When I was in High School, I went to this winter retreat in Gatlinburg, TN called Winter Xtreme. There were tons of teenagers there, and this was about the time that wearing a Christian T-Shirt made you a “Cool Christian.” I remember seeing a shirt with a saying that I’ll never forget…and I’d like to show it to you now (display image_body piercing). It says, “body piercing saved my life” and has a picture of Jesus’ pierced hand on the cross. I remember thinking, man, that’s a stinkin’ cool T-shirt…heck, I still think it’s cool. But, sometimes I think Christians can be a little naïve when it comes to things like body piercing and tattoos—we either think it’s ok because other people are doing it, or we’re against it because people say it’s wrong, or we make up phrases like this one-“body piercing saved my life” to justify piercing ourselves with jewelry, and we don’t really know if any of that is true. Is it ok? Should I be piercing and tattooing myself just because it’s the cool new thing?
The tattoo was until recently reserved for the heavy metal rocker or biker…for criminals and the social outcast of society. But today the tattoo glamorously appears everywhere and anywhere. It’s the latest fashion craze. Tattoos are found on movie stars such as Julia Roberts, Halle Berry, Drew Berrymore, Bruce Willis….Music stars…such as Jon Bon Jovi, Eminem, Beyonce, and your favorite star…Brittany Spears.
It’s no surprise that over 40 % of NBA players have at least one tattoo. Even in the conservative Golf world…you can see that Tiger woods and Lee Trevino both have tattoos.
A 2006 a study done by the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found that 24% of Americans between 18 and 50 are tattooed; that’s almost one in four. And the survey showed that about 36% of Americans age 18 to 29 have at least one tattoo!
According to US news and World report, tattooing is the country’s sixth-fastest growing retail business. It is estimated that one new tattoo studio opens up every day.
The world has gone tattoo crazy!
Even among Christians, the once taboo tattoo is welcomed with open arms…(and necks and legs and backs)… With the rise of Christian music artists now flaunting their tattoos…thousands of Christian young people are getting “marked for Jesus” at Christian tattoo shops…
Well, I think it’s time that many of you were enlightened to what the Bible says about these things.
First, let’s start with piercings. Believe it or not, it’s actually mentioned in the Bible in several different contexts. The most familiar refers to a Hebrew slave who was to be freed in the seventh year of servitude but declares his love for his master and refuses to go free: "...his master shall take him before God. He shall be brought to the door or the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall then remain his slave for life" (Exodus 21:6).
It was the custom in that time if a hebrew slave desired to stay with his master and family, then the master would pierce his ear signifying that willing lifelong service to the master he loved.
Psalm 40:6 says, “sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced…” I think David is referring to the sign that he is committed to lifelong service to God.
There are several other verses that even talk about nose rings, earrings worn by men, and that jewelry as an adornment to make one beautiful (Ezek. 16:11)
Doesn’t sound like anything bad, yet, right? Well, in order for us to have a clear understanding a knowledge about this, we’ve got to consider the context for the verses that are used. When it comes to piercing and tattoos, there’s always one verse that comes up, and I’ve found myself even at times being asked about it. It’s Leviticus 19:28 (NIV), " 'Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD’”
If we take this verse as it stands, you would probably take that to mean that all cuts on your bodies (piercings) and tattoos are wrong.
Let me give you a little tip, a FREEBIE. Any time you look at Scripture, in order to understand God’s love letter, you have to read it in the whole context to understand what the author’s intent was, and then you can understand what application there is for today.
So, let’s do that: 26 " 'Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it.
" 'Do not practice divination or sorcery. 27 " 'Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard. 28 " 'Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD. 29 " 'Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness. 30 " 'Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the LORD. 31 " 'Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.”
Tattooing has been around for thousands of years. Tattooing has a rich history in Eurasia, Japan, Egypt….. Various other cultures have had their own tattoo traditions, ranging from rubbing cuts and other wounds with ashes, to hand-pricking the skin to insert dyes.
Tattoos have served as rites of passage, marks of status and rank, decorations for bravery, sexual lures and marks of fertility, pledges of love, punishment, protection, and as the marks of outcasts, slaves and convicts. In this particular passage, God is speaking through Moses to his covenant people, the Israelites. He’s warning them to stay away from the common religious practices of the surrounding people groups that would include eating bloody meat, fortune telling, certain hair cuts related to the priests of false cults, cutting or marking the body for dead relatives, cultic prostitution and consulting psychics. All these practices would lead God's beloved people away from Him and toward false gods that were not gods at all.
So, there was this custom for heathens (unbelievers), that when someone died, they would make these deep gashes on their face, arms, and legs, and it was deemed this becoming mark of respect for the dead. The Jews learned the custom in Egypt, and though they had stopped doing it, the later took it up again as a superstition, which probably led to the mention of it in Leviticus.
The book of Leviticus contains mostly the priestly code, and a lot of ceremonial rules and regulations, which many people believe was fulfilled in Jesus. Check this out—Galatians 3:24-25, “24So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ[a] that we might be justified by faith. 25Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.”
The premise here is that New Testament believers aren’t bound to the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament in order to have right relationship with God. If we were to follow all of those ceremonial laws to a “T”, then we’d be restricted from eating pork or shellfish, having certain types of haircuts, goatees, wearing clothes made of different type of fabric, or eating a medium rare steak. Being made right with God comes from a relationship with Jesus, not by following a strict set of rules or regulations.
So, what does that tell us about tattoos? In my opinion, they are fine under certain circumstances. YES, there are circumstances that can make getting a tattoo a sin.
While the Bible doesn’t have an absolute command to not get a tattoo, it does have guidelines for us in the way we live.
1 Corinthians 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
Colossians 3:20, “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.”
There are some questions that we have to ask ourselves when it comes to things like tats and piercings.
• Am I legally of an age to get a tattoo?
• If I live with my parents, would my parents support my decision?
• Would I be defying the authority God gave my parents over me at my current age?
• Would I still want this particular image when I get older?
• What if my future mate wouldn't like having to see this image for a lifetime?
• Would this image bring God glory?
• Do I feel fully convinced that tattoos are allowable for Christians?
If you’re planning to get a tattoo and your parents don’t think it’s right, then it would be a sin for you to do it in rebellion against your parents, does that make sense?
There are still a lot of people that would even disagree with some of the things I’ve said tonight, and that’s ok. Tattoos are a permanent thing…it’s a permanent marking that can cost hundreds to get removed. I wanna wrap this up by talking about one final marking. 2 Corinthians 1:22, “He put his mark on us to show that we are his, and he put his Spirit in our hearts to be a guarantee for all he has promised.”
Whether or not you’re thinking about tattoos or piercings or you already have them with your parents approval, I’d like to invite you tonight to let Jesus put his mark on you. You don’t have to get pierced to prove your love for him, or get “the Lord’s” tattooed on your hand, you just have to put your faith in him offering him your heart.
(Invitation)
