Lausanne World Pulse – Themed Articles – Christian Tattoos: Sacred Ink or Unholy Blemish?
July 2006
Tattoo is a language of sorts; a language of ink under flesh. Tattoo is an idiom of ancient and emerging generations. If we are to reach people of every tongue, tribe and nation (see Revelation 7:9), it will be necessary to speak the languages of the various emerging tribes. Many people today are subdividing into smaller “tribal” units. For some tribes, tattoo is their visual language. Throughout history, many world languages have used visual symbols to communicate; examples of this are modern Chinese and ancient hieroglyphics. Tattoo has lately also become a modern Western symbol-language and brings fresh opportunities to speak God’s word visually.
Sacred Ink is an Internet outreach tool or bridge that exists to speak the language of ink and Jesus. In late 2005 God gathered a team of people to bring glory to himself by reaching less-reached people in a less-used way. Sacred Ink is an Internet faith-art project directed toward individuals who are convinced about tattoo but unconvinced about Jesus. It is a presentation of the “faith stories” of seventeen Christians who bear indelible marks on their bodies that illustrate their indelible connection to God. The separate personalities, images, stories, kinetics and soundscapes of Sacred Ink weave together to form a visual and voice narrative of hope and grace.
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As cultures change, new roads must be paved to take us to the market squares of the new emerging tribes and their cultures. The Internet is one of the highways into the midst of many of the new tribal people groups in this digital century.
Sacred Ink uses the Internet superhighway to travel to new tribes, and people have been responding favorably to the presentation. In the few short weeks since Sacred Ink has gone live online, thousands of people have viewed it in over fifty countries around the world.
Both online and real-life relationships can be cultivated though using tech-testimony sites like Sacred Ink. I recently had the opportunity to reconnect with an old acquaintance through Sacred Ink. This woman is not warm toward Christianity; however, she said she enjoyed the site. We emailed back and forth and scheduled a time to meet. After spending the day at an art exhibit with several of Sacred Ink team members, she commented that if she were going to get involved in a formal religion, it would be Christianity. She was amazed at the way we loved one another. The website was a bridge for her to hear the personal stories of believers in a format that was of interest to her. The Sacred Ink website was the door that allowed her to have face-to-face contact with living, breathing Jesus-lovers.
In another email one young man mentioned that he had felt very alone as a tattooed believer but was greatly encouraged to read that there were others who shared both faith and tattoo.
Websites can be wonderful places for storytelling about Jesus and they can make pathways for real life meetings, church invitation, further cyber-discussion, encouragement, evangelism and bridge building in general.
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Chuckk Gerwig is creator of Sacred Ink. He is also pastor to youth and their families at Santa Cruz Bible Church in Santa Cruz, California, USA. |
