Friday, May 18, 2007
Do Words Make It So?
This one will be breif. Over at The Point, they wondered a while ago about "missional" tatoos
Is it possible that a tattoo could be used towards redemptive ends - of course it is, but that end will only be achieved by the person having and seeing the tattoo, the art itself is neutral. As a nail gun can be a tool of fantastic use or a weapon of incredible violence and cruelty, so it is with literally everything in our world.
God redeems us and uses us to redeem others. God's mission, as we execute it, is to people not things. We are sanctified, not objects, art, or buildings. Things gain their holiness by our designation, which we are able to grant because of the holiness God has granted to us.
Don't show me your tattoo, or your cathedral, and tell me it is "part of your ministry." That same tattoo, or cathedral, on or inhabited by different individuals can ridicule, or worse be used for evil.
SHOW ME YOU! If you are redeemed and redemptive, if you are called and on a mission, if you are sanctified, then you can tell me about what tool you use in that mission. Too often we let the tools substitute for the work we have to do on ourselves.
Related Tags: ministry, tools, tattoos, cathedrals, sanctification, mission
But are tattoos merely a matter of taste? Is it possible that there is a redemptive, missional use for tattoos that I may have completely overlooked?This question reflects a trend that is undeniable - throw a "Christian" label on something and it therefore becomes "redemptive", "missional", or "sanctified." Labels do not make a thing so.
Is it possible that a tattoo could be used towards redemptive ends - of course it is, but that end will only be achieved by the person having and seeing the tattoo, the art itself is neutral. As a nail gun can be a tool of fantastic use or a weapon of incredible violence and cruelty, so it is with literally everything in our world.
God redeems us and uses us to redeem others. God's mission, as we execute it, is to people not things. We are sanctified, not objects, art, or buildings. Things gain their holiness by our designation, which we are able to grant because of the holiness God has granted to us.
Don't show me your tattoo, or your cathedral, and tell me it is "part of your ministry." That same tattoo, or cathedral, on or inhabited by different individuals can ridicule, or worse be used for evil.
SHOW ME YOU! If you are redeemed and redemptive, if you are called and on a mission, if you are sanctified, then you can tell me about what tool you use in that mission. Too often we let the tools substitute for the work we have to do on ourselves.
Related Tags: ministry, tools, tattoos, cathedrals, sanctification, mission
