The Bible and Tattoo's, your thoughts

[standingtall]

Did you purposely ignore what It said about it being a shame for a man to have long hair?

Define "long hair".

Shoulder length? Over the ears? Touching the neck?

 

[Alithis]

it is not what goes into the body which defiles it but what comes out of the heart ..
-many are saying .

but in doing so they display a state of heart
a hard "I will do what i want " state
. a state of heart that has nothing to do with the love of the lord Jesus or laying down ones own life for others

take alcohol for instance - same scenario - i "could"(but wont) argue all the same scriptures that folk use pro-tattoos , for the consumption of alcohol . but it would be hogwash if in any way it overrides the love of Christ .
the lord does not convict me in regard to drink , save in times of fasting or seasons that i feel not to .
but in my freedom will i sit and slug back a beer in the presence of someone who is offended(hurt, tempted,considers it sinful) because of it ? NO I WILL NOT -i will tip it down the sink so as not to offend another . Why should i flaunt my freedom to their suffering - that would not be Christ living in me to do so .

I have found that when the heart rises up in defense,that is a warning sign that my heart is seeking self justification and not seeking to follow the Spirit - but only seeking to hold on to "my own will" .

are we not to love the lord our God with ALL our heart , mind and strength?

how is it that it is written that all the Scriptures are written FOR US to learn from .
and yet when we learn that defacing the body - is , in principle , displeasing to the lord (though neither law nor command to us ) Why would we then go and willing do that ,knowing that,in principle, it is displeasing to the lord? - How is that Loving the lord our God with all our heart and mind and strength ?
its not about rules and laws -its about LOVE - how is it love (which does NOT seek its OWN) to say lord i learned that you don't like it , but i will do it anyway ?

 

[PastorTeacher]

So many self righteous people on here. I'm disobeying God because of my tattoos. Why sounds legalistic to me. Ah well glad people still know how to take Scripture out of context and pick and choose what they want to follow.

 

[Alithis]

So many self righteous people on here. I'm disobeying God because of my tattoos. Why sounds legalistic to me. Ah well glad people still know how to take Scripture out of context and pick and choose what they want to follow.

for example ? .

i know what i have said (and stand by it ) I have said "IF" the lord is speaking to you and telling you not to .. (on any topic) then , it becomes sin for you Personally ,to do it .it does not by association make it sin to someone who knows nothing about it
this is based on -"To know what is right (what is right is what the lord is asking of us in our walk with him ) and NOT do it ..is sin ".

the rest i have spoken on is about Godly principles of Love for God and one another - taking up the cross = dying to self - and following Jesus, which = obeying what ever it is he is speaking to us about .

not law- lOVE .. where is the legalism ?

 

[PastorTeacher]

It was directed at you Michael. But people wanting to dance around the shaving of beard and mixed clothing etc. Where is the legalism? Its in the fact that people have a personal feeling about tattoos so they contort Scripture to match how they feel not what the Word truly says. Tattos are ungodly because Lev. says it is but they ignore the rest of Lev. That is where the legalism is at.

 

[Ascendo]

You need to culturally criticize all Levitical Hebrew purity/holiness laws or none of them.

Either Christ fulfilled all of them, or none of them.

Tattoos, shellfish, mixed cloth, cutting your hair, women being unclean for 7 days should all be filed under the "meat sacrificed to idols" category spoken about in the New Testament.

 

[sinning machine]

Tatoo's are vanity, vanity is pride, pride is an idol, idols, vanity, pride are sins, sins are choices, choices are what make us who we are.

 

[Makoto47]

You need to culturally criticize all Levitical Hebrew purity/holiness laws or none of them.

Either Christ fulfilled all of them, or none of them.

Tattoos, shellfish, mixed cloth, cutting your hair, women being unclean for 7 days should all be filed under the "meat sacrificed to idols" category spoken about in the New Testament.

The whole 'that was only in the old testament' attitude sounds like an excuse to justify your desires. Theres many things mentioned only in the old testament that clearly don't just get excused today by GOD. inappropriate behavior with animals was only mentioned in the OT, does that mean it's acceptable now? The new testament never condemned it, but Im pretty sure I know where Jesus stands on that issue.

As I said before you're going to do whatever you want to do regardless. If you're going to ignore and loophole past Leviticus at least read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. If you still see nothing wrong with it after everything said in the Scriptures and even in this thread, then do as you will. I hope you don't regret it though.

I'd suggest you all try to reread this thread without bias, and cynicism. The people here don't seem like tattoo haters or w/e this is just how I imagine most Christians would view the subject of tattoos. At least most Christians I know. We are not trying to condemn you guys or judge your life style. So why repost with anger and annoyance?

Even in the world we live in now tattoos are seen as a negative. Look at the professional world or even television programs centered towards children. Would you vote for a mayor or president covered in tattoos. I'm sure most people wouldn't. How many parents would feel safe if their kids had a rough looking teacher covered in tats? Actually that's irrelevant because a man like that would have a hard time getting a teaching job in the first place.

If even man doesn't find this acceptable for his community and atmosphere, why would GOD who is far above us all. I'm not necessarily saying anyone is right or wrong but this is just my view on it.

 

[Alithis]

It was directed at you Michael. But people wanting to dance around the shaving of beard and mixed clothing etc. Where is the legalism? Its in the fact that people have a personal feeling about tattoos so they contort Scripture to match how they feel not what the Word truly says. Tattos are ungodly because Lev. says it is but they ignore the rest of Lev. That is where the legalism is at.

aah then you you misdirected lol -you see I have tattoos .. but i would never get another - and i think to be reasonable you need to return and read all i said ..not pick out the bit you didn't like - i imposed no rule and no law other then "love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength"
hardly grounds to be accused of legalism methinks

below reply to this acknowledged happily ..all good, god bless

 

[PastorTeacher]

aah then you you misdirected lol -you see I have tattoos .. but i would never get another - and i think to be reasonable you need to return and read all i said ..not pick out the bit you didn't like - i imposed no rule and no law other then "love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength"
hardly grounds to be accused of legalism methinks

Accept my apologies as my last posting was to say WASN'T directed at u. Small keyboard big fingers. I understand where you are coming from just not the others. Blessings

 

[Ascendo]

The whole 'that was only in the old testament' attitude sounds like an excuse to justify your desires. Theres many things mentioned only in the old testament that clearly don't just get excused today by GOD. inappropriate behavior with animals was only mentioned in the OT, does that mean it's acceptable now? The new testament never condemned it, but Im pretty sure I know where Jesus stands on that issue.

As I said before you're going to do whatever you want to do regardless. If you're going to ignore and loophole past Leviticus at least read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. If you still see nothing wrong with it after everything said in the Scriptures and even in this thread, then do as you will. I hope you don't regret it though.

I'd suggest you all try to reread this thread without bias, and cynicism. The people here don't seem like tattoo haters or w/e this is just how I imagine most Christians would view the subject of tattoos. At least most Christians I know. We are not trying to condemn you guys or judge your life style. So why repost with anger and annoyance?

Even in the world we live in now tattoos are seen as a negative. Look at the professional world or even television programs centered towards children. Would you vote for a mayor or president covered in tattoos. I'm sure most people wouldn't. How many parents would feel safe if their kids had a rough looking teacher covered in tats? Actually that's irrelevant because a man like that would have a hard time getting a teaching job in the first place.

If even man doesn't find this acceptable for his community and atmosphere, why would GOD who is far above us all. I'm not necessarily saying anyone is right or wrong but this is just my view on it.

You either misread or ignored my statement.

"You need to culturally criticize all Levitical Hebrew purity/holiness laws or none of them."

It's foolish to think that the above statement is an attempt to ignore the 10 Commandments, or other Old Testament laws.

Read and think critically, please.

 

[Makoto47]

You either misread or ignored my statement.

"You need to culturally criticize all Levitical Hebrew purity/holiness laws or none of them."

It's foolish to think that the above statement is an attempt to ignore the 10 Commandments, or other Old Testament laws.

Read and think critically, please.

Did you read the whole post? I clearly disagree with lumping all Levitical laws together, and saying ' All or nothing' what about zoophilia as I mentioned before. Is that ok just because our culture is different today? Please explain to me why getting a haircut is bad, even back then as long as it was cut properly and not rounded.

What is your response to 1 Corinthians 6:19-20?

 

[NickCamp]

for example ? .

i know what i have said (and stand by it ) I have said "IF" the lord is speaking to you and telling you not to .. (on any topic) then , it becomes sin for you Personally ,to do it .it does not by association make it sin to someone who knows nothing about it
this is based on -"To know what is right (what is right is what the lord is asking of us in our walk with him ) and NOT do it ..is sin ".

the rest i have spoken on is about Godly principles of Love for God and one another - taking up the cross = dying to self - and following Jesus, which = obeying what ever it is he is speaking to us about .

not law- lOVE .. where is the legalism ?

How can you justify this particular argument? God, specifically talking to the Israelites, spoke of markings that follow pagan rituals. You're taking a law which is no longer applicable and twisting it. As I spoke in my initial post, I have seen many people use tattoos as a canvas of their life. Some tattoo their biggest challenges, put their sins into the light, and also have a tattoo pertaining to Christ saving them in which, they become evangelical because when you have tattoos people ask all of the time what the meaning is.

So technically speaking (from my perspective and my experience) some of the Christians with tattoos are better followers of Christ than both you and I. Why? Because,
1. They are putting their sins in the open (the bible says that we should acknowledge our sins and share them with our community (church specifically)). This first part comes from a variety of tattoos I have seen that remind people which sins are personally their enemies. (We're all subjected to different sins and sin differently.)
2. They share the gospel from a real life perspective (opposed to sitting on a bus bench and making Atheists uncomfortable.) When I speak of my tattoo meaning (an anchor with a chain (the chain is made of letters spelling out "Pursuit of Happiness)) and tell people that it reminds me that my happiness is being grounded in God, his truth and everything I learn from him, I speak openly and people listen. When people listen, they ask more questions, when they ask more questions, curiosity hits, when curiosity hits they question authenticity of the persons' stories and the persons basis which in truth is a more effective way than most evangelists who go with the force and 'I tried' method.

So in the questions that can tattoos bring God glory, I have seen tattoos do such. I have seen some tattoos that are so beautiful and dedicated to God that it seems like that much dedication alone, that statement to publicly proclaim God 24/7 would make our father proud.

Of course Tattoos of that nature means you can very well bring a bad name to christians just as Atheists gave tattoos a bad stigma in the 40's (United States history). So if you have tattoos like such, keep reading the word and remember my personal favorite verse.....

James 1:19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry

Of course, this verse is one that has always dug deep into my life and hit home straight away.

 

[Alithis]

How can you justify this particular argument? God, specifically talking to the Israelites, spoke of markings that follow pagan rituals. You're taking a law which is no longer applicable and twisting it. As I spoke in my initial post, I have seen many people use tattoos as a canvas of their life. Some tattoo their biggest challenges, put their sins into the light, and also have a tattoo pertaining to Christ saving them in which, they become evangelical because when you have tattoos people ask all of the time what the meaning is.

So technically speaking (from my perspective and my experience) some of the Christians with tattoos are better followers of Christ than both you and I. Why? Because,
1. They are putting their sins in the open (the bible says that we should acknowledge our sins and share them with our community (church specifically)). This first part comes from a variety of tattoos I have seen that remind people which sins are personally their enemies. (We're all subjected to different sins and sin differently.)
2. They share the gospel from a real life perspective (opposed to sitting on a bus bench and making Atheists uncomfortable.) When I speak of my tattoo meaning (an anchor with a chain (the chain is made of letters spelling out "Pursuit of Happiness)) and tell people that it reminds me that my happiness is being grounded in God, his truth and everything I learn from him, I speak openly and people listen. When people listen, they ask more questions, when they ask more questions, curiosity hits, when curiosity hits they question authenticity of the persons' stories and the persons basis which in truth is a more effective way than most evangelists who go with the force and 'I tried' method.

So in the questions that can tattoos bring God glory, I have seen tattoos do such. I have seen some tattoos that are so beautiful and dedicated to God that it seems like that much dedication alone, that statement to publicly proclaim God 24/7 would make our father proud.

Of course Tattoos of that nature means you can very well bring a bad name to christians just as Atheists gave tattoos a bad stigma in the 40's (United States history). So if you have tattoos like such, keep reading the word and remember my personal favorite verse.....

James 1:19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry

Of course, this verse is one that has always dug deep into my life and hit home straight away.

?? err ok so some Christians who are in active adulatory are better Christians because they have their sins in the open ??\- ( i know it is not so )
remember i said i base it on the definition of sin being - 'to know what is right and Not do it "-rather then on the written ordinance of the law in the 1st 5 books of the bible - which we are no longer under if we have been buried with Christ by baptism and raised again to new live in the Spirit .

 

[NickCamp]

?? err ok so some Christians who are in active adulatory are better Christians because they have their sins in the open ??\- ( i know it is not so )
remember i said i base it on the definition of sin being - 'to know what is right and Not do it "-rather then on the written ordinance of the law in the 1st 5 books of the bible - which we are no longer under if we have been buried with Christ by baptism and raised again to new live in the Spirit .

You successfully missed 50% of my argument while belligerently missing the point. Ignorance and closed mindedness do not make a solution. Not only that but Adulatory? Really?

 

[Alithis]

You successfully missed 50% of my argument while belligerently missing the point. Ignorance and closed mindedness do not make a solution. Not only that but Adulatory? Really?

no i didn't miss it belligerently- there was just no need to go into it .
if the lord Jesus , by the holy spirit, tells you to go get tattooed then you had better do so
it is just unlikely that he will ever do so, as it contradicts the desire of God for you to not deface your body - being the temple of the Holy Spirit .
it is a question of love for the lord Jesus ..not doing our own will - but his .
and i took no law what so ever save one ... to love the lord your God with all your heart and mind and strength - such a stance of godly love would not seek its own desires but seek to please God .

do you have tattooes ? did you get them as a believer , can you testify with God as your witness that the lord Jesus told you to do it ?
if it was just your own idea to do it .. in contradiction to the Spirit of love which does not seek its own will, then it is just flesh and as such does not bring God glory at all .

also it is a further contradiction of the scriptures for woman are also told not to adorn themselves in the "OUTER sense ..but with inner beauty in their attitude towards God in love and holiness etc .
never is the flesh ,nor its glorification going to bring true spiritual glory to God when all the scriptures teach us to walk NOT after the flesh but after the Spirit .
when you take All the scriptures and not just one or two ..you get a tapestry and when you view the tapestry afar you see a big picture .
the things of the flesh glorify the things of the flesh ,flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven , the flesh will be destroyed .

it is not the doing of things nor the restraining from things i speak of .. but to exhort everyone to walk not after the flesh but Obey the Holy Spirit - because you do truly Love the Lord Jesus who lay down his life for you so you could be reconciled to God in all his Holiness .. set apart unto him ,HOLY and Separate ,from the world and its ways .So that we might walk in the Spirit .in obedience to what ever he commands us . because we love him .

 

[itsDavidHarvey]

I think the Leviticus verse on tattoos is taken out of context most of the time. Every verse in the Bible doesn't apply to you.

 

[John Olexa]

Well I have 45 tattoos. More that are in my avatar including 3 more that are on my neck aside from the one you can see. 4 total on neck. All 45 are tattoos of animals. It's amazing how many people stop and when they notice there all animals they want to chat LOL. Many times I am able to bring the Bible into the conversation. ( not the reason I got all the ink)
I have read where some believe the Leviticus verse is talking about not marking the dead. I Don't know. I just go by this... Before I do anything I'm not to sure about I say if Jesus was with me would I still do it? In that case would I get a tattoo of a naked woman? NO!! but one of his fathers creations. Yes.
Edit: for the record 80% of this ink I got before I was saved . I would not have got a naked woman tattooed on me even if I wasn't saved. I always wanted to keep them respectful and being a big animal lover it was easy.LOL

 

[SeekerOfChrist94]

I think it's okay as long as you're getting them for good reasons, such as to remember a family member or for the message of the tattoo to be uplifting and a daily reminder of something. I have two tattoos, one that says 'excelsior' which means to take something negative and turn it into something positive. So I think as long as it has a good or important meaning behind it instead of getting it just because, it's fine.

 

[Striker427]

Tattoos

I think if you have come to the Lord and you had tattoos then there is no judgement for those tattoos. It is the same as being circumcised. Are we to go and be circumcised as soon as we come to know the Lord? Same with foods. Is it the food that causes the contamination of the spirit? Or what comes from our heart that shows what the contamination is? We would all need to look at what motivates us to do certain things. Is it to bring recognition to ourselves? Do we bring glory to God with what we have done? Do we hurt a weak brother in Christ with our actions? If they see it as a sin then refrain from doing it for their sake. We don't need to justify our actions, but we do need to please the Lord. Look at yourself and ask will this please God or just please me? You are the temple. I think our part is to keep it Holy for the Lord. I give no judgement to you, but look at yourself and see if what you are doing in whatever it may be brings glory to God.