Tattoos, Theology, and why getting a buzz might be a sin, Part 2

Earlier this week, I analyzed this issue a bit.  Today, I'd like to give you my position: I don't think getting a tattoo is a good idea.

I’ll give you 3 reasons why not:


1. Tattoos are limited.

Even on a basic level, tattoos are a poor idea because they’re limited in their message. While you might think it’s a good idea to start off the conversation with John 3:16, or a cross, or “Jesus loves you”, the fact of the matter is, much that is taught in Christianity today is deceitful because it is an incomplete message.

John 3:16 is abused so badly that it has come to be a slogan for Christless Christianity. We focus on, “God so loved the world” and forget about the ‘perish’ part. To present a person with that verse alone and nothing else is, frankly, dishonest. Sure, someone could be saved by going to the passage and reading the chapter around it, but the verse is so overused that it has become a self-parody. Chances are 99 out of 100 that a person reading that would never go beyond it.

“Jesus loves you”? Sure He does. But that is one of the most deceptive statements to leave an unbeliever with. God’s love is already misunderstood. Even going the John the Baptist style and tattooing “Repent!” would be too little to leave someone with. Quite honestly, the point of tattoos is to give a basic message. But the Gospel can’t be told in a half dozen words. And anything less than that is simply not God-honoring.


2. Tattoos are a means of identifying with a person or idea.

Just as John MacArthur noted above, tattoos were connected with idolatry. Even then they were a sign of idolatry and identifying with it. Today, tattoos are used to identify with other members of criminal organizations, armed forces groups, or even witchcraft.

On the face of it, that seems like a good idea to get a tattoo, not one against it. By getting a tattoo, we can identify ourselves with Christ. But think carefully about this: Who gets tattoos? Criminals; gangsters; people who have something to say and want it permanently imprinted on their body. More often than not, the people who get tattoos are not the kind you want to identify with. If it is in plain sight, a person can see that someone has a tattoo from quite a bit farther away than they need to be to see what it is. So until they can see what the tattoo, what you are telling them is that you are the type of person who gets tattoos. And if you think that people do not interpret the wearing of tattoos in either a positive or negative sense, you are mistaken. Most people will still accept someone who has no tattoos. For some, seeing a tattoo can cause an instant negative impression that may heavily weaken your evangelism attempts. Is that really what we want?


3. We are called to holiness.

The word, ‘holiness’, refers to being set apart. In the Old Testament, God’s people Israel were given many commands to set them apart from the other nations. In the New Testament, we hear a lot about holiness and being set apart from the world. We as Christians are being conformed to the image of Christ Jesus. Some, admittedly, believe that if Jesus had lived in the 21st century, He would’ve sported tattoos. That is, quite frankly, just not true. As far as we know, Jesus looked pretty much like an average Jew at his time. He didn’t walk around with a knife so that the zealots would follow him (at least, not that we know of). He went to dinner with tax collectors and sinners, but as far as we know He didn’t assume their style of dress to fit in. When some Greeks came to see Him, Jesus didn’t go change into Greek clothes and start a philosophical discussion on Greek poets. That’s not to say that Paul was wrong to quote Greek philosophers when addressing the Areopagus in Acts 17, but Paul was an educated Jew and had been brought up with quite a bit of Greek culture in his background. He wasn’t going out of his way to reference Greek philosophy, he simply used what he knew.

We are not called to ‘look like’ the world. We’re to look like Christ and act like Christ. If you believe that we must use any method we can to accommodate the Gospel to unbelievers, you know nothing of the sovereignty of God. He doesn’t need us to be chameleons who look and talk like the people we’re trying to persuade. The whole point of our redemption and salvation is that we are to look and talk differently. This isn’t about being free from the law. Being free from the law does not mean that God doesn’t care about some issues. What it means is that we’re to be guided by the Spirit. And if we are guided by the Spirit, we ought to recognize that some actions are contrary to the character and teaching of God.

On a basic level, the problem is worldliness. Many of the people who try to look like the world are not in their heart of hearts doing it because of evangelism; they are doing it because they are afraid to look different. They don't want to stand out for fear of mockery. If you find yourself looking and acting like everyone else out there, you need to think very carefully about whether you’ve truly denied yourself, taken up your cross and followed Christ. That is the first step of true Christianity.