Poll: Best age for first tattoo?

[farouk]

Thanks to all who voted in the poll, which closed yesterday!

While the 'Never' option got the highest votes at 25, yet 21 votes in total preferred other options.

Shows that there is a great variety of views...

(Rather than prolong this thread, which has provided for an interesting discussion — and thanks to all who contributed — other aspects of Christians and tattoos could usefully be discussed in due course, with the wording of a different poll as a starting point.)

 

[amadeus]

What does polygamy have to do with a tattoo?
I can't keep us with all the posting....

Without going through all of the scriptures, I believe that you understand that we do not own ourselves... not yet. We are stewards of all that God had provided us, including body, time, special abilities, education, money... in whatever portion, small or great.
In the OT men simply drifted deeper and deeper into their own ways and farther and farther from God. From Eden and only one disobedience they for the most part stopped even talking to God putting themselves into things which were clearly out of God's will. God eventually gave them rules/laws on how to live in obedience to Him.

What is wrong with polygamy and how is it similar to having the skin of the body for which you are only a steward defiled with an ink image that is effectively not removable? What kind of a permanent stain is left from polygamy? Did not God provide one woman for one man and vice verse back in the beginning and Jesus clarifies that here:

"And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?" Matt 19:4-5

Yet throughout the OT we see polygamy practiced not only by the heathen/gentiles, but by men of God [Abraham, Jacob, David]. Did God approve? He approved of the men because of their hearts and because each time an error was confronted they admitted their wrong and repented... but the work could not be completed then so God filled in the slack with His mercy. However then came Jesus to bring to men the possibility to going to where Adam and Eve were before their first disobedience and to an even better place.

Because of the nature of the beasts within men in the OT and because they were unable to bring themselves back to as they were in Eden, God did not insist on them more than they could handle. He appreciated the limit of their flesh and the direction of their hearts. Now, there are no need to be so limited. We have God in us to do all that is necessary if we will. Many, of course, will NOT.

Man took on polygamy because there was no prescribed or written rule against it, even though ultimately that is NOT the way it was in the beginning. Does man take on tattoos because there are no prescribed or written rules against it... according to his understanding including his understanding of scriptures?

Jesus clarified with regard to polygamy because now all things were possible for by means of God in us. Always we have been stewards but for early men they went astray out of ignorance. They did not know what God wanted. Are we similarly ignorant of what it means to be a steward? Is it OK to be a polygamist today according to God? Is it OK to get a tattoo today according to God? Nothing written?

"What? 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." I Cor 6:19-20

Do people not understand that to mean also they are still only stewards that they, the whole kit and caboodle, belong to Him?

Some say that getting a tattoo is not defiling the body, but did they hear that from God? If they did not hear from God, why did they not check in with Him before doing it? Are they not His sheep? Can they not hear His voice?

 

[amadeus]

@farouk @GodsGrace

PS to post #1242

In the OT ignorance of the law given by God, by Moses was an excuse until a person became aware that he had broken the law. Then he was required to make atonement and restitution.

When we repent today [NT] we don't specifically repent of sins of which we are unaware but when we become aware of them, should we not want to repent also of those?

A major difference between then [OT] and now [NT] is that now it is to be written on our hearts. God starts writing when we first repent and then as we read, study, hear and pray then from the scriptures or other sources that He has, the Holy Spirit will quicken them [bring to Life or write them in our hearts] to us. This is growth.

In the OT people may have known [or not] it was all written down on paper [by Moses and others], but most did not have a copy and/or could not read anyway. They were dependent upon the priests and prophets of God to advise them what was written and what it meant. Now we are supposed to be in touch with God ourselves. The Interpreter should be the Holy Spirit in us. He will continually add more of His Word to what is written in our hearts... if we continue to pursue. When a thing is written in us, we are no longer ignorant of that thing. This is growing. When we have receive the knowledge within [no more ignorance] of a thing, then we no longer may do whatever we think is right. We need to obey God. This is moving from faith to knowledge... In the end, that is, when it is finished we will have knowledge... This is growth.

"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Heb 12:2

Abraham. Jacob and David, may have been always ignorant of the error we see in polygamy never having come to the knowledge of the error. Should we remain ignorant of the need to know God's will before defiling these vessels of which we are stewards?

 

[farouk]

One of the churches I go to has three quite elderly women, all widows, who recently went out and got themselves tattoos.

@shnarkle Do you happen to know if they commented at all about their motivation? because it's not unusual, even for older ppl now; and they might have simply thought it was the appropriate thing to do.

 

[shnarkle]

I don't recall exactly. I do no that part of it had to do with them advertising that they were hip for their age.

 

[A_Man]

Poll is closed.

No graffitti on a fine work of art.

 

[Josho]

Poll closed but, 26 and 40, but depending.....

If you are talking about being serious about it, and not inking something you regret later, it all comes down to maturity.

 

[A_Man]

I was raised in a church environment that was not friendly toward the idea of tattoos. I remember one guy had one on his arm back in the '70's. Maybe he made it dance or something when I was a kid. I moved away and went back to visit at that church as an adult. I saw him and got to talking. I saw his tattoo and said I remember that. He said he'd always regretted getting that. He was young and in the navy. When I was a kid, tattoos were the domain of servicemen and motorcycle gang members, at least stereotypically. And of course primitive tribesmen in certain parts of the world got them.

In the Old Testament, there is a commandment against getting markings for the dead on your body. Yes, it's the law, written to Israel, etc. But shouldn't we consider that there is some wisdom there? I spent some time in Hawaii and there is a local custom of getting a tattoo when after a close relative dies. I think it's a remnant of Polynesian heritage. The tattoos may be your typical modern tattoo. But it sounds to be in line with the forbidden practice of Leviticus-- getting markings for the dead. The concept never appealed to me.

Aesthetically, also, I just don't get it. When I was younger, rarely did a woman get a tattoo and if she did, it was something small. Back when I was looking for a wife, if a woman had a tattoo, that was a major turn-off. Nowadays, there are women with lots of tattoos all over on TV. Does even the coolest tattoo compare to human skin? It's a work of art by the Creator.

This is also really risky because it's something you do to yourself that you could regret later that can affect your appearance for life-- especially if it doesn't look like you'd hoped-- that you can't really get rid of. If you get rid of it, then you have white laser scars.

Anyway, that's my tattoo rant. I do not suspect many people on this thread will agree with me.

 

[A_Man]

Btw, I'm just imagining an idea fora sci-fi movie set in the future where people get moving gifs for tattoos.

 

[farouk]

I don't recall exactly. I do no that part of it had to do with them advertising that they were hip for their age.

@shnarkle So is this how they explained it to you?

 

[shnarkle]

@shnarkle So is this how they explained it to you?

Yep. They flat out refuse to grow old and stop living life until they have to. This is how people advertise who they are so they do as well.

 

[shnarkle]

But it sounds to be in line with the forbidden practice of Leviticus-- getting markings for the dead. The concept never appealed to me.

Anyway, that's my tattoo rant. I do not suspect many people on this thread will agree with me.

I agree, and have also noted that people have extended this practice to "tattooing" their cars as well with name, and dates, and an "In Memory".

 

[farouk]

That is my favorite verse too Farouk, such a powerful verse and meaning.

@JohnPaul Yes, indeed; it's so many ppl's favorite; no wonder she wanted it inked in; she probably felt a bit like you did when you had yours done, right?

 

[JohnPaul]

@JohnPaul Yes, indeed; it's so many ppl's favorite; no wonder she wanted it inked in; she probably felt a bit like you did when you had yours done, right?

I don't see the point in talking about tattoos Farouk, I'm not into them anymore.

 

[Pearl]

My daughter is 56 and just got her first ones @farouk

One on each wrist with her children's names.