What’s That on Your Face?
“You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead.” – Deuteronomy 11:18-28
I envy the conviction of people with extensive tattoos. From twenty feet away their hands or arms or faces mark them as different, distinct, committed to living out their path. Their identity is unmistakable and public, so full of integrity it becomes an emblem on their body.
Maybe I should take a cue from the tattoo enthusiasts. What if I hold the next new member class at the tattoo parlor? I could start with prayer, then dive into discussing a biblical text, then close out with people getting tattooed with their favorite verse. Think the Membership Committee would go for it?
Okay, maybe that’s a bit much, especially for me. After all, I’m the guy who came to his first day of college orientation wearing a suit. A SUIT. But whether we are wild or mild, toned down or cranked up, poised with grace or in-your-face, Christians should share something in common with the tops to tails tattoo types.
People are supposed to be able to tell what we are all about just by looking at us.
Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God. We are called to live this out so unmistakably, so publicly, with so much integrity that even from twenty feet away it should be obvious that something holy has taken root in our hearts and souls and hands and minds.
Prayer
O God of all things visible and invisible, make of my life a great work of evangelism. Help me show the wonders of Your Word to a world that needs You.
About the AuthorJohn Edgerton is Associate Pastor at Old South Church in Boston, Massachusetts.