Tattoos in Biblical Perspective

00:00:00.000 | [music]

00:00:04.800 | Pastor John, almost daily we get email questions from listeners about tattoos.

00:00:09.840 | What, if anything, does the Bible say about tattoos?

00:00:13.840 | There's one explicit reference to tattooing in the Bible.

00:00:18.720 | Leviticus 19, 28. It says, "You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead,

00:00:26.960 | or tattoo yourselves. I am the Lord."

00:00:32.880 | Now, that should at least give us a few minutes of pause.

00:00:40.640 | But of course, there are two reasons, at least, why that does not settle the matter.

00:00:48.480 | One is that we are no longer under the Mosaic Law, right?

00:00:53.360 | Romans 7, "You have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another,

00:01:00.640 | to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God."

00:01:04.640 | So, we're not under the law as a list of rules that makes us right with God.

00:01:10.560 | We are now brought into relationship with Christ, and our behavior flows like fruit in the service of God.

00:01:16.320 | Or, verse 6 of Romans 7, "Now we are released from the law,

00:01:21.200 | having died to that which held us captive, so that we can serve in the new way of the Spirit,

00:01:26.000 | and not in the old way of the written code."

00:01:29.440 | So, the first reason why Leviticus 19 doesn't settle the matter is because we Christians are not under the law.

00:01:39.200 | Here's the second reason.

00:01:41.920 | In that situation, probably cutting yourself for the dead and prohibiting tattoos was not because

00:01:54.640 | touching the skin in this way is intrinsically evil, like the skin is sacrosanct and you can't mark it with lipstick or with tattoos.

00:02:05.440 | Rather, it was probably because these markings were a sign of compromise with the surrounding cultures that did not worship the true God.

00:02:16.000 | In other words, the moral concern was not the skin and its inviolability,

00:02:22.160 | but that tattooing may signal something in the heart that doesn't fit with a radical commitment to Yahweh in that culture.

00:02:31.440 | So, those are the two reasons why I would say you can't just quote Leviticus 19, 28 and say, "There you have it. It says don't tattoo yourself."

00:02:41.440 | It's not that simple.

00:02:43.440 | So, from those two biblical observations, here's what I would draw by way of principles.

00:02:48.480 | Number one, tattooing in itself, that is, the permanent marking of the skin, is not intrinsically evil.

00:02:57.440 | It's not the marking of skin that's written down in God's mind as, "That is inviolable. Don't ever do that."

00:03:04.480 | Number two, Romans 7 says the way to decide whether to do something is, "Is it bearing fruit for God?"

00:03:16.480 | That's the alternative to being under the law. We are bearing fruit for God.

00:03:20.480 | So, the alternative to law-keeping and asking, "Is there a rule somewhere? Is there a list somewhere?"

00:03:26.480 | is to ask, "Am I doing this as a natural outgrowth of my new joyful allegiance to God through Jesus Christ, my Savior,

00:03:40.480 | who bought me with his blood that I might display his glory in the world?"

00:03:45.480 | In other words, ask that question. When you go to get a tattoo, is it bearing fruit for God?

00:03:52.480 | That's the kind of question to ask.

00:03:54.480 | Here's a third question.

00:03:56.480 | Is there a counterpart in our experience today to the compromise with the nations around Israel?

00:04:04.480 | Is our choice to get a tattoo influenced by the desire to be like the nations who do not love God?

00:04:11.480 | A person should seriously ask, "Why am I doing this?"

00:04:14.480 | Do I want to look like the nations who don't love God?

00:04:21.480 | Or am I in some way governed and controlled by an alien spirit than to the spirit of the gospel?

00:04:29.480 | Then the next thing I would do is look to the New Testament teaching on adornment.

00:04:35.480 | What's plain in these teachings that Paul gives is that being a follower of Christ makes a difference in how you dress,

00:04:46.480 | and how you do makeup, and how you do hair.

00:04:49.480 | It's really plain. In fact, it's plain in the Old Testament, too.

00:04:54.480 | You've got, for example, God adorning Israel.

00:04:58.480 | This is very positive in Ezekiel 16.

00:05:01.480 | "I adorned you with ornaments, and put bracelets on your wrists, and a chain on your neck.

00:05:06.480 | And thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth."

00:05:13.480 | This is God rejoicing over how much care and beautification he took of his bride, Israel.

00:05:22.480 | And then, just the opposite in Hosea 2, where it's negative, because pride and unbelief had taken over the motive for clothing.

00:05:33.480 | And God says, "And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals,

00:05:38.480 | when she burned offerings to them, and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me."

00:05:45.480 | So there, the very same jewelry that was positive in one text becomes a sign of wickedness and pride in another.

00:05:55.480 | So, already in the Old Testament, you've got a warning.

00:05:59.480 | Hmm. To follow God is going to make a difference in what you do with your clothing, and your hair, and your jewelry.

00:06:09.480 | And so here in 1 Timothy, you get this, "Women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control,

00:06:18.480 | not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness with good works."

00:06:27.480 | Or 1 Peter 3, "Do not let your adorning be external, the braiding of hair, the putting on of jewelry, or the clothing you wear,

00:06:36.480 | but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious."

00:06:45.480 | So the question then, for women, and I think by implication men as well, is addressing women,

00:06:50.480 | but men would come under all these same things with regard to the things that they wear, and the jewelry they use,

00:06:57.480 | and stuff they put in their hair, and all kinds of stuff. This is all for men and women, because the principles are the same.

00:07:03.480 | Is this tattoo an expression of those good works? Is it a heartfelt expression of godliness?

00:07:11.480 | Is it part of a gentle and tranquil spirit that is resting in God and is content with God's goodness to her or him?

00:07:19.480 | So those are the kinds of thinking, Tony, that I think a responsible Christian should walk through as they think of getting a tattoo.

00:07:30.480 | And having said all that, my bottom line is that if somebody comes to me and asks me my advice about whether they should get a tattoo,

00:07:39.480 | I'm going to try to persuade them not to, and I have six reasons why.

00:07:43.480 | And I know we've already used up our time for today, so maybe we'll do this tomorrow.

00:07:48.480 | Okay, yes, six reasons to not get tattooed. That'll be tomorrow's podcast. Thank you, Pastor John, and thank you for listening to this podcast.

00:07:55.480 | Please email your questions to us at AskPastorJohn@DesiringGod.org and visit us online at DesiringGod.org

00:08:01.480 | to find thousands of books, articles, sermons, and other resources from John Piper, all free of charge.

00:08:05.480 | I'm your host, Tony Ranke. Thanks for listening.

00:08:07.480 | [end]

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Tattoos in Biblical Perspective

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