Founder of David Christian Centre and relationship coach, Pastor Kingsley Okonkwo, has stated that Christians who condemn tattoos cannot point to any biblical or scientific basis for their position.
In a recent interview with News Central, the cleric said opposition to tattoos stems from personal preference, church policies, or individual convictions—not explicit scriptural teaching.
He contended that critics have imposed their views on others without providing evidence.
Pastor Okonkwo challenged those who oppose tattoos to demonstrate how body ink damages a person’s character, faith, or mental capacity. He noted that neither scripture nor science supports claims that tattoos are inherently sinful or harmful.
“There’s no scripture that says a child of God cannot have tattoos. So people are doing personal preference, or what the Holy Spirit told them, or what their church policy is. They want to impose this on other people, and that’s not how this works.
“So everybody needs to know Christ, walk the Word of God. Somebody needs to sit me down and spell out, oh, tattoos are bad because if somebody draws ink on their body, their brain goes bad. If somebody draws ink on their body, their character suddenly goes bad.
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“And they must give me some either scriptural proof or scientific proof or something to back this thought up. But nobody, everybody shouting tattoos, nobody can tell me why tattoo is bad. It’s just bad for no reason.
“So again, this kind of thinking is saddening for me because is this Africa? When are we going to catch up with development? If we’re still thinking, oh, somebody wore jeans and went to rob, then jeans is now bad and a pastor cannot wear jeans because last week somebody wore jeans and went to rob a bank. What are we talking about? What are we talking about? So again, I don’t see the basis.
“I can give you 10 good people that have tattoos. You can give me 10 bad people that have tattoos. So what are we going to do now? We’re going to be in bondage to the bad people? We’re the same reason why some people don’t want to go into politics.
“They say, oh, politics is a dirty game. So we have left it for the people we think are dirty. So who’s going to go there? And that has been the mindset of the church. We avoid everything that looks bad and we then complain.”
His remarks follow public reactions to a video showing Pastor Okonkwo displaying a Bible-inspired tattoo on his arm to commemorate his 50th birthday. The tattoo, rendered in Roman numerals as “III: XVI,” represents John 3:16, one of Christianity’s most recognized verses.
The video, which opens with a voice-over reciting the scripture, generated substantial online engagement and divided opinion. Some questioned whether the tattoo was fitting for a pastor, while others commended the creative approach.
In a Facebook post addressing the responses, Pastor Okonkwo said critics overlooked the evangelistic impact of the tattoo. He noted that the gospel reached millions within 24 hours through blogs and social media.