Pastor Max Lucado recently revealed he got the word “tetelestai,” Greek for “it is finished,” tattooed on his right forearm at the age of 70 to commemorate the “golden anniversary of God’s great grace” in his life.
“I’m celebrating the golden anniversary of God’s great grace in my life. 50 years ago this spring, grace found me. My testimony is interwoven with my favorite word in the Bible. On the cross Christ proclaimed, ‘It is finished!’ (Jn. 19:30) In Greek — ‘Tetelestai!’ Among the meanings of this word is, ‘paid in full,’” the Oak Hills Church pastor captioned photos on social media displaying his tattoo.
“This was the message that changed my life. I was a 20-year old scoundrel, a bum, a train off the tracks. My priority was six-packs; not the kind that come from crunches, but from Coors. Friends, I was a mess. Not only was I drunk, I was a racist, a misogynist, a brawler, and a schemer. Worst of all, I was a hypocrite. I wondered, honestly wondered, could Christ forgive a jerk like me?”
The Help is Here author said that on a spring evening in 1975, he heard a preacher describe a grace that is greater than sin.
“On the cross Christ paid my debt. It is paid — paid in full,” he wrote. “I said ‘yes.’ That was 50 years ago. In the intervening half century, I have failed Jesus many times, but he has never failed me. To commemorate this anniversary, I got a tattoo. Tetelestai — It is finished.”
The pastor, who is also serving as an interim pastor at Gateway Church, acknowledged that “not everyone likes the idea of a 70-year-old pastor getting a tattoo,” adding: “That’s ok. I didn’t do it for people, I did it to say thank you to Jesus who paid a debt I could not pay. Do you know this grace?”
“I could care less if this truth is tattooed on your skin, but I care deeply that it be tattooed on your heart.”
Lucado, who was diagnosed with an ascending aortic aneurysm, something he described as a weakened, bulbous area in a blood vessel, in 2021, has often discussed his troubled past and God’s faithfulness despite his missteps.
In his 2023 book, God Never Gives Up on You, Lucado revealed there was a time when he’d rely on alcohol to manage stress and cope with a “world gone crazy.” The Texas-based pastor said he would travel to the other side of town and purchase beer secretly as the pressures of his ministry grew.
"The staff needed me. The pulpit required me. The publisher was counting on me. The entire world was looking to me,” he wrote. "So, I did what came naturally. I began to drink.”
In the midst of his struggles, he heard God speak to his heart one day while in a parking lot: “Really, Max? If you have everything together, if you have a lock on this issue, then why are you hiding in a parking lot, sipping a beer that you’ve concealed in a brown paper bag?”
"I confessed my hypocrisy to our elders, and they did what good pastors do. They covered me with prayer and designed a plan to help me cope with demands. I admitted my struggle to the congregation and in doing so activated a dozen or so conversations with members who battled the same temptation. … God met me there that day. He gave me a new name as well. Not Israel [as Jacob was given]. That one was already taken. But 'forgiven.' And I'm happy to wear it."
In a 2022 interview with The Christian Post, Lucado said there’s often the misconception that Christians won't have trials, whether relational, mental or physical. But that's "just not the case in this world," Lucado said, and that's why the Holy Spirit is so desperately needed.
"Jesus didn't say, 'In this world, some people have tribulation.' 'In this world, you will have tribulation,'" Lucado said. "But then, He said, 'Be of good cheer, because I've overcome the world.' So whatever you're facing, Christ has already overcome it, and He will help you as you move forward."
"Do not buy into that lie that says, 'If you were a better Christian, you wouldn't have these struggles,'" he stressed. "The fact of the matter is, sometimes, the fact that you are a Christian creates these struggles because the devil sees you as a candidate for his attack."
In recent years, several high-profile church leaders have publicly displayed new tattoos: in 2023, televangelist Joyce Meyer announced that she got two tattoos for the first time at 79, to “honor God,” alongside her husband, Dave. Village Church Pastor Matt Chandler and his wife, Lauren, also got tattoos while in Jerusalem in 2022.
As tattoos become more mainstream, numerous pastors and theologians have weighed in on the issue.
Some, like Pentecostal Pastor Ryan French, maintain that Leviticus 19:28 clearly forbids tattoos, viewing them as contrary to biblical teachings on holiness and separation from worldly practices.
However, others, like theologian John Piper, have contended that the act itself isn't inherently sinful but urged believers to consider their motives and whether their choices glorify God.
“Marking the skin is not intrinsically evil,” Piper said in a 2013 blog post. “I will never cut off anyone from fellowship in Christ because they have a tattoo or one hundred tattoos. I will never cut them off in Christ. But I doubt that the decisions that many Christians are making today to get tattoos are thought through as carefully and biblically as is wise.”
