Hair. We worry about losing it, we
lament it turning gray, we complain that it’s too long or too short. Hair seems
to be one of those things we are perpetually dissatisfied with—oh, maybe right
after a good haircut we like it, but a couple weeks down the road we’re
complaining again that it won’t do what
it’s supposed to do. We color, crimp, flatten, muss, perm, curl, and braid
it. We pull it back, fluff it up, texturize, moisturize, and volumnize it. We
glaze, gloss, and highlight, blurring the lines between artistry and insanity
with our penchant for perfect hair.
Perhaps in Matthew 6, when Jesus
said not to worry about “what you will eat or drink; or about
your body, what you will wear,” he should have added, “and for goodness’ sake—don’t
worry about your hair!” Certainly we want to take some personal pride (the good
kind) in how we present ourselves and care for our physical bodies—in this
case, our hair—but we can easily become overly obsessed, so much so that the
reference “not a hair out of place” finally came to mean a person who appears very tidy.
The Lord must have
known hair could be one of society’s entrapments. So what does the Bible have
to say about hair?
Samson wasn’t
supposed to cut his hair—it was a source of strength. In the Corinthian church,
a woman was supposed to cover her hair, and if she didn’t “she might as well have her hair cut off…” (I Corinthians 11:6).
A man was not to cover his head—he represented the glory of God, and a woman
the glory of man. Proverbs says that “Gray hair is a crown of splendor…,” adding
that it is attained in the way of righteousness (or following a righteous
path). We learn in Matthew 10 that even the hairs of our head are numbered—so intimate
is God’s knowledge of us. The lover in Song of Songs is told “Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from the hills of
Gilead.” (Perhaps not a description we’d
find most flattering or see in an Herbal Essence commercial.) And in John’s
vision of Jesus (Revelation 1), “The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes
were like blazing fire.”
There does seem to be an emphasis
on hair as something of importance: source of strength, symbol of glory, crown
of splendor and reward for righteousness, reminder of God’s intimate knowledge
of us, picture of deep and passionate love, a prophetic image of Jesus
returning. Really, all of these speak of relationship. The “descending goats”
image was not offensive to the beloved bride of Song of Songs, for she knew it
was a reference to how her loved one saw her—a thing of beauty and perfection,
vibrant and captivating.
I Peter 3:3-4 nails it for us: “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as
elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.
Rather, it should be that of your inner
self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth
in God’s sight.” If we are more concerned with looking good on the
outside than being transformed on the inside, we are sure to have many bad hair days.
Is that to say our
concern for hair is all wrong? Of course not. But we need to remember that
glory doesn’t come in a bottle. Hair is just an easily understood analogy for “putting
on appearances” rather than truly knowing
God. For who wants to hear the Lord say to them on the Judgment Day, “I
never knew you” (Matthew 7:23)? As my
balding father used to say, “Hair today, gone tomorrow.” But relationship with
Christ is eternal and life-altering, something no product, trim, or treatment can
give us.
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