Is getting a tattoo a sin?
Indeed in Leviticus 19:28 it says, ““Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.” (NIV). This would seem to indicate that tattoos are a bad thing. Many people who teach that don’t teach verse 27 as applicable, it says, “Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.” To find out what is really going on we need to look at the context of Verse 28 within the chapter.
Chapter 19 in Leviticus starts off with God saying “The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.” God is going to give various rules for being different than the pagan world around them. Holy means “set apart” and God wants His people to be different than the world. Many of the rules in chapter 19 contain instructions to not do the things the pagans do, for instance not cutting themselves to show sorrow (this was thought by pagans to get the attention of their gods) and not tattooing themselves (this showed their allegiance to a certain god and was thought to be a magic symbol which would bring their gods favor).
So the question is how do we apply this verse today? The thing to ask yourself is, are you getting a tattoo to identify with the pagan culture around us? If you are than it probably isn’t a good idea. If you are just getting one because you think they look cool or you’ve always wanted to be an art gallery then it is probably okay.
One more thing to consider is; are you able to witness as effectively to others if you have a visible tattoo? This is something that needs to be worked out between you and God.
So to sum up having or getting a tattoo isn’t a sin unless it draws you or others away from God. Many times we want all Christians to look and act exactly the same, but that isn’t the way God operates. God uses all different kinds of people to reach all the different people in the world. I know people with tattoos all over their arms that are able to minister to people that would never listen to me. I hope this helps.