Are Tattoos & Piercings Permissible For Christians?
Church Visitor: Pastor Bud, I’m planning to get a really cool tattoo of my grandmother on my arm. She means so much to me.
Pastor Bud: Wow! That sounds great! I can’t wait to see it.
Christian Bystander: Doesn’t the bible say we should not do that?
Pastor Bud: That was just for the Old Testatment. It doesn’t apply to us Christians today. We Christians have to be careful that we don’t get legalistic and become a stumbling block to our brothers.
Christian Bystander: But doesn’t the bible say that we are not to do as the heathen (unsaved) do?
Pastor Bud: You’re just being legalistic. Do you think we are not to be around anyone who is not saved? I grew up around all that legalism and that’s what’s killing the Church. There’s only old people in those kinds of churches. They’re dying out. We need to change with the times.
Christian Bystander: But don’t tattoos bring attention to ourselves instead of to Christ?
Pastor Bud: In case you didn’t notice, I have tattoos, Christian tattoos, and I’m a pastor. My tattoos point people to Christ. Did you know that Jesus has a tattoo – on his thigh… It’s mentioned in the book of revelation, where it says “on his thigh [is] a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” and I know for sure that the Greek word in that verse literally means a tattoo.
Christian Bystander: Oh really? What Greek dictionary did you use to make that determination?
Pastor Bud: None. I just read about it on the Internet – from a reliable source, of course.
Christian Bystander: Could your reliable source be a website that advertises “Christian tattoos”?
Pastor Bud: I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that it may make me look bad.
Christian Bystander: Too late, you already look bad, thanks to all your gaudy flesh-glorifying tattoos!
Tattoos And Piercings And The Christian
Many people will say that their tattoo opens doors with a certain crowd of people, gives them cultural authenticity, or that it is helpful as a witnessing tool. To that I would say that Christ’s apostles and disciples “preached Jesus” through their actions and words. They didn’t need gimmicks or cool fashions or fads of the day to relate to people and neither do we!
You don’t need physical piercings to relate to people. The Bible says in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
God’s Holy word is the only “piercing” thing that will save people! The disciples preached God’s word, lived by God’s commands. People saw Jesus living through them and learned what it meant to be saved by hearing them preaching God’s word and seeing the fruit of their lives. The disciples didn’t try to be fashionable like the world. They didn’t seek to entertain the world.
Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Your light, not your tat)
Our Christian light should shine. We should not be busy taking on the world’s image. We should not be concerned with looking such a way that is pleasing to men. Galatians 1:10, “For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” Acts 5:29, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”
For those who say, “But I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22), I say to you that God’s word has already shown us that we are NOT to be conformed to this wicked and adulteress world. Do I have to smoke crack or marijuana so that I can relate to those who are on drugs? Do I have to dress like a whore and hang out on the street corners so that I can try to witness to my lost sisters who are prostitutes? Should I join a gang and take on the trademarks of a certain “set” so that I can speak to those young men who are obviously in need of a relationship with our Savior? Of course not! This dark world needs the Light. It does not need us to come down to its dark, fleshly level. –
“Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.”
Leviticus 19:28
SEE ALSO: