The pastor of David Christian Centre, Pastor Kingsley Okonkwo, was recently in the news for sharing a video of himself tattooing “3:16” in Roman numerals on his arm for his 50th birthday; perhaps a reference to the popular Bible verse, John 3:16.
Of course, this leads to the question: should Christians have tattoos on their bodies, let alone a pastor? 
What Does The Bible Really Say About Tattoos
The verse most people cite against this action is Leviticus 19:28 (NIV), which states, “Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.”
So, we see the Bible clearly forbidding it. The only issue? It’s in the Old Testament, and the laws are not just the Ten Commandments. The Jewish people had different restrictions about what to eat and what to wear, making it literally and physically impossible to keep them all.
An example of this is what is called kosher meals. Jews cannot eat pork, shellfish (shrimp, crab, lobster), insects, reptiles, or birds of prey. Meat and dairy cannot be mixed or eaten together, and meat must be slaughtered according to certain rituals.
If Christians aren’t obligated to keep those dietary laws, why are they obligated not to get tattoos? We can’t cherry-pick the Old Testament laws to keep.
It seems simple, but there is something off-putting about a pastor doing something so contentious in Christendom so brazenly.
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A Twitter user, @Row_Haastrup put it this way: “Pastors are called to be examples, not experiments.”
“Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being examples to the flock.” — 1 Peter 5:3
Not everything that expresses freedom builds faith, and not everything culture celebrates advances the gospel. This is not about tattoos—it’s about discernment, influence, trust, and accountability before God and men.”
It seems Pastor Kingsley is taking his personal liberty too far, but he doesn’t seem to care because, technically, he did not sin.
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