Challenge Central: a CBC devotional
By: Pastor Lars Janssen
When I was 18 years old, I got a tattoo.
My parents thought I was making a strange choice, but they knew that arguing about it would only strengthen my resolve. My Oma (grandmother), however, made her disapproval clear. Our conversation went something like this:
Oma: “How could you waste money on something like that? You should have given it to a missionary instead.”
Lars: “But Oma, the tattoo has the words, ‘Once for all, never alone,’ around a cross. So it’s like I’m being a missionary every time someone sees it.”
Oma: “People will only see it when you aren’t wearing a shirt. How often will that happen?”
Lars: “Maybe at the beach …”
Oma: “… you should have used the money for something better.”
Looking back, I appreciate my Oma’s foresight. She knew that I would think about this tattoo for a long time after I got it, so she gave me something to think about.
I don’t exactly regret getting a tattoo because the truth of what I had written on my shoulder is eternal. It will always be true that Jesus dealt with my sin “once for all” (see Rom. 6:10; Heb. 7:27, 9:12, 26, 10:1, 10). And it is always true that having the Holy Spirit in me means that I am “never alone” in this world (see Matt. 28:20; John 14:18; Heb. 13:15). Some will think of Leviticus 19:28 (“You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.”), since it seems to forbid getting a tattoo. But getting my tattoo had nothing to do with pagan rituals or commemorating anything other than God’s faithfulness. So the context of Leviticus 19:28 still doesn’t challenge my conscience regarding my heart’s intentions in getting a tattoo.
My Oma is in heaven now, but I can still remember her saying, “You should have given the money to a missionary.” I now look back over the last 20 years of having the tattoo and wonder if it has led to any gospel conversations. I’m not sure it has, so maybe she was right.
In my life, it seems that it has not been the skin-deep marks, but the heart-deep wounds, that led to gospel conversations. I remember dealing with the after-effects of childhood trauma in my early thirties. When some non-Christian friends asked about my struggles, I was able to share how the once-for-all way that Jesus absolved my sins enables me to forgive what seems unpardonable. And I remember feeling confused and exhausted while grieving the loss of my mom in 2015. As those same friends shared my sadness, I assured them I was never alone because God was (and is!) always with me.
Here’s our challenge, Central: Jesus said we would be his witnesses (Acts 1:8). This means that we are witnesses to every time God has touched us—whether skin-deep or heart-deep. Telling people how God touches our lives grows us into God’s living letters, “written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Cor. 3:3).
