Tattoos

[ArchAngel]

Haha, same story with my dad. Business as usual as well.

[Incognitus]

My standpoint is this: I don't believe you ought to be tattooing your body. The Bible says to flee from youthful lusts (2 Timothy 2:2), and be not conformed to the world, but to be changed by the renewing of your mind. (Romans 12:2). I feel that tattoos are very worldly.

Now with that being said, should someone recently saved try to REMOVE the tattoo? I don't think so. God can forgive you of that. I don't believe that tattoos should be used to glorify God (see Ephesians 5:11) however, you're doing more harm to yourself by trying to remove it. Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost,

1 Corinthians 6:19
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?

with that being said you should not damage your temple by trying to remove it.

I believe if someone has repented of their tattoo, then you shouldn't look at them differently. If someone thinks their tattoo is okay (especially if it is inappropriate) then perhaps you should excommunicate them for a bit. I was very funny on excommunication at first, but it is biblical.

2 Corinthians 6:14
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

Titus 2:11-12 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

If it is an inappropriate tattoo, then I believe it is very necessary to cover it up. The youth at church will see it, and might look to that person as a role-model.

With that being said, Matthew 6:19 says

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

Therefore we should not take pride in our bodies, we cannot take tattoos on our bodies out of the world with us, regardless or not they're sin. (Like I said, I stand in opposition against them. They are very worldly in my opinion, and we shouldn't strive to be like those who are without).

1 Corinthians 5:13
But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

[ArcticFox]

One should be veeeeeeery careful when talking excommunication. That's something only properly ordained Church leaders are responsible for and even then only through prayer and good judgement. It is not for the lay membership of the Church to cast judgments on one another. That kind of thinking leads to pride and vanity.

[Lazarus]

My standpoint is this: I don't believe you ought to be tattooing your body. The Bible says to flee from youthful lusts (2 Timothy 2:2), and be not conformed to the world, but to be changed by the renewing of your mind. (Romans 12:2). I feel that tattoos are very worldly.

I feel that there should be stronger scriptural support for the banning of tattoos than your personal feelings about what is worldly and what is not. Is there anything else in the Bible that lead you to this conclusion?

[Bruce_Campbell]

*pops head into topic*

Hey Laz, good to see you again. How's life treating you? It's been too long.

*pops head out of topic*

[ScotchRobbins]

*pops head into topic*

Hey Laz, good to see you again. How's life treating you? It's been too long.

*pops head out of topic*

[Lazarus]

Hey Laz, good to see you again. How's life treating you? It's been too long.

Hey, not everybody hates me! I missed you too, Bruce.

[Orodrist]

Same here man, glad to see you around. PM me, we'll catch up.

[cjv]

perhaps you should excommunicate them for a bit.

All I can do is laugh at people like that.

[Incognitus]

One should be veeeeeeery careful when talking excommunication. That's something only properly ordained Church leaders are responsible for and even then only through prayer and good judgement. It is not for the lay membership of the Church to cast judgments on one another. That kind of thinking leads to pride and vanity.

I agree, people who excommunicate can be seen as arrogant, or snooty. I feel that sometimes it may be appropriate though, so you don't make it seem like the sin they are committed is okay though. Liberal Christians will befriend homosexuals. (Now, I hope that we all know that homosexuality is not what God wanted.) Nevertheless, if you tell them that God is against that, then it is perhaps time to cut them off and "put away from yourself that wicked person" if they disagree. We cannot please men (Galatians 1:10) and we may even lose friends in our walk with God (Matthew 10:34-39)

Telling a lie is just as bad as murder in terms of sin. Homosexuality is just as bad as any other sin. Just because we are saved by grace through faith does not give us any right to sin willingly.


On a side note: Why would anybody want to get a tattoo in the first place? Is it because it is "cool" or something to take pride in? If that's the case, that's a great reason to steer CLEAR of them. To answer (whoever asked's) your question... I'm sure there are other scriptures out there that can be used against tattoos. Can you quote verses FOR tattoos is the question? If we are followers of Christ, we should walk as he walked. I don't recall reading anywhere in which he got a tattoo, but then again, there are a lot of things we do today in our modern society that Jesus probably didn't do. Obviously they didn't have computers and stuff like that.

Nevertheless...

Still, I definitely would not recommend a tattoo. If I got one, I would be ashamed of myself.

[Lazarus]

On a side note: Why would anybody want to get a tattoo in the first place? Is it because it is "cool" or something to take pride in? If that's the case, that's a great reason to steer CLEAR of them. To answer (whoever asked's) your question... I'm sure there are other scriptures out there that can be used against tattoos. Can you quote verses FOR tattoos is the question? If we are followers of Christ, we should walk as he walked. I don't recall reading anywhere in which he got a tattoo, but then again, there are a lot of things we do today in our modern society that Jesus probably didn't do. Obviously they didn't have computers and stuff like that.

Nevertheless...

Still, I definitely would not recommend a tattoo. If I got one, I would be ashamed of myself.

The fact that you're "sure there are other scriptures" but can't think of any indicates that you don't know of any, and I don't either, so I guess we'll agree that there's not much scriptural backing for the tattoo ban.

As to your second question, there are several kinds of tattoos I can see Biblical support for. Tattoos of evangelistic Bible verses, Christian symbols that declare our faith, or even something as simple as the common "I <heart> Mom" tattoo. The Bible tells us to spread the Gospel and show respect for our parents, and those tattoos do that.



And when you say you would be ashamed if you had a tattoo, despite not providing any legitimate reason to be ashamed, I feel you're encouraging the massive guilt complex mentality that is all too common among Christians.

Don't you believe that God wants us to be rejoicing that Jesus saved us from sin and death, not searching for the tiniest thing we can find in our lives to prove that we're horrible and should feel guilty all the time?

[ChickenSoup]

Well, Lazarus said pretty much what I would have.

[ArcticFox]

Liberal Christians will befriend homosexuals.

I agree with you completely that homosexual behavior is a sin, but I do not agree with the idea of not reaching out to them in friendship. This is what Jesus did. He approached sinners and encouraged them, lovingly, to change their ways and repent. A very good friend of mine and fellow member of the church is a man who feels attracted to men, but he lives a life of obedience to the Gospel and he does NOT indulge in his male attraction. He will remain celibate unless and until he finds a woman who will love him as he is, and he will marry her. This act of faith would not be possible if we simply rejected him for his feelings.

Why would anybody want to get a tattoo in the first place?

I got mine because I wanted a permanent emblem of my family and my family's history. My ancestors were knights of the order of St. James and that's the origin of our coat of arms. (Knights of St. James were like Templars, but they were permitted to marry and they fought for Spain in the Crusades.) I didn't get a tattoo for its own sake, nor do I have any plans to get another.

[Incognitus]

On a side note: Why would anybody want to get a tattoo in the first place? Is it because it is "cool" or something to take pride in? If that's the case, that's a great reason to steer CLEAR of them. To answer (whoever asked's) your question... I'm sure there are other scriptures out there that can be used against tattoos. Can you quote verses FOR tattoos is the question? If we are followers of Christ, we should walk as he walked. I don't recall reading anywhere in which he got a tattoo, but then again, there are a lot of things we do today in our modern society that Jesus probably didn't do. Obviously they didn't have computers and stuff like that.

Nevertheless...

Still, I definitely would not recommend a tattoo. If I got one, I would be ashamed of myself.

The fact that you're "sure there are other scriptures" but can't think of any indicates that you don't know of any, and I don't either, so I guess we'll agree that there's not much scriptural backing for the tattoo ban.

As to your second question, there are several kinds of tattoos I can see Biblical support for. Tattoos of evangelistic Bible verses, Christian symbols that declare our faith, or even something as simple as the common "I <heart> Mom" tattoo. The Bible tells us to spread the Gospel and show respect for our parents, and those tattoos do that.



And when you say you would be ashamed if you had a tattoo, despite not providing any legitimate reason to be ashamed, I feel you're encouraging the massive guilt complex mentality that is all too common among Christians.

Don't you believe that God wants us to be rejoicing that Jesus saved us from sin and death, not searching for the tiniest thing we can find in our lives to prove that we're horrible and should feel guilty all the time?

I don't know the whole Bible off by heart, and I didn't do the research at the moment.


If you think about the origins of tattoos it came from heathens. Why should we practice a heathen/ pagan ritual?

[Lazarus]

I don't know the whole Bible off by heart, and I didn't do the research at the moment.


If you think about the origins of tattoos it came from heathens. Why should we practice a heathen/ pagan ritual?

Neither do I, but I do think Christians should know their Bibles well enough to quickly find references for their beliefs. Something slightly tragic about American Christians is that they often seem to be less informed about what the Bible says than the average atheist.

I have to say the argument it came from heathens is a bad one to use, considering how many rituals and holidays Christians retooled from paganism and other religions to ease the conversion process. Why should we observe Christmas or Easter by this logic?