Don't judge the TATTOO

I sat on the bus on the way home from the salon and prayed a prayer of repentance. It was not very often that I met people like the lady I'd just met and meeting her taught me a lesson on judging people that I shall never forget

Earlier on in the day, I had missed an appointment with my regular salon, so I had to look for a quick alternative otherwise it would be a 'bad hair week' for me. After surfing the internet for a salon close by that styled my kind of hair, I found one and decided to give them a try

As I walked into the salon, I was greeted by the stylist; a pretty, slender and soft spoken young lady. She asked me to take a seat and that she would attend to me shortly. As I sat down, I couldn't help but notice a large tattoo of a ferocious looking tiger on her left arm.

'Hm', I thought to myself. 'This one sure must have done some interesting things with her life'. There was another tattoo on her neck and on seeing that, I concluded, 'this one needs Christ'. It is so easy sometimes, to think that you are the only one doing it right and to assume that folk who aren't going about their salvation your 'way' are not truly saved.

A little later came my turn to get my hair done, and we got talking. I told her a bit about myself and how I've written a book on sex and work with young people and so on. She was excited to hear this and said she also works with young girls in her church and teaches them from her own experience. She'd made mistakes in the past and didn't want those girls making the same mistakes. She told me of how she evangelises to atheists; sometimes by just randomly walking up to them in a park and telling them about Jesus. I couldn't remember when last I did that.

I was so impressed by all this that she had said, then she put the icing on the cake. She gave me a tract that she'd written herself and printed at her own expense, with which she evangelises. This young lady, tattoo and all, was an evangelist! I was happy to meet her and to know that there are young people who are indeed taking the gospel of Christ to this generation.

So I left the salon a changed person. Not just because my hair looked nice, but also because I'd just learnt a vital lesson not to judge people by the way they look. I asked God to forgive me for being so hasty to judge His beloved based on externalities and knew that I had to share this.

Don't judge the hair, the tattoo, the shoes; that person may be bringing more people to the kingdom than you ever would.

Shalom!