Being The Right Image

Back before Duck Dynasty ushered in a corporate approval of beards, I had a Pastor I worked with tell me not to let my beard get too long. You see, I was a worship leader, and that made me the face of the church to first time guests. Since then, beards have been all the rage, and it serves the church well to have a trendy bearded guy in front of the congregation. The church has a habit of taking the focus off of Jesus. The church fashions mission statements and visions that seek to reach the lost and be the church of acts in a modern form. However, in doing so they often get focused on giving off the right image instead of being the right image. The church should be a reflection of Jesus.

I once saw a popular faith healer on t.v call out a young couple to that altar. He prayed over them, they accepted Jesus. He then instructed the guy to shave his green mohawk, take the plugs out of his ears, and gave him money to go buy a suit and encouraged him to get a job.

It is sad to see the church get so hung up on image. Jesus never was.. think about the hygiene that he must have encoountered when he healed the sick, cast out demons. There wasn't running water in homes, and showers were not a daily activity. Add sickness to that equation and it had to be pungent. I don't recall ever reading where Jesus said now go, take a shower, get a haircut, change your robes.

Jesus gave sight to a blind man after rubbing mud on his eyes. I'd imagine that the man, who had been begging, was already dirty. Man, he probably had a beard that needed trimming.... Jesus just met his request.

The early church grew by doing what they had seen Jesus doing. Sometimes, we forget to do that. We forget to do what Jesus did. We get hung up on our history and traditions, the things are forefathers did and we forget to do what Jesus did.

Jesus never called anyone to change before they came to him, only after... and yet we are growing more and more close minded in the eyes of those our mission statements claim to want to reach