Let's Have A Worthless Discussion About The Law

“Well Kevin, I’m turning to the dark side.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Tilting his head slightly down, with a smile Karl replied, “I’m getting a tattoo.”

I must admit that I was supprised. I wasn’t supprised that Karl would get a tattoo, rather, I thought it strange that he would associate it with being ‘dark’ whatsoever. Where would he even get such a thought to begin with? Christianity might be well known for it’s assaults on the gay community and its mixed standards on gender roles within its leadership. I don't hear much in the public realm on this one.

Within the church, there may be a great deal of resistance to that type of body decoration, but it remains both debatable and within our walls does it not? Karl doesn’t walk around pretending to be Mr. Christian or anything either, so why would he approach me about it in that way?

“You’re going to hell you know?”

That wasn’t my response. That was Adam. Adam says things like that, but he always says them with a smile so it’s okay. Besides, he was kidding. Adam goes to church but I really don’t think that he has any serious issues with tattoos or body piercings for that matter.

Karl proceeded to show us a picture of the emblem that would soon cover the inside of his right forearm. It was a replica of the English crest, having three weird looking lions, one on top of the other. Karl spent his early years living in the United Kingdom. You wouldn’t know it by talking to him because he came over as a young boy, before his native accent could catch.

To be honest, I do have some small reservations about the whole tattoo thing, so I spent much of that night thinking and praying about it. “Do I warn Him God? Is it necessarry for me to go there? If you want me to say something, I’m willing. He hasn’t got it yet so there is still time.”

By now I have landed myself at odds with those of you on both sides of the issue. For those of you who are for the body décor, you may not like the thought that I have any reservations whatsoever. For those of you who are con, you might be wondering why I didn’t threaten him with the fires of hell myself.

The opportunity never seemed to to come and neither did the words. The ultra conservative fundamentalist in me flet like he had failed. He should have been adequately warned. I should have pulled out my NLT and read him Leviticus 19:28
, “Do not cut your bodies for the dead, and do not mark your skin with tattoos. I am the Lord” It would have to be the NLT, because other translations don’t even use the word. If you’re going to cram the Bible down someone’s throat, you have to pick a version that says what you want it to say. Right?

But really, he doesn’t walk around saying that he’s Captain Chrsitian, so why wouldn’t he have one? I was at ease. So the non-churched guy wanted to paint his body. I could handle that. Until the next day,

“Kevin, what does Christianity say about tattoos?”

Oh Boy! Now was my chance to let him have it. The only problem is, I have to be completley honest with him.

“To be honest Karl, there is a great deal of debate over this one. The Bible does speak against tattoos but as far as I know, it’s only mentioned directly in one english version of The Bible and it’s only found in the law. The law isn’t something that many believers spend a great deal of tiime working through. Would you like to know my personal stand?”

“Yeah.”

“I think they belong on non-believers, but I also believe that there are bigger issues to be dealt within the church.

**********

I’ve shared that with you because I’ve been spending a fair bit of time wondering what things truly deserve to be called good. Some things are black. Some things are white. Some things should be painted grey.

Life isn’t black and white but there are some things that are quite straight forward. I should NOT walk into work and slaughter all of my co-workers. I should not steal from the company. I should not gamble away my life’s savings at the casino. Some things in life are white. I should remain faithful to my wife. I should love my children. Other aspects of human activity are grey.

The things that I call good are the kind of things that do not need to have any law written about them; things such as love, joy, patience and kindness. The things that flow out of a spirit led life are the things that I label as being good. Peace, faithfulness and gentleness, these are good.

I’ve never pretended to paint everything for you, but I do believe that The Bible does the best job of painting life as it is. Take alcohol for example. It speaks on several occasions against drunkenness and debauchary, but alcohol itself isn’t strictly forbidden. Is it? It’s painted in a rather dark grey.

On that note – just so you know, I had about 6 drinks last year. I plan to have a glass of wine or two on July the 3rd as well. (Unless there is a brother or sister there whom I know to be struggling against it.) It has its decent place, but it’s rarely used in that way.

Karl got his tattoo today, and he had the same question that many Christians have for me, “But what if a believer gets a tattoo of something from their faith, like a cross or something?”

I think Karl is going to be my brother someday. He seems to think just like one.