Six Reasons to Skip Tattoos

00:00:00.000 | [Music]

00:00:05.000 | Alright, Pastor John, last time in episode 240, you promised to offer us your six reasons

00:00:10.400 | why you would counsel a Christian against getting a tattoo.

00:00:14.320 | So what are those reasons?

00:00:15.320 | Well, let's make sure, Tony, that I'm not saying that getting a tattoo is intrinsically

00:00:22.280 | a sin or an evil.

00:00:24.200 | I'm not going to go there because I don't see the warrant for it in Scripture.

00:00:28.700 | I don't think it is.

00:00:31.280 | I don't think that's a way we should go about making decisions like this.

00:00:35.120 | I tried to give biblical guidelines yesterday for how to think about tattoos as well as

00:00:40.880 | jewelry and makeup and hairdos and clothing.

00:00:45.040 | They all belong to the same category, and the Bible is clear.

00:00:48.960 | Following Jesus makes a difference on how you dress and how you do everything, whether

00:00:55.680 | eating or drinking, do all to the glory of God.

00:00:59.240 | So with all that in mind, everything yesterday in mind, and I hope people will go there,

00:01:04.200 | not just here, so if you're tuning into this one and you haven't listened to that one,

00:01:08.920 | please let it all stand together.

00:01:12.520 | I'll give you my reasons, six of them, for why I would counsel against getting a tattoo.

00:01:16.480 | Number one, some of these are just my own personal sense of wisdom.

00:01:22.080 | There's maybe a little more closely related to Scripture, but let every man judge and

00:01:26.120 | hold fast to what is good.

00:01:28.960 | In view of Paul's counsel against adornment being minimally external and maximally internal,

00:01:37.120 | and in view of his counsel that the adornment or the hair not signify excessive preoccupation

00:01:44.680 | with looks, I would say tattoos do signify a fairly high preoccupation with looks, because

00:01:56.120 | to choose to get an adornment that will be with you forever is a high-level commitment

00:02:03.800 | to adornment.

00:02:05.400 | I think probably too high.

00:02:08.200 | That's number one.

00:02:10.400 | Tattoos are permanent.

00:02:14.400 | Unless you pay big bucks with significant pain to have them removed.

00:02:20.080 | Most people who get tattoos, I think, aren't thinking about that pain, thinking about that

00:02:23.840 | money.

00:02:24.840 | They're thinking, "Okay, this is forever."

00:02:25.840 | Thus, they're like putting on lipstick you can never take off.

00:02:30.680 | They're like applying eye shadow that you will wear day and night forever.

00:02:36.120 | They're like a necklace that grows into your skin and stays there permanently.

00:02:42.560 | They're like a twist you put in your hair and can never, ever remove, no matter how

00:02:47.520 | the styles change.

00:02:49.480 | I think it's foolish to do with a tattoo what you would not do with any of your other skin

00:02:55.480 | adornments.

00:02:56.480 | That's number two.

00:02:57.600 | Number three, you will change.

00:03:01.080 | You will not look the same in 20 years or have the same tastes.

00:03:06.040 | The lightning bolt on your neck is going to look like a ridiculous splotch on the folds

00:03:11.760 | of your wrinkled skin.

00:03:14.200 | Tattooing is a naive way of thinking that you will like now, that what you like now,

00:03:21.200 | you're going to like in 20 or 30 years.

00:03:23.800 | You won't.

00:03:24.800 | In 15 years, you will have different tastes.

00:03:27.040 | The culture will be different.

00:03:29.640 | What is cool now will look silly and trendy and dated.

00:03:33.840 | Someday you will grow.

00:03:37.380 | That moment of youthful identity seeking will be branded forever like an indelible reminder

00:03:43.280 | of immaturity in your skin.

00:03:46.300 | Not wise.

00:03:47.580 | Number four, tattoos do not make you prettier or more handsome.

00:03:52.520 | Now here, I know this is opinion and just hear my opinion, take it or leave it.

00:03:59.400 | Tattoos are in general ugly.

00:04:01.360 | They're discolorations of pretty skin and they get uglier as time goes by.

00:04:07.380 | Even the colors that the efforts make, they're not pretty colors.

00:04:10.620 | You're very limited in what you can do with that tattoo.

00:04:13.300 | It's kind of a grayish blue.

00:04:16.460 | Men find women's skin attractive to see and to touch.

00:04:20.980 | Tattoos do not make that skin more desirable or attractive.

00:04:25.300 | That's one man's view and you can take it or you can leave it.

00:04:29.220 | At the gym that I go to, I pity the women with tattoos.

00:04:33.780 | From 20 feet away, they look like they're burned and disfigured.

00:04:37.380 | It's very, very sad.

00:04:39.540 | So think long, think hard, women.

00:04:41.980 | You have beautiful skin.

00:04:43.980 | Men like it.

00:04:44.980 | Don't mess it up.

00:04:46.380 | Number five, the best motive I can think of for a tattoo is a kind of self-imposed Christian

00:04:52.580 | branding.

00:04:54.300 | Some Christian symbol or words that say I belong to Jesus.

00:04:59.060 | Now my problem with that motive is that there is a much better way to brand yourself biblically,

00:05:05.100 | namely with love.

00:05:06.620 | Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works.

00:05:10.460 | Tattoo branding is too easy and it may not be the note you want to strike in 10 years.

00:05:15.660 | You may think I've picked out the perfect timeless symbol or I've picked out the perfect

00:05:19.540 | verse to put on my arm or whatever.

00:05:22.460 | No, you don't know that.

00:05:24.860 | You will change and the note you want to strike may be a different note in 25 years.

00:05:32.140 | Number six, tattoos are missionally limiting.

00:05:37.720 | You may get a tattoo now because you're trying to reach tattooed people with the gospel,

00:05:42.960 | but that same tattoo may be a huge stumbling block among Muslim peoples God's going to

00:05:47.780 | take you to in 15 years.

00:05:49.420 | You don't know what the future holds.

00:05:53.580 | So in sum, here's the conclusion.

00:05:58.820 | Marking the skin is not intrinsically evil.

00:06:02.700 | I'll never cut off anyone from fellowship in Christ because they have a tattoo or 100

00:06:07.580 | tattoos.

00:06:08.580 | I'll never cut them off in Christ.

00:06:10.980 | But I doubt that the decisions that many Christians are making today to get tattoos are thought

00:06:16.700 | through as carefully and biblically as is wise.

00:06:20.000 | And I've recorded this, just I hope it's part of what they take into consideration.

00:06:25.380 | I hope it helps them think wisely.

00:06:27.020 | Thank you, Pastor John.

00:06:29.220 | From tattoos to Christmas.

00:06:30.820 | Next week we'll be looking at Christmas-related themes on the podcast.

00:06:33.340 | And as always, please visit us online at DesiringGod.org to find thousands of books, articles, sermons,

00:06:38.740 | and other resources from John Piper, all free of charge.

00:06:41.700 | I'm your host, Tony Ranke.

00:06:42.700 | Thanks for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast.

00:06:45.140 | [music]

00:06:46.140 | [music]

00:06:51.140 | [BLANK_AUDIO]

Six Reasons to Skip Tattoos

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