On Tattoos and Principles

I was sitting in a physician’s waiting room and my curiosity was aroused by a fellow waiter.  He was wearing what appeared to be a traditional small black cap.  This was not unusual because we have an active Jewish community in our little city.  What drew my curiosity was a small tattoo on his forearm.  I thought that was not permitted.* So, I took a deep breath and asked about it.  He was very nice.   He smiled and said, “Oh, that’s the way of our elders.  We younger Jews believe it’s okay.”   We then talked about the identification numbers that were involuntarily tattooed on Jews during the Holocaust.  I then said, “But you wouldn’t eat an Egg McMuffin at McDonalds?”

“No,” he laughed.  “I wouldn’t do that.  There are some things that don’t change.  As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t even work at McDonalds lest I would have to touch an Egg McMuffin.”

It was an interesting conversation and I was glad I had the courage to begin the exchange.  He was so right.  There are some things that never change. The principles of God’s Kingdom have always been and shall always be the same.  We love God with all our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves.  That is eternal.  What is wonderful is God trusts us to use our brains.  He has not given us a law book filled with thousands of details but allows us to react to specific situations by our thinking about what is the loving thing.

There is a world of difference in the freedom we have when we can respond to a principle instead of being fearful we have inadvertently broken a detailed law.  It is part of the joy of being a Christian.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 1, 2010

Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org