Leviticus 19:28
Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD. NIV
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD. KJV
In the Bible it is taught that God made man in his own image. We are not to mar or mark our bodies. For God's people in the Bible times it was a separation from the idolatrous heathens who marked their own bodies. In the beginning God did mark Cain so that people would recognize the fact that they were not to kill him in vengeance for killing his brother, Abel. Even today tattoos often symbolize criminal connections to those that wear them. I have yet to see that tattoo that promotes the purity of its wearer. In bathhouses and gyms in Japan they forbid full body tattoos to try to block gangs from using them. Sailors in the 18th century that sailed to the Pacific brought back designs from the Polynesian Tribes reintroducing it to Christian influenced countries. Why would a born again Christian want to associate with symbols of criminality and heathenism?
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Eph. 5:11
I had a Jewish neighbor that explained she had really ticked off her Jewish parents when she had received her tattoos. It was a action against the Torah and now she could not be buried in a Jewish cemetery. That conversation and the one I had with a fellow Christian about how his Dad stressed to his boys the importance of not writing even with a pen on their bodies; reinforced or come to mind when I read Leviticus 19:28.
On a recent visit to the Alabama coast with my family, I was amazed at the number of tattoo parlors. Also it seemed that you seen quite a few young people sporting tattoos in highly visible parts like their neck and face or upper chest. It made me sad to think that at some later date that such markings will later be a source of embarrassment or bring about regret for a moment of frivolousness. As a child I did not grow up with this teaching and would have desired to be tattooed out of ignorance. The only reason I bring up this article of tattooing is to hopefully reinforce the thought that this should not be practiced or encouraged by Christians.
I am a Christian and I have several tattoos - my tattoos either honor God Almighty, or my family. I think this passage means not to mark your bodies in unseemly, or harmful ways. I'm proud of my tats, and what they mean to me and what I believe they stand for. That is of course, my opinion, and I am entitled to it, as everyone is entitled to their opinion. I think if Christ himself saw my tattoos honoring the Holy Father, He would look at me with love, and smile.
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