On Christian Tattoos

As a teenage rocker, I fully expected to be a tattoo monkey. Every day, my arms were covered in flames, words, etc… Now, I’m pushing 28, and getting the first one seems a bit trite.

Honestly, I can say I’m glad to have skipped the tattoo train. Though it looks like quite a fun train to ride, it irks me. Why? Because it lets people wear their hearts on their sleeves—er, skin. With a tattoo, there is no longer the need to start a conversation to learn that someone loves basketball. The orange ball stuck on his arm proves it. And that cross bursting through the ball shows he loves Christian basketball. [No comment]

“Sure,” you say, “some people screw it up. I use these tattoos to open the door to conversation.”

Well, maybe you do. Unfortunately, most people (in my experience) use tattoos as a hypocritical bus pass. I mean, who needs to go to church, read the Bible, or attempt to honor God in daily life when Christian images are tattooed from head to foot? No one—right?

On top of that, these things look AWESOME!



Dude, check out the new tat that Mark got—it only cost $120, and it says Jesus. Isn’t that font cool? Mark really knows how to choose tattoos wisely, and he's such a good Christian! Oh, the pain and foolishness of pride. If salvation is as simple as marking yourself with permanent ink, what was the purpose of Christ’s work?

To save the foolish and proud, such as my uninked self.