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I want to attempt to
provide a Scriptural approach to “cutting.”[1] I think it’s important to define
cutting. We are not talking about
a medical doctor doing surgery with a scalpel. Cutting is the deliberate damaging of the body to provide
relief from mental, spiritual anguish.
One author states it this way:
The majority
of sufferers…cut or burn because they seek relief from seemingly uncontrollable
pain or deadening numbness.
Later she writes:
People who
engage in self-inflicted violence are usually not trying to end their lives;
instead, they are attempting to find temporary relief from their pain. Self-injury is most often used as a
survival technique rather than an exit strategy.[2]
I think it’s
important to understand not only what cutting is, but why
someone might be engaging in cutting.
The Bible speaks to both actions and internal motives. So even if there is not a specific
verse that speaks about modern day cutting the Bible has a great deal to say
about the internal states of our hearts and motives.
What I attempt to do
below is to look at various Scriptures that are relevant to the issue of
cutting. It’s important to look at
all of Scripture. The passages
below should be taken all together.
I don’t think any one of them specifically deals with cutting but taken all together we begin to see God’s
mind on our bodies and how to view them.
We can then ask, “Is cutting consistent or inconsistent with this
picture that God gives us in his word?”
1. Leviticus 19.28 (also Deuteronomy 14.1-2) “You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor
make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord.”
I
realize that this verse is not directly speaking to contemporary cutting--you
are obviously not doing it “for the dead.” This commandment speaks of cutting and tattooing as a
religious acts in seeking other gods.
What I would point out, however, is that this issue of cutting comes up
in an idolatrous context. It
doesn’t appear in the true worship of the true and living God. I am going to argue, based on the
evidence, that God is a God of healing.
The other religions are to some extent motivated and energized by the
evil One and he is one who is destructive. That is why we find in the religions surrounding Israel
practices that undermine the value of humans. Think, for example, of child sacrifice. The pagan nations surrounding Israel
engaged in this destructive behavior whereas God told his people Israel not to
do this. The true and living God
is a God of life and his worship practices reflect that. Yes, blood sacrifice is needed but God
graciously gives the animal sacrificial system which points to the ultimate
sacrifice of God’s own Son, Jesus Christ.
Watch for this pattern--where does cutting show up in Scripture? What we will see is that is shows up in
places where idolatry and the evil One reign--not in the midst of the true
worshippers of God.
2. 1 Kings 18.28
“So they cried out with a loud voice and cut themselves according to
their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them.”
Again,
this is a context of idolatrous worship and not directly relevant to
contemporary cutting. Yet, again,
notice where cutting does show up in Scripture--among those who don’t know God
and are enslaved to a false system of religious belief. God provides detailed instruction for
his people in the Old Testament on how to worship him and these instructions do
not include the cutting of the body.[3]
3. Mark 5.1-20: Jesus and the man with many demons
(Legion)
Verse
5: “Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the
mountains, and gashing himself with stones.”
In
the Old Testament we’ve seen that false religions (motivated and empowered by
demons) has the cutting of flesh involved. Here we see when someone is in bondage to the demonic there
is, again, the cutting of flesh.
This behavior is marked out as “out of the normal” and when Jesus casts
out the demon the man is “clothed and in his right mind” (v. 15). Presumably has stopped cutting
himself. Can we really imagine him
sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to Jesus and still engaged with cutting
himself?
I
think we begin to see a principle here.
Jesus said that the “thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I
came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10.10). Jesus referred to the devil as a
“murderer” (John 8.44) and he is also referred to as “Apollyon” which means
“destroyer” (Revelation 9.11).
Cutting is a destructive way in which to seek relief. It fits with the kinds of lies the evil
One tells.
4. 1 Corinthians 6.15-20
There
is some crucial teaching about the physical body of the Christian here in these
verses. We need to recognize that
the context is about combating sexual immorality. But in the process of speaking about this issue the Holy
Spirit through Paul states important truths about the physical body. Here a few of the items worth noting:
a. “your bodies are members of Christ” (v. 15)
Paul
reasons from this that we shouldn’t take our bodies and make them members of a
prostitute. What we do with our
bodies intersects with Christ himself.
The same would seem to go for cutting. For a Christian to cut themselves is, in a sense, to cut
Christ’s body.
b. “your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit” (v. 19)
The
body is not some optional piece of meat to be discarded or overlooked. Our physical bodies are the dwelling
place of God’s Spirit. This leads
to a positive concern for the body.
Does the Holy Spirit want his temple cut?
c. “you have been bought with a price therefore glorify
God in your body” (v. 20)
We
have been bought by the blood of Jesus and this has implications for how we are
to treat our bodies. We do not
belong to ourselves—we belong to Jesus as his blood-bought and redeemed
people. Cutting is not consistent
with Christ’s loving ownership of us.
5. 1 Corinthians 7.3-4 “The husband must fulfill his duty
to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over
her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have
authority over his own body, but the wife does.”
Again,
this passage doesn’t discuss cutting in particular but the principle spoke of
here is applicable. For a married
couple there is a sense in which their body is not their own—it belongs to the
other. There is a fundamental
union that includes the body. The
context is obviously that of sexual intimacy within marriage but the principle
seems to be applicable to cutting.
You are not just cutting your body. You are cutting what the Bible says belong to your
husband. As a married woman you
cannot think of what you do your body as merely affecting you. You are united to your husband. Because he loves you your husband does
not desire that you cut your (and his) body.
6. Ephesians 5.28-29 “So husbands ought also to love
their own wives as their own bodies.
He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own
flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church”
We
see in this passage a presumption that there is a natural inclination to
protect one’s body. This is right
and good. Furthermore, a husband
is to be like Jesus. He is to
nourish and cherish his wife as Christ does the church. Can we really imagine Jesus “cutting”
his bride so as to punish her or numb her? Your husband is seeking to nourish and cherish you
(including your body) by helping you not to cut and you are expected to let him
love in this way.
7. There a number of questions that should be asked about
any activity we engage in as Christians.
a. Can this activity of cutting be pursued in faith? According to Romans 14.23 Paul writes
that “whatever is not from faith is sin.”
b. Can the activity of cutting be pursued in the
community of Christ? Does this
activity increase your love for the body of Christ? The classic passage is, of course, 1 Corinthians 13.4-7. Would it be loving for you to desire
others to be cutting themselves? I
think the answer to that question is, “no.” Would it be loving of the congregation for them to desire
that you cut yourself? Again, I
think the answer to that question is, “no.”
c. Can the activity of cutting be seen as consistent with
walking in the Holy Spirit and his fruit?
Galatians 5.22-23 lists out the fruit of the Spirit: “But the fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
self-control…” Work through that
list one item at a time and ask yourself whether cutting is consistent with
each aspect of this list. For
example: “Is my cutting indicative of self-control? Is my cutting consistent with the joy of the Lord? Is my cutting consistent with the peace
of God reigning in my heart?” I
find it hard to believe that cutting can be a Spirit driven and guided
activity. The Spirit is life
(Romans 8.10) and promotes that which is consistent with life.
d. Is the activity of cutting oneself a way to glorify
God? 1 Corinthians 10.31 states:
“Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of
God” Whatever you do—including
cutting. Is cutting a way to
glorify God? Can you honestly and
sincerely pray, “Lord, I am about to cut myself for your glory.”?
Again, like I stated at the
beginning, none of these verses by themselves says, “Thou shalt not cut”
(although the texts in Leviticus and Deuteronomy come close!). The point is that by taking all
of Scripture together we can begin to understand God’s heart on this
issue. Once we begin to understand
what cutting it and why it is done I think it’s fairly clear that such an
activity is inconsistent with the character of our heavenly Father who loves us
and gave his Son for us.
[1] Another
attempt at a scriptural look at cutting and self-injury is found here: http://www.self-injury.org/scriptureandsi.html
[2] Jerusha
Clark with Dr. Earl Henslin Inside a
Cutter’s Mind: Understanding and Helping Those Who Self-injure (Think,
2007), pp. 21, 42.
[3] The one point at which God does command cutting in the
Old Testament is the circumcision of males as a sign of the covenant (Genesis
17.10-14). This is different from
the on-going cutting engaged in by the pagan nations surrounding Israel. This is a one time cutting to be done
to an eight day old male baby. The
purpose and reason for this cutting is given by God. He speaks to the what and why of this cutting.
