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Tattoos And The Christiam
George
L. Faull
Dear Brother
Faull,
Do
you think I would be wrong as a Christian to get a tattoo?
ANSWER:
Tattoos
were forbidden in the Old Testament because they had to do with witchcraft.
Leviticus
19:28, “Ye
shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for
the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.”
Obviously
all tattoos today do not deal with witchcraft.
If an Israelite wore any marks, it would appear he was into witchcraft,
occultism or pagan worship. So God just
made a blanket statement do not make any cuttings or marks so you would not
even appear to be involved with the occult or pagan worships.
For the same reason he forbade “marring the corners
of your beards.” Or baldness on the
head. Leviticus 19:27
This was like a tonsure like Friar Tuck in Robinhood
wore. It had to do with sun/moon
worship. Wearing different clothes of
different materials was forbidden. Leviticus 19:19 This too was a symbol of the superstition of
the pagan.
Some may say, “Well, we do so now.”
You’re right.
Men shape their beards and we wear cotton and wool together, so why not
wear a tattoo now? Sounds like a good
argument doesn’t it? Trouble is, we’re
overlooking something. The same chapter
forbids stealing, adultery, gossip, hating, and grudge holding, eating blood,
prostitution, going to witches, cheating by using false weights. Which are pertinent today? Obviously all of
them!
The principle of this entire chapter is for them to
be different than the heathen or to not even appear to be one of them. Why?
Because they were to be a Holy (different) people. “Ye shall be Holy for I am Holy.”
Holiness is what the chapter is emphasizing. Even now the saints are to act, think, look,
and have attitudes different than the heathen world.
Leviticus
20:26, “And
ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am
holy, and have severed you from other
people, that ye should be mine.” God
still says this in I Peter 1:15-16.
Likewise,
we are to be Holy. We are to be
different.
So,
here is why I would not get a tattoo:
1.
I would not want to look
like the world.
I want to be holy looking in
my appearance and not have anyone mistake me for a conformer to this world.
Romans 12:1-2, “1 ¶ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And
be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of
God.
2.
I would not want to lose my
influence for Christ. Many believe that
tattoos are a symbol of a man or woman that got drunk and had a tattoo put on
them while drunk.
3.
I’ve known Christians who
would give anything to be rid of their pre-Christian tattoos because it hinders
their witness for Christ.
I do not have the right to
squander my testimony for Christ.
4.
My body is the Temple of the
Holy Spirit.
I Corinthians 6:19, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”
Tattooing is unnatural,
disfiguring, and to many very disgusting and loathsome. Since my body is God’s, not mine, I have no
right to mar it.
5.
It is painful. Some pass out or get drunk to get it.
Getting them removed is
expensive and even more painful. (They
may be removed by lasers at a great expense and time.)
6.
It cannot be denied that it
is thought by many to be an act of rebellion and defiance, nor can it be denied
it often is exactly that!
The word tattoo means,
“stigma”. They have long been used to
identify criminals, slaves, adulterers, traitors, perverts, deserters, and
slaves. Those who had to wear
them were social misfits.
In a 2001 study, those with
tattoos were 4 times more likely to engage in illicit sex than those without
them. They are 2 times more likely to
experience alcohol problems, 2 times more likely to take drugs and 2 times more
likely to be a school drop-out.
7.
When you see a girl with a
tattoo and one without, which do you believe would be the looser of the two?
8.
Some report that you cannot
give blood for 12 months after getting one.
Do you wonder why the Red
Cross has eligibility guidelines about this?
HIV is the reason.
9.
I Corinthians 10:31 would
keep me from doing it because I would be suspect.
“Whether therefore ye eat,
or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
10.
I think graffiti on the
temple of God is as ugly and childish as graffiti on a beautiful temple wall.
11.
It is a mark of rebellion.
Ron Scott says in a study in
Denmark, only 4% out of the general
population had tattoos. Yet 72% of young
men in prison and 52% of the entire prison population had them. It is interesting to know prisons spend much
money on the removal of tattoos to help in the rehabilitation of the criminal.
12.
It poses health problems due
to infection.
Remember actress Pamela
Anderson? She got hepatitis C getting a
small tattoo. Yes, Hepatitis B,
Hepatitis C, HIV, blood poisoning and hemorrhaging are all possible when you
get a tattoo. (In fact, 72% of 642 kids
hemorrhaged when they got a tattoo.)
One must remember a tattoo
is up to 3,000 hole punches in a minute for about an hour. These puncture wounds in the skin are filled
with coloring. Of these 180,000 wounds,
each has the potential to become infected.
What if the one tattooing is careless and does not sterilize the
needles? Mayo Clinic warns of this very
possible danger.
The tattoo industry is
self-monitored and not government regulated.
Remember those who tattoo others are usually anti-government,
anti-morals, anti-establishment and cohorts of the criminal and drug
society. Some shops may be clean but
many are not.
You can also be allergic to
the ink. Incidentally, some hospitals
will not do MRI’s on people who have tattoos because of the intense pain it
causes due to the fillers in the ink.
CONCLUSION: Tattooing is for the rebel, not the one submissive
to Him who calls us to be Holy!
If you already have one we regret if this is painful for you to read. It is one of those “past” things that stay with you even though you are forgiven.