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

[ChristB4us]

1 hour ago, farouk said:

@ChristB4us My wife and I talked to a young lady with the whole of John 3.16 tattooed on her wrist area. She seemed to have a quiet joy and determination about having had it done. I can imagine her having gone earnestly into the tattoo parlor with the definite expectation that it would lead to testimony opportunities.

Paul - it may be remembered - strongly argued against compulsory circumcision. But he also circumcised Timothy because of likely increased testimony opportunities for Timothy among Jews who would learn that Timothy was circumcised and thus would be more likely to listen to his testimony.

I know it's different; but maybe a similar principle applies?

Do you have a scriptural refence regarding Paul having circumcised Timothy?

I thank you for sharing and although I will not get a tattoo or wear a necklace with the cross or on a tie clip on a regular basis, I am not opposed to it.

[farouk]

16 hours ago, NConly said:

What Heart2Soul said was a little before my time I believe. I remember hearing that as a teen. It was not like that when I was in, tats were hardly mentioned some had them some didn't. Mine came after I was out.

@NConly Okay. I see.

And I think you also said back a bit that once you had finally gotten your first one, you subsequently acquired a few more steadily, right?

I was just commenting to @Ps37 that once the hurdle of the first one is gotten over, it can become something that one is rather confident about thereafter:

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

FYI:

"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."

christianityboard dot com

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

(Did you consider the poll options, above?)

[farouk]

Thanks to all who voted in the poll so far.

NB: If you have not voted yet in the poll, please vote now.

[NConly]

49 minutes ago, farouk said:

@NConly Okay. I see.

And I think you also said back a bit that once you had finally gotten your first one, you subsequently acquired a few more steadily, right?

I was just commenting to @Ps37 that once the hurdle of the first one is gotten over, it can become something that one is rather confident about thereafter:

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

FYI:

"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."

christianityboard dot com

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

(Did you consider the poll options, above?)

I  think most worry about the pain aspect of getting a tat. They do not know that 9 times out of ten they have already went through 2 or 3 times more pain when they bumped their shin on a coffee table and survived that ordeal. Yes like many things in life one is afraid to take the first step, once that is done and one realizes it was not hard it is easy, they may do it again. Like anything some go to far and tat every inch of skin I would nor suggest that.

[farouk]

5 hours ago, ChristB4us said:

Do you have a scriptural refence regarding Paul having circumcised Timothy?

I thank you for sharing and although I will not get a tattoo or wear a necklace with the cross or on a tie clip on a regular basis, I am not opposed to it.

@ChristB4us Acts 16.1-3 records that Paul circumcised Timothy. This was a as a witness opportunity because Jews who knew he had been circumcised would more likely listen to his testimony.

But in Galatians 2.3-5 Paul explains that compulsory circumcision as part of law-keeping undermines the Gospel and so Titus was not required to be circumcised.

Today, although the doctrinal framework is rather different, people can get tattooed for a variety of reasons.

In a quote mentioned earlier a nurse referred to it as (almost) a supposed requirement:

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

"Corgiverse RN

At this point- honestly it’s almost a requirement. Every single one of my coworkers is tattooed." reddit dot com

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

This is incorrect, of course: No one is required to become tattooed.

But another poster - writing from different circumstances - describes how at first she struggled with the very idea of getting tattooed.

But, she in due course did go ahead and went to the tattoo parlor and came round to the view - as did others - that faith based tattoos can be such a witness talking point that they are instead thoroughly worthwhile:

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

FYI:

"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."

christianityboard dot com

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

So in these two examples one can maybe see quite different mindsets. One, about getting tattooed because it is supposedly a requirement; the other, something which, if initial reservations can only be overcome, can prove to be the occasion of personally, really appreciated inking in a design that will become part of one's faith-related discourse with others.

(So you see the difference?)

 

[farouk]

3 hours ago, NConly said:

... the first step, once that is done and one realizes it was not hard it is easy, they may do it again.

@NConly This was likely your experience also, right? not that you would ever have feared the pain; but successfully receiving one led to receiving several.

Becoming a tattoo artist can also be something like this. There may be initial reluctance; but if vigorously pursued can lead to a lot of work with a steady client base, and to a discovery that there are just so many people - potential clients - out there really wanting a capable artist to give them good inkings.

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

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

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

I guess this wider background is also part of the potential for faith based tattoo designs today. (So I guess the poll results will be interesting.)

[ChristB4us]

35 minutes ago, farouk said:

@ChristB4us Acts 16.1-3 records that Paul circumcised Timothy. This was a as a witness opportunity because Jews who knew he had been circumcised would more likely listen to his testimony.

But in Galatians 2.3-5 Paul explains that compulsory circumcision as part of law-keeping undermines the Gospel and so Titus was not required to be circumcised.

Thank you for sharing that information.  

Quote

Today, although the doctrinal framework is rather different, people can get tattooed for a variety of reasons.

In a quote mentioned earlier a nurse referred to it as (almost) a supposed requirement:

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

"Corgiverse RN

At this point- honestly it’s almost a requirement. Every single one of my coworkers is tattooed." reddit dot com

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

This is incorrect, of course: No one is required to become tattooed.

But another poster - writing from different circumstances - describes how at first she struggled with the very idea of getting tattooed.

But, she in due course did go ahead and went to the tattoo parlor and came round to the view - as did others - that faith based tattoos can be such a witness talking point that they are instead thoroughly worthwhile:

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

FYI:

"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."

christianityboard dot com

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

So in these two examples one can maybe see quite different mindsets. One, about getting tattooed because it is supposedly a requirement; the other, something which, if initial reservations can only be overcome, can prove to be the occasion of personally, really appreciated inking in a design that will become part of one's faith-related discourse with others.

(So you see the difference?)

I see the difference although I wonder if that nurse co-workers were all believers in Jesus Christ or that the Christian hospital was making it a requirement for all workers regardless?

Usually when it comes to hospitals, they do not allow anyone to talk about their faiths in Jesus Christ les they offend some people, but I reckon with a Christian tattoo or a Christian shirt or a cross on a necklace, or whatever, that can start the conversation from another and so they are free to talk about it when asked.

 

[farouk]

16 hours ago, Mr. M said:

I can't question other people's methods due to their liberty in Christ......

@Mr. M I think - as per Romans 14 also - it is a subject about which inevitably there will be various views among Christians.

[farouk]

8 hours ago, Ps37 said:

The incident the other day seemed to be effective!

@Ps37 PS: Following on from your earlier comment as regards effectiveness, it seems like some older Christians now even regret not having gone to the tattoo parlor - as so many young Christians now do today - for a faith based design when they were young believers.

FYI:

Dave L said:

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.  christianityboard dot com

 

Probably some Christian parents now - instead of fighting the fact that their Christian son or daughter may wish to receive a Bible verse tattoo as a witness tool - would instead quietly facilitate their son's or daughter's visit to the tattoo parlor; i.e., from somehow vaguely fearing the tattoo needling machine to quietly helping them embrace it, so to speak. (Further 2c, if this makes sense?)

[NConly]

2 hours ago, farouk said:

@NConly This was likely your experience also, right? not that you would ever have feared the pain; but successfully receiving one led to receiving several.

Becoming a tattoo artist can also be something like this. There may be initial reluctance; but if vigorously pursued can lead to a lot of work with a steady client base, and to a discovery that there are just so many people - potential clients - out there really wanting a capable artist to give them good inkings.

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

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

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

I guess this wider background is also part of the potential for faith based tattoo designs today. (So I guess the poll results will be interesting.)

Yes, the pain was not scary for me and one made it easy for more. I would be sued  

to many times if I were to ink people.