" the appearance " by Darion Mortley

                  Thessalonians 5:22 says, to abstain from all appearance of evil. That means we are to be careful of looking as though we are sinning. An example of abstaining from the appearance of evil could be entering a liquor store for soda. This in of itself is not a sin, however the appearance could be be perceived as sin. 

             Another example of appearing to be sinning is wearing fake tattoos. Many Christians believe that fake tattoos is not a sin. However, God tells us from Leviticus 19:28 not to mark our bodies, and fake tattoos are a type of marking. Also , when we wear fake tattoos , do we appear to be going against God's word? Does a Christian compromise his testimony by wearing fake tattoos in the presence of the unsaved ? We must remember the unsaved person is looking for a reason to call Christians hypocrites(1 peter 2:12-Titus 2:7-8). The unsaved knows that a Christian is to abstain from drinking , cursing and wearing tattoos.

           Some  Sunday school teachers teach their kids it's okay to wear fake tattoos ,but not to get real tattoos. That false teaching is equivalent to teaching that it's ok to dress you're daughters like a harlot (proverbs 7:10) as long as she is not a harlot. We advise our kids to dress modestly( 1 Timothy 2:9) to be set apart from the world. So why do we teach our children it's ok to look worldly by wearing fake tattoos?  When we as Christians advocate the wearing of fake tattoos we are instilling in our children the desire to get a permanent tattoo. Brethren let us abstain from the appearance of evil!