Tattoos - sinfully sexy. Or so they say...

Are tattoos are a sin? This is a question I have been struggling with since I was eighteen. Even when I wasn't sure if I wanted a tattoo, I was still always attracted to men covered in them (You can imagine my father's joy). When I started really considering getting one, I always came back to the question of "Am I being sinful"- I fully understand that I am human & even on my best day of living, I am still a sinner saved by grace. However, I try to be a sinner saved by grace that does not purposely sin. In October I took at class called Biblical Perspectives of the Western Culture. At the first given opportunity I asked Pastor Lewis (Who first met me when I was six) his thoughts about me getting "tatted up." It maybe took 12.2 seconds for him to flip to Leviticus & display his highlighted bible passage on my desk. The passage reads:
"You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor practice divination or soothsaying. 27 You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard. 28 ‘You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD. 29 ‘Do not profane your daughter by making her a harlot, so that the land will not fall to harlotry and the land become full of lewdness. 30 ‘You shall keep My sabbaths and revere My sanctuary; I am the LORD. 31 ‘Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God."

In October I was pretty sure I had my answer. It says there clear as day in scripture "You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves." A little disappointed I decided that I would never do it. But than I listened to Greg Groeshcel's sermon on tattooing, and my spirits began to lift. There was a very important part of the message I was missing and that of course was the context and time of the passage. I had no idea what was going on during the time of Leviticus- I was reading the message as if it was being spoken to me that day while I was sitting in my desk. After doing some research this is what I found-

The practice of making deep gashes on the face and arms and legs, in time of bereavement, was universal among the heathen, and it was deemed a becoming mark of respect for the dead, as well as a sort of propitiatory offering to the deities who presided over death and the grave. The Jews learned this custom in Egypt, and though weaned from it, relapsed in a later and degenerate age into this old superstition (Is 15:2; Je 16:6; 41:5). “nor print any marks upon you” (v:28 )—by tattooing, imprinting figures of flowers, leaves, stars, and other fanciful devices on various parts of their person. The impression was made sometimes by means of a hot iron, sometimes by ink or paint, as is done by the Arab females of the present day and the different castes of the Hindus. It it probable that a strong propensity to adopt such marks in honor of some idol gave occasion to the prohibition in this verse.
The “tattoo” marks described in Leviticus 19:28 were clearly related to false religious practices. The word translated tattoo in our English Bibles is the Hebrew word “qa aqa”, this word appears only one time in the Bible, here in this passage Leviticus. The word “qa aqa” means literally “to cut” but taken with the surrounding words indicates a cutting that left a mark imprinted in the skin. This could have been a form of branding, scarring, cutting or a process where ink was inlaid into the skin; there is not enough data to fully define exactly what this word meant. However we translate the word “qa aqa” though, in this passage, it is certainly used in the context of cultic religious worship. The prohibition against “qa aqa”, (translated tattoo) was to keep the Israelites from being involved or affiliated with cultic worship practices. (Information from sacred ink)

Today tattoos are about self expression & beauty. In today's society people are doing many things to modify their appearance, everything from diet to breast implants, coloring their hair to body building. 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.

I think anything can be a sin if we make it that way. We can make our words, actions, thoughts, and daily living sinful if we choose to, just as we can make a tattoo sinful if we so choose. In my new updated opinion, I believe that as long as we are not being offensive to the Lord while altering our bodies than we are not being sinful. As long as we are going to refer to ourselves as Christians it is not our place to judge someone with plastic surgery, colored hair, or tattoos.

God bless you all,
Ashley