I’ve gotten used to seeing so many people with tattoos these days, but Seth, a man covered with them whom I had initiated a Gospel outreach conversation with while shopping, couldn’t seem to let it go. I had asked what he thinks will happen to us after we die, and he responded by immediately referring to his many tattoos:
“I know my tattoos are a deadly sin and all, but I think God would still say I have a pretty good heart. I’m always polite and respectful, I hold the door for people and just generally try to be a nice guy. I work hard for a living, and I feel like tattoos are one thing I can have that will always belong to me.”
I
hadn’t really intended to go there, but since he brought it up I asked
why he thought his tattoos were so sinful. Seth said he knew it was
condemned in the Bible, but sees it as his one real vice that he more
than makes up for by being a nice person. In effect it becomes a sign
to the world that, though he may go out of his way to serve God by being
nice to others, there is always a part reserved for himself.
I find this interesting because the original use for tattoos that was condemned in the Old Testament was likely for slave ownership. Now I believe tattoos have a different sort of connotation also connected with ownership – in this case it is a sign that we own ourselves; that no one, not society, not parents, not even God, has the right to tell us what to do or not to do with our bodies.
So I told Seth my position, that as a Christian I am only a manager of the time, money, possessions, and yes, even the body God has put me in charge of during my stay here on earth. “Personally, I see it as vanity to spend God’s money on something as frivolous as a tattoo, and to put one on my body would be like putting a bumper sticker on a Lamborghini lent to me by a friend.” Call me old school, but I see tattoos as a vain attempt at commitment by a generation desperate for authenticity.
Tattoo rant aside, I felt like Seth needed to know that 1.) Tattoos aren’t the first thing God sees when He looks at him; and 2.) There is sin in his life that is much more of a concern to God, which tattoos may only be a symptom of.
I said “Anyway, as far as your tattoos are concerned, what’s done is done” and we went on to talk about that root problem, the question of ownership and the sin that comes when we claim to own ourselves. Who is the real king in his life – Seth, or the King of Kings? The sin in his life is much more than skin deep, and much more than any amount of his being a “nice guy” can make up for. We have been bought with the ultimate price at the cross, and it is a privilege to be a “slave” to Jesus.
I find this interesting because the original use for tattoos that was condemned in the Old Testament was likely for slave ownership. Now I believe tattoos have a different sort of connotation also connected with ownership – in this case it is a sign that we own ourselves; that no one, not society, not parents, not even God, has the right to tell us what to do or not to do with our bodies.
So I told Seth my position, that as a Christian I am only a manager of the time, money, possessions, and yes, even the body God has put me in charge of during my stay here on earth. “Personally, I see it as vanity to spend God’s money on something as frivolous as a tattoo, and to put one on my body would be like putting a bumper sticker on a Lamborghini lent to me by a friend.” Call me old school, but I see tattoos as a vain attempt at commitment by a generation desperate for authenticity.
Tattoo rant aside, I felt like Seth needed to know that 1.) Tattoos aren’t the first thing God sees when He looks at him; and 2.) There is sin in his life that is much more of a concern to God, which tattoos may only be a symptom of.
I said “Anyway, as far as your tattoos are concerned, what’s done is done” and we went on to talk about that root problem, the question of ownership and the sin that comes when we claim to own ourselves. Who is the real king in his life – Seth, or the King of Kings? The sin in his life is much more than skin deep, and much more than any amount of his being a “nice guy” can make up for. We have been bought with the ultimate price at the cross, and it is a privilege to be a “slave” to Jesus.
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