Is it okay for a Christian to get tattoos?

I'm sitting in the middle of Mr. G's classroom. It is a beautiful day. The sun is shining and the class is full. Time has flown and there are only a couple of school days left. My junior year is almost over. Everyone is tired and with their minds blocked. To start his class, Mr. G told us, "Stop counting the days down but make them count!" I couldn't have agreed more. I'm here for a reason. And it was time for me to discover what that reason was. "I'm going to assign the final project for this class," he said, "and you are going to be able to choose any controversial topic from this list right here." All of the sudden, he pulls out a list with an endless number of topics that have caused great controversy in today's Christian Church. To be completely honest with you guys, I wasn't sure about what would be the best theme for me to research about. And, then I came across a theme that has always caught all of my attention. A theme that after researching on, changed my perspective on life forever and opened my eyes to reality-- "Is it okay for a Christian to get tattoos?"

Before researching on this theme, I really had to ask myself, "What does the Bible have to say?" Because, as you may or may not know, making marks on the skin is mentioned in several Biblical verses. Starting up with Lev. 19:28, "‘You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord"; up to Rev. 13:16-17, "And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead. 17 and he provides that no one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name"; are some of the verses that talk about this. I must admit that I struggled with this for a few days. And then, I finally got into the conclusion that something we must examine is whether or not we Christians are required to keep Old Testament Law. The answer is... No we are not. Now, this does not mean it's okay to lie, to cheat, and to steal. It means that we are not required to keep Old Testament Law in order to get or maintain our salvation. This is because we have died to the law and because of that, all things are lawful to us. We must retain the truth that we are not to violate any moral law of God. It is always wrong to lie, cheat, and to steal. Such commands are clearly reiterated in the New Testament and are based on the character of God. So, the Old Testament law dealing with morality, is definitely to be upheld. All of the Ten Commandments (except Sabbath-keeping) are referenced in the New Testament as still being valid (Mt. 19:17-19; 1 Cor. 5:11; 6:9; Rev. 13:6).

If we must conclude that tattooing is automatically bad in and of itself, then we must also conclude that shaving off the hair on the side of the head and shaving edges of men's beards is also equally bad. But, since cutting hair and shaving beards is not sinful in itself, how could we conclude that tattooing is also automatically sinful? We can't. We see no New Testament commands that tell us to keep the sacrificial system, forbid work on the Sabbath, forbid the shaving of beards, or forbid tattoos, etc. Since we have died to the law and all things are lawful, then the Christian is not under obligation to keep the Old Testament command not to get tattooed. Remember, if tattooing is a sin, then so is shaving the beard off of your face.

This information I found changed my entire life. And I was really grateful with God because since that moment I understood that we are saved by His grace only and not by keeping the law. Thank you God, thank you Father for being the best of all!

WORKS CITED

CARM.org's Cast of Writers. "Is It Okay for a Christian to Get a Tattoo?" CARM.org. 2014. World Evangelical Alliance. Web. 21 May 2014.

Fairchild, Mary. "Tattoos and Christians - Should Christians Have Tattoos? What Does the Bible Say About Tattoos?" Christianity.about.com. 2014. About.com. Web. 21 May 2014.

Schumacher, Robin. "Is Getting a Tattoo a Sin?" Blogs.christianpost.com. 21 October 2012. Blogspot.com. Web. 21 May 2014.