Should a Christian get a tattoo? Are tattoos sinful? Now a tattoo is a permanent modification
of the body, made by inserting ink pigments into the dermis under the epidermis. Now throughout
history human beings have never been satisfied with the appearance of their bodies that they're
born with. From using makeup, painting nails, using tight jeans, tanning salons, high heels,
bizarre haircuts, trimmed facial hair. To using tattoos, piercings, earlobe plugs. People are
just not happy with their God given bodies. As Christians we understand that God created
our bodies. He created our bodies from the dust. God, He also rewards us what is done in the body.
Jesus came and healed bodies. We also know that the Holy Spirit lives in our body. Our body is
the temple of the Holy Spirit and we know that God will one day resurrect our body. Now tattoos
have become more popular and accepted than ever before. It's becoming embedded in our society
to the point that it's not just a fashion, that is gonna pass by. It's something that's
probably gonna stay here. Currently one in five U.S adults has at least one tattoo,
which is way more than before. About 16% to 14% in the year 2003 and the year 2008. Now the
famous scripture that is used against tattoos is Leviticus 19:28. And I'm going to read this verse:
In the near East tattoos were used to mark slaves. If one were to have a brand on his hand
or forehead, he or she would become quickly identified as someone's property. And so we must
understand is that in light of that, as well as in that culture, people would cut themselves during
the time of grieving and expressing sorrow. So when somebody would die they would cut themselves
to show sorrow and grief. In fact we actually see that in Jeremiah 16:6. It says, " Both
great and small shall die in the land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament
for them," and then it says this thing, "cut themselves nor make themselves bald for them."
So it was a common practice in that day, in that culture where somebody would die. You know
like we would wear black and go to the funeral and we would cry and then afterwards you know,
we would just have a meal with the family. But people would cut themselves and God was saying,
"Hey I don't want you to go into this new land and I don't want you to be cutting yourself,
cutting your flesh for the dead. I don't want you to practice these rituals." In fact He says,
"I don't want you to have any tattoo marks on you. I am the Lord." Now God was not necessarily
against Israel ever making incisions or cuts into their body. Because one of the signs of the
covenant that Israel had, was that the males were circumcised. That's cutting of the skin, okay.
So this was not that God was saying, oh your body is the temple I don't want you to cut it. Because
God was asking them to make a covenant with Him by cutting their foreskin of little baby boys.
And so this was not that. There was a deeper application an implication of what these tattoos
meant in that day. For example, in Egypt we know that mainly women were the ones that were inked.
And a lot of some research and evidence actually suggests that tattooing body parts of women
associated with fertility. And it was believed as a good luck charm for protection during the
birthing process. Now in Canaan we see of course the famous verse in 1 Kings 18:28. When the
priests were trying to invoke their God and they would cut themselves so that he will bring fire.
You know during that contest between Elijah and the priests of Baal. Where Ahab and Jezebel you
know sponsored that little religion. And so they would cut themselves. They would like
literally slash their bodies. So Canaan had a lot more brutal way of marking their bodies,
more than just inking it. They were actually went as far as branding, slashing and gashing skin. And
so Israel going into the promised land God was saying, "Hey I don't want you to live like them.
I don't want you to cut yourself like that. I don't want you to embrace their lifestyle."
And in Leviticus I read the verse God was saying, "I am the Lord." He's like, "Hey I
am your God. You're not going to live like that. I don't want you to live like that."
But again that did not mean that God did not allow Israel to wear earrings. In fact it was
the opposite. Women having earrings was a sign of God's blessing. And sometimes God would pronounce
a curse on the nation and said He will even take their gold and their earrings. Or man would
get circumcised. So there was cutting. But this kind of cutting of inking the body and tattooing
yourself and cutting yourself for the dead. God was like that's the practice of the pagan culture
and I don't want you to embrace that. Now when it comes to the New Testament you know so-called
body art. There is silence in the New Testament against it or for it and so some people would say,
well the silence indicates approval. But that is not, that is a very weak line of reasoning,
to see that just because the Bible is silent on something that means the Bible approves it.
In fact Paul gives us a general rule of the thumb in 1 Corinthians 10:23. He says:
That means that there are things that might not be wrong. Again I'm not saying that tattoos are wrong
or not yet. I'm just saying things that might not be wrong but they're just not wise, they're not
beneficial to me, they don't glorify God. They have no point. Now some people will say, "Well
Vlad you're missing the big one. You know Jesus had a tattoo in Revelation 19:6 you know it says
that on His robe and on His thigh He had a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords." Well
number one. You're not Jesus. Number two is that it does not say it was a tattoo. We don't know,
whether it was symbolic or it was literal. And so in that case we can't say that that was a tattoo
now. And even if it would be, it would not give you the permission now to get a tattoo because
you would also have to get a horse okay. And your horse will have to fly through the sky. And so
this, what was happening there in this picture of who Jesus is and His robe dipped in blood and His
coming on the white horse and stuff. So you can't just take one part that you want to replicate
instead of taking the whole thing and apply that into your life. But the Bible does say in
Revelation 22:3-4 that, "we as His servants we will see Him face to face and we will have His
name on our forehead." Again will that be inked? Will that be embedded? Would that be symbolic?
We don't know that. Now the part that I want you to keep in front of your mind is that
demons can enter through tattoos. You have to understand that tattoos involves piercing the
skin. It's pretty much cutting the skin. It's opening the skin. And there has been a lot of
pagan spiritual associations with skin piercing. And a lot of them can give an opening to demonic
curses. Tattoos are associated with heathen cultures and were reintroduced to the west in
1700's by sailors who visited different islands. And so there are cultures and religions today that
uses inking their body as very closely connected with pagan, occultic, and witchcraft practices.
And you have to be aware of that. We've done deliverances on people who demons claim, that
they enter through tattoos. Especially tattoos of people you know painting, or inking their
body with the dragon, with a snake or some kind of a you know nude women or nude man. Or things
that are just very obvious they draw attention and they point to darkness and they point to sin. Do
I believe that every person has a tattoo has a demon? No, but tattoos can be an opening door,
an open door to demons. Now here's some reasons I want you to consider if you're considering getting
tattoo and you are a Christian. Number one is your motive. What is your motive for doing that?
So many people are getting tattoos out of rebellion to their parents. They're getting
tattoos out of rebellion to their church. So they go to a family and parents are like, you
know are very strict about the issue of tattoos. And so getting a tattoo not only now is a sinful.
Why? Because your attitude is wrong. Your motive is wrong. If you go to a church and the church
you know upholds this code of honor concerning modesty and concerning drinking, concerning
tattoos. You're like I don't care. Well you're being rebellious now. So that motive matters,
because God is looking at your heart and God is looking at what is the motive for you getting
that tattoo. And you may be justified in saying, "Well Vlad you just explained the history of the
tattoos. I'm not getting a tattoo to get a demon. I'm not getting a tattoo you know, to connect with
some pagan god." But what is your motive? Because now that makes it not only sinful. You're going
and rebelling against the Lord by doing something that is in rebellion against authority. The second
thing I want you to consider is modesty. Are you doing it to draw attention to yourself?
Are you trying to direct thoughts of people toward yourself? A lot of people get tattoos in places
where you know it's very visible. And the idea is so that people can see you, people can catch it
and it draws attention. Not to the Lord. It draws attention to you and it becomes self-seeking and
self-promoting. And it's also as Christians it's wrong. Number three is market ability. That means
you have to consider about a job that you might have in the future. There are jobs that you're not
going to be able to get because of tattoos. I know the tattoos are acceptable in a lot of cultures,
even in the United States. But there are still places that will look down upon you because of a
tattoo. There are places that will not hire you and if they will, they'll ask you to cover as
much as you can. Because they want to appear to a particular audience. That might look at the person
who has tattoos and have wrong association or have assumptions, which most people do. When you
see somebody with tattoos, I'm just gonna shoot it straight. When you see somebody that's inked you
know, your association is they did drugs, they're in gangs or some can of rap music or something
you know. And so your association is not like, oh wow, this person is really like you know, just a
godly man of God. That is not your association and most of the culture has a similar association. You
have to keep that in mind. Number four is message. What message are you sending by getting a tattoo?
There will be a lot of places where your ministry and your mission will be hindered because you're
inked. Now you may say, "Well Vlad the opposite is also true. There will be ghettos and streets and
drug addicts and drug dealers that I can go in and witness and because I can relate to them because I
have tattoos." Well God bless you. You can relate with them. But please understand, is that, if you
got those tattoos because you know it was before you became a Christian, God's going to use
your past to reach those people. But please don't go get tattoos just so you can go and
relate to a drug dealer or you can relate to a rapper or something. Just the same way as
you shouldn't become a prostitute to relate to a prostitute. Or you shouldn't go do drugs to relate
to a drug dealer. Because usually that could actually hinder, being inked, hinder your work
as a minister and as a missionary to your culture. The fifth one is the money. You have
to consider the issue of finances. Tattoos are expensive. Is this the best use of your finances?
Can you really justify the cost. Tattoo removal is even more expensive and painful than the needle.
And so people pay a lot of money. I know guys who just wait to get paid so they can get another
tattoo. You can spend that money helping the poor. You can spend that money helping others.
It's a waste of money. The sixth reason you should consider before you get a tattoo is that it hurts.
And getting a tattoo can really cause an allergic reaction because of those injections and you can
actually catch blood-borne disease like hepatitis b and hepatitis c. Tattooing deliberately opens
the skin and exposes your blood to unknown bacteria. And people who do tattoos, are not,
they're not doctors. And tattoo parlors are not medical clinics even though they're puncturing
your skin and exposing your blood. And so I really want you to consider that. If you're still like,
"Ah but I'm gonna do it still. I don't care what my parents say." Well you just, you just showed
that your attitude is wrong and that you're being rebellious. Also if you're not sure,
remember the Bible says, "whatever is not in faith is sin." My approach to stuff like that is:
when I'm in doubt, throw it out. When it's a gray area I stick as close to Jesus
and as far from the fads and the trends and all of the stuff. Because the flower fades,
the grass withers but the Word of the Lord endures forever. And so stick with God. Stick with the
Lord. Now have you noticed I didn't use the phrase of, well your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit,
that's why you should not ink your body. That is true and that should be used for this case
but it also, that verse can be used in the Bible when it talks about your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit. The context of that talks about sexual sin, not inking your body or piercing
your ears or putting makeup. So the context of your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit in
Corinthians and when Paul was referring to that, deals more with the context of sexual sin versus
inking your body by getting a tattoo. Now finally, many folks maybe have come out of the world
and got saved by the blood of Jesus, have tattoos. Many or few which cannot be erased or removed.
They are imprinted on their bodies for a lifetime. Therefore we love these new believers and they're
part of our spiritual family. And Jesus says, "Not to judge and you will not be judged. Don't
condemned and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you'll be forgiven." And so I would just
encourage those people, welcome to the family of God. But for those of you who are believers
and you're just like, "Well I'm just going to go get tattoos." I would really implore you to
reconsider and not to tattoo your body for all of these reasons that I mentioned. Your motives,
marketability, medical reasons, money reasons, spiritual reasons what it can expose you.
And because a lot of people in their culture do view tattoos as people who do bad stuff. You may
say, "Well that's wrong that they view it like that". That's the world. That's how they view
it. And because there's warnings against that in the Bible in Leviticus. And though we can say it
applies to their culture and there's other verses in Leviticus that say don't shave your beard. And
we can kind of you know pick this verse and reject that verse. And I know that's what everybody says
that who get tattoos. They're like, "Vlad, you know the verse before that and the verse after
that talks about other things that we don't put to practice." And I get you. I give you that.
I understand that. But as a Christian live your life in such a way that honors God
with your attitude and with your body. Personally I don't have tattoos. I will never get one
because I don't think I need one. I would not put a sticker on a nice car
and I wouldn't put a tattoo on my body. I wouldn't put a tattoo of my wife's name. I carry her in my
heart. I don't need to put Jesus on my hand. I want to carry Him and I want to talk about Him.
Jesus didn't say, go into all the world and wear my name on your skin. He says, "talk about Me."
And if I want to be presenting Jesus I'm gonna wear a shirt. I'm not gonna put a tattoo on my
body. In our church we also have that code of honor, where we ask people who join our church
and people who become leaders in our church not to ink their body. That's our stance and there's so
much benefits of not inking your body. Now let me ask you, what do you think? Do you have tattoos?
What is your view on the topic of tattoos? What do you think of this video of how I presented
that? I understand that I took more of a balanced kind of a perspective or centered perspective.
Instead of just going hardcore against and saying it's sin and taking scripture out of context.
And also not going into saying hey, I'm all for tattoos. Everybody get as much as possible and
let's just live for Jesus and not hate each other and so. But I want to hear your perspective and
I want to hear if you have tattoos and what you think about that? Drop it in the comments below
and let's have a nice dialogue okay. Don't get all so feisty over there in the comments. And if
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