanut butter cups becomes the basis for a T-shirt promoting Jesus. While these design trends continue, the number of styles and messaging has diversified as the number of creators has increased.

Creator:

The proliferation of Christian T-shirt messages and sellers has, at times, raised questions about the product’s evangelical authenticity. For example, various T-shirts featuring Jesus surfing, with no accompanying text, being sold by a number of different retailers on Amazon may give evangelical consumers pause. Some might question the graphic. Is this a Christian T-shirt with a sense of humor or is this a T-shirt making fun of Christianity? Others could focus on the creator. Is this a product made by Christians for other Christians? Or is this a product made by a secular company cashing in on the evangelical market? (For more on this topic, see Neal 2016). 

Recounting their origin stories provides retailers with a powerful way to establish the “Christianity” of their messaging and products. For example, Vic Kennett, founder of Kerusso, explains how he came to make and sell Christian T-shirts on his website. He recounts that after seeing someone wearing a Christian T-shirt in the 1980s, he looked at Mark 16:14 and “learned that the Greek word for preach is kerusso: Jesus said unto them, “Go into all the world and ‘kerusso’ the Good News to everyone.” He continues, “Kerusso is the Greek word meaning ‘to herald (as a public crier), especially the Divine Truth (the Gospel); preach, proclaim, publish’” (Kennett). The site also further justifies their products in terms of their evangelistic effectiveness. It states that “Researchers have found that the average T-shirt has the potential to be read as many as 3,000 times in its lifespan. That’s 3,000 opportunities for the Gospel to be shared. 3,000 potential moments of encouragement. 3,000 chances to change someone’s life…for eternity!” (Kerusso).

Not all origin stories are so elaborate, but many still have them and nod to this criterion of evangelical authenticity and effectiveness. For example, JCLU Forever, which stands for Jesus Christ Loves You Forever, was “created by three girls who love Jesus for girls who love Jesus” in 2010. While their website is no longer functioning, in the 2010s, it stated that they offered “Jesus tee shirts that make spreading your faith fun again with cool designs.” They explained, “for good or ill, everywhere you go people interpret our beliefs based on what we wear. At JCLU Forever, we provide religious t-shirts with messages that make what you believe clear without sacrificing your comfort and sense of style” (Neal 2016). 

Object:

The “I Heart Church Boys” T-shirt, shown in Figure 2, was sold by JCLU Forever in the 2010s. Cut for a woman’s body, the T-shirt offers consumers a more flattering silhouette than a standard boxy Tee. It also displays a message meant to be worn by teenage Christian girls. The use of the heart, in place of the word “love,” recalls popular ad campaigns from the past, such as “I Heart NY” and “Virginia is for Lovers,” to garner attention. 

In this case, the T-shirt directs one’s focus not to visit New York or Virginia, but to a specific group of people—“church boys.” The inclusion of the verse referenced at the bottom of the shirt provides necessary theological context. 2 Corinthians 6:14, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” (NIV). In evangelicalism, Christian teenagers are taught the importance of marrying other Christians. Sunday School teachers, Christian romance novels, and other evangelical literature utilize this verse to bolster the message that Christians should date and marry other Christians. It also emphasizes the ways that evangelical Christian girls are socialized to focus on the importance of heterosexual marriage at a young age.

The pressure to uphold and follow this theological dictate often falls on teenage Christian girls. This T-shirt positions them literally as the carriers of this message. Unlike many other Christian goods that are ostensibly “private,” such as a print of a biblical scene that hangs in a home or listening to Christian music in the car, T-shirts occupy the liminal space between private and public. They often represent the personal identity and views of the wearer, while simultaneously presenting those views to passersby. For evangelical Christians this quality makes the T-shirt a significant theological item. Donning it proclaims the Christian identity of its wearer reinforcing their faith through this public act. For a teenage Christian girl this T-shirt makes a bold statement about their religious identity, as well as their dating preferences and imminent marital goals.

Even as the T-shirt reinforces traditional evangelical theology and conservative gender roles, it also provides these teenage girls with a material way to claim these goals and style them for their own purposes. The more fitted silhouette of the shirt hints at sexuality. The text makes their sexual-marital goals known. And the T-shirt styling by JCLU Forever, as seen in Figure 3, highlights that conservative doesn’t necessarily have to mean boring. Accessories, whether a trucker hat, heart sunglasses, or bold red lipstick, show Christian teenage girls how to transform their Christian T-shirts into stylish outfits. 

The “I Heart Church Boys” T-shirt by JCLU Forever highlights the multiple functions of Christian T-shirts—they are simultaneously commodities sold for profit, agents of religious socialization, and expressions of religious identity. A seemingly simple T-shirt emphasizes the complexity of studying religion and fashion. Unlike other Christian goods that remain “invisible,” the Christian T-shirt is meant to be worn and seen. It is a form of fashion—one that has been and continues to be popular. 

The goal of Christian products has long been “crossover” success in the mainstream market, which means that more and more people have access to and are purchasing Christian products. However, with this success comes the challenge of determining authenticity. Are these products sufficiently Christian? How should Christian T-shirts be worn and styled? What messages are and are not appropriate for Christian T-shirts? The “I Heart Church Boys” T-shirt provides us with insight into the changing relationship between evangelical Christianity and consumer culture in the twenty-first century, and a relationship that will only become more complex as Christian T-shirt sellers and styles continue to proliferate.

Lynn S. Neal, Professor of Religious Studies, Wake Forest University

7 April 2025

Tags: Evangelical Christianity, Evangelical Youth, Evangelism, Everyday, Religious Identity, T-shirts, United States

References:

Kennett, Vic. n.d. “Kerusso Founder’s Story.” Kerusso.com. Available at: https://www.kerusso.com/pages/founders-story.

Kerusso. n.d. “The Kerusso Story.” Kerusso.com. Available at: https://www.kerusso.com/pages/about.

McDannell, Colleen. 1995. Christian Retailing: Religion and Popular Culture in America. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Neal, Lynn S. 2016. “OMG: Authenticity, Parody, and Evangelical Christian Fashion.” Fashion Theory 21 (3): 223–244. https://doi.org/10.1080/1362704X.2016.1143574.