Why This ‘Drunk Jesus’ T-Shirt Should Make You Mad at the Devil

It’s clear that antichrist spirits are growing bolder. Look no further than the endless stream of battles in the culture wars. Christian or not, Moral America is pushing back the onslaught of gay marriage and abortion even while our government seems to be working overtime to squash religious liberties.

I wrote some weeks ago about a pro-choice campaign where our Lord and Savior referred to Himself as “Jesus F-ing Christ.” Now Urban Outfitters seems to think it’s groovy to print T-shirts showing an inebriated Emmanuel. That’s right, the clothing retailer is proudly displaying a new design called “The Drunk Jesus.” It debuted just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.

The T-shirt, which is green with white lettering that says “Jesus, I’m Drunk” and dons an image of Christ holding a mug of sudsy bear, sells for $24. The ploy takes merchandising the gospel to a whole new level. On its website, Urban Outfitters uses this marketing line: “Throw some back with the holy man himself in this epic tee!”

Even Cosmopolitan magazine, which is known for its near X-rated soft-porn advice on its glossy pages, recognizes Urban Outfitters, noting, “We all know Urban Outfitters likes to cause controversy via the medium of clothes, and their forte in particular is the misappropriation of racial stereotypes. In the past they’ve managed to offend Jews (with a Nazi emblem T-shirt) and Native Americans (with misuse of the word ‘Navajo’). And earlier this year they sold a T-shirt emblazoned with the word ‘depression’ which seemed to mock mental illness. *sigh*”

I guess this is to be expected in a culture where artists like Kanye West continue to mock Jesus in front of youthful masses. Mocking Jesus is nothing new. Remember the Saturday Night Live skit with actors portraying Tim Tebow and Jesus? Tebow is praying and thanking Jesus for success on the field when Jesus walks in and confirms He is indeed the reason the team is winning, then corrects Tebow for coming too close, saying, “Leave a little room for the Holy Ghost!” and admits that He prays to the kicker. What?

Indeed, the entertainment industry seems to take sick pleasure in mocking Jesus. Let’s not leave out Lady Gaga, with her blasphemous “Judas” song from the Born This Way album. She opines about her love for the one who betrayed our Lord. But it goes beyond Hollywood. Have you heard about the “Hunky Jesus” contest? It’s an annual mockery in San Francisco held every year at Easter.

“Every Easter Sunday, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the city’s beloved sect of cross-dressing nuns, host a Hunky Jesus competition in Dolores Park celebrating people who take the look of ‘our lord and savior’ and transform it into ‘our lord and sexy,’” writes Aaron Sankin at the Huffington Post.

It’s been said before, but what would happen if these same mockers did this with Islam’s prophet Muhammed? Remember the cartoonist who portrayed Muhammed in a bear costume and received death threats? Can you imagine the hubbub if billionaire Richard Hayne, owner of Urban Outfitters, got death threats for this T-shirt? Or Kanye West, who claims he already sold his soul to the devil? Or the cross-dressing nuns? That would never happen, of course, because God is love—and because Islam is part of the antichrist’s agenda.

Don’t get all bent out of shape about the drunk Jesus T-shirt or Kanye or Gaga or the rest of this. Remember that we are not wrestling against flesh and blood (Eph. 6:18), so getting angry in the flesh isn’t going to do any good.

Instead, we need to pray that light will break in on the minds of those flowing in these antichrist spirits—because although God is love, He will not be mocked. These antichrist mockers will reap what they sow, and it’s not a pretty end. So pray as if lives depended on it, because they do. Let’s move in the opposite spirit of antichrist—let’s move in the love of God and believe for the souls of these deceived ones.

Jennifer LeClaire is news editor at Charisma. She is also the author of several books, including The Making of a Prophet. You can email Jennifer at [email protected] or visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.