'Christian tattoos to start a conversation as the Lord leads.'

[debrakay]

So....my story.  I have a 21 year-old grandson who loves the Lord.  He is fairly quiet and not one who jumps into conversations like his Grandmother (me).  He is now on his 3rd tattoo which I do not have a photo of yet but blends in with these.  When he is questioned about his tattoos it opens the door to share Jesus.  We just lost his Grandfather 8 months ago and "All is well" is what Grandpa said all the time since complaining is not a great conversation starter.  

[farouk]

6 hours ago, ApplePi said:

Where I live, people stare @ you weird if you're tatted. Some of them even ask questions. I got a tattoo on my ankle for that very reason. It's a rainbow butterfly w/ writing in Spanish ("no soy la misma", which translates to "I am not the same") & the date I became a Christian. Most people here only know English, so they ask what it means. That opens the door for a conversation if they want to keep talking. If nothing else, it plants a seed. 

@ApplePi

Thanks for your comment. (And for participating in the poll.)

Yes. Although for a while receiving some ink was regarded as a man thing, yet it's now long been something that so many women also regard as an ideal, tasteful way of expressing what's close to their hearts:

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Paula Castle took up tattooing after being made redundant from a sales job ..."I really did not want to do it. ...But I’m a bit of an all or nothing person so I said ‘yes’ and really pushed myself and I’ve not stopped...About 97% of my clients are female and that is universal across the board."

James McCarthy, Mirror dot co dot uk

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Regarding specifically Christian witness tools, my wife and I talked to a young lady with the whole of John 3.16 tattooed on her wrist area; it was her favorite Bible verse and mine also and I'm sure other conversations have arisen as a result of her original willingness to make her tattoo parlor appointment, even as your original willingness to do the same has indeed seemed to have given you as a tattooed Christian woman extra opportunities for witness conversations.

Even as the quote above seems to confirm just how compelling as a means of expression it is, yet from a Christian perspective so many young ppl seem to think so also: all the young ppl with Bible verses tattooed with whom I have spoken seem to have received their tattoos as witness tools.

(If indeed these comments ring true?)

 

[farouk]

8 minutes ago, debrakay said:

So....my story.  I have a 21 year-old grandson who loves the Lord.  He is fairly quiet and not one who jumps into conversations like his Grandmother (me).  He is now on his 3rd tattoo which I do not have a photo of yet but blends in with these.  When he is questioned about his tattoos it opens the door to share Jesus.  We just lost his Grandfather 8 months ago and "All is well" is what Grandpa said all the time since complaining is not a great conversation starter.  

Thanks @debrakay I see that like his grandmother your grandson really appreciates 1 Corinthians 13; (saw your header verse also).

And also like his grandmother he seems to have reckoned and discovered that a tattoo can be a tasteful way of expressing something.

Like I said to @ApplePi, it often proves to be a means of saying something that is close to one's heart:

.........................

Paula Castle took up tattooing after being made redundant from a sales job ..."I really did not want to do it. ...But I’m a bit of an all or nothing person so I said ‘yes’ and really pushed myself and I’ve not stopped...About 97% of my clients are female and that is universal across the board."

James McCarthy, Mirror dot co dot uk

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All the young ppl with Bible verses tattooed with whom I have spoken seem to have received their tattoos as witness tools, anyway.

So did you accompany your dear grandson to see him receive any of his inkings at the tattoo parlor?

(Kind of, so you could give him your moral support? or whatever.)

[debrakay]

6 minutes ago, farouk said:

So did you accompany your dear grandson to see him receive any of his inkings at the tattoo parlor?

(Kind of, so you could give him your moral support? or whatever.)

He lives 150 miles away so I did not get to support him.  The first one was the "All is well" in honor of Grandpa before he passed.  For 21 years he has grown up with Grandpa always saying "all is well" because of health conditions.  The Corinthians verse was a surprise to me but that is a verse our family has always spoken out.  I believe his newest is a cross with a verse from Philippians but I'm not sure.  I just texted him for a photo but that could take days.  It's the weekend! 

[farouk]

9 hours ago, debrakay said:

He lives 150 miles away so I did not get to support him.  The first one was the "All is well" in honor of Grandpa before he passed.  For 21 years he has grown up with Grandpa always saying "all is well" because of health conditions.  The Corinthians verse was a surprise to me but that is a verse our family has always spoken out.  I believe his newest is a cross with a verse from Philippians but I'm not sure.  I just texted him for a photo but that could take days.  It's the weekend! 

@debrakay I remember when I was in hospital something in the mind from Philippians was really good to meditate on, even though I couldn't read properly in my condition.

Sounds like, although a surprise, news of him having gotten the Philippians verse was a real delight to his grandmother!

Some Christians do seem to hesitate a bit before getting a faith based tattoo.

But once they have braved their hesitations they seem to not to regret it one bit; FYI:

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Mayflower said:

"I struggled with the idea of getting a tattoo. .. I think the pastor's wife has a faith tattoo.... quite a few in my church have faith based tattoos and my friend and I were talking about them....I've seen tattoos that have a lot of meaning like mine. I feel mine is special and thankful I got it. I haven't once felt guilty for getting it."

Heather A. said:

"I waited 5 years before getting it. .. Reno also has a lot of tattoo places. Carson City has a few. Most people travel to Reno or Las Vegas for it. .. I have 1 tattoo and I got it in Reno. .. I do have a cross tattoo. "

christianityboard dot com

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(If these quotes indeed make any sense?)

 

 

(( cc @ApplePi ))

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by farouk

[farouk]

28 minutes ago, debrakay said:

He lives 150 miles away so I did not get to support him.

PS: Oh so you're at a distance; sounds like you as his grandmother would have been really glad to go support and watch his inking emerge, anyway, if you had been nearer.

[farouk]

@ApplePi Re. you guessing correctly that getting tattooed would indeed work to bring testimony opportunities; I saw this quote:

Adrian Hein said:

the witnessing opportunities are definitely a benefit! I have Psalm 103: 8, 10 on my shoulder (in Hebrew) and while I was traveling in D.C. this summer, I had about 10 people (including an Israeli girl) ask me about its significance. It was only a brief minute with each of them, but a minute I could share the fact that God’s love and mercy are so extraordinary I’d literally inked verses that testify to these attributes on my body.

pastorjameshein dot wordpress dot com

[farouk]

Hi @Daniel Marsh FYI......did you see the poll, above?

[farouk]

@SIC FYI..................poll, above, started...............

[farouk]

On 6/1/2023 at 10:53 AM, AlsoBroken said:

Okay I see it above. I voted just now. I have no opinion on this question due to being very unaware of the Tattoo genre 

@AlsoBroken Thanks for your participation in the poll!