Tattoo

"Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus." Gal.6:17

"So, what do you think about tattooing? Is it a sin? Some of my friends said it's like defacing the temple of God. (Our body is like the temple of God), right?" She asked, after our Basic Christianity class, when we had our Starbucks as usual.

"Hhmm, and how about eating high-fat? How about laziness not exercising? Wouldn't those be damaging to our body, the temple of God too?" I answered.

"That's true."

"Usually what I do is I would be more interested in the motives behind the actions. Jesus did that when He talked about 'if you lust after someone, you committed the sin of adultery; if you hate, you committed the sin of murder.' It's the motive that defining the sin."

She was quiet so I went on. "Have you seen some people in our church with tattoos on them, some of them had it before they became Christian, but some really like it (they see it as art) and they have it done after they became Christian too. But then if they want to have a tattoo because all their friends have it, because they want to fit in; then the issue is no longer about the physical body, but about their self-image, about peer-pressure, etc. You got my drift?"

She nodded.

"So, are you thinking about getting a tattoo?"

"No," she said sheepishly, "I already had one. Last week I went and I got my first tattoo ever. It hurts so much, but I think it's worth it. I got a cross tattooed on my body."

"Wow."

"I just want to mark this period in my life, where I have been experiencing God a lot. So I wanted to get a mark of God, to remind myself, and to be protected by Him. And I have been feeling this Presence with me all the time."

She continued, "Except for halfway through the process, my friends told me that it was a sin."

I laughed with her, "It wasn't."

I still couldn't believe what I was hearing, "It's so cool what you have done. It's an action expressing your belief; similar to the ritual of baptism in the church. I think the church would scare people off with tattooing for baptism, so they settled for dunking people in cold water instead..."

That was so cool.

Hey, you - There is this verse for you for the occasion: "Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus." - from the Apostle Paul.