DOUBTFUL DISPUTATIONS
Romans 14
Leviticus 19:28:
“Ye shall not make any cuttings in your
flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord.”
Preface
The
thing about “doubtful disputations” is that they are almost always cultural in
origin. Not long ago “body art” was very
limited in our culture. However, people
in some cultures in the world have been covering their bodies from head to toe
with tattoos for many generations.
Likewise, others have been
piercing their bodies in an attempt to appear more attractive within their
culture. In our western culture body
art has only recently become fashionable.
Up until recent years tattoos were sported mainly by men hoping to honor
an important female in their life; mom, a girlfriend, or a wife. Piercings were restricted to small,
unobtrusive holes in a woman’s ear lobe.
Not so these days. So widespread
is this “body art” craze that tattoos and multiple piercings are becoming
normal in our western culture. Yet, to
some of us old fashioned folks we consider some of the extreme tattoos and
multiple piercings so foreign that we want these practices to be forbidden by
Scripture.
1. SCRIPTURE DOES FORBID SOME TATTOOS AND PIERCINGS. The above reference from Leviticus 19 and two
similar ones from Lev. 21:5 and Deuteronomy 14:1 suggests that tattoos and
piercings are of pagan origin, and that in some instances are forbidden by
God’s people (when done in rituals for the dead). However, with the exception of Paul’s mention
of the body being the temple of the Holy Ghost in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (“Know
ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye
have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore
glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”), and the
obvious pagan origins of tattooing and piercing there seems to be no explicit
restrictions against either of these practices.
2. MODERATION IS WHAT IS CALLED FOR HERE. Paul’s counsel concerning “doubtful
disputations” in Romans 14 is as applicable in regards to tattoos and piercings
as in eating meat, observing days and drinking wine: “It is good
neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is
made weak. 22 Hast thou faith?
have it to thyself before God.
Happy is he that condemneth not
himself in that thing which he alloweth. 23 And
he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sim” (vss. 21-23). If you have tattoos, and feel no conviction
concerning them, don’t seek to have them removed because of others’
convictions. However, if you highly
esteem your personal testimony, and want an unrestricted ability to witness to
all people, you would be wise (in my opinion) to not overdo the piercings and
tattoos. Excesses in many areas put
people off, and negatively affect their judgment of us. Paul counseled that we should “Let not then your
good be evil spoken of” (vs. 16).
Though we are free to do all things, as Paul said of himself: “if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh
while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend” (1 Co. 8:13). Though
this is an entirely different subject; not likely to cause another to sin, the
principle of denying self in order to edify others would apply. Some regard tattoos and piercings as
expressions of rebellion, citing the verse that states that rebellion is as the
sin of witchcraft (1 Samuel 15:23).
However, the rebellion spoken of in this context is that of rebellion
against God’s word. Every shift in
cultural mores embraces some degree of rebellion against the previous
generation. It was rebellion against the
mores of the previous generation for young ladies to begin wearing pants. It was rebellion against the social or
religious norms for men to grow their hair long and wear beards, for people to
watch television, for women to cut their hair, and wear makeup and jewelry. The popularity of tattoos and piercings
today in many cases is rebellion against the personal tastes of the older
generation, but not for the sake of rebellion, but because fads are just that. Everyone is doing it, and growing numbers of
our fellow citizens actually believe they look better “inked and studded.” I disagree, but my opinion is
irrelevant. If the “tattooed lady” from
the circus wants to worship with us, we have plenty of room. If I tell our young people that it is sinful
to get tattoos and body piercings in order to keep them from marking their
bodies, I may turn out to be the sinner for misrepresenting Scripture. The best I can do for those of us that want
to encourage our children to keep their bodies clear of markings is to advise
them of the future negative outcomes:
faded ink, saggy lines, disfigured skin tone, etc. Out of respect for you they may choose to
stay free of these fads, but if not, I cannot prove from Scripture that they
have sinned.
3. THERE IS ROOM AT THE CROSS FOR ALL. When we begin to judge people over matters of
personal appearance (unless there is lewdness involved), personal habits, or
tastes in music we had better be ready to receive judgment from others. Some have convictions about going to the
movies, yet at the same time watch television for hours on end. There are as many odd ways as there are
people. Some sport multi-colored
Mohawks, and others bleached blonde hair.
People are funny, but funny ain’t sinful. God is looking for people to stand in the gap
for America
No comments:
Post a Comment