Tatoos, Piercings, Christian Grunge, etc. - do they have their place?

[holyrokker]

I don't question the principle in the least. We should absolutely be different than our society. We are to be in the world and not of it. Absolutely these are core biblical principles. What I question here is your particular application of that principle in reference to this issue.

And if you want to know what is wrong with the church today, it has nothing to do with tattoos, girls wearing pants, styles of worship music or versions of the Bible.

It has everything to do with our Biblical illiteracy, our lack of fighting the philosophical battles for truth, our abandonment of righteousness, our acceptance of sexual and other sins, and our failure to carry the Gospel message and incarnate it into the culture we are living in. Among many, many other issues that we could continue to list ad nauseum.

Cultural norms of dress and adornment - as long as they are not issues of modesty - are not the problem with the church. In fact our FAILURE to accept changing cultural norms and to fight pointless battles such as this CONTRIBUTE to our failure to reach our society.

Thank you for your comments!

 

[Oklahoman]

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Paul says, "Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple."

The context here is division in the Church. The "you" is plural - indicating Paul is speaking to the entire Church, not to individuals. Temple is singular - indicating one temple. The temple is the Church, not individual bodies.

The destruction of the temple refered to here is the tearing down of the Church through division.


1 Corinthians 6:15-19 "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, "The two will become one flesh." But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own"

Here Paul is clearly addressing sexualy activity, specifically the use of prostitution. Further, the prostitution being addressed is likely "temple" prostitution. Many pagan temples used temple prostitutes as part of their ceremony.

Their idea was that if they engaged in sexual practices in the temple, it would please their god, who would then grant them favor.

This is probably why Paul used the term "temple" in this section. The Corinthians would have understood the metaphor.

This perspective has already been addressed early on in this thread, so I will not respond. Holyrokker, I think we just respectfully disagree on this subject. I don't want to repeat what I have already posted, nor do I want to come across as if I am grinding an axe. Have a great day!

 

[Oklahoman]

I don't question the principle in the least. We should absolutely be different than our society. We are to be in the world and not of it. Absolutely these are core biblical principles. What I question here is your particular application of that principle in reference to this issue.

And if you want to know what is wrong with the church today, it has nothing to do with tattoos, girls wearing pants, styles of worship music or versions of the Bible.

It has everything to do with our Biblical illiteracy, our lack of fighting the philosophical battles for truth, our abandonment of righteousness, our acceptance of sexual and other sins, and our failure to carry the Gospel message and incarnate it into the culture we are living in. Among many, many other issues that we could continue to list ad nauseum.

Cultural norms of dress and adornment - as long as they are not issues of modesty - are not the problem with the church. In fact our FAILURE to accept changing cultural norms and to fight pointless battles such as this CONTRIBUTE to our failure to reach our society.

I agree that there are many problems with the church today. Of course the problems are not limited to the list that you described (tattoos, girls wearing pants, styles of worship music or versions of the Bible). My point is not to say that tattoos, worldly music, etc. are the only problems. Please see original post and you will see the purpose of this thread.

 

[BereanTodd]

Ok, and my answer is that yes, tatoos, piercings and such - as long as they are within standards of decency (so no naked/half naked women, excessing gore and violence, etc, etc) are not an issue. Yes they have a place in the church, as much as any other modest modern cultural norm of dress and adornment (jewelry, makeup, etc, etc) has a place.

 

[oneamanda2]

Well, here is my opinion on tattoos (I have two of them)

I got them before I was fully committed to Christ, but now that I am fully committed to him, I still do not think that they are bad. They are just still somewhat Taboo.

There are a lot of things in the Bible in regards to dress that most Christians do not uphold, for instance women are supposed to keep their hair long, and men are supposed to keep it short (1 Corinthians 11:14-15)


I don't know, but I do think that it depends on the tattoo that you have and what it represents to you.

 

[WithGodATAP]

My husband used to be a Satanist many years ago. During that time, he got a (beautiful artwork) tat of a naked devil lady holding a pentagram. It takes up his whole left leg.

He was even kicked out of our church band recently for having this tattoo.

Now, he uses this tattoo as a testimonial to how far he has come, and the great change God made in his life. We think this is beautiful.

 

[kevin10]

I have a dove tattoo on my left wrist, a peace dove..

 

[oneamanda2]

My husband used to be a Satanist many years ago. During that time, he got a (beautiful artwork) tat of a naked devil lady holding a pentagram. It takes up his whole left leg.

He was even kicked out of our church band recently for having this tattoo.

Now, he uses this tattoo as a testimonial to how far he has come, and the great change God made in his life. We think this is beautiful.

That's really great. I am glad he has come into the light of Christ.

 

[BlackSabb]

My husband used to be a Satanist many years ago. During that time, he got a (beautiful artwork) tat of a naked devil lady holding a pentagram. It takes up his whole left leg.

He was even kicked out of our church band recently for having this tattoo.

Now, he uses this tattoo as a testimonial to how far he has come, and the great change God made in his life. We think this is beautiful.

I am absolutely amazed that your husband has remained in the church. That type of thing would cause any lesser Christian to leave from offense. I have seen many people leave churches for far lesser things. I deeply respect his convictions.

Saying that though, I am appalled that a church could kick a member out of their band for a tattoo-one that was obtained in a former way of life. I think it's plain wrong for the church to do so. Obviously your husband would remove the tattoo if he could, but he can't. He shouldn't be penalised for something that is no longer a part of him anymore, except of course for the tattoo.

 

[oneamanda2]

I am absolutely amazed that your husband has remained in the church. That type of thing would cause any lesser Christian to leave from offense. I have seen many people leave churches for far lesser things. I deeply respect his convictions.

Saying that though, I am appalled that a church could kick a member out of their band for a tattoo-one that was obtained in a former way of life. I think it's plain wrong for the church to do so. Obviously your husband would remove the tattoo if he could, but he can't. He shouldn't be penalised for something that is no longer a part of him anymore, except of course for the tattoo.

I agree. And who is anyone to judge him? If he is living in the way of the Lord, preaching the gospel and bringing others to Christ then he is doing good, and should not be kicked out of any church. What kind of message does it send to people who have not yet come to Christ when a good Christian gets kicked out of the church band for sins that have been forgiven by the Blood of Christ.