A Jackpot drizzled in ink

Posted by Jesus on April 29, 2007

It’s Sunday again, time for another believer to win the Jackpot. For those of you who are new here, the Jesus Jackpot is a weekly award given to one believer who shows innovation or clarity of purpose in their work. The award bestows instant acceptance into Heaven for the recipient regardless of past or future actions, as well as a whole list of other advantages. It’s really worth winning, so if you have a great idea you might want to put it in motion. Who knows, the next winner just might be you!

This week, though, it’s not you; this week it’s Billy Joe Henry from Nashville. He’s a tattoo artist who’s been through a lot in his life, having once been incarcerated for being a drug abuser. Now he’s set his life on an enlightened path and has taken his love of tattooing to a level which glorifies and promotes me. How awesome is that?

From the article:

[O]ne Sunday at church, Henry’s wife, Lynn Henry, felt God put it in her heart for Henry to open a Christian tattoo parlor.

“This is what he loved doing, and there needed to be a way for him to do something he loved doing,” she said.

The Henrys first opened a parlor in Indiana before moving to Nashville three years ago and opening Billy Joe’s Tattoos. They now live in Hendersonville with their 8-year-old son.

Billy Joe Henry said they now have a large Christian customer base but their “heart” is still to reach non-Christians.

This just goes to show that you can do pretty much anything and still dedicate yourself to God. Tattoos have long been a point of concern for judges and activists alike here in Heaven - there just isn’t a really solid and simple precedent on which to draw a conclusion - but this kind of thing sets a tone, so to speak. I don’t know that it’s so much tattoos which are a problem, but rather what they generally mean. Most of them do not glorify Dad and are intended to denote something other than His perfection. But what does the Bible say?

From the Bible:

“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (KJV)

It’s long been known that, well, the body is a temple. Some have held that any act which damages the body is a sin, which is to mean that piercings, tattoos, smoking, and eating unhealthy junk could all be offenses for which one might be judged. While this is technically true, the point I’d like all of you to take away from this is the meaning of the work defile as it relates to your body. Anything done to your body which doesn’t glorify Dad falls under the banner of defilement, which includes dressing it, washing it, feeding it, and yes, tattooing it. That’s why it’s so important to pray before you eat or put your clothes on. If you do get a tattoo, just make sure it’s one which pleases and glorifies Dad and we’ll call it a decoration to your temple and not a sin. It’s really that easy.

More from the article:

“It’s our way of witnessing to those who aren’t going to listen to a man in a three-piece suit telling them about Jesus and what he can do for them,” he said.

“I’m there for the nonbeliever, for the person that doesn’t know Christ. That’s where the mission field is: the nonbeliever.”

And more important than the reason one gets a tattoo is the reason a tattoo artist gives a tattoo. If the person applying the needle isn’t glorifying God in his work he can be charged with defiling a temple to which he has no claim. Over the course of a career a good artist can rack up thousands upon thousands of compounded charges. It’s a tough gig - you can imagine how hard it is to get good ink up here in Heaven. Billy here is doing his work for the purpose of reaching those whom no other can. It’s no different really than the preacher who holds men-only services in the gym or the preacher who kicks back and chats with his flock over some ice-cold brews. It’s a new and innovative way to reach people, and as a result Billy Joe Henry is picking up a one-way pass to the great truck stop in the sky.

Even more from the article:

Henry won’t tattoo any design “that glorifies sin,” he said. Limitations include marijuana leaves, profanity, peace signs and homosexuality. This sometimes drives away business, but Henry said he isn’t bothered.

“We try and make sure that everybody understands that we’re just a tattoo shop. We have different beliefs than a lot of other people, but we have great tattoo artists and great body piercers who do awesome work,” Billy Joe Henry said.

I just want to touch on a couple of final things here, just so nobody gets the wrong idea. Billy’s refusal to tattoo things which “glorify sin” is commendable, and is actually one of the primary reasons he was chosen to get the Jackpot today. Still, like many others among you he’s gotten things a bit mixed up. Profanity, peace signs, homosexuality, and a bunch of other things are absolutely off-limits to Christians as decorations on or off the body. Marijuana though - well, that’s just one of those things that’s been unrealistically and unfairly criminalized by a racist and immoral group of people who hijacked the USA for a little while in the early 20th century, and it’s maintained and suppressed by even more racist and immoral group of people today. We’re not going to hold it against Billy that he won’t tattoo it on anyone, but at the same time we don’t see any problem with someone wanting it tattooed on their body, so long as the intention of the ink is to somehow glorify God. Dad made it pretty clear a long time ago: if it’s there and it’s natural, you’re allowed to use and enjoy it.

And so, in recognition of his dedicated work toward furthering God’s Divine Plan for all beings, and for making available decorations to the temple which do not offend The Almighty, Billy Joe Henry is hereby awarded the great and wondrous Jesus Jackpot. Give him a slap on the back if you see him around or head in to get some ink from the man himself, he’s over in Nashville and he’s waiting to talk to you about the greatness of God.

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