"Those tattoos on your leg," she said, pointing an accusing finger.
"These," I asked.
"Those," she said, adding "It says in the Bible Thou shalt not tattoo thy skin."
"It actually uses the word Tattoo in the Bible, " I asked, suspecting this was a word of more recent invention.
"Yes," she insisted, "the word Tattoo."
Suddenly everyone had somewhere they had to be.
For the record, I have two tattoos on my right shin; the outline of Denali and that of Kilimanjaro with the dates I summited each.
To be certain this was disturbing, because what she lacked in bedside manner this person made up for with fiery wild-eyed conviction. So it seemed like time well spent that I should look into the issue and share my findings here, for the sake of myself and other readers who may have or be considering the notion of getting a tattoo.
The exact verse being referred to in this case is from the Old Testament book of Leviticus, specifically 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." This seems pretty clear, and if that's all there is to it then I am indeed headed somewhere warm. But wait, that section of Leviticus also forbids Christians from doing a number of things that might in anyway alter the appearance God gave them. You can't cut or dye your hair, trim your beard, pierce your ears, apply makeup, undergo plastic surgery, have orthodontia treatment, etc. By that account I will have a lot of company where I am going ...including the woman who raised this issue since she was wearing clothing made of two different kinds of cloth. Hmmm. So what really is the story here?
In her role as Christian Guide at About.com, Mary Fairchild recently wrote about this topic.
"It's important, however, to look at the verse in context. This passage in Leviticus, including the surrounding text, is specifically dealing with the pagan religious rituals of the people living around the Israelites. God’s desire is to set his people apart from other cultures. The focus here is prohibiting worldly, heathen worship and witchcraft. God forbids his holy people to engage in idolatrous, pagan worship and sorcery which imitates the heathens. He does this out of protection, because he knows this will lead them away from the one true God.
It's interesting to observe verse 26, "Do not eat meat that has not been drained of its blood," and verse 27, "Do not trim off the hair on your temples or trim your beards." Well, certainly many Christians today eat non-kosher meats and get haircuts without participating in the forbidden worship of pagans. Back then these customs were associated with pagan rites and rituals. Today they are not.
Pastor Chuckk Gerwig of The Santa Cruz Bible Church writes The tattoo of today is much different than it was for those who originally received the Pentateuch. Today tattoo is a decorative means of self expression and personal decoration. In our current culture people modify their appearance for beauty in many ways such as clothing choice, makeup, plastic surgery, haircutting and coloring, weight loss, body-building, and ear piercing. Some of these practices have a history in ancient ritual and false religion, but in our cultural context they do not denote a connection with evil or false faith. In the same way tattoos today do not link the wearer to cultic worship practices and is not generally practiced for ancient religious purposes, tattoos today are for ornamentation.
I found other references, including catalogues of Christian Tattoos and continued debate between the word and the spirit of the word. In the end I came away with the sense that this will be a matter between each person and God. And for my part, I'll trust that God will know whether the ink on my leg worships a pagan practice or celebrates moments when I felt closest to him.
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