I grew up in a suburban middle-class neighborhood where there wasn’t much drama or danger, relatively speaking. After school, neighborhood friends were talking about a guy who tattooed himself with a penny and a cigarette lighter. Wow, who had the guts to do that, we wondered?
Back at home, I held a dirty penny with tweezers while heating it with a lighter. Then I dropped it on the inside of my right ankle. The acrid smell of burnt hair and skin tinged my nostrils as nerves instantly transferred to my brain something like “Owwwww!!!” I flicked it off and felt like I had done it—I had proven my manhood.
The oval scar remains to this day, as does the humbling realization that the intended purpose of the penny was to use the round edge for lettering, not to drop it flat. Rats! Well, now I know. I wonder how many have said “I wish I would have known that before I did it” after prematurely getting a certain tattoo.
In “Should Christians Get Tattoos? 7 Points to Consider First,”[1] Will Honeycutt outlines seven helpful considerations including cautions pertaining to one’s motivation, modesty, future employment, and health. His bottom line is “Think before you ink.” It’s a helpful article I wish I would have read before I dropped that smoldering penny on my ankle! Thanks, Will, for helping us consider these practical cautions.
Let’s go a step deeper in our theological reflection, though, by reflecting on a Christ-centered question:
How might tattoos relate to what Jesus said is the most important commandment?
“I flicked it off and felt like I had done it—I had proven my manhood.”
According to Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 22:35-40 (cf. Mark 12:28-34 and Luke 10:27), the most important command of the Hebrew Bible is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself.
Without delving into the nuance of the Hebrew words heart, soul, and mind, can we agree that loving God and others is a really, really, really big deal? The New Testament is riddled with iterations of this idea. For example, Ephesians 5:1-2 emphasizes “be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (ESV).
Can a permanent ink marking on the body be a powerful means of expressing love to or for God in some way? Can that send a positive message to oneself and/or others about loving God? And could the very act of getting tattooed somehow become a means of loving God?
Sure, that makes sense. Obviously, the type of tattoo and its location factor in here. The phrase “walk in love, as Christ loved us” from the verse above emblazoned on a dude’s forearm is quite a bit different from a lewd or grotesque image in an unmentionable area. What about someone’s favorite video game character? Or the image of a pet? Or what about the name of a dearly loved family member? Does it matter if the person is still living or not, and why?
Many questions are sparked by asking whether the tattoo fuels the greatest command to love God and others. For example, someone wants to get a commemorative tattoo for a deceased loved one. Sounds like loving them, right? But what if the love for that individual is borderline idolatrous?
“Can a permanent ink marking on the body be a powerful means of expressing love to or for God in some way?”
In Luke 14:26 (ESV), Jesus says to the crowds, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”
Commonly interpreted as hyperbole, this teaching is understood as communicating the relative value of loyalty to Christ in comparison to everything else. Implication: our love for the ones who are most near and dear to us and even our own selves should look like hate when compared to our love for God.
This exposes a neglected—and potentially inconvenient for some, I might add—set of questions. What if the real functional purpose of a Christian’s tattoo (even literal verses of Scripture) is not love for God and others but love for self? To what extent might tattooing be a subconscious expression of “Look at me…pay attention to me…I’m really ___, aren’t I?”
Gulp. That is a gut check for sure.
Jesus often challenged public religious expressions that did not match inner realities:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:25-28, ESV) 
“To what extent might tattooing be a subconscious expression of ‘Look at me…pay attention to me…I’m really ___, aren’t I?'”
At the same time, could a true believer choose to get a Christ-centered tattoo to permanently and publicly declare loving allegiance to King Jesus (not at all for selfish attention-getting)? Sure!
There is no easy way for us to know the real motives of another person, but every one of us can search our own heart to see if love for God and others (in that order) is truly at the forefront.
That said, Jesus also emphasized private expressions of devotion which only God would know about. This could include acts of righteousness (Matthew 6:1), giving (Matthew 6:3), and prayer (Matthew 6:6). This begs the question of whether our heartfelt gratitude and affection toward Jesus is best expressed in private. For some, this might mean abstaining from branding their love for the Lord for all to see. And for others, it could implicate what and where they do it. But impressing others should have zero place in our motivation—that much is clear.
There are times when loving God by loving others might mean abstaining from getting tattooed. For example, a wife wants to get a certain tattoo but knows her husband can’t stand the thought of it, so she makes a shift or abstains altogether out of loving deference.
“Jesus also emphasized private expressions of devotion which only God would know about.”
Or what about knowing that a particular group of people you are called to serve will stumble over tattoos you want to have? Wouldn’t this be reason enough to “not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:4, NIV)? Should you suspend moving forward with plans for getting tattooed in your eagerness to “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3, ESV)? But on the flip side, aren’t the Christian naysayers also called to bear with you in love (Ephesians 4:2)?
This gets into the highly nuanced, potentially inflammatory subject of freedom and responsibility which Paul outlines in a reflection about the “stronger” and “weaker” (Romans 14:1-15:7). The overarching point is that each person should do whatever it takes to pursue unity and build others up, avoiding quarrels about disputable matters and not negatively judging others who see things differently.
Yet those who are more mature, Paul seems to suggest, should be willing to limit their freedom rather than putting a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother or sister. Our debt of love obligations might mean we willingly forfeit for the sake of others what we are personally fine with.
At the same time, remember that Paul is challenging the Roman believers to greater maturity, and in doing so, he is making the point that immaturity may be at the root of those who want to limit others’ personal freedoms. Yikes, this is complicated.
“Immaturity may be at the root of those who want to limit others’ personal freedoms.”
With respect to tattoos, is it possible that God might lead genuine, God-loving, Bible-believing, Jesus-following people differently? Absolutely. And is it possible that we might unknowingly self-justify our choice, attributing to God what is really selfish? Ugh. Yeah, that’s possible too.
Galatians 2:20 articulates the profoundly life-altering reality that flows out of following Jesus: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (ESV). When it comes to how we think about and what we do with tattoos, we shouldn’t just do whatever we want anymore. Everything is subject to the Spirit-led Christ-life. Period.
Prayerfully thinking through getting a specific tattoo to deepen and express one’s love for God is very different than strolling into the local tattoo parlor and saying, “Have at it, I can’t wait to see what you do.” Tattoos that feature and help spread the truth of God’s Word and its application in our lives seem to have the most affinity and synergy with the greatest commandment of love for God and others. And similarly, altering plans for tattooing or abstaining altogether could be the best way to live out that love in certain situations.
[1] Will Honeycutt, “Should Christians Get Tattoos? 7 Biblical Points to Consider,” Crosswalk, April 9, 2026, https://www.crosswalk.com/family/singles/is-it-biblical-for-christians-to-get-tattoos.html
