Today on facebook, Kendra’s brother Jeff linked to a great post about a very bold and practical application of loving thy neighbor. (Click on the image above to link to and read the post). The person in this article did not shy away from her neighbors. She confidently entered their world, attempted to see things from their perspective and then boldly explained that she was there to love her neighbors. You can assume from my link to this article, that I liked what I read. Most of you know that this is something I would probably do myself…if only I lived in a more urban environment. 
Let me ask the readers of theMT, did this woman engage the culture? Was this an appropriate step in reaching out to her neighbors and beginning to share the love of Christ with them? Let me know what your overall impressions were of this story.
Quietly making noise,
Fletch
Posted on October 14th, 2009 by Fletch
Filed under: Fletch
I think this is a great way to reach out…she was loving and kind, not judgemental at all. She spoke the truth in love.
My husband has full sleeves, (all Christ centered) he will say that when he first got tattoos, it was for what he thought was the ‘cool’ factor…but soon began to see what a tool they were for him to be able to love, and share the gospel with people in tattoo shops…he lead a couple to the Lord once while at a tattoo shop.
We have had people get mad at him for this approach saying you do not need to “get into costume” to share the gospel and while we agree, that is not what my husband was doing…he has however been able to be welcomed into the tattoo world like I couldn’t do myself (even our pastor says the same thing, that he could not go into a tattoo shop and be received as well as say Mark is).
Mark just asked me to say that whether or not you get a tattoo to share with them, they need to know that you are sincere, you need to create friendships with them!
Anyway that is my jumbled take on the subject…hope I made sense:o)
Because of Christ,
Kelly
Thanks Kelly. In general I’m not advocating an “end justifies the means” approach and I do agree that there are clear limits to what we should do for the sake of the gospel message (i.e. “don’t change the message” and “don’t sin in order to share the message”). What I think I loved about this story was not the willingness to ink herself up (and I have zero issues with tattoos – and would love to see pics of your husbands), but I loved that she was willing to LOVE her neighbors first and foremost.
My previous post…engaging in culture did not emphasize enough that there should be an effort to genuinely care about those in the culture that you are trying to reach. God loves His elect and for some reason he has chosen to use us to carry his message of salvation. As John Piper says, God chose to use broken clay pots to hold the most vital message for the lost. Shouldn’t we make an effort to love those that He is using us to reach?
Thanks for the comment Kelly!
Exactly Fletch!
I will be honest and say that I am not so sure how I would feel about moving to the south side of Tucson, but I will add that after reading about this woman’s love for people (all people, not just in the area of getting tattoos) I feel convinced that that is what Jesus meant when He said “Go therefore and make disciples” or “Go and do likewise.”
As I said in my above comment quoted from my husband the people you talk to have to know you really do care before they respond to anything you say to them, again not just in tattoo shops, but in life in general!
I don’t mean to toot my husbands horn so to speak, but he is so like Beth with everyone we run into…and he does not do it for himself or to put on airs, in fact half the time I do not even know what he is doing in loving people or to the extent he goes until he is already ‘friends’ with people. (i.e. Mark recently suffered a brain injury caused by pain meds he was in for chronic pain, and he uses a cane or a walker to get around (a cane on his ‘good’ days) anyway we were walking into a grocery store and a homeless guy was outside the grocery store crying in pain and could not get up and he asked Mark for his cane and Mark just up and gave it to him…he just gave it to the guy talked to him for a while offered to pray with him, and then hobbled into the store, got a wheelchair and bought the guy a water, and then went about shopping for groceries with me, without saying a word about it…and every time we are in that neighborhood, he looks for the guy…so far we have not seen him again, anyway it is just the way he is and it is the way I wish I was with people.
I tend to be more judgemental about their intentions rather then just love on them no matter what! I want to be like Jesus, Mark & Beth!
/end babbling
I think the key is the verse, “I am the vine, you are the branches… apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
Beth may very well have been acting in concert with Jesus when she marched over to the Tattoo shop and identified herself with those men. I could do the same thing and be completely out of synch with Him. But, as I abide in Christ, He moves *me* to do something uniquely designed for His glory. Let us each abide and bear fruit!
This is a great story. I very much enoyed it. Good for her, she really stepped out of her comfort zone and is embracing what “love your neighbor” is all about. I personally have several tattoos, but they are all hidden under my clothes. Very few people see them and they are very personal to me. It would be interesting to use them more as a way to enter conversations about the Kingdom, instead of hiding them. Thanks for sharing!
By the way, i don’t personally have any tattoos, but my step-son and his wife have enough to go around for the WHOLE family – and then some! My daughter-in-law’s parents own a well-known tattoo shop here in Modesto, and so the whole family is tatted! This has led to some interesting thought processes for Rick and I, since neither of us have any tats. For a long time, we felt out of place at family gatherings, and also learned a whole new meaning for “the little black dress”. Their tats were never an issue for us, although it is an interesting form of art. God had to remind me that He looks at the heart, not the skin.
Andy… “End of the Trail” on McHenry. Tell Charlie I sent you!
I think it is so intriguing how we can fear others so much. We are all created in God’s image, we all were born into the same world, we all have friends, have to make a living, and live together, and yet we can fear others, thinking they are so different from ourselves. Satan smiles on this. This is his plan. If we can all isolate ourselves from living in community, then we will struggle. I love when I experience friendship the way this woman did. Once you cross over into the unknown, you have a chance of gaining new friends and new opportunities to share our story of salvation with others. Thanks for the link. It reminds me of the blessings God gives us when we obey and love thy neighbor:)
I heard this song today and it made me think of Beth…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5Svz6YFtkI&feature=player_embedded
Ok, so this is good encouragement.
I’m glad she didn’t live next to a strip joint…