Mr. and Mrs. Tattoo, I need you..............I think

1. Found the image that I want to get tattooed on my body, check; 2. Know the place on my body where I want to get the image tattooed, check; 3. This tattoo will allow me to express my identity, uniqueness and maybe even enhance my body………………….not really.  Whether you got a tattoo for the reasons listed above or for some other reason, it is more than likely that your tattoo did not provide the climax that you thought it would.  Yeah, for a little while it filled you with joy, you made sure you bought clothing that would in some way provide the world a peek into your “bundle of joy”.  But as time goes on, the exuberance of your “ink fashion” begins to fade(tattoos are fashion statements for many people but the bad thing is that fashions change and be come out dated), you barely even notice it, what you thought was cool a couple of years ago is not even relevant to you or the world.  So now, you need something new in your life, you have the tattoo “itch”, you want to express to the world or maybe a few or maybe yourself that you are unique and different(repeat cycle from above).

In life we often mistake the forest for the trees, meaning that the thing that is staring you right in the face, that which is most obvious, we miss.  Your life is your tattoo: no ink needed.  Your life is that thing that sets you apart, it is seen by all, it is your uniqueness, it is the thing that most truly represents you and if you invest it right, the fruit is joy forever more, it doesn’t fade…….a tattoo could never do this.

Invest your time and artistic creativity in the thing that matters most (life), not something that is going to leave you longing for more, yet never fulfilled.  The things of this world will never compare to or even enhance that which you want most, life (your life), why, because it is divinely given.

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Should Christian musicians, performers, speakers, participate in secular events or events headlined by secular artist?

Gospel rap artist Lecrae is set to perform at a venue headlined by many secular artist(don’t get sidetracked by the genre, Gospel rap is not the debate today), should he attend, would it be the same as Ty Tribett performing at the BET awards back in 2005 ? Matter of fact let’s make it personal........

Imagine, you are Christian musician and you have been asked to perform at a secular venue, a venue where you would be the only Christian artist, do you accept? Before taking sometime to really think on this issue, my “tongue and cheek” answer was "no way Jose, are you crazy". However, after prayer and meditation, I realize that this is not a simple "black or white issue". What immediately comes to my mind is Jesus himself, Jesus was accused of being a friend of publicans, winebibbers and sinners all because of the fact that he set down and shared a meal with them and not the "holy religious folk"(Mark 2:13-17). The Apostle Paul was also called by God to go and minister to the gentiles, a pagan group who did not know the true God. Both Paul and Jesus were ministering to groups hostile to their message but they did not run away but embraced them (and called sin, sin) and developed a relationship (long or short) with them that was aimed towards the glory of God and the furtherance of His Kingdom; Paul and Jesus did not hang around the "worldly folk" just to hang-out but they had a purpose and mission. I think much of the apprehension that Christians have in other Christians being involved in secular events is the idea that such Christians would be endorsing the lifestyle and ideology of the participants who hold opposing views but this is not necessarily the case. As I mentioned earlier, the Christian at all-times must call sin, sin and if those Christians who participate in secular events do so, then there should be no question as to whether such Christians are condoning the lifestyle of its secular participants. However, you can't make everyone happy, so there will always be Christians who disagree on this topic and many more but to bring this point even further, I want to tell you about a great story that my pastor uses to make a good point about being obedient to God. The story goes as thus:

There was a man, led by the Holy Spirit to drive down an old lonely road that dead-ended into a big saw dust pile outside of an old abandoned saw mill.  The Holy Spirit told the man to preach to the saw dust and to do an “alter call” to receive Christ.  The man did not understand why the Holy Spirit wanted him to preach to a saw dust pile but he acquiesced.  Sometime later, the preacher met a man who said that he accepted Christ behind his message, the message that he gave to the saw dust pile, seeing that the newly saved man was on the other side of the large saw dust pile, drinking and gambling.

 The point that I would like to bring out about this story is that imagine if a church bus, or a group of “holy people” had drove down that road and saw this man preaching to a pile of saw dust, they would have said, “he is crazy, drunk, high, not saved”. We should be cautious on the judgment we make on Christians who do things contrary to tradition and even more so, examine the reasoning of our objections with scripture, prayer and meditation.

However, one must realize that Christians speaking or performing at secular events is not for the faint at heart or baby Christians but for the spiritually mature, which would eliminate many of the artist and speakers today who dare to take the "Paul at Mars Hill step"(Acts 17:16-34); such Christian would have to be filled and led by the Holy spirit as Jesus and Paul were and must have thick enough skin to take backlash from fellow Christians who might see them as compromising.

So, if I were asked to speak, sing or perform at an event that was headlined by a group of atheist, would I accept, maybe or maybe not but if I did accept, my purpose would have to be like that of Paul and Jesus, glory to God.


Christian Artist Andy Mineo performing at NYC Fashion Week(Secular Event)....rapping about Christ and living the Christian life everday, not just on Sunday, Everyday Thang!