Is it Really Body Art? To Ink Up or Not? Pt. 3

So what does all this mean? Chuck Gerwig is a youth pastor at the conservative Santa Cruz Bible Church in Santa Cruz, Calif. The burly Harley-Davidson riding pastor has worked in ministry for 23 years. He is the founder of SacredInk.net, a site devoted to the ink experiences of 17 tattooed Christians. Through his work Gerwig, who sports tattoos and a shaved head, has noticed a “reexamination of faith” among the young with one of the tell-tale signs being tattoo.

“It’s like an outward symbol of the inward truth,” Gerwig said. “For years tattoos were considered wrong. It was considered sinful,” he added. “There’s obviously been a big shift in the culture. This generation, I believe, is asking more questions than prior ones.”

Most important, consider your motives for getting tattooed. Certainly some people do so to rebel against authority; if that’s your reason then you need to go to the cross and receive healing before tattooing. If you are doing it to shock people, refer to previous sentence. But if your motive is for positive and deeply spiritual reasons, then ink up.

SacredInk give these guidelines: Tattoo is a significant life-choice and should be only entered into with a great deal of forethought. Some questions to ask yourself if you are young and considering a tattoo are:

-Am I legally of an age to get a tattoo?
-If I live with my parents, would my parents support my decision?
-Would I be defying the authority God gave my parents over me at my current age?
-Would I still want this particular image when I get older?
-What if my future mate wouldn't like having to see this image for a lifetime?
-Would this tattoo be in an area of my body that would be plainly visible? – Many people do unfairly judge people with tattoos as being “second-class.”
-Would this image bring God glory?
-Do I feel fully convinced that tattoos are allowable for Christians?

If the tattoo will not violate your conscience or others, if it will not cause permanent harm or disease, if it will not harm relationships which you have and if it is symbolic of a Biblical truth which will benefit your relationship with Christ - then I believe that Christians are free to get tattoos. But remember, the butterfly you get now will likely resemble an amorphous blob when your skin succumbs to the stretches and wrinkles of age.

In the end, should we worry too much about how we decorate our exterior as long as we devote our interior to Christ?

BTW, my son didn’t get the tattoo and neither did I! Whew!!!