This is so incredibly typical.Touchy Christians.
We sport our Jesus wear and signage: on our clothing, our cars, 4x4s and pickups. Now too, our beautiful, muscular, tanned bodies (not mine, actually!) sport our choice of ‘gods’ in the form of tattoos, body art we call it, to be polite. “Jesus saves” or maybe a hopelessly complicated cross-like design or maybe even a rustic, plain cross, or fine art like Durer’s praying hands or (gulp!) the Last Supper (you can view a person's forearm tattooed with this priceless artwork here). Yes, some of us do these things. Our bodies, temples of the Holy Spirit, our humanity, God's divine Image—we 've heard that we've been “bought and paid for” (1 Corinthians 6:20 and again at 7:23), so what's all the fuss about… sanctification?
Real life scenario. Two young men working together in a factory. One, a Christian, has a tattoo, and he challenges the other, a non-Christian with almost a dozen piercings on the visible parts of his body from the neck upwards (who knows what’s below), to get a tattoo. “Tattoos cost too much,” says the skinny boy to the other, who tips the scales at maybe 250 pounds or more. Into this dialog, a third man intrudes, unwisely perhaps. “What?” he exclaims to the fat Christian, “You really have a tattoo?”
“Yeah, I do,” replies the other, “what of it?” The third man turns to the skinny young pagan, “You don’t want to get a tattoo. Those piercings will close back up after you outgrow them, but not a tattoo. That’ll be there till you die, and then longer. Your body wasn’t given to you to be a billboard. Respect it.” This is really too much for the Christian brother with the tattoo, who chimes in to the other, encouraging him to “go for it” with a tattoo. “Yeah, I want to get a panel of tribal-looking art on the right half of my body,” says the skinny boy, “but it’d cost way more than I make here.”
“What are you saying, brother?” retorts the third man to the chunky Christian. “Surely you must have read in the Word, ‘You must not tattoo yourselves, for I am the Lord.’ ”
“Hey, it’s not your place to judge me, now, is it?” says the tattooed but touchy Christian, and the third man is silent. He knows when the Word is weak, it’s not for him to be strong. He knows when he and the Word have been “defeated,” and he withdraws.
This is the age we live in, when the Word of God is tossed about and mocked by those who say they believe in it, yet who do not let it touch them, no matter what, and where simply pointing to its truth constitutes a charge of judgment.
They little know what judgment really is.
But the day is at hand.
Remember who your teachers were (2 Timothy 3:14), and imitate them as they imitate Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1), and do not forget their teaching, but keep it.
You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
1 Corinthians 6:20, 7:23 NIV
"He knows when he and the Word have been defeated, and he withdraws."
ReplyDeleteDefeated in their eyes, but the Word can never be defeated, only rejected. This same Word created men, and in this Age of Science, their hearts have no room for the Word. Instead, they roam masterless, believing their existence and birth to be a stroke of chance, by unconscious Mother-Science. Some, claiming to be called by the Name, have accepted this, and as a result, have unconsciously drilled holes in their ship. They will either run ashore, or sink their faith. Either way, they will be shipwrecked and the end will show that they never knew the Truth from the beginning.
There is no question of defeat when speaking of the Word co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit, but yes, as you say, those who reject Him consider Him defeated, and He lets them think that. As C. S. Lewis writes, to those who refuse to pray, "Thy will be done," He will say, "thy will be done." He will let them have their way, since they have rejected His.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post. It's helpful to me today. The devil tempts me to do a thing I know is evil by telling me that if other Christians can do it, surely it's OK for me. Yet anything that draws me away from the Lord and to my own selfish, proud desires is NOT OK for me. Pray for me, that I will not be a slave of anyone or anything but Jesus Christ.
ReplyDeleteI will, and I do, Jim, pray for you, as you do for me. We are co-laborers and co-disciples of the Faithful and the True, trusting Him to be our righteousness and our eternal life.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, brother.
Funny you blogged about tattoos. I just posted about that same subject. From a different angle.
ReplyDeleteI kinda have a different take on it though. I feel the same way about "Christian tattoos" as I do about "Christian clothing" and bumper stickers. My witness is the words that come out of my mouth and my actions. It's not because I've become a walking Jesus billboard. Except for one cross on my ankle (That I actually kinda regret now) none of my ink is evangelistic in nature. A couple are just pretty and the others are meaningful to me (and attractive at the same time).
I know you live in PDX and I actually referred to the tattoo culture of "a particular American city" in my post just now, coincidentally enough. There's an "I'm just so hip" attitude that I find to be most unChristlike.
Good to see you still writing over here!!!
Hey Liz, nice to hear from you again.
ReplyDeleteThough this post appears to be about Christians and tattoos, that is actually only circumstantial. This post and the one after it are really more to do with the Christian response to the bible as the written Word of God, and about obedience versus independence.
What is freedom, and how do we use it?
Are we free, or do we belong to Someone?
What is judgment, and what is testimony, and how are they related?
I haven't read your post on tattoos yet, but from your comment it sounds as if we may have the same philosophy about Christian "witnessing gear."
Mine is basically, "Don't wear your cross, bear it," or in other words, nothing short of the testimony of my lips and my actions constitutes any witness at all. Christian jewelry, clothing, bumper stickers and other signage, are all bad witness, and degrade and devalue the Lord whom their users say they are witnessing for.
The only real witness is the live witness. Everything else is vanity and cheapens the Gospel in the eyes of the world.
Exactly. I think that this may also be the first time in history of my blog that discussion has spawned another blog post. I rather like tattoos but I'm going to be really specific here and say I hate a certain attitude that I have seen in certain sectors of the church that is really kind of a reverse legalism. I'm not gonna go on and on in this rant because I'll be repeating myself over in the blog.
ReplyDeleteI think the root though, of a lot of this is our old friend PRIDE. I think a lot of these tattooed Christians (and by that I don't mean Christians who happen to like tattoos, in the same way someone else might light antique cars; I mean people whose tattoos are an integral part of their "Christianity") are very smug that they aren't like those other 'Legalistic" ones.
"I mean people whose tattoos are an integral part of their "Christianity") are very smug that they aren't like those other 'Legalistic' ones."
ReplyDeleteWow, Liz! I hadn't even thought of that possibility, the reverse legalism thing, but you're right. When either side plays it up as a game, the fors or the againsts, they are both missing the point.
Yes, PRIDE, as you wrote, that is what is behind it all.