Tattoos and Trimmed Beards

Tattoos are very popular today.  They are also reviled by many in the Christian community as something that God specifically forbids: "Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves.  I am the Lord" (Lev 19:28).  There you have it, "do not put tattoo marks on yourselves."  Or do we?

Notice the context, "for the dead."  Did that only apply to cutting of the body or did it not intimate the rest of the sentence, which included tattoos.  In other words, do not cut your body or put tattoos on it for the dead.  Is it about tattoos or is it about a practice involving the dead such as perhaps necromancy that involves "divination" that was called out two verses prior (v. 26)?

If you look at verses 26-28, you will see that the Lord prohibits "divination, cutting the hair at the sides of one's head, clipping the edges of one's beard, cutting oneself and tattoos."  Interesting that the ones against tattoos have no problems with close hair cuts or trimmed beards.

I'm not advocating for tattoos or suggesting that we should all have scraggly beards (especially women) but I am suggesting that we not cherry-pick a part of a passage and take a stand on it while ignoring its context or the entirety of the verse.  If we are going to use this passage to decry tattoos, ought we not insist that we let our hair grow below our ears and aim for a Duck Commander profile?

Or perhaps, ought we not look to the Law of Christ that was written "not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts" (2 Cor 3:3).  Ought we not turn aside from the Law of Moses and to the Law of Christ as Paul says in Galatians 2:21, "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law [of Moses], Christ died for nothing."

In other words, how about we try finding out what someone's heart looks like instead of their skin?  What if we pass on deciding one's character by tattoos, hair styles, piercings, beards, etc.?  By the way, what is the difference in piercing one's ears and piercing one's nose?  What's the difference in a tattoo and permanent makeup?  Oh, I don't have tattoos, piercings or permanent makeup but I love some that do.  You might be one of them - got earrings?

I have to admit, I do keep my beard trimmed and my hair cut short.  Although, I've been thinking about that Duck Commander look.  And, I don't think much of it.  However, I'm OK with anyone else, other than my wife, adopting it.  I don't see myself in earrings but I have been thinking about a shoulder patch with a Christian theme (actually I've been thinking about it for years, which I believe to be a good idea when talking about something so permanent).

So, what do you think?  Deny tattoos and require longer hair and scraggly beards or pass on judging such things and get to know another's heart instead?  Jus' Ask'n.