I’m here to admit a deep, dark secret I have…when I see someone who has a lot of tattoos and piercings, I automatically think…alcoholic, drug addict, devil worshiping, axe murderer…Some even scare me a little.
(Okay! Don’t hate! I’m being honest here.) And I feel very ashamed, because I know better than to “judge a book by its cover”, as the old saying goes.
When my daughter, Hollie, turned 18, she came home with the side of her nose pierced..cu-u-ute!! Then she came home with a tattoo…um oka-a-ay…then another piercing…uh oh!...then another tattoo…and another…and another…(Hollie! What are you doing?)
But when I look at Hollie, with all her tattoos and piercings, I don’t see an alcoholic, drug addict, devil worshiping, axe murderer, I see someone who wants to be a youth minister, photographer, and tattoo artist; someone who is caring and has a big heart…but a little moody at times.
So I started thinking…just maybe I should stop ASSUMING that every person with a lot of tattoos and piercings is an alcoholic, drug addict, devil worshiping, axe murderer. Sometimes I see other people looking at Hollie that way, and secretly, I want to punch them. (Hey! I said I was being honest.)
Everybody is guilty of having judged somebody at one point in their life, either because of the way a person looks or the way they're dressed or the way they act, maybe even because of the kind of car they drive or where they live. But the Bible tells us in Luke 6:37 “Judge not and ye shall not be judged; Condemn not and ye shall not be condemned, forgive and ye shall be forgiven."
Hollie says the reason she got the tattoos and piercings is so she can reach out to others like herself, because most of this large group of people don't attend church because "Christians" judge them (because of the way they look), and she wants to show them that Jesus loves everybody no matter what they look like, and that they can be a Christian and go to church even if they do have tattoos and piercings.
I think we can all learn a lesson from Hollie and the above Bible verse to not be so judgemental of others. If we spent more time getting to know a person first, instead of instantly judging them, this just might be a nicer place we live in. WWJD.
P.S. If you do have a lot of tattoos and piercings, don’t worry, I know longer think you're an alcoholic, drug addict, devil worshiping, axe murderer!
