Christian tattooing calls to mind other trends
I have never been tattooed for Jesus. I must make this pathetic confession so everyone understands
I am not hiding anything from other believers. All surfaces of
my body are without ornamentation except for the hilarious wrinkles
and pouches of fat that litter the scene as I grow older. Yes,
I am a clean religious boy. You don't have to worry about coming to a swimming pool and
finding me covered with tattoos as I float by the diving board.
I am without Christian ornaments, symbols, signs, numbers or names.
Yes, without question, I am a clean religious boy. But the other day, as I registered for a Christian conference
I noticed a young lady sitting at the sign-up booth who had a
little religious cross tattooed between her breasts. It did gain my attention and as I studied this art, it occurred
to me that this young, attractive woman agreed to this tattoo
as a witness to her faith. In fact, I have been told that young
women in particular are not considered good born-again Christians
unless they can display a couple of tattoos. Further, it is alleged
that Jesus appreciates the practice of tattooing. All my life I have resisted these fads and I am now quite satisfied
I have done the correct thing. I also have never been to a nude
beach and if some Christian guru starts telling us that going
to a nude beach is the ultimate witness to our life with Jesus
- then I will have to find an excuse, fraudulent or truthful,
that will keep me high, dry and well-clothed. Or what if they tell us all Christian people should shave their
heads to provide evidence they are faithful believers? It was
almost that bad in the 1960s when young people were growing long
hair and parents and teachers were telling them that nice, decent
young people would have short hair - flat-top butch hair cuts
and other manly styles. Christian girls, meanwhile, would maintain
short curly hair that nipped at their rosy cheeks and made everyone
happy. I remember a high school principal in the community who was
punishing young people if their hair was too long. He also encouraged
athletic coaches to kick long-haired young people off school sporting
teams. Before long the hairstyles of the young people started getting
shorter but the parents, who had been lobbying for shorter hair
for years, were suddenly very concerned because their children
were being punished. Concerned clergy gathered one day to discuss this matter and
it was decided that a picture of the traditional Jesus would be
purchased at the local Christian bookstore. Then the picture,
which featured soft rolling curls that hung to the Lord's shoulders,
would be altered to show the curls wiped out with oil-based paint.
The curls would be replaced with a flattop, butch haircut, making
Jesus look a bit sinister and mean. When the principal opened the gift in the presence of a couple
of clergy, he was all smiles at the thought of receiving a gift
from the local ministerium. But when he saw the flat-topped Jesus
his eyes squeezed into slits, his mouth became a cauldron of disgust,
his chin began quivering with uncertainty. He literally could not speak. The hand holding the portrait
dropped to his knee. He stared at the floor and then out the window.
The clergy said nothing. Finally he looked up and sort of smiled. "So, what you're
trying to say is that all this outward stuff doesn't matter,"
the principal said. "What you want me to say is that Jesus
would have had a butch if that was the style in those days. I
know what you want - you want me to look beyond the haircut into
the real person. Is that what you want? I mean, I can do that." And he did learn to weigh the important aspects of a person's
life and identity. That is the lesson we all must hold close to
our mind, the real person is not identified by a hair-do and the
real measure of faith is not found in a tattoo.
Clark D. Morphew
Posted For June 19, 1999