Due to a couple of recent posts that negatively mentioned the trend of many Christians to tattoo their bodies, I have received a number of e-mails asking for greater clarification on this topic. I felt it would be helpful to share a couple of correspondences on this topic, that others might be helped in their discernment of this topic.
Dear R.,
Thank you for writing and asking your excellent questions. There is an Old Testament command forbidding tattoos and making cuttings in the flesh, which could apply to body piercing. I will cite the Scripture that most pointedly speaks to this issue.
Leviticus 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.
(New American Standard Bible)
If you have read my writings on the Law, you will know that I am NOT an advocate of the notion that the saints in Christ are currently under the jurisdiction or rule of the Old Testament Law. We are partakers of a New Covenant of the Spirit. The Spirit of Christ has been sent into our hearts to reveal to us the mind and thoughts of God the Father. As we are partakers of the Spirit, we are to submit to the revealed will of God in all things, and this certainly includes any permanent markings or piercings that one makes upon their flesh.
Our question in all things should be, “What is the will and pleasure of God?” I have serious doubts that those Christians getting tattoos and body piercings today have done so with this one thought solely in their mind. What usually transpires is that a Christian sees what others are doing, and they begin to consider doing the same. They may observe either the world, or other Christians getting tattoos and piercings, and they then begin to entertain the thought of doing so themselves.
That this is truly the pattern can be seen in the fact that Christians were not getting tattoos fifty years ago and saying God told them to do so. The rare Christian that had a tattoo usually got it in the military as they were influenced by fellow soldiers and sailors. You didn’t see Christians going to local tattoo parlors and getting Christianized tattoos. If it had been the will of God for Christians to wear tattoos and body piercing, then the Spirit would have been speaking this to Christians for the past 2,000 years. That it is a recent phenomena coinciding perfectly with a similar trend in the world reveals its true source. It is not the Spirit leading believers to tattoo and pierce their bodies. It is the influence of the world and the presence of a multitude of Christians who have not surrendered to the Lordship of Christ in all areas of their lives.
Tattooing and piercing is really just a symptom of a much deeper problem. The root issue is whether Christians will take Christ as Lord over ALL of their lives, words and deeds, or whether they will continue to be self-directed while asking Christ to bless their fleshly and soulish offerings to Him. A church that has despised the disciples’ cross, and has continued to be led by their soul, will descend into greater acts of evil and worldliness. If the church is conformed to the world, then they are become as salt that has lost its savor. They are not even good to be cast upon the manure pile. They are lamps without oil.
The call of Christians is to be sanctified (set apart) unto God for His will and purposes. It is His will that we enter into conformity with the image of His Son. Yahshua said repeatedly, “I never do anything of My own initiative. I only do the will of the Father.” This is to be our confession as well.
I do not know of any Christians who can make this confession regarding their decision to get tattooed or pierced. We should keep in mind that Christ said that MANY will come in His name and say, “Did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and perform miracles in Your name?” His response to them will be, “I never knew you. Depart from Me you workers of lawlessness.”
If it is possible for believers to be misled about this matter of doing good works for Christ, then how much more that they are confused in thinking that God was the One who led them, or blessed them, to get tattooed and pierced. The error of those Christ condemned is not the works themselves, but rather the source of the works. They did these things at the initiative of their own soul. They had no command from the Father to do these things. This is observed in Christ’s opening words in this passage. He said, “Those who do the will of My Father will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Christ did all of the things He mentioned (prophesying, casting out demons, miracles), but never of His own initiative. He was always led of the Spirit in every word and action. He did not cast out all demons, or heal all people. He did not do a single miracle that the Father did not command Him to do. He was tested in this at the very start of His ministry when Satan tempted Him to turn the stones into bread. Yahshua replied that He lived by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of the Father. In other words, if God did not command it, He would not do it.
If you have not yet read the book SABBATH, I would recommend it to you highly. The entire book is an exposition of this very important teaching. You can find it online here: http://www.heart4god.ws/id214.htm
May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days,
Joseph Herrin
The following letter was written to answer a Christian brother’s sincerely expressed concern that the negative comment I had made concerning a christians tattoos was a manifestation of being judgmental over disputable matters which the New Testament did not overtly condemn. He wrote that he was concerned that a critical spirit could cause damage to young Christians.
Dear M.,
I can understand your concerns expressed here. I believe they are a result of our not discerning the same things by the Spirit of Christ. This is a VERY serious matter, and some profound events are being played out at this hour.
Again, let me say that I am not sharing this as a personal opinion, but as what I have discerned by the Spirit of Christ. If I did not believe the Spirit was revealing these things to me, I would not be speaking them forth. I am very cautious about speaking in condemnation of any work among the people of God. I will hold my peace until I have discerned the mind of Christ on a matter, and this I have done in this instance.
As you can probably infer, my great concern about what is going on with christians is not that they are wearing tattoos. This is merely a symptom and not a root, though it does point to a root problem that is in itself very serious.
The deeper and much more serious issue is that of men who are standing as ministers and imparting an anointing to multitudes of Christians that is not a work of the Holy Spirit, but is a manifestation of an unclean spirit.
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