Faith-based tattoo: as a result of one, did you ever talk with someone? (Poll included)

[amadeus]

@amadeus Good verses there, indeed.

I was thinking more of the Parable of the Sower, Matthew 13.30, where the fruit born of the seed sown in good ground is permanent: "But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

I do not disagree with that, but you said that 'faith' is permanent. It is not!

Faith is the Way God provided for men to travel to the Light. The Light is permanent. That road will be gone when it is no longer needed when we have each finished our course:

"But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." I Cor 13:10

That which is perfect, is that which is complete. When each of us is complete in the Body of Christ then we are at the "face to face" seeing even as He sees. No more through a glass darkly, no more faith. Then it is finished for us as it was finished for Jesus on the cross. Then we see clearly, and we know as He knows! When we are there then...

"And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." Rev 21:23

 

[farouk]

I do not disagree with that, but you said that 'faith' is permanent. It is not!

Faith is the Way God provided for men to travel to the Light. The Light is permanent. That road will be gone when it is no longer needed when we have each finished our course:

"But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." I Cor 13:10

That which is perfect, is that which is complete. When each of us is complete in the Body of Christ then we are at the "face to face" seeing even as He sees. No more through a glass darkly, no more faith. Then it is finished for us as it was finished for Jesus on the cross. Then we see clearly, and we know as He knows! When we are there then...

"And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." Rev 21:23

More good verses there.

In commentary about the Parable of the Sower, some of the Puritan writers would speak of 'temporary faith', referring to the professions which are choked and destroyed by the thorns and stones, in distinction to the lasting fruit of faith which comes about when the seed falls in good ground. Hence I guess the analogy in my mind.

 

[amadeus]

More good verses there.

In commentary about the Parable of the Sower, some of the Puritan writers would speak of 'temporary faith', referring to the professions which are choked and destroyed by the thorns and stones, in distinction to the lasting fruit of faith which comes about when the seed falls in good ground. Hence I guess the analogy in my mind.

I believe that you should consider carefully what I said before presenting it as an analogy. What is the whole picture according to God? What do men see now? Different men are at different places along the highway of holiness with different personal backgrounds and/or experiences do not see precisely the same things. You do want to communicate God's message to each one of them when you open your mouth or write, do you not?

 

[farouk]

.... De-inking or trying an ink over ink.

@Taken Yes, well there is always this possibility which ppl would shrink from being forced into.

It can be done, of course.

For example, a Christian woman with the name of a non-Christian ex-bf tattooed (e.g., BILL) could with the help of a good tattoo artist have 'BILL' changed to 'BIBLE', for example, in order to reflect her developing convictions instead, rather than be perpetually reminded of a period in her life which is now definitely over.

 

[Taken]

@Taken Yes, well there is always this possibility which ppl would shrink from being forced into.

It can be done, of course.

For example, a Christian woman with the name of a non-Christian ex-bf tattooed (e.g., BILL) could with the help of a good tattoo artist have 'BILL' changed to 'BIBLE', for example, in order to reflect her developing convictions instead, rather than be perpetually reminded of a period in her life which is now definitely over.

Sure, that is why I mentioned, Re-inking.
Have to admit, if a person is going to get a tat with writing, best to check that the tat artist can spell....

Ie; No Regerts. LOL

 

[farouk]

Sure, that is why I mentioned, Re-inking.
Have to admit, if a person is going to get a tat with writing, best to check that the tat artist can spell....

Ie; No Regerts. LOL

@Taken

Yes, good point. A let-down if the tattooee has to keep saying to ppl, Sorry about the typo....

A young woman that my wife and I talked to had the wording of the whole of John 3.16 tattooed on her wrist area (her favorite Bible verse and mine also); and definitely if the quote were not letter-perfect its value as a witness tool might - depending on what the typo was - be lessened.

For her it seemed to be an opportunity which she evidently relished to have such wording inked in.

I know you said:

my skin is tatless.

Which is fine!

For the young woman my wife and I talked to, the opportunity for the witness tool was evidently worth ceasing to be tatless for....

 

[Taken]

@Taken

Yes, good point. A let-down if the tattooee has to keep saying to ppl, Sorry about the typo....

A young woman that my wife and I talked to had the wording of the whole of John 3.16 tattooed on her wrist area (her favorite Bible verse and mine also); and definitely if the quote were not letter-perfect its value as a witness tool might - depending on what the typo was - be lessened.

For her it seemed to be an opportunity which she evidently relished to have such wording inked in.

I know you said: Which is fine!

For the young woman my wife and I talked to, the opportunity for the witness tool was evidently worth ceasing to be tatless for....

I see, a conversation starter. I do not have a problem with starting a conversation with anyone. I prefer conversations in person, rather than, like this, a forum.

 

[farouk]

I see, a conversation starter. I do not have a problem with starting a conversation with anyone. I prefer conversations in person, rather than, like this, a forum.

@Taken

As Nancy indicated, it's now something that is done with a great deal of confidence:

tattoos ... everyone and their grandmothers has them now and, they do not a thing for me, what can I say? Pretty much every one I know, and that includes Christians and myself, have a tattoo so...I am not criticizing anybody here or anywhere...

In fact, Dave L said he even regrets NOT having gotten a tattoo as a witness tool when he was younger:

I think when I was a young Christian, a scripture or Christian art Tattoo would have helped me stake a claim as a Christian and made people aware early on. It would have helped sort out friends from the start. So I regret not having that as an option during that time. .. If I found myself in a similar situation to when I was young, I'd probably have a tattoo.

So you can see why some Christians strongly want to be inked up with conversation starter faith tattoos.

 

[farouk]

@Ronald Nolette Thanks for the 'like' just now.

Interesting also that Heavenhome commented this about ppl in their sixties in her area:

My dear Dad had two tattoos but that was from his navy days.

I have noticed however that lots of young girls have them and what is really noticeable is a huge amount are women say around their sixties .

christianforums

 

[Taken]

@Taken

As Nancy indicated, it's now something that is done with a great deal of confidence:

tattoos ... everyone and their grandmothers has them now and, they do not a thing for me, what can I say? Pretty much every one I know, and that includes Christians and myself, have a tattoo so...I am not criticizing anybody here or anywhere...[/quote]

In fact, Dave L said he even regrets NOT having gotten a tattoo as a witness tool when he was younger:

So you can see why some Christians strongly want to be inked up with conversation starter faith tattoos.[/QUOTE]

Sure, I can see that some Christians choose that, so do non-Christians, Criminals, gang members, lovers, have a strong favoring to be tatted.

I have a strong favoring to not be tatted. I have seen some beautiful tats and some horrendous tats. Have seen some that are writing, proudly baring their skin to show it, but can’t read it because a portion of the tat is stuck in a fat fold. So as a conversation starter, would it be polite or impolite to ask what is said in the fat fold? lol oops.

 

[farouk]

Sure, I can see that some Christians choose that, so do non-Christians, Criminals, gang members, lovers, have a strong favoring to be tatted.

I have a strong favoring to not be tatted. I have seen some beautiful tats and some horrendous tats. Have seen some that are writing, proudly baring their skin to show it, but can’t read it because a portion of the tat is stuck in a fat fold. So as a conversation starter, would it be polite or impolite to ask what is said in the fat fold? lol oops.

@Taken

Well, I think maybe at least part of the key is that so many ppl are comfortable not only with being tattooed but also with ppl knowing that they are tattooed.

GodsGrace said: ↑

almost every young girl I know has some sort of tatoo.
Even those very conservative types. .. I was at the beach area the other day, and girls are full of tattoos. I never notices so many before

I guess part of the point here would be that it's not merely comfortable with being tattooed young women but with the being known to be tattooed young women.

Like GodsGrace says, even the very conservative ones do it.

Presumably those who are comfortable with others knowing that they are tattooed are not necessarily averse to their tattoos becoming a conversation starter (so you see logically the scope for faith based tattoos as witness tools, right? and certainly not merely on the beach.)

 

[farouk]

If you could convince all that tattoos have some special power to protect them ...

@Waiting on him I don't think ppl need to think in terms of being jinxed by a tattoo or else being 'protected' by it....

A better outlook would possibly be along the lines of whether for example a faith based tattoo design - such as a Bible ref. or quote on a wrist, etc. - would pragmatically make an effective conversation-starter or witness tool.

 

[farouk]

I have seen some beautiful tats and some horrendous tats. Have seen some that are writing, proudly baring their skin to show it, but can’t read it ....

@Taken Placement matters a great deal; wrist often works as a discreet and yet potentially visible placement for a small witness tattoo that is a Christian fish sign <><, or Bible ref. or short quote, etc.

It doesn't have to be big or in a summery, big bare skin type of placement.

 

[Taken]

@Taken Placement matters a great deal; wrist often works as a discreet and yet potentially visible placement for a small witness tattoo that is a Christian fish sign <><, or Bible ref. or short quote, etc.

It doesn't have to be big or in a summery, big bare skin type of placement.

Sure. I’ve seen small and large tats, that are place on the skin boldly and discreetly.

 

[farouk]

You do want to communicate God's message to each one of them when you open your mouth or write, do you not?

@amadeus I appreciated the Bible verses quoted.

Seen from another perspective, the desire to communicate a message from the Word of God seemed to motivate all the young ppl with Bible verses tattooed with whom I have spoken, anyway...

 

[farouk]

From back:

...(changed it to —-> sounds like a good idea). I have spoken to at least one person with faith based tattoos, but not because of the tattoo (that was incidental). I have seen many more but never engaged in conversation with them. Interesting topic though.

@Michiah-Imla Seems like all the young ppl with Bible verses tattooed with whom I have spoken have thought it was a good idea, anyway.

They all seem to have received them as witness tools, as conversation-starters.

 

[Michiah-Imla]

From back: @Michiah-Imla Seems like all the young ppl with Bible verses tattooed with whom I have spoken have thought it was a good idea, anyway.

They all seem to have received them as witness tools, as conversation-starters.

If a tattoo was a starting point in getting someone saved I think it’s a good thing.

 

[farouk]

If a tattoo was a starting point in getting someone saved I think it’s a good thing.

@Michiah-Imla

In order to get a Scripture across to ppl, sometimes it can be done in a low key way which radiates wholesomeness:

tattoo hyphen awe dot blogspot dot com

 

[farouk]

Yes my teacher has had many tattoos I believe about 5 they all pertain to an objectively show lesson through the artwork of the tattoo.

Very clever. One is a tattoo of a cross on the top of his hand. He said it is a reminder of the need to die to the self and to remember to live for Christ, by faith in trusting in the death, burial, and resurrection.

@MatthewG To continue the theme of the discussion on the other thread just now: his tattoos would all seem to point to Scripture truths, right?

 

[farouk]

If a tattoo was a starting point in getting someone saved I think it’s a good thing.

PS: @Michiah-Imla

In fact, a while ago Dave L indicated that he regrets not having gotten tattooed with something faith based, when he was young:

I think when I was a young Christian, a scripture or Christian art Tattoo would have helped me stake a claim as a Christian and made people aware early on. It would have helped sort out friends from the start. So I regret not having that as an option during that time. .. If I found myself in a similar situation to when I was young, I'd probably have a tattoo.