The lead pastor of David’s Christian Centre (DCC), Kingsley Okonkwo, on Tuesday, February 3rd, challenged his critics, demanding they provide scriptural proof prohibiting tattoos.
His demand comes after critics argued that it is inappropriate for a Christian leader to have a tattoo when he publicly shared a clip of himself getting a tattoo on Saturday, January 31, as part of his 50th birthday celebration.
The tattoo bears the Roman numerals III:XVI, representing the bible scripture John 3:16, a verse Okonkwo revealed is the core message of faith.
He described the tattoo as a tool for bold evangelism designed to reach people through unconventional means.
“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, and they must give me some either scriptural proof or scientific proof or something to back this thought up.
“But everybody is shouting tattoos are bad, nobody can tell me why tattoo is bad,” he said.
The pastor expressed frustration that the public is more concerned with his skin than with Nigeria’s pressing national crises.
“Africa, oh Africa, when will you wake up? With all the national issues going on, you guys are making a fuss about my tattoo.
“Election is in a few days, people who are holding the country have started meeting and planning, but the youths are bothered about my tattoo.
“I will do more, if it’s paining you, go and get juice and order drugs and panadol, I will do more, I might even do dreads,” he stated.
Okonkwo clarified that his ministry is specifically targeted toward the younger generation, creatives who often wear tattoos and dreadlocks rather than the boring and traditional religious establishment.
He argued that many Christians mistake the personal preferences of their elderly bishops for actual Christian doctrine.
“Oh, you don’t know there is a pastor in Lagos who has dreads and has tattoos?
“Are you out of touch? Do you think the younger generation is as boring as you?
“The day I entered my young adult church, nobody had normal hairstyles, only me has Afro; they had tattoos and dreads, these are creative people.
“Because your apostle or bishop is old, don’t mix that up, that’s not Christianity, that’s their personal preference, and nothing is wrong with that,” he added.
He referenced the biblical account of Jesus turning water into wine, suggesting that modern Christians would crucify a pastor today for doing exactly what Jesus did.
Okonkwo also criticized the church’s historical tendency to withdraw from political participation and leadership under the guise of maintaining sanctity.
He added that labeling politics a dirty game has led the religious community to abandon influential spaces to the very people they criticize.
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