Tattoo

We just completed our most controversial series to date ... Tattoo. It was a series designed specifically with a Las Vegas culture in mind. Tattoos are commonplace in Las Vegas. Just an informal survey among the attendees of Grace Point Church revealed about 30-40% of those who attend our church have tattoos. Another large percentage of people are considering getting a tattoo. So we decided to do a series called tattoo.

The series focused on the concept that our lives are marked by something and the question for the Christ-follower is "what marks your life?" We talked about what it looks life to have a life that is marked by God.

In week one, we focused on the story of Cain and how God's mark on Cain was a mark of undeserved, irrational grace. It was a mark of protective love even though Cain deserved only judgment. We focused on God's unbelievable grace that marks our lives even when we don't deserve it. How grace is all about God and not about us.

In week two, we turned to the reason why the mark is necessary as we looked at what it means to be born with the mark of death on our lives. We then focused on the marks in the hands of Jesus which forever symbolize how far God was willing to go to restore our broken relationship and the mark of life that forever marks the life of the Christ-follower.

In week three, we shifted our focus to talk about what the life of a Christ-follower looks like. We looked at the mark of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer and how that mark guarantees our eternal life. We then turned to Galatians 5 to examine the Spirit-marked life from the perspective of the fruit of the Spirit.

In our final week, I gave a "line-in-the-sand" type talk from Galatians 6.11-17 and what the mark of the cross looks like in the life of the Christ-follower. We followed Paul's words there and how the cross-marked life is distinguished by being dead to self/world and alive to God. Paul's focus has less to do with the external and more to do with a heart relationship. We finished by turning to Leviticus 19 and talking specifically about the "anti-tattoo" verse and how it actually is a call to a heart relationship of holiness with God.

Kudos to a Louie Giglio sermon I heard along similar lines that became the inspiration for this entire series. Tattoo was definitely a benchmark series for us. We had several adults commit their lives to Jesus Christ during the series.

It was also a filter series for us as it helped define who we are and let people know how serious we are about reaching our culture with the gospel. We had people attend Grace Point during Tattoo who refused to step foot in church a month earlier. We were published in one of the most risque magazines in the valley as a result of the series. And we generated a ton of discussion about God both inside and outside the church. And yes we lost a few churched people who think the series went a little too far. But that's okay. God used it to communicate his incredible message of grace to a culture that so desperately needs to hear it.

I refuse to compromise the gospel of Jesus Christ. I refuse to ignore it, water it down, or alter it. I believe in the necessity of the gospel now more than ever. Yet I also believe the gospel needs to be contextualized in a way that engages the heart and mind of the hearer. I believe the gospel is a provocative message that causes people to run to it or away from it. During Tattoo, we made sure the gospel was sounded clearly. And at the end of the day, God blessed that commitment.

Perhaps the most controversial element of the series is that we allowed a couple of people in our church to get tattoos during the series (while I taught). They both got tattoos that symbolized their new walk with Christ (both of them have become followers this past year). Both of the tattoos are outward symbols of a new reality in their heart...kind of reminds me of the circumcision issue Paul dealt with ... it's not about circumcision or uncircumcision, tattoos or not tattoos, it is about a new creation.

Tattoo will be remembered for a long time. It helped define who we are and helped magnify a God whose grace goes beyond our finite comprehension. And no I do not have a tattoo (yet) :-)

Here are a few pictures from the series...

For the series, we decorated the entire room with large pictures of actual tattoos from people in our church. This is our series graphic. The symbol in the background is the Grace Point logo and one of our members actually has the logo on her wrist to remember this time in her life when God was working. Cool.

Here is our set design for the series.

Here are our two victims/volunteers who received a tat during the series. Cyndi got a phoenix on her shoulders to symbolize her "rise from ashes" over the past year and also 2 Cor 5.17 and her baptism date. Alex now has the word grace on his shoulder to symbolize God's grace work in his life. Both of them have become followers this past year at Grace Point. Way to go Alex and Cyndi.

Here is Chris, our resident tattoo artist, at work. Someone seriously asked during the series if Chris was our Tattoo Pastor.

Here I am with a couple of our guys. On my right is Kenny T - the man who is literally marked by the cross all over his body. He has several cool cross tattoos to symbolize God's work in his life. On my left is Mark, one of our drummers. Mark has been with GP since its early days. God has really worked in his life this year.