Gothic influencer Katherine von Drachenberg (a.k.a. Kat Von D) made headlines recently. The story was not about her career as a tattoo artist, television personality, entrepreneur, and recording artist. It was far more profound than her celebrity. She publicly announced that she has embraced Christianity.
To vouch for the authenticity of her conversion is above my pay grade. But she made some meaningful statements on Instagram that reflect Christian truths. In fact, these are what you would expect from someone who searches for truth and ends up in the right place.
She said, “I got a lot of things wrong in my past.” In Christian parlance, this is repentance. “Repent,” Jesus said, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mat. 4:17). By that He means you acknowledge you got it wrong when were the ruler of your own life, but now you submit to living with Jesus as Lord. I spoke with a young man about this recently. He was hesitant to shift his allegiance to Christ, fearing he might fail. I explained that repentance includes the faith that God empowers you to live a repentant life. The Bible calls that being “born again,” and “a new creation.”
Kat Von D said she “threw out books that just don’t align with who I am and who I want to be. I’ve always found beauty in the macabre, but at this point, I just had to ask myself what is my relationship with this content?” Deciding to become a Christian invites a change in priorities, values, and identity. The current cultural mood holds sexual orientation and gender identity as the highest expressions of identity. But the Christian identity is solely about a Person, Jesus. That new identity imports the values and priorities of grace and truth. Living out that identity means jettisoning things that do not “align with who I am and who I want to be.” Align with this: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal. 5:22).
In the Instagram post, Kat Von D shows grace and tolerance. “We are all on our own journey,” she writes, “and I love everyone regardless of where they might be at.” The high ethics of Jesus includes loving your neighbor. That is not too hard. But He also said love your enemy. The journey for the Christian means loving those who disagree with you or despise you for Who you represent. It is your high calling to “be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us” (Eph. 5:1).
Join me in praying that this lady influences many to consider her journey from goth to grace. And may your journey take you along the narrow way that leads to life.