So I have tattoos, 4 or 5 depending on how you look at it to. The first one that I got is the word live in Greek on my left shoulder blade. I got this one because it was the theme at a Christ In Youth summer week that I went to that ultimately lead me on the path that I am on. I really felt God tugging at my heart to follow him in the direction of Bible School and then full time missions. The second and third, are the initials of my Grandma and my Father on my chest. My Grandma was one of the most influential people in my life and I am grateful for her ability to put her kids and grandkids before herself pretty much all of the time. My mom, my brother, and I lived with her for a time when I was younger because there weren't a whole lot of options for us. She passed away when I was a Senior in high school. My father, who was never really a father figure, passed away when I was a Freshman in college. I only had about 8 months to catch up on lost time with him before he passed, but I thank God for that time because it brought a lot of closure to some difficult memories growing up. The lack of him in my life also produced the father figure that I beleive God meant for myself and my broher to have, Mark my step father and then adopted Father. The most recent, also the largest and most visible without my shirt ont, has brought me to have a few discussions with my mother about tattoos. On the inside of my right arm it reads, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for" and on he insdie part of my left arm (both in the bicep area) "and certain of what we do not see."
That was a long preface to the point of this post. I've been thinking a lot about how society and how people view tattoos. And something that comes up in my thought here, is how it is perceived from people within the church. I keep thinking that if I were to show up to a church that knew me and had a high opinion of me, would that change if I were to show them my tattoos. Would they see me in a different light? So I'd like to just ask a few questions to see what people think. Here are some of the thoughts that are running through my head. Does a person's opinion of the person that I am or anyone else change if they know that someone have tattoos? Is it justifiable to look down or negatively upon someone just because they have tattoos? Are tattoos wrong? and why?
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2 comments:
I love tattoo's. I have one, getting ready to get another. I ministered in a really conservative church before moving to Seattle and when people found out about my Tattoo...they weren't as bothered as I thought they would have been. I think it had to do with the fact that most of them knew my heart and my passion for Christ before they found out about my tattoo. If people pass judgment on you without knowing you...I think it's their fault and not yours. I think it's all about tradition. Unfortunately....it's also all about perception. Ministry is unfair in that way.
That's pretty much how I've looked at it sense I got my first tattoo. If someone is going to judge me based on outward appearance then they can deal with that. I honestly don't understand how someone's perception can just change because of something like that. If you know my heart, then the tattoo shouldn't matter.
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