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jennleigh -> RE: Tattoos a Sin???? (12/12/2007 7:46:52 AM)
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I, like many others, had tattoos before I knew Christ. I have a large tattoo, similar to a yin-yang with a sun and moon, on my lower leg - it can be seen here: Jenn's Tattoo
Now, I got this tattoo because at the time, I was a severe Bipolar I, with a cutting disorder. I had lost my marriage, my children, and could not hold a job due to my illness and self-destructive behavior. I got this rather large tattoo in a place where I could not escape it, and had to look at it every day to "remind" me of how important it was to have "balance" in my life. My entire existance was about trying to come to terms with the mania and the depression that ruled my life and this tattoo expressed my deepest dreams of having all of my extremes brought together so that I could be a "whole" person; not this fragmented, broken person I had become. I got this permanant ink on my body as nothing other than a reminder that I could never give up on having a "normal" life. I believe that it helped me keep going when I felt like giving up, giving hope (as much hope as something of this world can give without Jesus) when I was hopeless.
Fast forward a bit, and to make a long story short, God healed me of my Bipolar I disease, healed me of my cutting disorder, resurrected my marriage from the ashes (it was dead and gone, believe me), restored my children emotionally, and put our feet on solid new ground. I am a former pastor's daughter, so I expected some fallout about the tattoo from the church, and I was not disappointed. I don't wear dresses or skirts to church so as not to offend anyone, especially since I can't be sure of who knows the story behind this ink or not, or worse, who might be offended regardless. I sometimes wish I had not gotten the tattoo, simply because I have seen it cause people at the church to raise eyebrows or wonder about my state of christianity (I say this somewhat sarcastically, since I have never gotten any flack about it whatsoever from anyone outside the church). But, honestly, I never thought I'd be alive this long, much less saved, healed, and going to church with my family.
I look at this tattoo now, and it serves as a constant reminder to me, and anyone else who happens to ask about it, that God is able to reach farther down than I could ever reach up. I am reminded every time I look at it of that old hymn we used to sing in my dad's church as a child:
Oh, He touched me
Yes, He touched me
And Oh, the joy
that floods my soul!
Something wonderful happened,
and now I know
He touched me
And He made me whole!
Having said all of that, I can't say whether or not having this tattoo (or the others I got prior to knowing the Lord) are a sin or not. I just know that I am glad there is grace in knowing Him, and I encourage us as Christians not to place a yoke around the necks of our brothers and sisters, as we do not always know the reasons behind some of the things we see or hear. I am reminded of what Joseph said to his brothers in Egypt and I can apply it's message to today's topic: What the world meant for evil, God meant for good.
Thanks for listening.
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