Christian Living

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Doing something different

A few months ago, I almost made a mistake of gargantuan proportions. A mistake that could have wiped away five years of serving God and a relationship with Christ that would have been nothing short of a lie. What’s worse it that I put two friends I truly love in jeopardy of an attack from Satan.

I had been going through many battles in my life. I believed that Christ wanted to help me through the self-loathing battle raging in my mind. But nothing would go right. I felt completely alone, unworthy of love or friendship. I prayed about what I was going through, but my circumstances wouldn’t change. They seemed to worsen with each day.

Having been in church for virtually all of my life, I knew how to fake the joy and peace. I knew how to play “church.” I could fool people, but I never fooled God. I desperately needed a change in my life. I made up my mind to do something completely out of my character. You see, I always play it safe. But that day I was going to do something crazy.

I called a couple of friends, Jane and her daughter, Emma, to go shopping and after we finished shopping, I was going to get my belly button pierced. I normally would never think to do something like that. I was a junior in high school before I even had my ears pierced. But I was desperate.

After shopping, we drove across the river to a tattoo/body-piercing joint. It was a big red barn, hidden by tall weeds and a couple run-down buildings. As we drove towards the building, we noticed that the rusted, chain-link fence gate was chained up with a padlock. Now what? I was determined to get this done. And nothing was going to stop me.

I remember a place that I had passed a few weeks earlier. I told Jane, and she headed that direction. In the car, there was a solemn, weird silence. I was starting to second-guess getting it done, but I re-convinced myself it was what I wanted to do. What I needed to do. But just as I finished talking myself into getting my belly button pierced, Jane looked at me and said, “My stomach is doing something funky.” She had that “Are you sure about this?” big sister look on her face. I tried to convince her it was because we had been shopping and hadn’t taken the time to eat. She gave me that “yeah, right” look, but she kept going. My stomach felt the same way. Coincidence? I think not.

We pulled onto the gravel lane and drove behind the building. Jane put the car in park and locked the doors. She was unsure of the people in the parking lot. I told her to leave me there and come back in an hour or so, or stay in the car and wait for me. But, being the loving, protective friend she is, she wouldn’t let me go in alone. She and her daughter went in the place of ill repute with me.

We walked to the back were the piercing studs were. There were photos of tattoos and piercings in some unmentionable places. She grabbed Emma, and they headed to the waiting area. OK, I was really starting to feel bad about this. What had I gotten my two best friends into? But I really wanted to do this—today.

I walked to the front of the store. The guy that handled the release forms and money walked over to the table. I handed him my debit card and driver’s license. He handed me a pen and the forms. He handed me my cards back, and I walked over to my friends to read the papers and sign the release forms. I took the forms back to the guy, and he had this crazy, scary smile on his face.

There was something not right about this place. There was a creepy presence in there. While we waited, we looked around at all the tattoos. Jesus tattoos, Satan tattoos, crosses, dragons, mermaids, OK, this place was starting to weird me out. It wasn’t doing much for my friends either.

As I looked around, I noticed a book on the table. It was a good 10-12 feet away, but I could read the small print on the binding of this book. It was a Satanic Bible. (OK, there’s an oxymoron if I ever heard one.) I turned to Jane, and told her what I thought I saw.

She looked at me and said, “In plain sight? Just sitting there for anyone to see? Are you sure?”

I gave her a concerned nod. She stood up and walked over to the wall near the desk. She casually looked down and saw the book. She turned and gave me a look of disbelief and almost fear. She walked over to me. I asked her, “What should I do?”

“You have to make that decision for yourself. This is one I can’t help you with, but I’ve got to get my kid out of here,” she said as she grabbed her purse and Emma and walked outside.

I sat there all alone. I was torn between what I knew was right and what I thought I wanted. “Jesus, help me.” I was desperate, and God knew. I stood up. I walked over to the table. When I looked the guy in the face, his look had changed. He knew what I was about to do. It was at that moment that the Jesus in me confronted the Satan in him. And we all know Jesus is always the winner. The battle wasn’t mine anymore. Now, it belonged to the Lord.

As I looked him in the face, I ask him to tear up the forms and credit back my debit card. He asked if everything was all right. With more peace than I had felt in weeks, I confidently smiled and said, “Everything’s fine.”
He then asked why I didn’t want to get it done. I pointed to the book and said, “That’s why I don’t want to get it done.” He looked at me with a puzzled look. I turned to walk away. As I approached the door, I looked over my shoulder and said,” Jesus loves you, man.” He looked at me like there was something wrong with me. But there wasn’t anything wrong with me. Everything was just the way it should be.

As I walked out of the building, Jane was standing there waiting for me. I think she knew I’d do the right thing, but she also knew I had to do it on my own. As we hustled to the car, I noticed a look from Jane. It was a look a parent would give a child after they had done something spectacular. I had just drug this woman and her child through an almost tragic event in a building full of evil, and she was proud of me. Wow! She never stopped having faith in my relationship with Christ or His living in me.

We hopped in the car and locked the doors. Jane asked what happened, and I told her. As I spoke, I noticed her eyes fill with tears. Emma was slightly confused and a little disappointed.

She thought it was cool that I wanted to get my belly button pierced. She didn’t know why I left. She thought I chickened out, but it was quite the opposite. Emma needed to know why I did what I did.

We pulled out of the parking lot and headed down the road. We just wanted to get away from that place. A little way down the road, Jane pulled into a parking lot.

I looked at Jane as if to ask her permission to tell Emma what had just happened. She smiled and let me speak.

I explained, “If I would have got my belly button pierced today for the reasons I wanted to get it pierced and where I would have had it done, the last five years of my life would have been a lie. I couldn’t be a part of something that would be the exact opposite of what I believe. How could I face my Wednesday night class or my Sunday School class? I know the popular thing to do would have been to overlook the wrong things in there and just get it done, but that would mean that my relationship with Christ meant nothing.” My voice began to crack as I spoke.

I looked to Jane for backup. She had one tear slowly falling down her cheek. She explained the importance of doing what’s right, even when it’s not what’s popular.

It was at that moment that I realized that I had just done what I set out to do that day. I did something different. I took a stand for Christ.

The car became quiet for a few minutes. Then we headed to a restaurant. As we pulled out of the parking lot, I asked Jane to stop the car. I wanted to pray for them and the people in that building, but mostly for what I had exposed them to.

Our adventure had made us all hungry. We had a 45-minute wait, so we walked across the street to a Christian bookstore. Jane bought Emma a new Bible. I just walked around the store still hashing things out in my mind.

After we ate, we headed home. The car ride home was pretty quiet for a while. I could tell Jane was still thinking about the events that transpired that day. I couldn’t stop thinking. When I got out of the car, I looked Jane in the eye and said, “Thanks for not telling me what to do.”

“I couldn’t. I wanted to, but I knew this was something you had to do on your own. You don’t know how bad I wanted to drag you out of there. I knew you’d do the right thing. But I’m still proud of you,” she said as the smile of pride began to return to her face.

I walked up the steps to my apartment, realizing that the battle wasn’t really mine. The battle belonged to Jesus. All I had to do was realize that the beautiful part of a relationship with Christ is that you’re never alone; you’re never without His love; and he wants to help.

As I lay in bed that night, it struck me that I had looked Satan in the eye. I always believed that Jesus lived in me, but now I knew.

I think about that day often. I think about how different that day could have been, and how thankful I am that it happened to me. I’m thankful to have a friend that had the courage to make me be strong. I did the something different that I had needed to do for a long time.

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