Wearing It on Your Sleeve

In the World Series of Poker, the competition is about more than money. Win a tournament, and you receive a prized WSOP bracelet to wear on your wrist.

Wristbands can advertise or promote all sorts of things these days. In a post earlier this week, we mentioned a woman who wore a "Philippians 4:13" wristband in honor of a boy battling cancer.

Some trace the trend back to this -- a "W.W.J.D.?" band developed in the last 15 years or so. It asks the simple question: What would Jesus do?

We've worn this wristband to poker nights for several months, partly to help start a conversation about the things of God. But we were surprised at a recent church convention to hear a top leader of one association call WWJD bands "rather trite and rather meaningless, because they [evangelicals] have this on their arms, and it's certainly not something that we should do" (about 41:00 into the video).

The leader agreed with the principle behins WWJD. But the statement against the bands struck us as strange -- especially since we've attended Messianic conventions where worshipers wear added blue tassels on their clothes, and sometimes suggest you need to do the same....

Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear. -- Deuteronomy 22:12

Jesus made a statement about such things, which can spark debate among believers:

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.... But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.... Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long.... -- Matthew 23:2-5

Supporters of tassel displays claim Jesus condemned the lengthening, not the tassels themselves. Critics say Jesus opposed any display of tassels -- and in this day and age, believers don't need outward reminders of their faith because the Holy Spirit dwells in them (II Corinthians 1:22).

We took off our WWJD wristband at the church convention, after we saw the video complaint about it. (We made sure people sitting on either side of it were witnesses.) But for now, we're still wearing it to poker nights.

Why -- to show we're "goody-goody holy rollers," while others around us are not?  No. We wear it as a witness to the non-Christians around us. The WWJD wristband has brought a comment on one poker night so far -- and we're ready to talk about it, should others bring it up.

Let's be honest here: if some poker players at bars can wear T-shirts and hats promoting cigarettes and beer, why can't a believer in Christ wear something promoting that personal Favorite?

Or are we totally wrong about this?