My lawyer sent me a series of videos on the debate over a pastor that tattooed something on his body. Later, I saw a video where his wife was braiding it with dreadlocks.
I told my lawyer I would not say anything about it. But he said he had been called several times and people were asking questions. And I felt that if elders do not advise children, they will eat vultures thinking they are eating chickens.
In Leviticus chapter 19 verse 28, the Bible explicitly states: Do not cut your bodies for the dead. Do not put tattoo marks on your bodies. I am the Lord.
If you must function as a priest of the Lord, there must be a distinction between you and ordinary people. That was why the children of Aaron were slain.
In Leviticus chapter 10 verse 10, the Bible says distinguish between what is holy and what is unholy, between what is common and what is sacred.
Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. You cannot go and write graffiti on a church wall.
Somebody drew a demon on his face. When another person asked the tattoo artist, he said the thing was already in his heart before he drew it on his face. So the desire to put tattoo on your body is a reflection of what is in your heart.
The truth is that every person must have some degree of consecration unto the Lord.
The word church comes from ekklesia, which means carved out, separated.
Today, the boundary between the unbeliever and the church has become so blurred that you can hardly distinguish between an unbeliever and a kingdom citizen. If somebody drew tattoo before knowing the Lord, that is different. We can understand that.
There is usually an emptiness in people that they try to fulfil on the exterior. When there is the fullness of Christ in you, the pursuit of the exterior becomes minimised.
I got born again in 1986. That is nearly 40 years now. And I learned that when Christ fills you, the desire for unnecessary exterior expression reduces.
I do not know the motivation behind drawing tattoos on your body as a pastor.
Man looks at the outward appearance. God looks at the heart. But unbelievers do not see your heart first. They see your outward appearance first.
And do not be surprised, many people in the streets know the Bible. When you appear worldly and indistinguishable from them, they will see you as fake, not different from them. There are more serious matters concerning the body of Christ, the nation, and the black race than drawing tattoo on your skin that will not even show clearly.
Many of you concentrate your ministries in cities where there is money. I have gone to Matahara in Ethiopia, where I used horse and chariot as taxi. Tattoo was not the concern of pastors there. The concern was salvation of souls. I was in Morondava in Madagascar. Pastors divided their sitting room into two. One part church, one part living room.
I was in Busia in Kenya. A pastor told me he would not have more than two children because he wanted to use his resources to take care of HIV orphans.
I visited a home where one woman was taking care of many orphans. When they sang, I wept. I brought out all the money in my hand.
When the burden of souls is heavy on your head, tattoo will not be your priority.
Earrings will not be your priority.
Nose rings will not be your priority.
Tattoo should not be the priority of any serious-minded pastor. It will act as a distraction to those who are supposed to listen to you.
You as a pastor must have a higher standard than what is prevailing in society.
There is no second chance to make a first impression. Do not be a pastor that when people see you, you need to convince them that you are a Christian.
We have lowered the standard too much. Tattoo, braids, and all these things are becoming normal.
Let us take these things seriously. The death on Calvary was a painful death. We should not crucify Christ a second time.
Nobody is perfect. We do not condemn you. But take this matter seriously.
