Tattoos as a form of Christian outreach?

faroukfarouk said:

A lot of Christians find faith based tattoos are a proven conversation starter, right?

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I personally always notice them, and I always ask, "Are you a Christian?" And then the conversation takes off from there. One example in particular is, I didn't know that a guy on my flag football team was a Christian. One day when we were working out he was wearing a white shirt. Through his shirt I saw a tattoo of Jesus on his back. We spent the rest of the session talking about Christ and he sends me Christian stuff on FB now.

What is interesting about tattoos speaking of them now is that early Christians were usually marked for their faith as a punishment and used them to identify one another. Now it's on a whole new level.

Outward signs in general are good for the faith. I play pool a lot, and I saw a guy that I shoot against every once in awhile cross himself before racking. I didn't know he was a Christian. A conversation started there too.

Mikhael Disciple of Christ said:

Outward signs in general are good for the faith. I play pool a lot, and I saw a guy that I shoot against every once in awhile cross himself before racking. I didn't know he was a Christian. A conversation started there too.

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The inward and spiritual must come first; and the outward design is no guaranty of the inward and spiritual. But faith based tattoos are certainly effective conversation starters.

MikeK said:

Cool! You weren't on when President Reagan came aboard the ship in the early '80s, were you?

I believe I heard not to long ago that they finally got around to cutting Connie up. She sat mothballed for quite a while. Always a shame to see a once proud ship meet her end, I wish they could all be kept.

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I absolutely was...I got a the book of pictures, and my Mom, a friend of the president, got him to personally autograph them.
I was also there for an ABC special they did aboard the ship with Hank Williams, Jr.

Michie said:

What is interesting about tattoos speaking of them now is that early Christians were usually marked for their faith as a punishment and used them to identify one another. Now it's on a whole new level.

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Now ppl actively want them (including so many women).

Definitely. Although must say I am very, very choosy on what women choose in tattoos and where they choose to wear them. I see so many that just look like a graffitied wall. No rhyme or reason to it.

faroukfarouk said:

Now ppl actively want them (including so many women).

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i was thinking of getting a sacred heart on my shoulder

or a brown scapular on my chest.... but that would hurt.... lots....
the chest one I mean, I hear those hurt worst

The neck, head, face, and ribs hurt worst according to one of our tattooed friends. The chest I guess, is not too bad depending on where it is placed.

Rhamiel said:

i was thinking of getting a sacred heart on my shoulder

or a brown scapular on my chest.... but that would hurt.... lots....
the chest one I mean, I hear those hurt worst

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Michie said:

The neck, head, face, and ribs hurt worst according to one of our tattooed friends. The chest I guess, is not too bad depending on where it is placed.

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Tattooing from the neck up is beyond idiotic.

Looks bad too.

Mikhael Disciple of Christ said:

Tattooing from the neck up is beyond idiotic.

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Does anyone else watch Ink Master? The reason I bring up the show is because they had a Catholic priest on the show who wanted to get tattoos on both of his calves. One of a homeless junkie, which signified what he was at one point in his life. On the other, I believe of a saint or an angel, to show his current life in Christ.

I actually found this priest to be quite inspiring.

Sumwear said:

Does anyone else watch Ink Master? The reason I bring up the show is because they had a Catholic priest on the show who wanted to get tattoos on both of his calves. One of a homeless junkie, which signified what he was at one point in his life. On the other, I believe of a saint or an angel, to show his current life in Christ.

I actually found this priest to be quite inspiring.

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There are many ink shows these days, some of them very interesting.

A pity that on some of them there is sometimes bad language.

faroukfarouk said:

There are many ink shows these days, some of them very interesting.

A pity that on some of them there is sometimes bad language.

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Bad language? How about the awful designs and ideas people get?

Sumwear said:

Bad language? How about the awful designs and ideas people get?

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What I guess I meant was that the shows are supposed to be about tattoos, successful or unsuccessful ones.

I guess any bad language that filters through as well is collateral damage.

faroukfarouk said:

What I guess I meant was that the shows are supposed to be about tattoos, successful or unsuccessful ones.

I guess any bad language that filters through as well is collateral damage.

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I honestly don't mind the bad language. The drama between the contestants is a joke. I just find bad tattoos more intolerable. On this same show, a person wanted a tattoo of an angel and a bible passage from Corinthians. The tattoo artist, instead, spelled it Cornithians.

Sumwear said:

I honestly don't mind the bad language. The drama between the contestants is a joke. I just find bad tattoos more intolerable. On this same show, a person wanted a tattoo of an angel and a bible passage from Corinthians. The tattoo artist, instead, spelled it Cornithians.

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If it's wording that is going to be on the skin, better get the spelling right!

If it's an oriental character that looks good, better figure what the meaning is first, in case it's something bad!

MikeK said:

I'm thinking mine isn't a great idea, as many people probably wouldn't get that it was an expression of faith but just think it random art. I like Michael's idea of a more direct, difficult to misinterpret statement.

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Is that a skull in the middle of your avatar? Skulls are very popular in tattoos, in one way or another.