COURTESY OF THE CROSS MOUNT DORA
Congregants at theCross Mount Dora get inked for Jesus after their pastor offers to pay for their cross tattoos.
Their faith is not only deeply engrained — it’s permanently inked on their skin.
Christians at a Florida church are going under the needle after their pastor promised to foot the bill.
During a recent sermon about Christian unity, Lutheran pastor Zach Zehnder was talking about rules that tend to divide Christians — rules about drinking, smoking, and getting tattoos. He offhandedly told his assembled congregants at theCross Mount Dora he would pay for them to get tattoos of the church’s colorful cross logo.
COURTESY OF THE CROSS MOUNT DORA
At least one dozen members have already gone under the needle. About six more are expected to follow suit this week.
Zehnder said he was surprised when several members of his flock, including a few older ones who didn’t seem like the tattooing type, agreed to take him up on the offer.
“I was saying it flippantly,” Zehnder told The News. “I never thought this was going to happen. It’s kind of crazy.”
At least 12 people have gotten inked so far at Bill Gold’s Tattoo Shop in Eustis. Zehnder says half a dozen more are expected to follow suit within the next week.
COURTESY OF THE CROSS MOUNT DORA
The tattoo is of theCross Mount Dora’s church logo.
At $60 a pop, the tattoos would have taken a chunk out of the church’s budget. But Zehnder says an anonymous church member offered to donate the funds.
The support is a sign that his church is staying unified even though some of its own members still believe tattooing is banned by the Bible.
COURTESY OF THE CROSS MOUNT DORA
A church member gets inked for Christ.
Christians who are against the practice point to a verse in Leviticus 19: 28, “Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.”
Zehnder says he understands the controversy surrounding the tattoos, but argues that these rules can cause unwanted divisions among Christians. He says he’s heard from many people who have been shunned by other churches because they have tattoos.
“There are verses right before that tell us to never cut beards or sideburns, or eat red meat,” Zehnder said. “Some people want to take the tattoo party literally, while still having their ears pierced and eating red meat.”
“In the end, it’s all about the cross, where Jesus was pierced permanently for our sins,” the pastor said.
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