I have been asked more than once about my tattoos and piercings. Before I became a believer, and even after a short time of knowing Christ as my Savior, I still was unaware of the ramifications of piercings and tattoos. I would not call my attitude about the things I have on my body "shame", but knowing that God works in the hearts of those who love Him to bring us closer to the image of Christ Jesus, I was convicted not to get more, but also not to spend thousands of dollars to rid myself of my tattoos. They are, for now, part of my testimony of what Jesus delivered me from. My life was one of rebellion, self injury, pain, and hopelessness. I put on a good front, macho man with "ink" but really I was just trying to fit in. I had no idea that it would haunt me for the rest of my life. In light of all this, I decided to answer a private question publicly.
I was told by a young lady at a recent church meeting that she would like to get a tattoo of a cross somewhere on her midsection, back, something like that(unimportant details). My response was that I did not think it was becoming of a follower of Jesus Christ nor of a young lady desiring to be modest and chaste to go about sticking her body full of needle holes and ink, and unknowingly also attracting those who saw it(which I would assume would only be the man she marries) in the wrong way.
I must say that this young lady is a wonderful teen, naive in the ways of the world, and very new to the Bible and its teachings. What follows is a portion, edited for content here, of the letter I wrote to her parents. Their desire is to do what honors God and they asked that I share this issue with others, as we know it is a common issue among young people.
As many people are not aware of the spiritual dangers in such practices,
this article is not meant to condemn any that may already have this done.
However, we would urge you to seek the Lord as to any further involvement in
this practice. The Lord loves everyone, no matter what we are currently
doing however, His desire is to show us a better way.
The Bible warns us against cuttings in our flesh in Leviticus 19:28 which
says, "Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print
any marks upon you: I am the Lord."
Our young people do not realize what they are doing has its roots in
witchcraft and the practices of false religions. Those that have made trips
to other parts of the world have viewed the bodies of those who have not
only pierced and tattooed their bodies but have gone further, with
mutilating their bodies. It is sad, at the least, to see someone deform the body that
the Lord made. God made us just how He wants us and our "art" added to the body seems to point to the feeling that what God made was not good enough. The Lord admonishes us in 1 Corinthians
6:19-20,
"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? For ye are bought
with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which
are God's."
If we are to glorify God in our bodies, how do body piercings glorify
Christ? This should have been my first thought, and as we struggle daily with what God would have us do and what we should not do, this should be our first thought. Weighing the good versus bad is not valid, but rather is all that we do to honor and glorify God.
The verse below reveals a connection between foreign gods and earrings.
Genesis 35:2: "Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with
him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change
your garments: 3 And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make
there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was
with me in the way which I went. 4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange
gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their
ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem."
Perhaps a more well known scripture having to do with earrings is the record
of the children of Israel falling into rebellion and worshipping the golden
calf while Moses was up in the mount with God receiving the Ten
Commandments. Here we find they took their earrings and cast them into the
fire and make a golden idol out of them which greatly displeased the Lord.
Exodus 32:2-3: "And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings,
which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters,
and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings
which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron."
I think the matter in most cases, as it was in my personal case, is that of ignorance. Simply not having the in depth knowledge of God's Word will cause us to stumble. That is why we must rely on the wisdom of God given to us by elders and other men of spiritual maturity. In this case, it would be the father, who asked for help. This is how we help each other. We are not all wise in all things(especially me) The youth of this day want a real
cause to live and die for. Most have not seen true Christianity. However,
when they do come to Christ many will be bringing their tattoos, dress,
music and old habits with them right into the church. We must be sure that
we do not despise them nor look down on them, but rather welcome and love
them and gently teach them the ways of the Lord. We are called to love and
pray for them and help them avoid making some of the mistakes we have made
in our own walk with the Lord. We need to be true mothers and fathers to
them. Yes, we must speak the truth in love, but let us make sure we are
loving them and not condemning them. On the other hand, we must not accept
all that they would desire to bring with them that would harm them and
compromise the Word of God.
As in all issues with young people, a Godly response may be met with rebellion, questions, and all sorts of troubles, but it is worth the time to explain the truths of God's Word to the next generation. Those that are believers are going to be the leaders of the future church and need a solid foundation to build upon. If we fail our children and those others that we come into contact with, we are only making it more difficult for God's work to be accomplished. This kind of question humbles me and reminds me of the great responsibility we have as parents and leaders. We must guard our hearts and the hearts of those we lead, always relying solely on God to provide us with the answers. It is only when we honestly and earnestly seek Him that we will achieve our goals.
Mark
