By Lauren Davis

Language and meaning have taken on various roles throughout the construction of society for centuries. Hand in hand, they can persuade and manipulate or nourish and create. They can tear down and destroy or build up and edify.

Words are complex, contrasting, symbolic and simple in nature. Meaning can be concrete and it can be transformational like clay---formed by the tongue or hands of their author. Meaning can be misunderstood and cause conflict and war, and it can be so crystal clear that it no longer beckons further explanation. Words are proper, elegant, grammatical, informal, lyrical, and relational. There are moments in life that leave us speechless and words simply cannot envelope its entire experience.

Our expressions come in various forms of art like poetry, painting, music, photography, sculpting, dancing, building, and tattooing. Isn’t this beautiful? This tool we have been given to utilize and cultivate meaningful connections with each other. So often we read these connections at face value that we don’t make time to research the meaning of the original text. We often take things out of context, and don’t slow down to listen to a different perspective beyond our own. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what happens when beauty doesn’t dwell there?

Today, tattoos have taken on a view of art and iconography. Not all tattoos are signs of apostasy, slavery, meant to worship other gods, or are a propitiatory offering to the deities who presided over death and the grave. They can speak sacred stories unique to one’s journey--even faith journey. Some serve as a memorial for losing a loved one, helping heal the pain of miscarriage, lifelong mantras to live by daily, celebrating vows made with a spouse, covering up scars from self-injury, or remembering one’s calling in life. Nadia Bolz-Weber shares in her book, Pastrix, about getting a tattoo of Mary Magdalene on her right forearm when she realized she was called to be a preacher of the Gospel. She was reminded of Mary’s ability to show up and proclaim what is real, which is considered a great spiritual practice.

These tattoos are sharing what is real to the human experience, much like the stories we see on stained glass windows inside church walls. So why then are people with tattoos in churches still being met with judgment? Is the person casting judgment a response to an inability to accept the reality that tattoos don’t have to be inherently sinful anymore? Instead of noticing the intricate lines of a sacred story, they paint broad strokes of Leviticus 19:28 as if the person wearing the ink is no longer holy or irredeemable.

If you are or have been the person holding the paintbrush, I challenge you with a question. When was the last time you saw God in all the wrong people? As a tattooed Christian woman, I also desire the pursuit of holiness. This pursuit is unique for everyone we meet. I forgive you for judging me, but there are others who have not heard the message of the gospel. This judgment is not helping others come to know the love of God. Because of the gospel, I am free from the negative connotations associated with tattoos. I am free from the lingering feelings of being lesser than after a stranger makes a rude comment about my tattoos. I am free from the stereotypes associated with tattooed women. Please, see me as a child of God before seeing me as something lesser than human. I am tired of being a victim of bad theology-- I am fearfully and wonderfully made. The world may look down on people with tattoos, protect their image or reputation by not associating people with tattoos, or even see people with tattoos inside a glass box for them to be entertained.

Whatever the response may be, I hope to meet them with grace and forgiveness no matter how annoyed I get. I hope over time, I can be seen as a child of God first and foremost, and the symbolism behind my tattoos can be honored until I am ready to share their stories.

Lauren Davis is a Trained Spiritual Director, Covenant Partner of Retreat House and Writer. She would love to hear from you.