A Long Hair, Tattoo Pastor

[Guest Butero]

To make my point about the Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus' day, I want to turn to what Jesus said about them in Matthew 23.  It is quite interesting.

 

1  Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,

2  Saying, The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.

3  All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do, but do not ye after their works, for they say, and do not.

 

To those who think I am behaving as the Pharisees, notice what Jesus says you are to do.  You are to observe and do whatsoever I bid you observe.  Do you still want to compare me to the Pharisees knowing what Jesus expects of you if I am a Pharisee?  All those things I have said about clothing and hair length, and in this thread tattoos, you are to observe and do.  Thinking about that causes me to almost want to shout, just on that alone.  In all seriousness, the problem with the Pharisees of Jesus' day was not that they were strict teachers of the law.  Even in the post FJ gave us, they were not criticized for teaching the law.  You have to remember that this was before the cross, and everyone was under the entire letter of the law of Moses, even down to temple sacrifices, so all of these comparisons people make comparing legalists to the Pharisees is nothing more than propaganda.  It could be they have heard these comparisons so long, they have come to believe them, or it may just be a way of controlling the legalists by demonizing them by comparing them to someone Jesus came against so they won't stand up for things that will lead to the comparison.  There is probably some of both that goes on, but in a nutshell, they were rebuked for unbelief, being phony, preaching one thing while doing another, twisting the law to justify their own sins, and doing things to be seen of men to receive praise of men.  Those were their big sins.  They were never once ever rebuked for sincerely teaching strict adherence to the law.  Some think they were because of what they said about the Sabbath, but the reason they were rebuked there was because they were not bringing the accusations because they believed what they said.  They were looking for something they could accuse Jesus and his disciples of doing wrong to discredit them.  I have looked very closely into the scribes and Pharisees over the years, and I guarantee you if you take a closer look at what they were doing wrong, you will see that it wasn't strict and sincere adherence to the law of Moses.  Common sense should make it clear that was not the case because once again, this was while they were living under the Old Covenant in it's entirety.

[Ezra]

The long hair is not an issue.It is their choice and so is the tattoos but what kind of tattoos are you talking about?If I were to approach a Christian or a Pastor and they had tattoos of dark evil things I would wonder why.

As a matter of fact long hair is indeed an issue, since the days of the Nazirites are long gone (1 Cor 11:14).  As to tatoos, they advertise a basically anti-Christian lifestyle, and in many cases are connected to criminality.  They are one of "the things of this world" (1 Jn 2:15-17) which we are to hate (not the people who wear them).

 

So yes, someone should rebuke this pastor, but there is no call for hatred, since The Lord says "As many as I LOVE I rebuke and chasten".

[Roman150]

 

How does the relatively recent phenomenon of Christians sporting and promoting tattoos square with these verses?

 

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

 

Romans 12:2 ESV 

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

 

Colossians 3:2 ESV 

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

 

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

 

Titus 2:12 ESV 

Training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

 

2 Timothy 2:22 ESV 

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

 

 

1 Peter 1:14 ESV 

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,

 

1 Peter 2:11 ESV 

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

 

2 Peter 2:12-15 ESV 

But she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.

 

John 17:15-16 ESV 

For they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

 

 

 

and

 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20New International Version (NIV)

 

¹⁹ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I am borrowing the following from a post I read somewhere.  I can't remember the source.

 

 

"A tattoo requires a human being to be inflicted with physical pain, for reasons of vanity.

We are instructed not to inflict physical pain upon one another, nor upon animals, nor upon ourselves.We are instructed to simply rejoice in our salvation in Jesus Christ and abstain from all activities which cause harm to us."

Meanwhile you list as your interests ...

 

Interests:Music performance and production, mini bikes and scooters, guns and range shooting, vinyl records and other vintage media, classic film, thrift shopping, dogs, reading,

 

That is a horrible cheap shot.  *Especially*  the omission of *Bible and church*.   To the best of my ability, I try to process thought, word, and deed through the word of God, and Biblical precepts.  I play music in church, and keep my presence in other professional musical activities, Christian.  Are you claiming that my interests are in the same category as going down to a tattoo parlor and getting myself permanently scarred?  Oh, but I get it: worldy.  Perhaps I need to scrub  my profile.  I was not aware of that :Music performance and production, mini bikes and scooters, guns and range shooting, vinyl records and other vintage media, classic film, thrift shopping, dogs, reading, were controversial in this forum.

 

Meanwhile, nuthin'. 

[walla299]

sure didn't take this thread long to get tacky...

 

Sure didn't, did it?

 

Our pastor is a former biker and has tatoos from that former life. He's said several times (as others have on this thread) that they are a reminder for him of what Jesus walked him out of after he got saved. They have also opened doors for him to witness to others who otherwise might not listen.

 

Something I've learned over the years is that my old personal definition of a "Christian" when I was younger needed to be expanded a lot. I've gone to churches where leathers and long hair were not noticed and the Spirit was definitely at work there and many got saved. The gospel is a message to be proclaimed. Its not about a dress code.

[Guest Butero]

Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?  But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her;  for her long hair is given her for a covering.  1 Corinthians 11:14,15

 

Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you, I am the Lord.  Leviticus 19:28

 

If all we are talking about is personal preference when it comes to appearance, then I would agree, but when we are speaking of people doing things in direct opposition to the Word of God, I disagree.  Why even have a sermon, and why carry Bibles?  We don't believe we have to or should bother to care what the Bible says.  If it is something we personally don't agree with, we simply ignore it, and even speak against it.  Of course there are people with tattoos they got before they got saved, but the Pastor should not have long hair while he is preaching.  It is a shame.  I didn't say that, the Bible did, and it is in the New Testament.  Why sweat it though?  It is just that old outdated Bible that was written more than 2000 years ago? 

[Guest Butero]

Romans150, it is all about finding a way to justify something by making comparisons to others.  Look at that one post where someone tried to say being clean shaven was rounding the corners of your beard to justify tattoos.  First of all, he is just plain wrong about that being rounding the corners of your beard, but what if he was right.  He wasn't trying to get men to stop shaving, which is what he should be doing.  Instead, he thinks that pointing out the fault of others justifies people getting tattoos, which it doesn't.  The reason tattoos are wrong isn't just because they are worldly, but because we are prohibited from doing so. 

 

There is an additional reason I wouldn't get one.  I believe it was revealed to me that tattoos are demonically inspired to destroy our natural image, that was created in the image of God.  Satan hates God, and he hates mankind who was created in God's image, so he is about destroying our natural appearance, and tattoos are one thing he uses.  He is about rebellion.  Whatever God's order is, he is going to try to get us to go against.  If nature teaches it is a shame for a man to have long hair, he will cause men to want to have long hair, and if it is a glory for a woman to have long hair, he will inspire them to have short hair.  God has a certain order, and Satan is about rebelling against it.  The same thing goes with women dressing like men or rebelling against traditional, God-given roles, and to a lesser degree, men doing the same thing, or even going so far as to commit homosexual acts.  The devil will lead you to go however far he can against God's order. 

[Guest LadyC]

 

 

The long hair is not an issue.It is their choice and so is the tattoos but what kind of tattoos are you talking about?If I were to approach a Christian or a Pastor and they had tattoos of dark evil things I would wonder why.

Believers can look a lot of different ways and, although I don't like them myself, tattoos are a matter of cosmetic preference.  But, like you bopeep, I would shy away from a pastor who has the kind of tattoos I've seen on some people ( a lot of satanic stuff)   If the pastor's are acceptable to God, they should be acceptable to believers.  The long hair wouldn't bother me at all unless it was on MY man.....then it would be a no no.

 

I don't like long hair on men either but that is just my issue.

 

 

i've always loved long hair on men. as long as they don't go stylin' it feminine!

[LadyKay]

I was just thinking. I do that sometimes. Anyway, I do not recall Jesus saying anything about men and long hair. Jesus talk about adultery, loving God and loving your neighbor. He talked about forgiveness. But nothing on men with long hair.

[ricky]

I think we should consider who this man may be trying to reach. From what I understand a bikers can be a very closed group of people. Some only talk to other bikers. If this man is trying to reach that group of people then I would not only say that is look is not only OK, but nessesery. after all Paul said "I have become all things too all people, so that by all possible means I might save some." 1 Corinthians 9:22b (NIV)

[Roman150]

Romans150, it is all about finding a way to justify something by making comparisons to others.  

Yeah, I get that.  It's some sort of moral equivalency thing, which simply doesn't wash.

 

As for those who laugh off Leviticus 19, what of cutting oneself, consulting mediums, selling daughters into prostitution, or practicing sorcery?  Is this ok now, also?  I mean we're not under the law and all...