March Madness has everyone talking about basketball. Whether they discuss who deserves to be at the big dance, major upsets, or busted brackets, March brings the language of college basketball to the forefront. Â To show their allegiance, fans wear hats and shirts that represent their favorite collegiate teams. To show their support, fans talk about their favorites with a sense of ownership, as if they were somehow personally connected to the team.
God wants the same from His people. God rejoices for His people and longs for Christians to show their personal connection to Him. With faith-based apparel, Christians can show their personal connection to their God and their faith and push God’s love to the forefront of every conversation.
God wants Christians to spread His amazing message of love and forgiveness, and Christian apparel brands offer a great opportunity to make God more famous than their favorite college teams. Jesus encouraged His followers in Matthew 28 to go out and tell everyone about Him, and faith-based shirts make sharing the gospel easier than ever. Jesus wants Christians to get crazy about His message—to get excited and enthusiastically tell the world that Jesus died for them.
Merit, Madness, and Modern Christian Clothing
College fans and broadcasters discuss in depth who belongs at the big dance. Players get their stats announced and dissected, and experts outline reasons why one team should dominate the other. Pregame shows deliver back stories about individuals to provide context and prove why certain players deserve a victory.
Halftime analysts and post-game wrap-ups offer interesting insights and relive the controversial calls, sudden injuries, and pivotal plays that led one team to prevail. When a team loses even after perfect execution on the court and playing their best, fans, players, and announcers empathize with how exceptional personal effort can prove inadequate.
The madness of March originates from the unknown. Teams and fans watch a game without knowing what will happen next, understanding that just one play, one call, one point, can decide who succeeds. Fans bank on the expertise of players and join them in celebrating victory as well as suffering defeat.
Much like college basketball fans spend time discussing deserving teams and dissecting games, Christians could be spreading the word about God. God provides assurance and stability. He doesn’t make you wonder who will prevail, and His Word has much to say about who deserves to be in Heaven:
- No one deserves to be in Heaven with God (Romans 3:10).
- Personal effort does not get you to Heaven (Ephesians 2:9).
- Everyone sins (Romans 3:23).
- Sin deserves the penalty of death (Romans 6:23).
However, the story doesn’t stop with sin. No one needs to speculate about who wins. God’s Word points out that Jesus gained the victory over sin to provide a way for the world to connect with God (Romans 10:13). Throughout March, friends and strangers strike up conversations about yesterday’s game, especially when they see others wearing college basketball gear and representing their team.
Christians used to go door to door asking others about Jesus, but now Christian clothing brands allow Christians to reflect their connection to Christ without odd transitions or abrupt questions about eternity.
Modern Christian clothing offers a conversation starter not about the deciding factor in the big game but about the biggest decision a person will ever make—accepting the free gift God has given to the world (Ephesians 2:8). God loves and cares for His people. God rejoices over His people and wants Christians to share and spread His love.
Plot Twists and Popular Christian Streetwear
The plot twists during March Madness make watching the tournament so exciting. When top seeds get upset, everyone talks about how and why it happened. You often hear people express shock because they never saw the upset coming. Players with a major part on the winning and losing side of the upset get featured in highlight reels and on-air discussions. Some upsets even get resurrected for the next few years every time March Madness rolls around.
While fans and broadcasters detail upsets in basketball for a month, no basketball game comes close to what Christ did. Christians have the greatest story to tell. Jesus caused a major upset, and those details can save lives. Christians can use their faith-based apparel to spread the details of God’s message of love, forgiveness, and victory over sin.
Although God’s Word says much about sin and how no one in the world deserves Heaven, God’s Word also offers plenty of good news worth broadcasting. Even though no one deserves to be in Heaven, God loved the world so much that He sent Jesus to die for the sins of the entire world.
Jesus has a great backstory, and His ultimate victory makes the story even greater. No one, not even His friends, thought Jesus could prevail after suffering on the cross for the sins of the world. However, Jesus conquered death and sin with His resurrection, causing the biggest upset the world ever saw. His victory needs to be told because His victory provides a way for everyone to triumph over sin.
College basketball fans love to wear shirts, hats, and jerseys representing their favorite teams. They connect with those teams and take it personally when a team wins or loses. They take pride in discussing who was responsible for the victory and empathize with them over losses.
Christians also delight in the victory Jesus provided. The true, personal connection marks the difference between Christians and college basketball fans. Christians can wear their faith-based shirts with the assurance they have a personal connection to God. The Bible speaks of assurance in 2 Timothy 1:12 and Romans 8:38 encouraging Christians with God’s steadfast assurance to keep them whole.
Busted Brackets and Christian Apparel Brands
People have countless strategies when filling out their brackets. Some people analyze stats and win-loss records while others simply make picks based on best mascots or favorite team colors. Regardless of strategy, rarely do fans complete perfect brackets. More often, when a team suffers an upset during March Madness, brackets get busted.
The Bible encourages Christians to be alert because they have an enemy that strategizes against them. Satan prowls about like a lion, looking to defeat Christians and take them off their game (1 Peter 5:8). The Devil uses tactics to turn Christians away from Christ and take them off their walk with God. He will attempt any of the following to defeat Christians:
- Lie. The Bible reports in John 8:44 that Satan has no truth in him. Christians cannot trust anything he says.
- Blind people to truth. The Bible points out that Satan blinds the minds of both unbelievers as well as plotting to hide the truth from believers (2 Corinthians 4:4; Mark 4:15). Christians must stay grounded in God’s Word so that the truth can’t be hidden from them.
- Tempt people to sin. Satan tried to even tempt Jesus, so Christians must be warned that Satan will surely tempt them to sin (2 Corinthians 11:3).
Satan attempts to strategize against Christians to upset God’s plans. Because Christians can rely on God’s Word, they can be confident that the same Jesus that conquered death will bust Satan’s bracket regardless of how strategic he makes his plays against Christians.
God gave Christians several ways to play solid defense against the Devil:
- Man-to-man defense: Christians can be well-equipped to stand toe to toe against the Devil’s attacks. Reading and studying God’s Word on a personal level and strengthening their relationship with God helps Christians stand up against Satan and his lies.
- Zone defense: Christians can find accountability partners to share personal struggles with and to pray for them. Christians can surround themselves with a small group of loving Christians with the same objective as accountability partners. These fellow Christians support and encourage each other.
- Full-court press: Just like basketball players try to push the tempo of the game, Christians can be more proactive by preparing themselves for the attacks to come. Christians know Satan’s tricks and strategies and can put on the pressure to snuff out the onslaught of Satan’s attacks.
Christians can have the confidence to prevail because Jesus already claimed the victory. Victorious over death and sin, Jesus will come again like a thief in the night to take His people with Him to Heaven forever.
Because Christians already know the outcome, they don’t have to wait for the clock to tick down to see the end of the story. They don’t have to wait for a particular season to roll around to sport their favorite faith-based shirts.
Christians have confidence in Christ, and because of His victory, Christians can get crazy excited about God and want to share His message. They can wear their Christian-based apparel year-round to help spread the amazing news of the daily victory Jesus has already won over sin and death.Â