Leviticus 19:28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord.
My 6 year old baby, Winnie Jr., had just spent an afternoon with a baby sitter that was a little too judgmental for my taste. When we picked her up, Winnie Jr. saw a tattooed lady and pointed at her and said to Winnie Sr. ‘yuk mommy, a prostitute!’ In a short time, the judgmental baby sitter taught her how to criticize tattooed people. Fortunately she said it in bad Spanish, so the tattooed lady didn’t catch it.
Us Christians love to randomly pick and choose from the Old Testament to shore up our beliefs and stances. Worse yet, we love to recruit others to our nonJesus type of ideas. If it’s not in context, it’s pretext. No one got tats 5000 years ago for art or beauty. Tattoos were a form of worshipping false Gods, which the only True God hates. If tattoos are a form of idolatry, they are sin. If not, tattoos are ok.
Idolatry is sin. The only reason for all the rules and laws in the Old Testament is to show sin the need for a Saviour, because NO ONE is sinless and the wages of sin is death! The Old Testament, and the 3 Synoptics (Matthew, Mark and Luke) are like a traffic cop, simply directing people to Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins on the cross of Calvary. We are called to repent from breaking the rules and laws of the Old Testament and to believe in Jesus.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
I am tattooed from the army but fortunately under my shirt. As a Christian, I won’t get another one because it may make someone stumble. That is the only reason. So, yes, I am tattooed. I am also a glutton, I eat pork. I also go on long walks, pick up sticks, go shopping, start cars, turn on lights, light the stove on Shabbat (the Sabbath, Saturday, Sunday, or whatever day that is. We don’t know, because God didn’t use a Roman calendar when He created the world or when He rested on the 7th day). No one really knows when the seventh day is, but it is sin to not observe the Sabbath. Sabbath might be a Tuesday for all we know. If someone thinks it’s Saturday, or Sunday, to not observe it is sin. Pastor Alistair Begg, my favorite preacher, even refused to study in Seminary on Sundays. People like that we must protect by not showing off our new found freedom in front of them.
Saved Germans drink beer. Saved Italians drink wine. Saved Jamaicans smoke weed. Saved North Carolinians smoke and chew. Saved American men have long hair and saved American women wear make up, short hair and pants. I was even told by one group of baptists that swimming with members of the opposite sex was sin. I immediately got out of the pool (and anyone who knows me knows I love the water). We’re saved by grace, but we don’t flaunt our understanding of grace if we truly love our weaker (legalistic, or lack of disciplined) brothers. We don’t want others to stumble because of our liberty in Jesus.
1 Corinthians 8:9 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak
Again, the weak isn’t referring only to the weaker ‘sinner’, but to the religious zealot as well. It’s referring as well to people who make up for their weak faith by being really legalistic with themselves or judging and criticizing others. Bottom line, if we think something is sin, it is sin. No one should try to convince them otherwise. My own children are teaching me grace. Lack of grace is now sin to me.
Paul in his writings to the slaves in Rome was very clear. There are only two types of people. Believers and non-believers. To spread the grace of the Lord even more, the word non-believer actually refers to ‘those absolutely refusing to believe’. ‘Non-believers’ doesn’t necessarily apply to someone doubting and struggling with belief. People ask why I don’t block atheists who question my spiritual posts on fb. Because they’re struggling to believe, which comes off as anger usually. I am more likely to block a mean spirited Christian than I am a non-believer. The non-believer that is going to hell applies to those who flat out have decided to never ever believe in Jesus’ finished work on the Cross for their sins, no matter what. I believe that is what is known as blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
Wearing a tattoo, drinking wine, doubting, rebelling, taking cough syrup (alcohol), driving 60 mph in a 55 mph zone, smoking, lusting, over eating, fibbing, gossiping, swearing, flipping the finger, being prideful or self-righteousness etc. will not send you to hell. I personally don’t even believe that all suicides will cause eternal damnation. Refusing to believe that Jesus died for our sins and is resurrected from the grave is the only thing that will keep someone from heaven.
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
In fact, going back to tattooed people, I usually tried all my saved life not to look at tattoos very closely. Until last week! A very graceful pastor friend casually mentioned to me that he saw tattoos as conversation starters. Wow!!!! I have never ever thought of that. And I’m a big mouthed evangelist. Woe unto me if I don’t share the Gospel! I look for open doors, such things like a book they are reading, for example, to start a conversation. Unless it is a tattoo from the sandbox, or a unit I served with, I generally ignore tattoos, until now. I didn’t want to stare. I assumed it was rude. Since the pastor told me this secret last week, I have found that tattoos are in fact a great conversation starter. Every tattoo wearer wants to share their tattoo story, their ‘work of art’ as most of them think.
Instead of looking away from people with tattoos, I now look for them and ask them about them. Even prison tears and shamrocks. I have had some great conversations. No conversions yet, but have developed relationships that can and probably will end in someone getting saved. Praise God for this exciting and new revelation.
God sent His Son to die for us all. We are told to witness to whoever we can, whether they are comfortable to look at or not. I usually sit in the bus, taxi or waiting room praying for the opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus. Now I don’t have to. I just look around. When I see a tattoo, I just start blabbing. Even sloppy needle point prison tattoos, or a tattoo sleeve. Everyone wearing a tattoo in the open likes to talk about them. They are proud of them. But, if it’s under their shirt (like mine), they probably don’t. See a tattoo on someone? Ask them about it. I hate to have to say this to believers, but please ask them kindly, and with a smile, not a sneer. Pray silently for the door to open, and it will. Plus I got some great opportunities to share the Gospel, hear some really great stories, and most importantly, make a new friend.
Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.