Posted on 10/22/2018 12:51:44 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Among the contested issues within churches today is what the Bible says and means as it pertains to tattoos, a topic that proves challenging given that they have become normalized in culture.
The most explicit scriptural condemnation of tattoos appears in Leviticus 19:28 which reads: "Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD."
Some read that passage as God expressed a desire for His people to be set apart for Himself, as tattoos were tied to occult practices like sorcery and other pagan religious practices.
The surrounding verses reveal that forbidding tattoos is but one of many things associated with pagan peoples that the God of Israel prohibits such as making daughters into prostitutes, and turning to mediums and necromancers.
"Anyone getting a tattoo really needs to ask themselves, why am I getting this and what is the meaning of this tattoo? Is the tattoo an expression of witchcraft, idolatry or pagan symbolism?" asked Jay Haizlip, pastor of The Sanctuary Church in Orange County, California, in a 2013 Huffington Post essay.
"I lean toward the belief that it is not forbidding all expressions of tattoos. Culturally and specifically here in the US, tattoos, over the last 20 years, have become more socially acceptable," he said, referencing Pew research claiming approximately 40 percent of millennials have tattoos.
Writing at Crosswalk.com, Liberty University Professor of Apologetics Will Honeycutt explained that injecting ink underneath the skin to make pictures is materially different than the kinds of tattoos referred to in the Old Testament. The passage in Leviticus, he said, is literally translated "And a cutting for the dead you will not make in your flesh; and writing marks you will not make on you; I am the Lord."
The word "writing" refers to inscribed or engraved symbols or words and it is the only time in Scripture where it is used, and the work "marks" — also used here alone — has an uncertain root, leaving its meaning uncertain, Honeycutt continued, noting that "tattoo" did not enter into the English language until the late 1700s.
"This is probably why the KJV, written in the early 1600s, is closer to the literal translation saying, 'ye shall not ... print marks upon you.'"
The cultural backdrop against which this divine prohibition was given was when Israel, after being rescued from slavery, was situated between Egypt and Canaan, he went on to say.
Archaeological findings show that Egypt routinely marked its women on the breasts, thighs and abdomen, which was thought to be a good luck charm of sorts to protect the birthing process.
Women were frequently tattooed of the pagan fertility goddess, Bes, which lends credence to this theory, Honeycutt said.
So while it is not expressly condemned, he urged Christians to think hard about their motives for getting tattoos.
"If it is in rebellion to parents, it is clearly not acceptable," he said, citing Ephesians 6:1-3, a New Testament's reiteration of the Fifth Commandment.
"And while artistic self-expression can be OK, our primary motive for anything we do should be to glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31). This means seeking to honor and draw attention to him, not ourselves.
"Getting a tattoo for purposes of witness may be acceptable, but remember, this is not the primary or most effective way to evangelize. It is in no way a substitute for verbally communicating the gospel. You are not fulfilling the Great Commission simply because you have a tattoo of a Bible verse."
True, tattoos are not the key issue.
Yet they are indicative of what a person thinks, feels and believes.
And most people with tattoos think, feel and believe in ways that are not Christian. Not conservative.
And if they are wrong on the minor issue of a tattoo, they are often usually wrong on the “really important issues”.
...No tats on me
My Wife would kill me
Or amputate some appendage
Tattoo - The Who
[Verse 1]
Me and my brother were talking to each other
About what makes a man a man
Was it brain or brawn, or the month you were born
We just couldn’t understand
[Bridge]
Our old man didn’t like our appearance
He said that only women wear long hair
[Verse 2]
So me and my brother borrowed money from Mother
We knew what we had to do
We went downstairs, past the barber and gymnasium
And got our arms tattooed
[Pre-Chorus]
Welcome to my life, tattoo
I’m a man now, thanks to you
[Chorus]
I expect I’ll regret you
But the skin graft man won’t get you
You’ll be there when I die
Tattoo
[Verse 3]
My dad beat me because mine said “Mother”
But my mother naturally liked it and beat my brother
Cause his tattoo was of a lady in the nude
And my mother thought that was extremely rude
[Pre-Chorus]
Welcome to my life, tattoo
We’ve a long time together, me and you
[Chorus]
[Outro]
Now I’m older, I’m tattooed all over
My wife is tattooed too
A rooty-toot-toot, rooty-tooty-toot-toot
Rooty-toot-toot tattoo too
To you
Don’t put a bumper sticker on a Bentley. ;)))
I got a monarch butterfly on my back shoulder this summer. I got it in honor and remembrance of my mother. The morning she died the monarchs were so thick you you could barely see to drive.
I think God will understand.
____
No He won’t... But He will forgive you.
Yes I am. Also, I will be 55 yrs old soon.
I agree with you.
1 Corinthians 10:23 - Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial.
It all depends what is in your heart. Will the Father turn me away from His Heaven if Jesus has interceded for me by my acceptance of Jesus as my Lord and Savior through His sacrifice and my inviting the Holy Spirit into my heart, if I have a tatoo? (which I don’t)
I think the church is better off focusing on the Big 6 rather than running off into the woods worrying about Old Testament laws. But that’s just me.
I'll bet that you handle snakes and yell at trick-or-treaters.
A tattoo as idolatry witchcraft or paganism
I doubt folks who do that are Christian to begin with
Mine is a Celtic cross..a racist symbol
Boo SPLC
It does not. You can always shave off and get rid of those things. I look at old pictures of me and wince. I looked like Ned Flanders.
I shaved that thing off years ago.
A tattoo? Permanent.
Sailors and Convicts
Now it’s hipsters
Skinny unmanly boys
I a vast majority of cases, I don’t think a tattoo is implicitly immoral or sinful.
HOWEVER,
My personal opinion is that a tattoo is indicative of misplaced values and resources. Take the money you would spend on a tattoo and feed hungry folks, put it in Hurricane relief, donate to St. Jude’s hospital or give it to your church. It would be a far superior use of the money.
That wasn’t the question.
My Nephew is a Tattoo artist and owns his own place and makes tons of money and of course I hate Tattoos ,LOL
I guess that depends on the profession.
Two thoughts on this.
First, it is within ourselves that resides the Holy Spirit, Christ, and God the Father. We each are a temple. You would not spray paint a church, so why mark the temple that is yourself.
Second; Why don’t I have a tattoo? You don’t put bumper stickers on a Ferrari. (This a lot funnier when you hear it coming from a fat, balding old guy like myself.)
A face that just screams, “Hire Me!”
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