A Christian friend of mine wanted to get a tattoo of a cross on his forearm, but was not quite sure if it was inline with what the bible teaches. We discussed it a bit, and came up with something interesting points. But none of them were really scriptural, or had the scriptural backing we required to make the decision.

I decided to search google, and see what other Christian folks had to say about tattoo’s. I noticed quite a bit of diversity in peoples view points, ranging from “it’s cool” to “if you get a tattoo you going to hell”.

But how can this be?? Surely Leviticus 19:28 clearly reads
“Never slash your body to mourn the dead, and never get a tattoo. I am the LORD.”

So I’ve decided to write my own view on this problem, and hopefully put it all to rest..

One of the reasons I am writing this article is because of the following page :
http://www.biblebelievers.com/watkins_tattoos/bible.html

I felt that it had a strong argument against getting tattoo’s, but felt that the guy was missing the point of being Christian.

How we handle Christians who have tattoo’s:

I don’t believe that tattoo’s are right or wrong..

I definately do not see them as a salvation issue, and I believe that the bible teaches us that if Christian’s have tattoo’s for what ever reason (maybe because of a lifestyle that encouraged it before their conversion), we should not look down on them, or think that we are better than them, for we are one in Christ, and all have fallen short of Gods requirements.
Romans 14:
“Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”

Leviticus 19:28

When ever the debate of “To tattoo or not to tattoo” comes along, Leviticus 19:28 will always without a doubt be played by the one against tattoo’s. But is it right to bring out this verse? Is this verse only for OT Israel? Does it still apply to us today? I think the best place to get the answer’s are from the Bible.

We read in Romans 10 : “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”

Where it says “End of the law”, Paul means that that it is the goal of the Law.. The goal of the Law was, and still is there to show us that we fall miserably short of God’s requirements, and that we need Christ to save us.

We read in Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
We are no longer bound to the OT law, for it was fufilled by Christ.
So you might ask then what about laws like prostitution or bestiality. Well all of those are clearly summed up in the fact that sex is designed for marriage alone, and marriage is designed by God to be between one man and one women.

The site makes a comment of “There are many other “moral laws’ that are ONLY forbidden in the Old Testament, such as the human sacrifice of children. No where in the New Testament is this forbidden. Does that mean that NOW under the New Testament, God Almighty endorses throwing babies into the fire as a human sacrifice?”

The New Testament clearly teaches us that ALL life is valuable, and that we should not kill any one (including babies).

The New testament does not point out that tattoo’s are right or wrong.
But 1 Corinthians 10:31 teaches us that what ever we do, we must do all to the glory of God.
Romans 12:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

So the real question we have to ask ourselves is: “Is tattooing glorifying God?”

Do tattoo’s glorify God?
I Believe the answer to that lies in Romans 14 5-8
“One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”

Obviously this is all in accordance to God’s will. We can not sin, and sin to the glory of God. (This is also taught in Romans)
But we cannot say that tattoo is, or is not a sin..
What we can say is that our motives for getting a tattoo can be a sin..

Are we doing it to fit in? Are we getting a bible verse tattoo’d on our arm as a form of evangelism?
We are clearly taught in the New Testament that it is what is in our heart that makes us unclean, and not that which is on the outside.

See at the end of the day we must question our motives, and try come to an understanding of why we truly want to get that tattoo. Once we know this, we can decide if it glorifies God or not..
So I stand on both sides of the fence on the topic of tattoo’s.
The question you must ask yourself is this :

Does the following picture glorifying God?