Apply Wisdom!

News This Week About Tattoos & Piercing

Jay Horsley

I don't have the sources for these facts readily at hand, but they were both in the news this week.

Fact 1: It is estimated that half of all the tattoos people are getting today will be medically removed in the future.

Tattoos are painful, although not terribly expensive. Removing them is both painful (the ink is exploded by a laser so that the body can absorb it) and expensive (removal usually takes 4 or more trips to a dermatologist who such a laser). THINK before you act.

Some always ask, “Is a tattoo wrong? Are they always immoral?” We don't, and can't, say that.

We know that tattoos were sinful for Jews. “You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD.” (Lev. 19:28) But they had many restrictions that aren't binding on us. They had food restrictions such as no pork or catfish. (Deut. 14:8-10) They could not wear clothes that were made of both wool and linen. (Duet. 22:11,12) They even had restrictions on their sideburns and beards. (Lev. 19:27) The physical restrictions of the O.T. (and the moral restriction too) helped separate them from the pagans.

The question is, are tattoos a thing of morality, thus to be universally avoided? Or are tattoos a thing of culture - which the Jews avoided to be a physically separate people? Tattoos certainly were, and still are, associated with pagan cultures. Things in the Old Testament that had inherent moral importance were reaffirmed in the New Testament, and the New Testament doesn't mention tattoos at all.

Does that mean that tattoos are OK? No, it just means that they aren't automatically sinful. But tattoos can easily be, and often are, sinful. Many are profane and indecent. Many are gotten as an overt act of rebellion against parental or other authority. Ask yourself, “What type of people are commonly associated with tattoos?”

Good advise is always to avoid tattoos. Consider the following:

-- There is seldom good reason to get one. That is why most are done impulsively or even while under the influence.

-- They may hinder you from getting a good job if they are in an area where people can see them.

-- There is example after example of people who have them regretting getting them.

-- I've never known anyone who was sorry 10 years later that they didn't get more of them.

-- They are quite permanent. They may be in fad/style now, but what about in 10 or 20 years? Would you promise now to wear the same shirt, suit or shoes every day for 20 years? Since you will have the tattoo with you every day, make sure you want it forever.

-- What will that detailed art work on you body will look like later? It will probably smudge into a big blob. Check out any senior citizen who got one back their army/navy days and see just how good those things look now.

-- They are expensive and very painful to remove.

Fact 2: Girls who have body piercings are two & a half more likely to be sexually active than those who don't.

The adornments and dress of a woman (and a man) say a lot about her (him). The sexual activity of boys who have piercing was not stated, although we shouldn't think it would be much different than the girls who have them. What does it say about you and your attitude towards your body if you are willing to pierce it?

It is not surprising that there is a connection between piecing and sexual activity. Piercing, quite common among many native tribes of Africa and the Amazon, first came to American culture by, and then gained popularity through, sexual fetishist. That connection remains to this day.

Body piercing is often portrayed and marketed as a sensual experience or even lifestyle. Many youths, uneducated in the gospel way of “possess[ing] their own vessel in sanctification and honor” (1 Thess. 4:4), are allured by the false promises of pleasure and fulfillment that the devil promises to those who fornicate (or as we say today “become sexually active outside of marriage”).

Consider the wisdom of Proverbs 7, which deals with the seduction and destruction of a young man who becomes immoral. Note that the loose woman's attire, approach, and words of allurement are all recorded for us to note and avoid.

7 “And I saw among the naive, I discerned among the youths, A young man lacking sense,

8 Passing through the street near her corner; And he takes the way to her house

9 In the twilight, in the evening, In the middle of the night and in the darkness.

10 And behold, a woman comes to meet him, Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.

11 She is boisterous and rebellious; Her feet do not remain at home;

12 She is now in the streets, now in the squares, And lurks by every corner.

13 So she seizes him and kisses him, And with a brazen face she says to him:

14 “I was due to offer peace offerings; Today I have paid my vows.

15 “Therefore I have come out to meet you, To seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you.

16 “I have spread my couch with coverings, With colored linens of Egypt.

17 “I have sprinkled my bed With myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.

18 “Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with caresses.

19 “For the man is not at home, He has gone on a long journey;

20 He has taken a bag of money with him, At full moon he will come home."

21 With her many persuasions she entices him; With her flattering lips she seduces him.

22 Suddenly he follows her, As an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool,

23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver; As a bird hastens to the snare, So he does not know that it will cost him his life.”

When considering things from a long term, Bible based perspective, what will you think and practice considering tattoos and piercings?