This topic has been on my heart a lot lately and I thought I would express my thoughts today. This is a controversial topic among Christians and I feel like I’m in the minority with my view so I’ll try my best to go about it carefully and Biblically. I understand this may rub a lot of people the wrong way but hear me out. Even if we disagree, I still love you. 🙂
I want to start off by asking a question: If you’re saved and getting tattoos, are you doing it to be like Jesus or to be like the world?
The Bible tells us in 1 John 2:15 to “love not the world, neither the things that are in the world”.
If you look at the origins of tattooing, its rooted in paganism, occultism, satanism and bloodletting. It was not something that God gave to us because he thought it was a great way for us to glorify him. Tattooing is a lust of the flesh, which does not bring our creator glory. Tattoos glorify self. It’s about promoting our self-image because as humans we have a sense of pride and vanity. It’s about you when you get a tattoo. A lot of Christians get tattoos as a reminder that they are loved/forgiven/strong, ect. Getting a tattoo is not going to remind you of those things, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit which lives inside of you will, always. Why rely on the flesh for spiritual things? Personally, I don’t think you are giving the Holy Spirit the proper respect when you’re saying you need something carnal like a tattoo as a reminder of what He has done for you.
In Luke 16:15 Jesus says “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”
Tattoos are highly esteemed of the world, that alone is enough for me to not want to get one. Now, I’m not saying this is what all Christians with tattoos are doing but much like the Pharisees in this passage, they are justifying their tattoo by labeling it “Christian”, when really, it isn’t. It’s self-glorifying and they want one so they get a “Christian” tattoo because that makes it ok.
God knows our hearts, thats true. But sinning out of ignorance is still sin, Leviticus 4 talks about this. Just because your intentions are to serve God doesn’t mean that your action is actually glorifying him.
Are tattoos holy? Romans 12:1-2 says this:
“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. 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.”
So again, we are told to not be like the world, be holy. I’m not sure how someone could support the argument that tattooing is holy. I’m going to go on a bit of a ridiculous tangent here but if tattooing is holy, do more tattoos equal more glory? I’m sure everyone would agree that if I covered myself head to toe in scripture, that probably would not be a good thing… but why not? How come a couple that are small, cute and can be hidden are ok but if I went head to toe, that would be unacceptable. If something is holy, the more the merrier, right? I want you to envision having a physical conversation with Paul or Jesus about a tattoo you want… do you think they would give the go-ahead for you to permanently put ink into your body? Does that sound like something holy that they themselves would have done?
I think they would bring up something like 1 Peter 3:3-4. While yes, this verse is talking to Christian women and not tattooing, I think there are underlying principles here that can apply to other areas. It’s about how our beauty comes from inside and not from outward appearances. Our looks and how we adorn our bodies should not be the focus of our attention. Spending time and money on tattoos goes against this principle.
The Bible does not specifically say to not get tattoos nor does it give us any reason that we should. An important principle, I think, is that if there is room to doubt whether something pleases God or not, we should not engage in that activity.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 lays out another foundational principal even though it’s not talking specifically about tattoos. It reads: “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 our bodies belong to God, we should make sure we have clear permission from Him before we permanently modify them. Biblically, I don’t see anything that points to the idea that would should tattoo ourselves. I do however see many principles suggesting tattoos are not glorifying to God.
Thank you for reading and be blessed in Jesus name!
-Jonathan