Tattoos

As a Pastor, people often ask me if I think it's wrong to get a tattoo. I've had friends think I was mad at them for getting one. I've had friends tattoo Scripture on them as a way to identify their faith. I've had friends think it's wrong to get tattoos because passages in Leviticus speak against it, forgetting or ignoring that such injunctions were connected with setting Israel apart from the religious practices of other nations. Most people who find them appealing find them as a way to express themselves and their individuality.

The irony, of course, is that both groups of people have missed the point. As getting tattoos becomes more and more common, it's not a sign of individuality, but of social capitulation and in such a society, being set apart is far deeper than having undecorated sin. As has always been the case, what matters in being an individual is being a person whose character rises above the society in which one finds itself and character is not measured by the lack of colored inks on one's skin.

Check out this article for a much better way of saying what I tried to.