Should Christians Get Tattoos
Or Body Piercings?

"...by not preaching against these things, we are actually helping young people that wouldn't normally be drawn, to find more things in common with Christ."

The truth is actually contrary to this as what they actually end up doing is making Christ in common with them. By unrighteous oxymorons like "Gay Christians," "Christian Divorce," "Necessary Evil," "Christian Liberty," "Christian Rock," "Carnal Christians," and yes, "Christian Tattoos," they effectively blur the line between the world and the church. So much so today that without name tags it is nearly impossible to tell where one stops and the other begins. What is wrong passes for what is right, and worldliness is spoken of charitably as Christian empathy. The question then becomes, shall those who do these things go blameless before God?
 

Of course, there are few that are going to actually "admit" to their own pretentiousness and vanity, so in an attempt to obscure the real reasons for wanting tattoos some have substituted worldly images with pictures of Christ, hearts, doves or crosses. Their conscience cleared, now they can claim that it was all done as a witness to their faith rather than the flesh. However, even a rudimentary examination of the motives will show these things are almost always done for self, and not for Christ. Christ is just a convenient excuse, the rationalization they need to appease their conscience. Moreover, where is that excuse for desiring lip, nose and body piercings? Can we say we got a nose ring as a witness to Christ? Well, not with a straight face we can't. Yet even that is rationalized today by professing Christians, as if God could be mocked or deceived by man's justifications.
 

I would think that it would, but for all the wrong reasons. His problem here was that he concluded, "therefore, it was good for me to have a tattoo." Using this same logic, we could say that because a person from Iran heard of Christ in a mosque, that proves God uses mosques to provoke people to come to Christ and therefore they are a good place for Christians to witness. Again, this would be an inaccurate conclusion based on the same bad assumptions. The ends "never" justify the means. We cannot do what is both unlawful and a bad witness, in hopes that the end that might come would justify the means. Did Lot assimilate and start emulating the practices of the unrighteous who dwelt around him, or was he "set apart" and "different" in that he was vexed or troubled daily by the degradation of his society?
 

If we are honest or more noble in ourselves (as the Bereans Acts 17:11), then we will try ourselves by scripture to make our calling and election sure. Answer these questions honestly. Could any of us "honestly" imagine Christ piercing His nose and putting rings in His ears because that was the worldly fad of His day, or because that might draw young people to Him? Could we imagine Christ having a cross, the Temple, olive trees, or grapevines tattooed on His arms and body as a witnessing tool? Of course we couldn't. Knowing Christ (which true Christians do), the mere suggestion seems outright ludicrous. Aren't we supposed to seek to be Christ-like? As Christians, we inherently know that this is not a Godly practice, but a vain one. It's only of the flesh that professing Christians feign that it is not an unbiblical thing to do. It is both disappointing and disheartening to see professing Christians intentionally stain, mar, deface and deform the body that the Lord made so perfectly. God specifically instituted laws to make the children of God different and separate from the heathen nations and their worldly traditions to emphasize this. From not mingling two different kinds of seed in a field to not mixing different livestock, these were all Old Covenant laws and types to "signify" that God's people were to be different and separated from the unbelieving lifestyles of the people of the world around them. They were not to mingle with the unbelieving just as God said one seed was not to be mingled with another. That included embracing the traditions of markings in their flesh for the dead, which characterized the practices of these ungodly nations. Many theologians claim that there is only one verse in the Bible that speaks to the practice of tattoos, but there are a myriad of verses that address the reasons that God forbade the practice. Let's look at the verse that most Christians reference regarding this practice:
 

Next, we look at the context of this prohibition to help us understand "the why," so that we are not left in the dark. And we should read the first and second half of this verse as a unit. Clearly, we can tell that again, God is separating the children of Israel from the practice of pagan rituals of self-mutilation (Jeremiah 16:6-7) in the common practice of mourning for those who have died. Here, we see that God is illustrating His precept that the children of Israel were to be different. They were commanded not to make gashes and marks on their body like the people around them did because they were to be peculiar, divergent, and a people spiritually and physically separated from the worldly people around them. That separation continues to this day. You see, God is not speaking only to the Israelites under the old covenant, God is speaking to all His children signifying that they are to be a separate, holy, and special people that are not to act, mimic, or live like the reprobate peoples and nations around them. For we are in the world, but we are a peculiar people that are not of the world. As indeed God illustrated in 2nd Corinthians.
 

Nevertheless, the objection by some Christians concerning this passage in leviticus is that it was the stipulation of piercings or cuttings in the flesh specifically "for the dead," which is true as that was a heathen custom. However they were also not to have "any" marks put upon them either. Moreover, this idea would have us believe that God permits them to make any cuttings in their flesh so long as it was not for the dead. That is absurd reasoning, since it is perfectly clear from the context that God is forbidding Israel from mimicking these practices done by the heathen nations, not merely those customs concerning the dead. There is a whole list of things there that the heathen did that God forbade His children to do in those verses. He was specifically instructing His People not to tattoo, or do any of these carnal or worldly things as a way of separating them from that larger culture. God's purpose for instituting these laws was to warn His people not to follow any of these ungodly and vain indulgences or practices of the heathen nations that were around them. God says, "nor print any marks upon you." That means in addition to cutting for the dead because they were to be a "separated" people, a "called out" people, a "particular" people from those of the world around them. That is the point that so many Christians today don't seem to comprehend in their lust for assimilation into worldly society.
 

Of course those objecting to what Leviticus teaches are quick to point out that chapter 19 also forbids cutting your hair off around the sides, rounding the beards and mixing different seeds. However, far from supporting their contention, it confirms that what I have been saying about this separation precept is absolutely true:
 

Others attempt to justify these practices by introducing "straw man" arguments or giving various scenarios about surgery on the body. One person quipped, "isn't someone who has had an arm amputated defaming the Temple of God in cutting his flesh to save his life?" Of course this is a half-sarcastic question, but the answer is no. For his mindset isn't to feign that cutting off his arm is an act that we can do to glorify God or to suppose that joining in with the carnal practices of the world is a good witness to unbelievers. His mindset is not to deliberately mar the building that is the Temple of God, his mindset is to preserve it. By contrast, if someone were to say that "I'm going to cut off my arm,brand myself with ink, or cut a hole in my ear the size of a silver dollar, because I think it makes me look cool," then yes, that would be sin. We can't righteously equate someone needing an amputation in order to live, to someone putting rings in their nose to glorify themselves. This is a pitiful defense for indulging in these worldly customs. They are not becoming like the world for their own glory and so this is an example of the proverbial "mixing apples and oranges." It seems people have their eyes so trained on themselves, that they aren't even addressing the fundamental questions. Our body is the 'perfect' creation of God, and so why would we mar that because we desire to be familial or tribal with the world? Shall we carve a hole into God's temple for our own fleshly eyesore, or draw caricatures upon it that we might improve its appearance in man's eyes. The passage of 1st Corinthians 6:19-20 declares that we are merely tenants of God's house, we don't own the building. That truth is not getting through to many Christians because it's contrary to their own carnal desires. Our body is not ours to simply do with it as we please, we have been bought with a price and should not forget that we are to be faithful conscientious Christians. In our vain and egotistical rantings about how "it belonging to us," we forget that we should also be concerned about the impression that we give to other people by these piercings and tattoos. For even an unbeliever knows something is amiss and will give a double take when he sees a person full of tattoos or piercings who claims to be a Christian. He can discern that it is out of place (and so do we all) because Christians are 'supposed' to be different from the world. Our body is part of our witness, a living testimony to how we live our lives set apart from the world.
 

We have seen that when most people attempt to justify Christian tattoos, they usually embark on a lesson in their Christian liberty, the irrelevant cultural periods of old, the sociology of today or the secular history of Israel. However, the correct approach is to allow the Scriptures themselves and allow them to address whether it is God glorifying or not. Rather than presuming to know God's motives, we should open our hearts to receive the Spirit of His authoritative word. Let Him tell us whether He would approve of our markings, indulgences and piercings. Many insist that "pierced noses and tattoos open doors," and that "this is the best way to reach young people in our modern culture." They say this "as if" we must become just like the world in order to get people out of the world. Misapplying Paul's, "I become a Roman to win the Romans," they are truly deluding themselves. Paul didn't imply marking up the body because the heathen around us do it. This passage is taken totally out of context with relationship to this question. Did Solomon bring the wicked to God by marrying women who worshipped false gods, or rather were they a problem to his faithfulness? So it is clear that this logic is as unsound as the thinking that tattoos will win souls. Our path is not in the way of the world, but in showing them there is another way that is "different" from the path they are taking. Tattoos are the physical equivalence of outwardly adorning ourselves, showing a spirit of exaltation. It is the spirit of the unbeliever, not of the believer. If God warns about outward adorning in temporal dress, how much more about permanent tattoos, nose rings and other disfigurements.
 

Rather than this being an article claiming those who cut their flesh or mark their skin are not going to heaven (God Forbid), this is an article stressing the very same precepts that God was stressing when he told Israel not to sow its field with two different seeds, and when He commanded that they could not plow with an ox and a jackass together, or when He declared that they could not wear a garment made of two different threads like wool and linen (Deuteronomy 22:9-11). These laws to prevent different kinds from mingling together were a "vivid sign" to God's people designed to be a portrait illustrating the Israelites were not to follow the worldly practices, not be unequally yoked together with the heathen nations around them. They were tokens designed to keep them as a Holy and separate people. The same reason that we are not to tattoo and cut ourselves as the world around us does. Christians are to be a peculiar, sanctified, distinct, set apart holy people.
 

  May the Gracious Lord, who is rich in mercy, by the gift of His Holy Spirit, guide us all into the truth of His most blessed word concerning this issue.

Amen!

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