fusionatl

I have heard before that Christians are not supposed to get tattoos. I asked someone that I know is saved and that recently got a tattoo what the Bible says about the matter. They gave me an Old Testament Scripture "Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.”- Leviticus 19:28. I know that the Bible does not specifically say in the New Testament that we should NOT get tattoos, but Apostle Paul does speak of dressing modestly (I Timothy 2:9), with the implication that our dress should not draw attention to ourselves, as tattoos would do just that. I personally do not understand the idea that "Oh, my tattoo has a Scripture and glorifies God" when the Word doesn't have to be written on our bodies, but rather be in our hearts (Psalm 119:11). I am not condemning anyone but would like to get clarification on the matter, especially since tattoos and body piercings are such a fad.

Thanks in advance for your insight! Please use as many Scriptures as you can to back up what you say, not merely opinion since the Bible is our main source of reference.

Good question. I'm definitely not a pro on this, but here's my take.

You quoted Leviticus 19:28 which speaks about not cutting or tattoing our bodies. As a side note, this is the primary scripture (actually the only scripture) that speaks about tattoing. The word translated 'tattoo' is the Hebrew word “qa aqa” which appears only one time in the Bible, here in Leviticus. So this is the primary place where we are given anything to look at for tattoos.

Taken at face value in the scripture, tattoing is a major sin... placed right along side cutting yourself for the dead. But, as in all scripture, the context is vitally important. So we have to know why God is speaking those things & who He's telling it to.

Here's the whole piece of scripture:
Leviticus 19:26-28
'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.
NIV

So right here there is a pretty weird grouping of scripture.
Don't eat meat with the blood still in it.
Don't be a sorcerer.
Don't cut your hair weird.
Don't cut your bodies.
Don't tattoo.

The concensus on all these if you take a look at some commentaries is that they have to do with pagan practices of the time.
Meat with the blood in it - represented life (which belonged to God), but also blood for use in ceremonies
Sorcerer - Trying to take power into your own hand, representing a lack of faith in god.
Cut hair weird - Had a highly idolatrous meaning, superstitious
Cut your bodies - We saw this when Elijah "battled" the pagan priests on the mountain top: this was something the Israelites had learned but were apparently falling back into.
Tattoo - Here's what I found in my commentary: by tatooing; imprinting figures of flowers, leaves, stars, and other fanciful devices on various parts of their person. The impression was made sometimes by means of a hot iron, sometimes by ink or paint, as is done by the Arab females of the present day, and the different castes of the Hindus. It is probable, from the association of Lev 19:29, that a strong propensity to adopt such marks in honour of some idol gave occasion to the prohibition in this verse; and they were wisely forbidden, for they were signs of apostasy, and, when once made, were insuperable obstacles to a return.

God gave this command right after He had freed the Israelites from Egyptian slavery to get them to stop practicing the things they may have picked up in Egypt... because the practices were linked to customs with very anti-God systems.

So I get from all this that these practices were all tied into pagan practices of the time and that's why God spoke against it... like God did with many things in the OT. If we did everything we saw in the OT we couldn't eat shrimp or cheeseburgers or wear clothes woven from wool & linen. That's why we need discernment and to hold it up against the New Testament... Galatians 3:24-25 and Romans 14.

Through those thoughts and those scriptures I believe we can eat meat with blood still in it and get any haircut we want to and it's not a sin. And I believe tattoos are alright with God.

But in the end I think that all things are permissable but not all things are beneficial. I'm not telling everyone to go out & get tatted up but if it's something you want to do then make up your mind, make sure God isn't telling YOU no, think about how it's going to look in 50 years when you're all wrinkly & then go do it (I'm actually thinking about getting one!).

Sorry if this was a lot. This isn't really one of those things that can be answered with a yes or no b/c it's a grey area... plus, I like researching. There's my $5 worth.

I think this is a good question, but I'm going to go against what you asked and offer my opinion on the matter anyway . I think Johnson's response was a pretty good one. I don't think that a having a tattoo equals a go straight to hell card. Yes, Leviticus tells us not to mark our bodies, and not to get piercing. The Bible also says not to make any idols.
Ex 20:4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. Does that mean that we are sinning when we hang up the paintings, put them on Christmas trees, buy the cute little figurines, and jewelry? How about necklaces with a cross charm? How about pictures of Jesus? This may seem a little extreme, but none of us have seen Jesus, so we really can't paint a picture of him. So, in essence if we hang the paintings on the wall or put up the stained glasses in our churches we are indeed worshipping an image.

Now, as far as what Johnson says about Galatians 3 I think that is a great point the only thing is that we have to make sure that we don't cause another to stumble.
I Cor 10 31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— 33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

I don't think that a tattoo will cause someone to stumble, but I don't think I would get one...who wants to see graffiti on a temple? Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit(I Cor 6:19).

I personally don't have a problem with tattoos, but unless God explicitly says hey John you should get a tattoo to glorify me...I wouldn't consider it to be a wise choice.(unless it's one of those temporary cereal box spider man tattoos.... they are cool)

I think that sometimes we get so caught up in living "holy and righteous lives" that we forget that the Law isn't what saves us. I can't remember how "thou shall nots" are in the Old testament, but I think it's pretty impossible to keep all of the commandments that are written there. We have to be careful, because it can lead to Biblical arrogance much like the Pharisees and biblical scholars of Jesus' time. Paul tells us that we need to have circumcised hearts.
I think that ultimately we compromise our values and conform a little too much to the world all for "the glory of God", and we need to be a little more aware of the possible impact of our actions.

Thank you for your response Johnson and EddieMC. I really appreciate the feedback!

I have some questions to dive deeper into this, because I want us to operate in truth.

1) If getting a tattoo is a pagan practice, then wouldn't it still be a pagan practice today? After all, Jesus came to FULFILL the Old Testament, NOT do away with it. There are plenty of Pagan practices today, such as Valentine's Day, Halloween, etc. Simply because we WANT to practice those things does not mean that it still is not paganistic, which is the very thing that God was commanding the Israelites to come away from. Furthermore, with not cutting their hair on the sides, is it possible that that was the pagan fad of their day, whereas tattoos is the pagan fad of our time. We have to address the PAGANISM, not merely the act. The act is always a manifestation of the mindset. If we tell people that it's OK to get tattoos, how can we mandate how many or what kind they should get? If the act is not lawful, then it's not lawful.

2) In another example, Leviticus 18 also says that we shouldn't have sex with animals. If this wasn't addressed in the New Testament, would it be okay? What would happen if a leader confessed that he had sex with his dog. It wasn't addressed directly in the New Testament. Do we have to rely on our own personal convictions to decide whether or not to engage in this? I know this is graphic, but I wanted to illustrate that we cannot pick and choose which scriptures to "use our own convictionson" and which ones to decide to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us on.

God called us to be seperate from the world (II Corinthians 6:16-18). If we are supposed to be seperate but have the same fads as the world, where is the distinction? I remember seeing people in the clubs before I was saved with "Only God Can Judge Me" or a Cross symbol on one of their arms, but had a hennessy and coke in the other hand. Just getting a Scripture tattoo doesn't make it right or say that you are set apart. The world does it also.

True enough, we can't in our own selves keep every single commandment, which is why Jesus came. However, to admit our shortcomings is one thing, but to not aknowledge that it is a shortcoming is a fallacy.