Me, God and Tattoos

In my early days of being a Christian, I was a little judgmental. Well, actually, I was more than a little judgmental, I was a Pentecostal Pharisee, wearing a black robe with extra-long phylacteries and fringes. And as with all good Pharisees, I was constantly on the prowl, looking for people who fell short of my godliness.

One of my favorite Thou Shalt Not’s was found in Leviticus 19:28 –

You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord.

Tattoos! God hated tattoos. And if God hated them, so did I.

Now, this wasn’t something that I proclaimed aloud. It was a quiet, inner hatred, just under the skin, festering and waiting to expose itself on the right person at the right time and in the right place.

But alas, God had some divine appointments for me.

First, I worked with a couple of men who had a few tattoos. Small dragons. A few girl’s names. Mom. Pretty common stuff. I gritted my teeth and kept quiet.

Secondly, I worked with a man that was covered with tattoos from his neck to his toe nails. He had dragons, demons, signs of demons, and other dark-side tattoos all over his body. It took all of God’s grace and, probably, six or seven angels to keep me from preaching about the sin of tattoos to the man.

Finally, I met two young Christian men who loved the Lord. They were outstanding singers who could worship like few that I have ever met in my life. I loved them.

But then, on a warm day, they took their shirts off. And oh no! They had Christian tattoos all over their backs and upper arms. A Christian tattoo – what a paradox, right?

Not knowing what else to do, I sought the Lord on the problems of these two young men. As I waited on the Lord, I heard the Holy Spirit speak, “These two young men are not the problem; you are. You and your judgmental attitudes. I love them and so should you. As far as their tattoos go, this is between them and Me. So stay out of it.”

Hmm! I got the hint. We no longer live under the Law. We live under grace where God looks at men’s hearts; and tattoos, that’s between God and them.