Christianity & Culture with Kierstyn St. John

Is it sinful for Christians to get tattoos?

• Kierstyn St. John of Zoetic • Season 2 • Episode 1

Share episode

In this podcast, I explore why some Christians say it’s sinful to get tattoos, why I disagree with them, and provide a balanced, nuanced, biblical perspective on the topic.  

Zoetic YouTube Channel (with this podcast in video form): https://cutt.ly/ZoeticYouTubeChannel

Zoetic Spotify: https://bit.ly/zoetic_spotify

Zoetic Instagram: https://bit.ly/ZoeticInstagram

Zoetic TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zoetic_music

Kierstyn St. John:

I have a tattoo here it is, so I must be a heretic, right? So today we're talking about tattoos tattoos for Christians and whether it's sinful or not. As far as I can tell that, there are two passages that people tend to use to say that tattoos are sinful. Now I have a tattoo, so obviously I'm of the opinion that it isn't necessarily sinful and I want to defend that today. So the first passage that I hear people quote the most is Leviticus 1928.

Kierstyn St. John:

And I'm going to start at verse 26 to give it a little context. So it says you shall not eat any flesh with blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes. You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves. I am the Lord, and in this case this is God speaking to the Israelites and giving Levitical law. This is the Old Testament. By the way, this is before Jesus, and the new covenant is the Old Testament. By the way, this is before Jesus and the new covenant, and there are different perspectives on whether the old covenant is continued. We know that it's fulfilled in Jesus and what that looks like, right? So if I look at the context of this passage, it clearly says right, you shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves. I am the Lord. So that's pretty clear, or is it? Should we look at the context here? So the verse right before it says you shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. Okay, do Christians hold to that today? Are there men making sure, christian men making sure, that they should round? They can't round off the hair on their temples or mar the edges of their beards. Like, of course not. That's not a thing that's going on in Christian culture today, because we understand that that is a part of Levitical law that God gave to a specific people in a specific culture at a specific time. Okay, and also, it's really important that verse 28, the beginning says you shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead.

Kierstyn St. John:

Really important that verse 28, the beginning says you shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead. And so tattooing back in that day was a pagan practice. It was a pagan practice of making cuts on your body for the dead. This is what God is saying to the Israelites not to do, because he wants the Israelites to be set apart and not exactly like all of the other nations, to be set apart and not exactly like all of the other nations. But again, when you look at it in context, it's like two Christians who hold to verse 28 still and not verse 27. Why, why do you think that we don't have to hold to verse 27, but we do have to hold to verse 28? And so to me you have to take it in context and it seems like that context is for the Israelites during that time and place only, and it would not apply to Christians under the new covenant.

Kierstyn St. John:

Now, is that everything? No, like I think that the 10 commandments, I mean it can. Jesus sums it up in love the Lord, your God, and love your neighbor as yourself. But I do think that the 10 commandments still apply in that we, you know, christians, shouldn't make other gods before God. They should honor, you know, we should honor our father and mother. We should ideally observe the Sabbath, even though we're going to do it different than Jewish people are. We shouldn't commit adultery, like. I think that the Ten Commandments seem to be more universal in application right. I don't think we have to do them perfectly to get salvation or anything like that, because Jesus paid the price for us. That being said, there is a difference between Levitical moral law, which I think the Ten Commandments would fall underneath, and Levitical cultural law, and it seems like this Leviticus 19 passage is much more Levitical cultural law, and it seems like this Leviticus 19 passage is much more Levitical cultural law which would not apply to Christians in today's culture.

Kierstyn St. John:

The other passage that I've had people quote at me about not getting a tattoo is 1 Corinthians 6, 19 through 20. And I'll start at 16 to give some context. So it says or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? And I'll start at 16 to give some context. So it says and so I hear or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own. So therefore, don't get tattoos because you're not treating your body as a temple of the Holy Spirit. So again, first of all, I do think that that is eisegesis, not exegesis. So you're reading things into the passage, because when you look at the passage.

Kierstyn St. John:

The passage is about sexual immorality specifically. It's not about tattoos. It's basically saying do not behave sexually immoral in a sexually immoral way, because that is a sin against your body, which is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Ok, it's not talking about food. It's not talking about tattoos. It's talking specifically about sex. So I don't want to go outside of the context that it's talking about. I think it's really dangerous when we do that, because then you can get some people saying, well, you can't drink alcohol because that's sinning against your body, when I don't think that that is clear in scripture. Or or you can't eat certain foods, like if you eat a cheeseburger, like that's desecrating your own body, like it can get really extreme.

Kierstyn St. John:

I think we need to keep it to what it is truly about, which is sexual immorality. That's what the passage is about and that's what we need to keep it. So I don't see that as an application to tattoos. Now, that being said, I tend to think that you might be compromising witness if you are tattooed all over your body. So if you have tattoos, I mean like on your face, on your neck, on your arms. That being said, there are some Christians who who've had those. Maybe they've gotten saved in prison or in other types of ways, and they are heavily tattooed and I still think that God can use them. So I personally would not choose to get tattooed all over my body. I think there is a tasteful way to do it, but I also just don't think that this passage really applies to that. I think it applies much more to sexual immorality. That seems clear.

Kierstyn St. John:

Now I want to give some passages that counter the passages against tattoos. So this passage, I would argue, does counter it. So Genesis 4, 15, we'll start at verse 13. Cain said to the Lord my punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today from the ground and from your face. I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me. Then the Lord said to him not so. If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord put a mark on Cain lest anyone who found him should attack him. Who found him should attack him. Okay, so we see the Lord putting a mark on Cain as a way to show that you shouldn't attack this man, because if you do, vengeance will be taken on you sevenfold. So the mark that the Lord puts on Cain is actually good, and it seems that this is a permanent mark.

Kierstyn St. John:

Now, tattoos can also be seen as a permanent mark. I actually think that that is a point in favor of some markings, some tattoos. It depends on why you're doing it. It seems that the Lord marked Cain and did so for a good reason, right? So that's just kind of interesting. That doesn't mean he tattooed him, but it seems that it was a permanent marking, right? But to me, this passage is even more compelling, and I think that this is a longer passage, but I think this is really really important when it comes to matters such as tattoos, or eating certain foods, or drinking wine or these things that are kind of up to debate, even listening to secular music. And so this is Romans 14. We're going to start in verse 14. It's a long passage, but I think it's important.

Kierstyn St. John:

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind the one who observes the day observes it in honor of the Lord.

Kierstyn St. John:

The one who eats eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God, for none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself, for if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, then, whether we live or we die, we are the Lord's, for to this end Christ lived and died again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother or you? Why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God. So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore, let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide to never put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

Kierstyn St. John:

Okay, so then it just kind of continues on that way, okay? So first of all, what it means is that I will not make somebody get a tattoo. If a Christian is convinced in their own mind that it would be sinful for them to get a tattoo, don't get a tattoo, that's okay, and I'm not going. I think it's important that those of us who have tattoos, that we don't make fun of people or call them squares or you know. You know, yeah, we shouldn't tease or make fun of people who are convicted in their own mind that it's sinful to get a tattoo. That's really, really important. We shouldn't make them feel bad about that if that is their conviction. Again, I think it's the same for if you're convicted not to drink alcohol.

Kierstyn St. John:

I have Christian friends who don't drink any alcohol. They abstain completely, and guess what? I respect that and I try not to drink in front of them and I only drink in moderation. I don't want to be a stumbling block to anybody, right? That's what it says, and so you know. A stumbling block would be if I was just picking on someone for not getting a tattoo, and I don't want to do that. That being said, in the same way, christians should not shame me for getting a tattoo.

Kierstyn St. John:

In my opinion, I don't see this as explicitly sinful. I explained why before. If I'm actually engaged in a sinful activity, obviously I want other Christians to hold me accountable and call me out for that, and I appreciate that deeply. But I'm not convinced that scripturally it is sinful to get a tattoo. So I do believe it's a Romans 14 matter. It's a matter of conscience, and Christians shouldn't necessarily shame me or anyone else who has a tattoo.

Kierstyn St. John:

Okay, here's takeaway number three. In certain circumstances, I am willing to hide the tattoo. If I'm in a country where tattoos are prohibited for women or looked down upon I think Israel actually might be one of those countries I'm going to try to hide the tattoo. And why am I going to do that? I want to respect their culture. I also want to be a good gospel witness, and if this is going to be a stumbling block for people, like if I'm unable to witness to them for the gospel, because I have a tattoo and that deeply offends them. I want to remove that stumbling block. I think that that is biblical and I think that that is important. So I am absolutely willing to hide the tattoo. You know, if there's an older person that I'm talking to or I'm witnessing to and they're offended by the tattoo which you can find more in the older generations I don't want to shame them for feeling that way. I want to make sure I'm not being a stumbling block and I'm going to try to hide it. But here's the final takeaway Some tattoos can be sinful if they're depicting a sinful thing, obviously if a tattoo is overtly sexual or something that is sinful.

Kierstyn St. John:

But some tattoos can actually be a gospel witness. So I don't know if you guys can see the tattoo. It's kind of hard, but it's a cross and it says to tell us die. That's what it actually says and this is my own handwriting too, which was very important to me. And to tell us die means it is finished and that is the one of the last things that Jesus said on the cross before he died.

Kierstyn St. John:

I think it is the most consequential statement in history and I can't tell you guys, how many times people have come up to me and said, oh, what does your tattoo say? And I'm able to say that, and it's actually a leeway, like a segue, for me to be able to share the gospel with those people. So my tattoo specifically has actually given me opportunities to share the gospel with people who might not have normally heard it, and that is super, super cool. Like that's part of the reason I got it to have a permanent mark of what I truly believe that Jesus is Lord of all, and to be able to share that with other people. And so I would just say, yes, some tattoos can be sinful, but some tattoos can actually be an aid and a witness to the gospel. I feel like that.

Kierstyn St. John:

I gave a very good overview of my perspective on tattoos and I'm curious to see what you guys think. Like do you actually think it's sinful? All tattoos for Christians are sinful, or do you think that some of them could be used as an actual unique way for the kingdom of God? I tend to hold to the latter, but I want to respect Christians who maybe disagree with me. So, yeah, that is going to be it for me today. Thank you and God bless.