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 By Pastor Ken Burisek, The Ole’ Country Church, Medford, Wisconsin Email: kburisek@Jesus answers.com This subject can be a bit controversial today and my answer might raise some eyebrows, but I am going to tell it like it is, according to God’s Word. The first thing that comes to my mind when I see anyone with a body piercing of any kind is this: “If God intended for there to be a “hole” in our body to put anything into or on, HE would have put it there in the first place”…if it‘s not there…don‘t make one. Body piercing is, for all practical purposes, a return to paganism - right down to basic earrings that have become so acceptable in our culture today. In reality, piercing is a revival of old pagan tribal customs of body scarring, body piercing and body mutilation, including such things as nose rings, eyebrow rings, belly rings, tongue studs, multiple earrings, nipple rings, tattoos and other disfigurements that are challenging the Christian Church today. Christians who choose to practice these things are getting away from God’s command as the Bible teaches in Leviticus 19:28.… “Do not cut your bodies … or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.” Sadly, many Church leaders have not addressed this issue and in some cases, youth leaders and Seminary students are actually participating. I’ve heard of Christians trying to justify these things by saying that they have “Christian” oriented tattoos or wear Christian oriented ornaments in their piercing. That’s like saying someone wrote the verse John 3:16 on an adult magazine - and that makes it OK to look at pornography. As Christians, we are to be set apart and different from the world; consecrated to God. We are not to be imitators of the latest worldly trends. Today we’re hearing that age old cry, “Everybody’s doing it” to justify Christian involvement. The real truth about it is that pagans practice body piercing and tattooing and that alone should be argument and “red flag” warning enough to keep Christians away from this practice. 1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” The Bible tells us that we are to treat our bodies with respect because our bodies are not our own to do with as we wish - they belong to God. It is God who made them and God who purchased them with His own blood….our bodies are to be temples of the Holy Spirit and we are to glorify God with our bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:15, 19-20 says this: “Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which belongs to Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never!….. Or don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” On the other hand, the Bible tells us how pagans abused their bodies. In 1 Kings 18:28 we read about the false prophets of Baal who “slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom until their blood flowed.” In Old Testament days the Ishmaelite men had a custom of wearing gold earrings as mentioned in Judges 8:24, but according to the Bible, pierced ears were sign of slavery. When the Hebrews came out of slavery from Egypt they were told to “remove the gold earrings … and all the people took off their earrings … these are your gods, O Israel,” as in Exodus 32: 1-3. After God spoke to Jacob, he instructed his household to get rid of their idols and purify themselves. Along with their stone idols, they buried their earrings. In Genesis 35: 2,4 we read about Jacob: “So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, ‘Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes’ … so they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them.” From New Guinea to the jungles of the Amazon, many pagan tribes engage in body cutting, earrings, nose rings, tongue studs, piercings and tattoos -- but once introduced to Christ, they put aside these pagan practices. There is no justification for a Christian man to wear an earring…period! A mark of slavery as Christ has set us free. The things that the world practices are seldom acceptable for a Christian. Galatians 5:13 tells us, “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather serve one another in love.” And 1 Peter 2:16 says, “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover up for evil.” And Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Just because something is accepted in the world is no reason for Christians to adopt new fashions and fads, because we are called to be different and to honor God with our bodies. Romans 12: 1-2 tells us, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God….which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is….His good, pleasing and perfect will.” As Christians, we are not to follow the ways of the pagans by making holes in our bodies. That shows no respect of our body as being the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Any disfiguring of our own body is, in reality, rebellion against our Creator and Savior. 1 Peter 3:3-4 tells us this: “Our beauty should not come from outward adornment … instead it should be that of our inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.” While so many in our Western Culture rush headlong into new age religions, body piercing and the occult, thousands of new Christians in Africa, South America, Asia and the Pacific islands, that have given their lives to Christ immediately give up the body piercing practices of their pagan past. In these primitive cultures on the mission fields, it is quite easy to tell the Christians from the pagans. The pagans wear little or no clothing and continue to practice body mutilation, body piercing and tattoos, while on the other hand, the new Christians now wear clothes and have turned away from those things. As Christians - as believers - that should tell us something. What kind of message are we telling the world? Is your body the symbol of the Temple of God or the sign of a Pagan Idol? Think about it! Amen! •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• By Pastor Armando M. Camacho, Seventh-day Adventist Churches - Marshfield, Bethel, Neillsville Email: camachoam @hotmail.com The story is told about a man who remarked to his friend, “I tell you, you just can’t tell anymore!” His friend inquired, “You just can’t tell about what?” The man answered, “You just can’t tell about people anymore. I mean, men dress like women, women dress like men, they wear their hair the same, and all of those tattoos and all that piercing… why I saw a person the other day and I couldn’t tell if it was a Mr., a Miss, or a Mis-take!” Our world IS a bit confusing. Perhaps A LOT confusing. What does the Bible say about tattoos and body piercing? Does it speak to this issue? Is there a standard God puts forth in Scripture as an ideal? Is it totally up to the individual to do with their body as they please? First of all, we recognize that talking to someone about their appearance can be one of the most sensitive issues and can lead to hard feelings. We are all sensitive about our appearance. But what about tattoos and body piercing? Many see this a method of “self-expression” and others see this as “an art” while still others (young people mainly) see this as a form of rebellion against their parents or against any adult, much as the long hair and the colorful clothing was a form of rebellion in the ‘60s against the “establishment” and the status quo. Is marking your body and piercing it merely a harmless form of rebellion? Is this merely a harmless form of self-expression or a harmless form of art? Those who say that a person has NO right to do just what they please with their body need to ask themselves how THEY would feel if someone or the church or their pastor attempted to dictate how they wore their hair or what kind of a haircut they got or how they styled their hair. Isn’t how we choose to wear our hair a form of expression about WHO we are? And what of our clothes? The clothes hanging in your closet right now, today, is a form of expression. Our style in clothing can say: “I’m conservative” or it can say “I’m in rebellion and I’m trying to find myself or re-invent myself” or it can say “I’m Gothic and enjoying the dark side.” Our clothing and our particular hairstyle can say a lot about us. How sensitive are YOU about your overall appearance? How is what you wear and how you wear it an expression of self-confidence, an expression of being a self-made person, an expression of having given up, or even an expression of “the Lord has come into my life?” Even in church, there are churches where a woman is expected to come to worship with a covering on her head. I was raised in a Catholic home and I remember my mother never attending church unless she covered her hair. Some churches encourage their worshipers to come in full suits or dresses. Other churches are very laid-back and their worshipers come to church in jeans and polo shirts. I once served as pastor in southern Missouri where the folks there were mainly farmers and the majority came to church in their very best…their best overalls. I was pretty much the only one who actually came to church in a suit! How sensitive are we to what people may say about our appearance? So what about tattoos and body piercing? How much should a church attempt to dictate to its members what to put on their bodies and what not to? What does the Bible say? Is this even an issue in the Bible? PSALMS 139:13-15 – “For You formed my inward parts, You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works.” We read here that we are “wonderfully made.” It is human nature to worry about our looks, our appearance and sadly, too often we judge people early on solely based upon THEIR appearance and their looks. Instead of treasuring the Lord’s handiwork in our lives, praising Him that we have arms and legs and eyes and ears and body parts that work, we get all stressed about HOW we look and we complain, “Why couldn’t I be taller? Why couldn’t I be thinner? Why couldn’t I have curls in my hair?” May the Lord move us to exclaim, “Praise the Lord! I am fearfully and wonderfully made!” So the question becomes, not just with regards to tattoos and body piercing, Why do I feel the need to somehow change how I look in order to make me feel better about myself? This includes marking our bodies up and punching holes in them. I don’t know about anyone else but I feel the Lord punch all the necessary holes in my body I need! We abhor the stories in the news regarding prisoners being tortured in prisoner of war camps. And yet we PAY people to cut us and mark up our bodies! Interesting. But the question for this month is, What does the BIBLE say about tattoos and body piercing? LEVITICUS 19:28 – “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: for I am the Lord.” Now this text appears in a passage regarding ceremonial laws given to Israel. These ceremonial laws were not a part of the moral law of Ten Commandments which the Lord intends for ALL people to live by. Now some may argue, “But this passage prohibiting tattoos is in with a bunch of ceremonial laws and so I don’t need to live by this principle.” Well, be careful what all you throw out as “ceremonial” in this chapter. This chapter ALSO includes “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (verse 18). Are we to NOT love our neighbor? So, are we to ignore the text prohibiting tattoos? I leave this with you to judge. It is interesting that when one of the mightiest prophets of God went up to Mt. Carmel to stand for God against paganism, the pagans revealed their form of worship: “They cried aloud, and CUT THEMSELVES, as was THEIR CUSTOM, with knives and lances.” I KINGS 18:28 Elijah did not conform to any of that form of pagan worship and instead he very humbly prayed to the Lord to send down fire from heaven upon his SACRIFICE so that all people would know who is the true God. Now speaking of “sacrifice,” it is even more interesting to discover in the Bible that when a worshiper was to offer an animal sacrifice to the Lord, the animal had to be “WITHOUT BLEMISH.” It was not to be lame or have any cuttings or blemishes. Why not? Why this absolute requirement? The animal offered was to represent the sinless Son of God who was to come as Messiah and Savior of the world. No cuttings or blemishes. Interesting. Why do folks feel they need to go under the knife for vanity sake? Whether it’s tattoos or voluntary cosmetic surgery or cutting their hair in a very ostentatious manner, purely as an attention-getting device? Could it be that the only BODY PIERCING necessary for the Christian believer should be those marks and prints on the body of Jesus as a reminder of how He was willing to lay down His life for you and me? It is prophesied that we will come and ask Jesus one day, “What are these wounds between your arms? Then He will answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends.” ZECHARIAH 13:6. Our Lord even invited the apostle Thomas to come and feel His prints and wounds, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe…And He said to Thomas, Reach your finger here, and look at My hands.” JOHN 20:24-27 “They have PIERCED My hands and My feet.” PSALMS 22:16. The ONLY body piercing we as believers should consider worthwhile should be the scars Jesus bears even now. It is also most interesting to consider that the book of Revelation, a vital book to read in these last days before Jesus gloriously and visibly returns, speaks of “markings” on the body. And the context is the enemy of God. “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a MARK on their right hand or on their foreheads.” REVELATION 13:16. No, I am not equating tattoos with the Mark of the Beast, but I am merely pointing out that the context in which the book of Revelation places “markings” on the body is that of the Mark of the Beast. Interesting. What about body piercing? What does the Bible say of the wearing of jewelry? The Lord certainly seemed to be very clear to His people whom He redeemed out of Egypt: “Now therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to you. So the children of Israel STRIPPED THEMSELVES OF THEIR ORNAMENTS by Mount Horeb.” EXODUS 33:6. When the Lord desired true repentance from His people after they had worshiped the golden calf at the foot of the mountain, one of the signs of true repentance was that of stripping themselves of their ornamentations. Likewise, when Jacob was tired of a life of running and deceiving and desired to start new with the Lord, he required of his household that they too strip themselves of ornamentations: “So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the EARRINGS which were in their ears.” GENESIS 35:1-4. It is also interesting to note that the only body piercing directed by the Lord had to do with the owning of slaves. “Then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall PIERCE HIS EAR with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.” EXODUS 21:6. Did God ordain slavery? No. But because of the customs of the times and because some did own slaves, God gave directives in order to protect the rights of those who were enslaved. But the issue for us here is that of body piercing. Does the Bible mention body piercing? It does, and in the context of servanthood. Body piercing in the days of Moses was associated with slavery. So, does the Lord intend for us to pierce our bodies and mar our bodies with tattoos? I leave this for you to judge based on the discussion here. The real question is, Do I believe that I am fearfully and wonderfully made by my Creator? Yes, we all like to show our “battle scars” of when we did something foolish and reckless or when some accident happened to us. But there are “battle scars” and then there are deliberate attempts to deface what God has given to us, our bodies. We humans have already defaced the earth with our digging and drilling and cutting forests and dumping chemicals into the soil and spraying our crops and polluting our waterway and airways. We are also bent on defacing what God has given to us, our bodies. One final text to keep in mind as you decide what God would have you to do. “Do you not know that YOU ARE THE TEMPLE OF GOD and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” 1 CORINTHIANS 3:16-17. Some will argue that “my body is mine to do with as I please.” And this may be felt by non-believers who feel no accountability to God. But to a Christian believer who desires to know and follow God’s truths, we want to know what God thinks, don’t we? “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have of God, and YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN? For you are BOUGHT WITH A PRICE; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” A follower of Christ and of Bible truth will always seek to honor God in their words, their actions, their worship, their living and yes, even with their bodies. Our bodies are the temples of God and are to be kept clean on the outside as well as on the inside. What this means to you is for you to talk over with God about. May the Lord bless you this day!
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