Lenten, Tattoos, and Goldfinches

The Cross as the Center of Christian Preaching

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. Mike Abendroth here in the helm on the bridge, James Tiberius Abendroth here on No Compromise Radio. It�s good to have you.

The tagline probably should be changed. It�s always biblical, always provocative. I�m not after controversy, I�m after provoking. I�m after the provocation of the young Reformed evangelicals and the old Armenian liberals.

Here we go again laughing at our own bad jokes. Before we get into the topic du jour today, the Montgomery Advisor, February 25th, 2012, montgomeryadvisor .com, an article written by Kate Shelnut, S-H-E-L-L-N-U-T-T.

I wonder what her great-grandfather did for a living. Kate Shelnut in the Houston Chronicle. So see, it�s not originally from the Montgomery Advisor, but the Houston Chronicle. There�s an article entitled, �Lenten Tattoos Catch on at Houston Church.

That�s probably the first clue that it was in Houston, at Houston Church. So here we have a bunch of dopey evangelicals at some kind of wild church, and you�ll know it�s a wild church by the name. I guess what�s in a name does apply here.

Years ago they had a church name generator on the internet, and you would type in, �I�m charismatic, I�m this, I�m that, and the other and you hit click, and then it would say, �Eagles Nest or if you said, �I�m emergent it would say, �The Journey that kind of stuff.

And so here it says, �Houston asking his congregation to get permanent tattoos as part of their Lenten observances may be one of the craziest things, Ecclesia Pastor, E-C-C-L-E-S-I-A. Ecclesia Pastor Chris Say.

Didn�t he play football? Oh, that was Junior Sayow. I think Junior Sayow has some serious tats, that�s for sure, but it wasn�t for Lenten observances in Houston. �Has done at his artsy pop culture savvy Montrose Church.

And so maybe that�s not how he promotes his church, and certainly the newspapers can get things wrongly, and they have their own agenda. And I remember once, it was probably 14 years ago, the local paper interviewed me, and they totally misrepresented me in terms of what I talked about, the theme, everything else.

I was taken out of context, and I didn�t like it at all, and it made me think, you know, every time I read something in the newspaper, maybe the newspaper people are doing that to the other person too, but I�m taking it as face value.

But if I was going to promote my church, it would not be because it�s artsy pop culture savvy. I wouldn�t do that. �Say and Ecclesia�s Artist in Residence. Oh, that�s interesting. Maybe I should fire Tuesday Guy Steve and just get an Artist in Residence.

�Scott Erickson initially hoped to find 10 people to get inked with designs representing the Stations of the Cross. Oh, that�s good. So now we�re not only into Lenten stuff, but now we�ve got Stations of the Cross, and you�ll see very commonly these days, emergent churches, mainline churches, liberal churches, evangelical churches, who buy into the whole Roman Catholic Stations of the Cross.

If you�re a Roman Catholic and you buy into it, I understand that. If you are buying into labyrinths and vintage stuff, Adventist faith and Santa Cruz, Greek paganistic labyrinth stuff, and then Richard Foster�s mysticism, I just don�t understand it.

I don�t like it and I don�t understand it. And here we�re getting tattoos, and it said, �They�ve been tattooed with Erickson�s custom-designed images of birds� hands� what�s that got to do with anything, hands?

�roses, trees, and short phrases written in the traditional sailor Jerry-style tattoo text. So, you know what, I know what a Jerry curl is, but I don�t know what a Jerry style is. I think those are two different things.

As a matter of fact, I�d probably bet a lot of money that those two are different. The tattoos will comprise an art exhibit for Lent, �Stations on Skin which opens at the church�s Ex Nihilo gallery on Saturday.

What else does it have to say here? �The such-and-such member, Wayne Brown a staff member even, those churches usually don�t have members, �who got his first tattoo, a black-and-gray open palm with the words, �We are healed to represent the seventh station when Jesus is nailed to the cross.

The designs use new typical religious images, no giant wooden crosses. We wouldn�t want any crosses in that image of Jesus on a cross, burying our sins, assuaging the holy wrath of God due us, holding up God�s righteous law, yet still being loving and kind towards sinners and able to forgive them.

We wouldn�t want any of that. Our descriptions of Jesus� face, depictions of Jesus� face, either descriptions or depictions. How do you put a description of Jesus� face on your bicep? Instead, Erickson used Russian prison tattoos and Sailor Jerry tattoos as inspiration, hoping the designs would prompt questions and give Christians the opportunity to explain the meaning behind the artwork on their arms, shoulders, feet, and backs.

Hey, that�s cool. Wait, it�s not so cool. Is that Jesus? It�s not a cross, but it�s a labyrinth. It�s some Lenten thing. Wow. Tell me more about Jesus and his substitutionary atonement and his literal resurrection and the future of hell.

Prompting questions. I think the cross is important, but as a symbol, it doesn�t inspire thought anymore. So, see, there we have it. This was going to be the end of this video. It was going to be just a simple introduction to the show, but now it�s going to be a full show on Lenten tattoos at Ecclesia in Houston.

I won�t call it a church. And when I came to you, brothers, I did not come proclaiming to you testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom, for I decided to know nothing among you, Paul said to the church of Corinth.

He was there 18 years, and I�m now reading 1 Corinthians chapter 2. For I decided, I determined, I made up my mind ahead of time, so I wouldn�t be swayed by popular opinion or the requests of people. I made up my mind, for I decided, determined, and he says, to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, that is, Jesus, a literal man, Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Son of God, Son of Man, and Him crucified.

Literally the text should read, �I decided and determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, even Him crucified. Why did he say that? Because the cross is foolish to those who are perishing.

It�s folly to those who are perishing. The word of the cross, the message of the cross, what the cross means, the theological significance to the cross, is not really popular. It doesn�t make people come up and look at your tats and ask you about the love of God.

So when this is all said and done, these people are ashamed of the gospel. Sadly, if you have one symbol that symbolizes our faith, that is the cross. And so Paul began to preach that, �even Him crucified.

The cross was disdained enough. The cross was frowned upon enough. You didn�t talk about it in polite company. You had your children turn away from those who would be crucified naked back in Palestine.

It wasn�t some kind of form of jewelry. And so I think I�m going to stick with Paul in his approach. He said, �The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved.

To people at the church, blood-bought Christians, born-again Christians, it is the power of God. And so when I read in this article by Kate Shelnut, I say to myself, when a person says, Bill Heibel said the same thing years ago, �I totally think the cross is important.

What do you think the next word is going to be? �I think the cross is important, and therefore we want to promote substance-free atonement. And so then I�ll say things to make sure that the faith of the people doesn�t rest in wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

But when people say, �I think the cross is important, but�, then you know what they�re going to say. Don�t we know that on No Compromise Radio by now? �Well, I agree with you, but. �I think the cross is important, but.

Just do a little study. Do a word study. Pull it up on your ESV Bible, esv .org, whatever it is, crossway .org, slash ESV, I don�t know the exact thing. Your ESV app. I love my ESV app, by the way, on my smartphone.

Pull it up and just type in the word �cross. And take a look at what you get, and see how central this is. As Jesus was telling his men that he was determined to go to the cross and would have to suffer and die, he set his face toward Jerusalem, knowing what would be there for him.

The cross is theology in Pauline writings in Galatians chapter 3, verse 13. In Peter�s writings in 1 Peter chapter 3 and chapter 2. In John�s writing, in the writer of the epistles writing in Hebrews chapter 9 and 10.

And I�m just going, this is all off the top of my head. I have no notes. I have my Bible open to 1 Corinthians chapter 2, and I have the Montgomery Advisor. Actually looking at it now, I�m totally wrong.

It�s advertiser. Well, maybe this all seems to make sense. I don�t think the cross is important, but as a symbol, it doesn�t inspire thought anymore. Oh, I do think the cross is important. It�s become decorative, said Erickson, and said he incorporated more subtle Christian symbols.

Now, if you had to pick a subtle Christian symbol, and you wanted to not say, you know, here�s a cross, what would you pick? Now I would maybe pick a fish, a fish on your car. I don�t have a fish on my car.

Why? Because if I ever cut somebody off, I don�t want them to say, oh, they�re going, they�re born again. But let�s say a fish symbol. I get that. Ichthus, God�s son, Savior, whatever it is. Let�s see.

Ichthus. I�ll have to look at it again, something about son, Savior, Christ, something. Well, maybe you�d pick a lamb, maybe that�d be a symbol, a dove, right? You see it in a lot of Pentecostal churches.

I guess I get some of those. Let�s see. What do we have here? He incorporated more subtle Christian symbols such as the goldfinch, such as the meadowlark, such as the owl. See, I mean, I don�t know. What�s goldfish?

I know it says here it traditionally represents Christ at the Passion, and then he also has and Latin phrases and the stars. I don�t get it, but here�s what I do get. The second you begin to compromise and you start saying, you know what?

This is my church. This is my deal, or to use some kind of more blasphemous language that I�m sure some people think, this is my gig, and we�ll do things according to the way I think they should be done.

Then you�re in trouble. A faithful shepherd needs to say this. These people I did not save. They�ve been saved by the grace of God alone and Christ alone. These people I did not die for. These people I did not gift spiritually.

They have spiritual gifts. I didn�t give them any. These people I cannot sanctify. These people I cannot glorify. These people have been given to my watch, and I will care for as an under-shepherd. And because Jesus purchased these people, I will therefore, by the grace of God and my own sweat, be faithful to steward them.

And that�s what I�m going to do. I�m going to be faithful to do what the Bible says about a local church service. How do we do church? That�s really a dumb question. How are we supposed to be faithful to what the Bible says about worship services in a local church?

That�s a much better question. And so when I read something like this, I say to myself, well, when God�s ways aren�t good enough, you�ve got to do other ways. And frankly, when we do things God�s way, sometimes the church doesn�t grow.

Sometimes the church doesn�t permeate the culture like we think it should. Sometimes we actually harden people. Sometimes not many people show up. Just the elect seem to show up. You know you�ve got a problem if your church service draws a lot of people who become members who aren�t elect.

Wouldn�t you say so? Wouldn�t you think that would be a big problem? To preach the gospel in such a way where the non-elect don�t have enough sense in their noggin to reject it? Why? Because you�re just preaching things in such a way that even unbelievers could affirm, could confirm what you�re teaching.

Well, what else does this horrible article have to say? �Protestantism has a very undeveloped visual culture he said. Kind of like, you know, when they got rid of all the icons and that kind of stuff.

�The Stations of the Cross, that�s a real intense story. There�s no room for fluffy lambs and shininess there. What does that have to do with anything? The Stations of the Cross? A fluffy lamb? I think if you�re going to pick a symbol for Christianity, I think Jews would know lamb might be a good one.

I think actually, you know what? Come to think of it, John the Baptist. He even saw Jesus, and he said, �Oh, there�s no room for lambs around here and shininess. Remember that Veggie Tales? You get the Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego get thrown into the fire, and then the tomato guy or the cucumber guy looks in and says, �Oh, there�s a fourth person in there, and one of them�s real shiny.

Well, that�s just a side note on No Compromise Radio. The lamb does have significance. Very big significance. Like some other Baptist and evangelical churches that have adapted traditionally Catholic practices for Lent, which began on Wednesday, and of course I got to see that for myself because when I went to the grocery store, people had a lot of dirt on their head, a lot of ashes on their head, and Easter, Ecclesia has put on interactive, experiential, and art-driven Stations of the Cross exhibits for the past few years.

They do 10 Stations instead of the traditional 14, with multiple instances of Jesus Falls represented in a single Station. What? That�s Jesus Falls. With Stations on skin, the church tells a timeless story in a new medium with a different style.

So you go there, and it�s on somebody�s arm, it�s on somebody�s back, it�s on somebody�s chest. Here, it�s on my ankle. We�ve got Jesus, yes we do. We�re going to have a lot of people who don�t go to a church who are in the tattoo culture, said Say.

We hope that as you pause and look at this art, God will speak to you about who He is and what He�s done. I think God will probably whisper sweet nothings in your ear and say, with a burning in your bosom, �Don�t be so stupid, don�t be so faithless, don�t be so unfaithful that you play with people fast and loose like they�re yours.

This is Christ�s church. See, doesn�t that drive you batty? This drives me batty. I want to declare to them, �Hey, you�re welcome here. Well, I want to know, I want to let unbelievers and visitors know, not every visitor is an unbeliever, but I want visitors and unbelievers and or unbelieving unvisitors that they�re welcome here, of course.

I time it so when I see somebody walking into the church, if I can, I quick go meet them at the front door and say, �Welcome. That�s exactly what I do, because I want to be nice. But I�m not going to say, �You know what, crosses are out.

I�m going to say, �We have one message here. See that cross that�s hanging above your heads? That is the message of Christianity. Since the wisdom of the world, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. Let me just read that again, verse 23. But we preach and keep on preaching Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.

Of course they�re not going to like it. But to those who are called, both Jews and Gentiles or Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Christ Crucified as the Power and Wisdom of God

So, no compromise, listeners. If you�re thinking about getting a tattoo for Lent, giving up your regular skin for Lent, to me the issue with tattoos, it�s never Leviticus, Leviticus 19 or wherever it is.

That�s not the issue. And tattoos is not really what the program is about. But what it is about is the cross is central in Christianity. His tattoo, the pastor�s tattoo, a tree on his upper arm representing the resurrection of Jesus.

Hey, what�s that tree? Oh, that means Jesus rose from the dead. Wow, can I go get baptized? With the initials of friends and family members who have recently died in its leaves. Let me guess, the pastor didn�t go to seminary?

Prompted conversations about Jesus within the first few days, and his inbox continues to fill with pictures of church members� tattoos with their stories of sitting in tattoo parlors, or tattoo parlors, and explaining their unusual ink, �You�re going to go witness to the tattoo parlor, director.

How should we say it in New England, �parla I had wanted to get a tattoo for a long time. Most of my ideas were text or song lyrics that had a similar message, �Support and care for one another said Aubrey Olmanson, 26.

When I saw Station 5, it just struck me. The tattoo on the top of her foot comes from Simon helping Jesus carry the cross as he walked to Calvary. It features two birds with a banner reading, �Carry one another.

I think that�s just like when I�m in Omaha, Nebraska, and I go to Boys Town. He ain�t heavy, he�s my brother. And below it, �Non omnis moriare Latin for, �I shall not wholly die. We can�t make this up on No Compromise Radio.

�This is a fascinating, creative, and provocative project said Brent Plait, who teaches a course on religion and pop culture at Hamilton College. Say estimates half of the Ecclesia community has a tattoo.

They�re more popular than ever among young people, and about 40 percent of Americans under 30 sport ink. In Christian communities, religious-themed tattoos are relatively common. Christian satire blogs stuff Christians likeless tattoos for God among contemporary Christian trends.

One of the reasons why I don�t have a tattoo, at least that I�ll admit, is because I don�t wear flare jeans. What does that have to do with anything? Well, flare jeans are out. They come back in about every 20 years, but they�re out, and so what are you going to do when tattoos are out?

I guess you cover up. There�s still debate, often cultural and generational, about whether it�s appropriate for a Christian to get tattoos. There are definitely some Old Testament passages that have something to say about tattooing, but we don�t think they have weight in this contemporary circumstance, said a Christian author, Baylor grad, and third-generation pastor.

If we thought the scriptures were prohibiting it, we wouldn�t be doing it. End of article, Montgomery Advertiser, Houston Chronicle. Well, consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards.

Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, that is, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, �Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.

We have a message in Christianity, and that message is Christ crucified. Well, there�s much more to the message, and we want to talk about His life and His teaching and His resurrection, His ascension, His soon return.

There are all kinds of things, but if you want to boil Christianity down to one symbol, it�s the cross. And you know what? Jews aren�t going to like it, because it�s a curse on you from God. God is cursing you if you die on a tree, Deuteronomy.

And if you�re a Gentile, you�re not a Jew, you�re a Greek or an academia, that Jesus� criminal death, somebody dies in your place, you haven�t even met 2 ,000 years ago, depending on how you think of this person, if you believe Him or not, it will determine your eternal destiny forever and ever and ever.

Well, that�s folly, that�s stupid, that�s moronic. But we have a message, and see, the thing is, I�ve been given a task. Not make a new message, not spruce up a new message, not come up with a goldfish instead of the cross, for the goldfinch instead of the cross, for the gold bars instead of the cross, gold bullion instead of the cross.

My job is not to get more people here, my job is not to keep people here, my job is not to make people happy here, my job is to be faithful to preach Christ crucified. I�m determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

And then those who are called will like it, will come to churches just like this. And so pastors, be faithful to preach the cross. Preach the cross this week about people can be forgiven because of Christ Jesus the Lord who died on our behalf, in our place, in our stead, and was raised from the dead.

And the response to that gospel is to repent and believe and follow Jesus Christ. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life transforming power of God�s Word through verse by verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We�re right on route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbcchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.