Tattoos

Lately it seems like Christians like to talk a lot about tattoos for some strange reason. The most often quoted verse is:

"You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord." -Leviticus 19:28

This verse talks about marks on your body in general, like decorative scarring. i think it is safe to say branding and other permanent marks fall into the same category. However, the question is if we should follow this verse or not. The first thing to do is to look at the immediate context. Doing this, we see that we follow the verse before, but we don't follow, verse after we do. This makes it clear that we must look at the broader context of the Livetical law. The reason for the Levitical law was to guide the people of Israel and set them apart from their pagan neighbors. Therefore, the law is no longer applicable to us. I have heard it said that the moral law is still God's will, but the ritualistic law was just for the nation-state of Israel.

More importantly, though, we need to look at the even broader context of the scripture s a whole and God's plan throughout history. We must recognize the Christ came to fulfill the law, so that we are no longer a slave to it. This Christian freedom means that our salvation and standing before God has nothing to do whatsoever if we have tattoos or not. Even our preoccupation with this question is missing the point. We are too focused on if it is okay or not (if something is a sin or not). Its not about what we do, but about what Jesus has done for us.

There is one more thing to keep in mind. Why would a Christian want a tattoo? What is the motivation and the purpose. That is what is potentially sinful. Our bodies are not our own, to do with whatever we want. Out bodies are temples for God. Yes, we are free in Christ, but that does not mean that we should do whatever we want. If we are doing something permanent with our bodies we should ask if it is selfish, or causes a stumbling block to other, or does it help spread the Gospel and build up others?