Putting Kapernick and Lewis in the same boat (Christians) is presumptuous and wrong-headed. Personally, I don't know much about Kapernick or anything about his beliefs but we DO KNOW Ray Lewis has never confessed to his sins of being involved with a murder and after more than a decade, proves that he is not a follower of Jesus.

Melissa, thanks for the article. Personally, I found nothing "presumptuous or wrong-headed" about it. Thanks for giving us something positive to think about (Philippians 4:8). Maybe one or the other of these gentlemen will seek to give glory to God in a moment of triumph.

I'm curious to know how Mr. Jim Ricker is privy to whether or not Ray Lewis "has never confessed to his sins of being involved with a murder." Presumably, if such a confession came and was necessary, it would be done among Lewis' community of faith, and not in the media. I'm also curious to know how it has been proven that Lewis has no faith in Christ. It would seem that it isn't the CT blog post that's "presumptuous and wrong-headed."

Mr. Ricker is a perfect example of what is wrong with "Christians" today. I reluctantly write this word because the word "Christian" is a word formed by man.....for our own social purposes. God does not care what we call ourselves...he only cares that we follow his word.

Therefore, do NOT call these men Christians or Non-christians. Their heart and their faith is what matters. To debate their faith, is of no value.

Do you even read the Bible? Or do you presume to know what it contains?

What ANY man has done in his life that may be considered a sin, adultry, murder, worship of another God and even the worship of inanimate objects(e.g. twinkies, pizza, beer); and is between THAT man and God. Any man can ask forgiveness from God without putting it out on twitter or Facebook for your review. God instructs us through the Bible to call upon his name and ask forgiveness, but it says nothing about the need to be in your presence to do so.

Furthermore, you and I and everyone else are instructed NOT to judge. You can have your opinion, but you are not intrinsically authorized by God's power to pass judgement. If you do attempt such, you are thereby assuming that you hold the power of God.

The fact is...this man...is TELLING others about God.....as instructed in the Bible. What more do you need to know?

GRRR. I am so sick and tired of so-called Christians who claim grace in their lives and then turn around and offer no grace to other Christians. The comments about Ray Lewis here and on other Christian blogs proves that there are some Christians who flat out don't believe in grace.

Mr. Ricker's comment proves that some Christians do not believe in grace.

Man looks at the outside. God looks at the heart. Ray Lewis doesn't have to answer to me, Jim Ricker or any other man or woman for his faith. Like all of us he has to answer to God. To judge another person's salvation based on your personal interpretation of scripture show an ignorance of scripture. I hope that both of the men featured in this article have a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope that all would be saved. But in the end no one but God Himself can say whether Ray Lewis, Colin Kaepernick, Jim Ricker or Tim Tebow is saved.

Stumbled upon this article. Several of the comments appear to be made by Kristians who have ears meeting in the middle.
My smiles and groans of the day and happiness for being out the the funny fundamentalist mindset.

The idea of tattooing Scripture verses on the body is a new one to me. Just because they are religious verses that are tattooed does not make it right! The Christian cannot ignore what the Scriptures say about tattooing the body which God has given us to care for. “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks upon you” (Lev. 19:28). Any kind of self-laceration or marking of the body was prohibited among the Hebrew people. Such cuttings were associated with pagan cults.

Ernest Tuff

Unfortunately, Mr. Ricker represents the "theology police" who remain ever-present and and ever-judgemental in the Church. May God grant him a loving spirit.

God became Man in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus himself declared that He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. In His perfection, we are freed from the legalism of the Law as expounded in the Old Testament. Christ said to follow the Commandments and to love your neighbor as yourself. Raised a devout Jew himself, He could reference the Commandments to His Jewish followers with no chance of being misunderstood. The Commandments became the very basis of Christianity. The multitude of Laws in the first five books of the Old Testament are not binding on the followers of Jesus, the second person of the Trinity. I'm not crazy about tattoos, but I don't think they impact the state of anyone's salvation.

Why doesn't he tattoo Leviticus 19:28 on his arm? You know, the verse that says "Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord."

Just another "pick the bits you like and ignore the rest" Christian.

'Rehabilitated his image"....

Well according to the "sheep" comments IT WORKED!!

Reggie White's faith made a true difference that continues after he went home to be with the Lord.

The verse that people against tatoos and piercings like to cite is specifically about a type of worship practice to idols. I have my nose pierced, which I did a couple years ago, but I also prayed quite awhile, asked permission of my boss, and read my companies guidelines. Only then did I move ahead with doing this.

Christians who tatoo their bodies with scripture are doing it out of worship for God, not idols. Also, if people who dislike tatoos and piercing think it's deminishing the bodies God gave us, then I recommend they look at whatever they're ingesting. Can they pronouce, spell or do they even know half of the garbage that they eat, what it can do, and what it's made of? God looks at the hear of people and knows their motives where humans look at the exterior.
I also agree that tatoos do not impact a person's salvation. If God is directing someone to remove tatoos or piercings, then God is looking at the person's heart and it may be about something completely different.
Good grief - what a bunch of fussy, judgemental, hypocritcal Christians who spend way too much time arguing about people they don't even know. It reminds me of when Amy Grant got divorced - Christians around the country really showed her!

I am a full time pastor, a Pittsburgh Steeler fan, and what I would like to think is a biblical Christian. I personally strongly lean against Christians getting tatoos, yet at the same time I see signs of grace in Lewis. It reminds of the Scripture that says "THAT IS WHAT SOME OF YOUR WERE (1 Cor 6:9-11): "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." ...How quick we are to judge everyone against our idea of what mature Christianity is (which is usually the measure of our own Christianity at the moment). But the standard of mature Christianity is Christ himself, and since we are all still in the way of reaching that standard, we ought not to condemn those not further along in it than ourselves. We should encourage them to go onto perfection while we too are on our way. I praise God for grace in people's lives, because if it is grace, it will continue to teach them to "SAY NOT TO UNGODLINESS AND WORLDLY PASSIONS" (Titus 2:11-14): "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." NIV God doesn't do it in our own lives as quickly as we want it to happen, and so why should we be impatient as he takes His time with others? Let's hold forth the holy standard, but know the journey from carnality to Christlikeness is a lifelong one, as Paul makes plain in 1 Corinthians.

Kathi

As a Christian, Baltimoron and die-hard Ravens fan, I really appreciated your words... "I see signs of grace in Lewis". Coming from a Steelers fan, those are meaningful words. I have watched Ray Lewis his entire career. He was a mess when he came to Baltimore, and watching God work in his life for the past 16 years has been amazing. Yes Ray is a sinner. Yes Ray has made mistakes along the way. Sanctification is a process. But God can redeem anyone and Ray Lewis is a redeemed man... AND he knows it. He wants everyone to know it. He wants everyone to experience God's grace just as he has. I'm not one who thinks we should idolize pro sports figures, but as a Christian, I always want to point to God's redemptive work. I get frustrated with the media and really frustrated with fellow Christians who point to the past sins of others without recognizing God's work of redemption. God's grace conquers all.

Those of you who insist that Lev. 19:28 applies to us today: the verse immediately preceding that, Lev. 19:27, forbids the trimming of beards and temple hair. Do you have ZZ Top beards and the curly locks commonly seen on Hasidic Jews? If not, what is your rationale for making verse 28 a contemporary law, but not verse 27?