Are Tattoos Demonic? — Transcript

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1. 0:05Should a Christian get a tattoo? Are tattoos  sinful? Now a tattoo is a permanent modification
2. 0:12of the body, made by inserting ink pigments into  the dermis under the epidermis. Now throughout
3. 0:19history human beings have never been satisfied  with the appearance of their bodies that they're
4. 0:23born with. From using makeup, painting nails,  using tight jeans, tanning salons, high heels,
5. 0:29bizarre haircuts, trimmed facial hair. To using  tattoos, piercings, earlobe plugs. People are
6. 0:35just not happy with their God given bodies.  As Christians we understand that God created
7. 0:40our bodies. He created our bodies from the dust.  God, He also rewards us what is done in the body.
8. 0:46Jesus came and healed bodies. We also know that  the Holy Spirit lives in our body. Our body is
9. 0:53the temple of the Holy Spirit and we know that  God will one day resurrect our body. Now tattoos
10. 0:58have become more popular and accepted than ever  before. It's becoming embedded in our society
11. 1:03to the point that it's not just a fashion,  that is gonna pass by. It's something that's
12. 1:07probably gonna stay here. Currently one in  five U.S adults has at least one tattoo,
13. 1:12which is way more than before. About 16% to  14% in the year 2003 and the year 2008. Now the
14. 1:19famous scripture that is used against tattoos is  Leviticus 19:28. And I'm going to read this verse:
15. 1:33In the near East tattoos were used to mark  slaves. If one were to have a brand on his hand
16. 1:40or forehead, he or she would become quickly  identified as someone's property. And so we must
17. 1:46understand is that in light of that, as well as in  that culture, people would cut themselves during
18. 1:53the time of grieving and expressing sorrow. So  when somebody would die they would cut themselves
19. 2:00to show sorrow and grief. In fact we actually  see that in Jeremiah 16:6. It says, " Both
20. 2:06great and small shall die in the land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament
21. 2:12for them," and then it says this thing, "cut  themselves nor make themselves bald for them."
22. 2:18So it was a common practice in that day, in  that culture where somebody would die. You know
23. 2:24like we would wear black and go to the funeral  and we would cry and then afterwards you know,
24. 2:28we would just have a meal with the family. But  people would cut themselves and God was saying,
25. 2:33"Hey I don't want you to go into this new land  and I don't want you to be cutting yourself,
26. 2:39cutting your flesh for the dead. I don't want  you to practice these rituals." In fact He says,
27. 2:43"I don't want you to have any tattoo marks on  you. I am the Lord." Now God was not necessarily
28. 2:49against Israel ever making incisions or cuts  into their body. Because one of the signs of the
29. 2:54covenant that Israel had, was that the males were  circumcised. That's cutting of the skin, okay.
30. 3:01So this was not that God was saying, oh your body  is the temple I don't want you to cut it. Because
31. 3:06God was asking them to make a covenant with Him  by cutting their foreskin of little baby boys.
32. 3:11And so this was not that. There was a deeper  application an implication of what these tattoos
33. 3:17meant in that day. For example, in Egypt we know  that mainly women were the ones that were inked.
34. 3:24And a lot of some research and evidence actually  suggests that tattooing body parts of women
35. 3:30associated with fertility. And it was believed  as a good luck charm for protection during the
36. 3:36birthing process. Now in Canaan we see of course  the famous verse in 1 Kings 18:28. When the
37. 3:45priests were trying to invoke their God and they  would cut themselves so that he will bring fire.
38. 3:50You know during that contest between Elijah and  the priests of Baal. Where Ahab and Jezebel you
39. 3:57know sponsored that little religion. And so  they would cut themselves. They would like
40. 4:02literally slash their bodies. So Canaan had a  lot more brutal way of marking their bodies,
41. 4:08more than just inking it. They were actually went  as far as branding, slashing and gashing skin. And
42. 4:13so Israel going into the promised land God was  saying, "Hey I don't want you to live like them.
43. 4:17I don't want you to cut yourself like that.  I don't want you to embrace their lifestyle."
44. 4:22And in Leviticus I read the verse God was  saying, "I am the Lord." He's like, "Hey I
45. 4:26am your God. You're not going to live like  that. I don't want you to live like that."
46. 4:30But again that did not mean that God did not  allow Israel to wear earrings. In fact it was
47. 4:35the opposite. Women having earrings was a sign of  God's blessing. And sometimes God would pronounce
48. 4:39a curse on the nation and said He will even  take their gold and their earrings. Or man would
49. 4:44get circumcised. So there was cutting. But this  kind of cutting of inking the body and tattooing
50. 4:52yourself and cutting yourself for the dead. God  was like that's the practice of the pagan culture
51. 4:56and I don't want you to embrace that. Now when  it comes to the New Testament you know so-called
52. 5:01body art. There is silence in the New Testament  against it or for it and so some people would say,
53. 5:07well the silence indicates approval. But that  is not, that is a very weak line of reasoning,
54. 5:14to see that just because the Bible is silent  on something that means the Bible approves it.
55. 5:18In fact Paul gives us a general rule of  the thumb in 1 Corinthians 10:23. He says:
56. 5:30That means that there are things that might not be  wrong. Again I'm not saying that tattoos are wrong
57. 5:35or not yet. I'm just saying things that might not  be wrong but they're just not wise, they're not
58. 5:40beneficial to me, they don't glorify God. They  have no point. Now some people will say, "Well
59. 5:45Vlad you're missing the big one. You know Jesus  had a tattoo in Revelation 19:6 you know it says
60. 5:51that on His robe and on His thigh He had a name  written: King of kings and Lord of lords." Well
61. 5:56number one. You're not Jesus. Number two is that  it does not say it was a tattoo. We don't know,
62. 6:02whether it was symbolic or it was literal. And so  in that case we can't say that that was a tattoo
63. 6:10now. And even if it would be, it would not give  you the permission now to get a tattoo because
64. 6:16you would also have to get a horse okay. And your  horse will have to fly through the sky. And so
65. 6:21this, what was happening there in this picture of  who Jesus is and His robe dipped in blood and His
66. 6:27coming on the white horse and stuff. So you can't  just take one part that you want to replicate
67. 6:32instead of taking the whole thing and apply  that into your life. But the Bible does say in
68. 6:37Revelation 22:3-4 that, "we as His servants we  will see Him face to face and we will have His
69. 6:44name on our forehead." Again will that be inked?  Will that be embedded? Would that be symbolic?
70. 6:51We don't know that. Now the part that I want  you to keep in front of your mind is that
71. 6:58demons can enter through tattoos. You have to  understand that tattoos involves piercing the
72. 7:04skin. It's pretty much cutting the skin. It's  opening the skin. And there has been a lot of
73. 7:09pagan spiritual associations with skin piercing.  And a lot of them can give an opening to demonic
74. 7:17curses. Tattoos are associated with heathen  cultures and were reintroduced to the west in
75. 7:241700's by sailors who visited different islands.  And so there are cultures and religions today that
76. 7:33uses inking their body as very closely connected  with pagan, occultic, and witchcraft practices.
77. 7:40And you have to be aware of that. We've done  deliverances on people who demons claim, that
78. 7:44they enter through tattoos. Especially tattoos  of people you know painting, or inking their
79. 7:49body with the dragon, with a snake or some kind  of a you know nude women or nude man. Or things
80. 7:56that are just very obvious they draw attention and  they point to darkness and they point to sin. Do
81. 8:02I believe that every person has a tattoo has a  demon? No, but tattoos can be an opening door,
82. 8:08an open door to demons. Now here's some reasons I  want you to consider if you're considering getting
83. 8:14tattoo and you are a Christian. Number one is  your motive. What is your motive for doing that?
84. 8:19So many people are getting tattoos out of  rebellion to their parents. They're getting
85. 8:23tattoos out of rebellion to their church. So  they go to a family and parents are like, you
86. 8:27know are very strict about the issue of tattoos.  And so getting a tattoo not only now is a sinful.
87. 8:33Why? Because your attitude is wrong. Your motive  is wrong. If you go to a church and the church
88. 8:40you know upholds this code of honor concerning  modesty and concerning drinking, concerning
89. 8:46tattoos. You're like I don't care. Well you're  being rebellious now. So that motive matters,
90. 8:52because God is looking at your heart and God is  looking at what is the motive for you getting
91. 8:57that tattoo. And you may be justified in saying,  "Well Vlad you just explained the history of the
92. 9:03tattoos. I'm not getting a tattoo to get a demon.  I'm not getting a tattoo you know, to connect with
93. 9:08some pagan god." But what is your motive? Because  now that makes it not only sinful. You're going
94. 9:13and rebelling against the Lord by doing something  that is in rebellion against authority. The second
95. 9:19thing I want you to consider is modesty. Are  you doing it to draw attention to yourself?
96. 9:24Are you trying to direct thoughts of people toward  yourself? A lot of people get tattoos in places
97. 9:30where you know it's very visible. And the idea is  so that people can see you, people can catch it
98. 9:35and it draws attention. Not to the Lord. It draws  attention to you and it becomes self-seeking and
99. 9:41self-promoting. And it's also as Christians it's  wrong. Number three is market ability. That means
100. 9:48you have to consider about a job that you might  have in the future. There are jobs that you're not
101. 9:53going to be able to get because of tattoos. I know  the tattoos are acceptable in a lot of cultures,
102. 9:57even in the United States. But there are still  places that will look down upon you because of a
103. 10:02tattoo. There are places that will not hire you  and if they will, they'll ask you to cover as
104. 10:06much as you can. Because they want to appear to a  particular audience. That might look at the person
105. 10:12who has tattoos and have wrong association or  have assumptions, which most people do. When you
106. 10:18see somebody with tattoos, I'm just gonna shoot it  straight. When you see somebody that's inked you
107. 10:22know, your association is they did drugs, they're  in gangs or some can of rap music or something
108. 10:28you know. And so your association is not like, oh  wow, this person is really like you know, just a
109. 10:33godly man of God. That is not your association and  most of the culture has a similar association. You
110. 10:39have to keep that in mind. Number four is message.  What message are you sending by getting a tattoo?
111. 10:45There will be a lot of places where your ministry  and your mission will be hindered because you're
112. 10:50inked. Now you may say, "Well Vlad the opposite is  also true. There will be ghettos and streets and
113. 10:56drug addicts and drug dealers that I can go in and  witness and because I can relate to them because I
114. 11:01have tattoos." Well God bless you. You can relate  with them. But please understand, is that, if you
115. 11:07got those tattoos because you know it was before  you became a Christian, God's going to use
116. 11:12your past to reach those people. But please  don't go get tattoos just so you can go and
117. 11:17relate to a drug dealer or you can relate to  a rapper or something. Just the same way as
118. 11:22you shouldn't become a prostitute to relate to a  prostitute. Or you shouldn't go do drugs to relate
119. 11:26to a drug dealer. Because usually that could  actually hinder, being inked, hinder your work
120. 11:33as a minister and as a missionary to your  culture. The fifth one is the money. You have
121. 11:39to consider the issue of finances. Tattoos are  expensive. Is this the best use of your finances?
122. 11:45Can you really justify the cost. Tattoo removal is  even more expensive and painful than the needle.
123. 11:53And so people pay a lot of money. I know guys  who just wait to get paid so they can get another
124. 11:59tattoo. You can spend that money helping the  poor. You can spend that money helping others.
125. 12:04It's a waste of money. The sixth reason you should  consider before you get a tattoo is that it hurts.
126. 12:11And getting a tattoo can really cause an allergic  reaction because of those injections and you can
127. 12:17actually catch blood-borne disease like hepatitis  b and hepatitis c. Tattooing deliberately opens
128. 12:23the skin and exposes your blood to unknown  bacteria. And people who do tattoos, are not,
129. 12:30they're not doctors. And tattoo parlors are not  medical clinics even though they're puncturing
130. 12:36your skin and exposing your blood. And so I really  want you to consider that. If you're still like,
131. 12:42"Ah but I'm gonna do it still. I don't care what  my parents say." Well you just, you just showed
132. 12:47that your attitude is wrong and that you're  being rebellious. Also if you're not sure,
133. 12:52remember the Bible says, "whatever is not in  faith is sin." My approach to stuff like that is:
134. 12:58when I'm in doubt, throw it out. When  it's a gray area I stick as close to Jesus
135. 13:04and as far from the fads and the trends and  all of the stuff. Because the flower fades,
136. 13:11the grass withers but the Word of the Lord endures  forever. And so stick with God. Stick with the
137. 13:16Lord. Now have you noticed I didn't use the phrase  of, well your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit,
138. 13:21that's why you should not ink your body. That  is true and that should be used for this case
139. 13:27but it also, that verse can be used in the Bible  when it talks about your body is a temple of the
140. 13:32Holy Spirit. The context of that talks about  sexual sin, not inking your body or piercing
141. 13:39your ears or putting makeup. So the context of  your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit in
142. 13:44Corinthians and when Paul was referring to that,  deals more with the context of sexual sin versus
143. 13:50inking your body by getting a tattoo. Now finally,  many folks maybe have come out of the world
144. 13:57and got saved by the blood of Jesus, have tattoos.  Many or few which cannot be erased or removed.
145. 14:03They are imprinted on their bodies for a lifetime.  Therefore we love these new believers and they're
146. 14:09part of our spiritual family. And Jesus says,  "Not to judge and you will not be judged. Don't
147. 14:13condemned and you will not be condemned. Forgive  and you'll be forgiven." And so I would just
148. 14:17encourage those people, welcome to the family  of God. But for those of you who are believers
149. 14:22and you're just like, "Well I'm just going to  go get tattoos." I would really implore you to
150. 14:26reconsider and not to tattoo your body for all  of these reasons that I mentioned. Your motives,
151. 14:34marketability, medical reasons, money reasons,  spiritual reasons what it can expose you.
152. 14:42And because a lot of people in their culture do  view tattoos as people who do bad stuff. You may
153. 14:47say, "Well that's wrong that they view it like  that". That's the world. That's how they view
154. 14:51it. And because there's warnings against that in  the Bible in Leviticus. And though we can say it
155. 14:57applies to their culture and there's other verses  in Leviticus that say don't shave your beard. And
156. 15:03we can kind of you know pick this verse and reject  that verse. And I know that's what everybody says
157. 15:08that who get tattoos. They're like, "Vlad, you  know the verse before that and the verse after
158. 15:13that talks about other things that we don't put  to practice." And I get you. I give you that.
159. 15:17I understand that. But as a Christian live  your life in such a way that honors God
160. 15:23with your attitude and with your body. Personally  I don't have tattoos. I will never get one
161. 15:29because I don't think I need one. I  would not put a sticker on a nice car
162. 15:34and I wouldn't put a tattoo on my body. I wouldn't  put a tattoo of my wife's name. I carry her in my
163. 15:40heart. I don't need to put Jesus on my hand. I  want to carry Him and I want to talk about Him.
164. 15:45Jesus didn't say, go into all the world and wear  my name on your skin. He says, "talk about Me."
165. 15:50And if I want to be presenting Jesus I'm gonna  wear a shirt. I'm not gonna put a tattoo on my
166. 15:56body. In our church we also have that code of  honor, where we ask people who join our church
167. 16:03and people who become leaders in our church not to  ink their body. That's our stance and there's so
168. 16:09much benefits of not inking your body. Now let me  ask you, what do you think? Do you have tattoos?
169. 16:16What is your view on the topic of tattoos? What  do you think of this video of how I presented
170. 16:22that? I understand that I took more of a balanced  kind of a perspective or centered perspective.
171. 16:27Instead of just going hardcore against and saying  it's sin and taking scripture out of context.
172. 16:33And also not going into saying hey, I'm all for  tattoos. Everybody get as much as possible and
173. 16:38let's just live for Jesus and not hate each other  and so. But I want to hear your perspective and
174. 16:43I want to hear if you have tattoos and what you  think about that? Drop it in the comments below
175. 16:47and let's have a nice dialogue okay. Don't get  all so feisty over there in the comments. And if
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