Doug Wilson says that the Church needs more tattooed men in our midst. And what he means is that we need to have men who come into the Church from rough and turmoiled places. What fascinates me is how few, if any, of these men would actively encourage their own children to get tattoos. They may not express the anthropology of the thing or even the worldview behind the act. Still, instinctively they know that tattoos are acts of bodily deformation to some extent or another.
It reveals uncertainty about the future by forming a present iconography to still the present. Further, it creates a world in which baptism is not enough. If the font reforms, bodily paintings deform. So, blessed are the tattooed who come into the Church, but may their children leave the paint brushes behind.
With few exceptions, among them imposed, there is no rationale for getting a tattoo that cannot be lived out without one. In many cases, they are revelations of a self-formed liturgy which is why they are so common among military and gang members. But in recent years, they seem to also branch out to other bonds among gamers and other identifying markers among the very young. These go beyond arm tattoos to what some consider to be the dominating trend of 2023– finger tatatoos. It is unmistakable that these are offered as bonding ceremonies.
I sought some advice from a tattooed friend I know, who offered the following observation, which confirmed my suspicion:
“Young men and women who are struggling to find identity see tattoos as a way to individualize themselves or set themselves apart while still wanting to belong to something greater or more important than themselves.”
I argue that those desired bonds can also be built around other more lasting liturgies sealed by a covenantal marking not made with human hands.
The reason virtually every Christian parent I meet with tattoos discourages their children from getting one is that they see a better way to find identity and communicate than a permanent bodily image. The trend among the youth reveals a desire to tell a story. And while there may be plausible reasons for tattoos under unique circumstances, we should affirm that the body is a gift from God and tattoos are attempts at telling stories. For the Christian, baptism is God’s story over our body. Therefore, tattoos are not ordinarily necessary. The story of redemption is told more beautifully and eternally in the body-markings of Another.
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