Read My Tattoo pt. 1

Yesterday while driving I heard an interview with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on the radio. She was talking about her new book, Read My Pins. Apparently while she was SOS under Bill Clinton, she became known for the costume jewelry she wore to major international negotiations. The pins she donned reflected her feelings about the issues at hand, often making a specific commentary on the events of the day.

For example, she once wore a snake pin in reference to Saddam Hussein calling her a serpent. On another occasion Albright attended a meeting with Vladimir Putin sporting three monkey pins signifying Russia’s human rights violations in Chechnya and by association, Putin’s attitude. Albright’s simple explanation for illustrating her feelings through pins was as simple as, “It’s who I am.”

On a Sunday morning several years ago, one of the teaching pastors at the church I was attending came on stage to deliver his message and then told us he had “news.” He said he had made a big decision – one which might surprise us. He assured us he had cleared it with the church’s Elders, then he pulled up his sleeve to reveal a tattoo on his forearm. His message that day was on the topic of covenant – particularly the covenant God makes with us. He stressed the importance of understanding that entering into a covenant means that one agrees to follow-through on their end, no matter what the other party does. That of course, is how God covenants with us. No matter what we do, He lives up to what He promised. And as a way of reminding himself of that, our pastor told us he had the Hebrew word for “covenant” tattooed on his arm.

Then he told us the punchline. It was a temporary tattoo used to illustrate his point. He even gave everyone in church that day their own temporary tattoo just like his. But something inside me was so intrigued by his gesture (and by the tattoo itself) that I told myself I would one day get that tattoo on my arm, but that it wouldn’t be a temporary. I didn’t know what would need to happen to tell me the time was right, but I knew it would be something personal between God and me.

Last summer, I began to get the sense that the time to get inked was approaching. My daughter was nearing eighteen and she had decided she wanted to get a tattoo as soon as she was “legal.” I still can’t say exactly how I knew it was time to publicly display my covenant with God, but I knew it felt right. I was in the midst of a spiritual wrestling match as I tried to discern God’s will for the next phase of my ministry. As I reflect on it more than a year later, I think it may have been a gesture of trust on my part. Even though I sensed God was going to take me in a new direction, He had given me no glimpse into where He might send me next. But, I knew two things: First, I trusted Him to know what was best for me. And secondly, I knew he would reveal His plan at exactly the right time, according to His plan and not mine. And I knew He would keep those promises. So, I decided to be the family guinea pig and I went under the needle in August of 2008.

I went to the tattoo parlor with my wife, my daughter and my daughter’s friend in tow. I gave the artist the temporary tattoo I had gotten in church a couple of years before and asked him to duplicate it on my forearm. Interestingly, that one was too small to be copied exactly in the form of a real tattoo. The artist said the detail of the lines would be muddy if he made it as small as the original. As it turned out, the tattoo I got was approximately two and a half times larger than the temporary. I guess God wanted me to be BOLD in expressing my covenant with Him! Oh well…He has certainly been bold in showing His covenant with me.

I love that tattoo and what it stands for. I had hoped that many more people would ask about it than actually do. I thought it would be a great evangelism opportunity to explain how I got the tattoo and what it means. But so far, God has not chosen to use it that way very often. But just like Madeleine Albright, I feel very comfortable saying to those who do ask, and knowing deep inside myself, that it’s who I am – with God. (In future posts I’ll explain my other tattoo, and my earring .