Alright, Pastor John, last time in episode 240, you promised to offer us your six reasons why you would counsel a Christian against getting a tattoo. So what are those reasons? Well, let's make sure, Tony, that I'm not saying that getting a tattoo is intrinsically a sin or an evil.

I'm not going to go there because I don't see the warrant for it in Scripture. I don't think it is. I don't think that's a way we should go about making decisions like this. I tried to give biblical guidelines yesterday for how to think about tattoos as well as jewelry and makeup and hairdos and clothing.

They all belong to the same category, and the Bible is clear. Following Jesus makes a difference on how you dress and how you do everything, whether eating or drinking, do all to the glory of God. So with all that in mind, everything yesterday in mind, and I hope people will go there, not just here, so if you're tuning into this one and you haven't listened to that one, please let it all stand together.

I'll give you my reasons, six of them, for why I would counsel against getting a tattoo. Number one, some of these are just my own personal sense of wisdom. There's maybe a little more closely related to Scripture, but let every man judge and hold fast to what is good.

In view of Paul's counsel against adornment being minimally external and maximally internal, and in view of his counsel that the adornment or the hair not signify excessive preoccupation with looks, I would say tattoos do signify a fairly high preoccupation with looks, because to choose to get an adornment that will be with you forever is a high-level commitment to adornment.

I think probably too high. That's number one. Tattoos are permanent. Unless you pay big bucks with significant pain to have them removed. Most people who get tattoos, I think, aren't thinking about that pain, thinking about that money. They're thinking, "Okay, this is forever." Thus, they're like putting on lipstick you can never take off.

They're like applying eye shadow that you will wear day and night forever. They're like a necklace that grows into your skin and stays there permanently. They're like a twist you put in your hair and can never, ever remove, no matter how the styles change. I think it's foolish to do with a tattoo what you would not do with any of your other skin adornments.

That's number two. Number three, you will change. You will not look the same in 20 years or have the same tastes. The lightning bolt on your neck is going to look like a ridiculous splotch on the folds of your wrinkled skin. Tattooing is a naive way of thinking that you will like now, that what you like now, you're going to like in 20 or 30 years.

You won't. In 15 years, you will have different tastes. The culture will be different. What is cool now will look silly and trendy and dated. Someday you will grow. That moment of youthful identity seeking will be branded forever like an indelible reminder of immaturity in your skin. Not wise.

Number four, tattoos do not make you prettier or more handsome. Now here, I know this is opinion and just hear my opinion, take it or leave it. Tattoos are in general ugly. They're discolorations of pretty skin and they get uglier as time goes by. Even the colors that the efforts make, they're not pretty colors.

You're very limited in what you can do with that tattoo. It's kind of a grayish blue. Men find women's skin attractive to see and to touch. Tattoos do not make that skin more desirable or attractive. That's one man's view and you can take it or you can leave it.

At the gym that I go to, I pity the women with tattoos. From 20 feet away, they look like they're burned and disfigured. It's very, very sad. So think long, think hard, women. You have beautiful skin. Men like it. Don't mess it up. Number five, the best motive I can think of for a tattoo is a kind of self-imposed Christian branding.

Some Christian symbol or words that say I belong to Jesus. Now my problem with that motive is that there is a much better way to brand yourself biblically, namely with love. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works. Tattoo branding is too easy and it may not be the note you want to strike in 10 years.

You may think I've picked out the perfect timeless symbol or I've picked out the perfect verse to put on my arm or whatever. No, you don't know that. You will change and the note you want to strike may be a different note in 25 years. Number six, tattoos are missionally limiting.

You may get a tattoo now because you're trying to reach tattooed people with the gospel, but that same tattoo may be a huge stumbling block among Muslim peoples God's going to take you to in 15 years. You don't know what the future holds. So in sum, here's the conclusion.

Marking the skin is not intrinsically evil. I'll never cut off anyone from fellowship in Christ because they have a tattoo or 100 tattoos. I'll never cut them off in Christ. But I doubt that the decisions that many Christians are making today to get tattoos are thought through as carefully and biblically as is wise.

And I've recorded this, just I hope it's part of what they take into consideration. I hope it helps them think wisely. Thank you, Pastor John. From tattoos to Christmas. Next week we'll be looking at Christmas-related themes on the podcast. And as always, please visit us online at DesiringGod.org to find thousands of books, articles, sermons, and other resources from John Piper, all free of charge.

I'm your host, Tony Ranke. Thanks for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast.