They shall grow not old,
as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them,
nor the years condemn.
As the going down of the sun
and in the morning
we will remember them.
Lest We Forget.
The tattoo above is on my younger daughter's right side. It is remembrance of a fellow National Guard that was killed in battle just weeks after graduating from boot camp. My daughter was among those that graduated with him. This man was married, and left behind two small children. All those that graduated with him got the same tattoo in memorial to this soldier.
There are those in a lot of religious denominations that frown upon, and are vocally against, any tattoo or other bodily marking. They will quote Romans 12:1-2 (Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a
living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual
service of worship. And do not
be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so
that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable
and perfect.) in their 'righteous' condemnation. But, yet, God says He looks at the heart of a man, and not at the outward appearance 1 Samuel 16:7 (But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of
his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man
looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”) So, which is it? Or are they both right? The following excerpt from a blog on tattoos will shed some light on the subject:
Here are my thoughts on the subject, for whatever they may be worth.Leviticus 19 includes
the following: 27 You shall not round off the hair
on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not make any cuts
on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord. (all Bible
quotes are ESV. The NIV also uses
"tattoo.") Anything in the Bible should be taken seriously, of course. However,
we can divide the commandments in the Old Testament (OT) into three types:
Cultural and Civic -- commandments for the OT Israelite culture, like commands on how to divide the land among the tribes.Ceremonial -- commandments concerning the worship of the Israelites, like commands about feasts. Most of the OT commands are of this type.Moral -- commandments for all cultures, at all times, like the commandment that husbands stay with their wives (Genesis 2:24, repeated by Jesus in Matthew 19:5). Moral commandments, though they may be stated first in the OT, are also found in the New Testament.
We can't always tell which type of command was meant. They are not identified as such in the Bible. The church generally does not hold that the first two types of commandments are binding on Christians. At the Jerusalem conference, the leaders wrote as follows, when Jews felt that gentile Christians must obey the ceremonial law: Acts 15:28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29a that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Even some of the prohibitions in Acts 15:28-9 are not taken the OT. But, if that's true, I bet they don't preach against clipping off the edges of a beard. It is easy to confuse our own prejudices with what God commands. I can remember when that happened with not was binding by most Christians anymore. 1 Corinthians 8:8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. The Acts 15 statement was about the ceremonial law. It does not undo God's moral laws.So what about tattoos? The context seems to indicate clearly that Leviticus 19:28 is ceremonial or cultural, not a moral command. Not only is not a moral commandment, but it is probably speaking particularly of a situation involving death of a loved one, and, likely, refers to practices of the heathen neighbors of the Israelites. So why do some Christians speak out against tattoos, saying that the Bible is categorically against them? One reason may be that they don't distinguish between the three types of commandments in ring wedding rings, not wearing a tie, not having your hair cut or wearing pants if you are a woman, not having a beard, or not having long hair if you are a man. Opposition to these ways of presenting oneself is and was cultural, not moral. In our own congregation, attitudes on these matters have changed, which is just as well, because they aren't based on moral commandments.
Cultural and Civic -- commandments for the OT Israelite culture, like commands on how to divide the land among the tribes.Ceremonial -- commandments concerning the worship of the Israelites, like commands about feasts. Most of the OT commands are of this type.Moral -- commandments for all cultures, at all times, like the commandment that husbands stay with their wives (Genesis 2:24, repeated by Jesus in Matthew 19:5). Moral commandments, though they may be stated first in the OT, are also found in the New Testament.
We can't always tell which type of command was meant. They are not identified as such in the Bible. The church generally does not hold that the first two types of commandments are binding on Christians. At the Jerusalem conference, the leaders wrote as follows, when Jews felt that gentile Christians must obey the ceremonial law: Acts 15:28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29a that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Even some of the prohibitions in Acts 15:28-9 are not taken the OT. But, if that's true, I bet they don't preach against clipping off the edges of a beard. It is easy to confuse our own prejudices with what God commands. I can remember when that happened with not was binding by most Christians anymore. 1 Corinthians 8:8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. The Acts 15 statement was about the ceremonial law. It does not undo God's moral laws.So what about tattoos? The context seems to indicate clearly that Leviticus 19:28 is ceremonial or cultural, not a moral command. Not only is not a moral commandment, but it is probably speaking particularly of a situation involving death of a loved one, and, likely, refers to practices of the heathen neighbors of the Israelites. So why do some Christians speak out against tattoos, saying that the Bible is categorically against them? One reason may be that they don't distinguish between the three types of commandments in ring wedding rings, not wearing a tie, not having your hair cut or wearing pants if you are a woman, not having a beard, or not having long hair if you are a man. Opposition to these ways of presenting oneself is and was cultural, not moral. In our own congregation, attitudes on these matters have changed, which is just as well, because they aren't based on moral commandments.
No one ever went to hell
just for wearing a tattoo. People go to hell because they don't believe in
Christ as Savior and honor Him as Lord. Nonetheless, there are some principles that would seem to apply about tattoos, and
to other choices about how we present our bodies.
1) Why are you doing this? If a tattoo is meant as a statement of rebellion against God, or our parents, or is a display of personal pride, then we shouldn't get it.
2) What is it showing? "Four-letter words," insults, anti-God statements or pictures are some of the things that should be avoided, of course.3) How much does it cost? We need to use the money that God has given us wisely. This does not mean that we can never spend money on fixing ourselves up, or on things that we enjoy, but we should be careful, and have the right priorities.
4) Is it immodest? Is the purpose to arouse lust in others, or is it likely to do so?5) Does it put your health at risk?
6) How will it affect other people? We can't live solely for other people, but we need to be careful that we don't drive others away from Christ, or weaken other Christians. Some groups (motorcyclers, some African-Americans, some military personnel) might be drawn to Christ by some tattoos, whereas other groups might not.
7) Has God given you a personal conviction against this (or for it)? If so, you'd better abide by that conviction. (1 Corinthians 8 speaks about some of these things.) However, we should be careful not to expect others to live according to our personal convictions.
8) Have I promised not to do this? There are certain vows that go with joining our church -- which has no prohibition on being tattoed -- or other bodies, and promises should be kept, unless there is a more important moral principle in play that wasn't anticipated when you made the promise.
9) What's my attitude? (In this case, toward those who disagree with my opinion about something external, or who may be affected by what I might do.) My attitude must be one of love, honor and integrity.
(see full blog at: http://sunandshield.blogspot.com/2008/06/what-bible-says-about-tattoos-1.html )
1) Why are you doing this? If a tattoo is meant as a statement of rebellion against God, or our parents, or is a display of personal pride, then we shouldn't get it.
2) What is it showing? "Four-letter words," insults, anti-God statements or pictures are some of the things that should be avoided, of course.3) How much does it cost? We need to use the money that God has given us wisely. This does not mean that we can never spend money on fixing ourselves up, or on things that we enjoy, but we should be careful, and have the right priorities.
4) Is it immodest? Is the purpose to arouse lust in others, or is it likely to do so?5) Does it put your health at risk?
6) How will it affect other people? We can't live solely for other people, but we need to be careful that we don't drive others away from Christ, or weaken other Christians. Some groups (motorcyclers, some African-Americans, some military personnel) might be drawn to Christ by some tattoos, whereas other groups might not.
7) Has God given you a personal conviction against this (or for it)? If so, you'd better abide by that conviction. (1 Corinthians 8 speaks about some of these things.) However, we should be careful not to expect others to live according to our personal convictions.
8) Have I promised not to do this? There are certain vows that go with joining our church -- which has no prohibition on being tattoed -- or other bodies, and promises should be kept, unless there is a more important moral principle in play that wasn't anticipated when you made the promise.
9) What's my attitude? (In this case, toward those who disagree with my opinion about something external, or who may be affected by what I might do.) My attitude must be one of love, honor and integrity.
(see full blog at: http://sunandshield.blogspot.com/2008/06/what-bible-says-about-tattoos-1.html )
I think my daughter, and all those in her unit, showed fully the action in #9.
If God looks at the heart then what is wrong with wearing your heart on "your sleeve" just a little bit;-) My younger son is a tattoo artist and just plain artist. My older son was killed while serving in the US forces in 1999. I think that in light of love and that we have a Father who loves our fellowship more than our works...I think the tattoo is ok! God bless!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your imput....I think we, as Christians, need to search for deeper revelations from God, and not take 'religion' as the only authority. Blessings to you. :)
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