I have a beard because I am a man and that’s what men
do - right Damien? Actually I just say stuff like that when I have a beard,
then I’ll shave it and be clean shaven for a couple months and I’ll get bored
and grow another one… It’s a fun hobby.
One year while I was in college, I was in a school that had
some pretty strict rules. I had gone to two different schools and they both had
a similar rule - no beards. The schools got to be so strict about it that I
would get demerit slips in my mailbox from an RA that would see me at dinner
and think I didn’t shave that day… it just grows that fast. When I asked
about the rule at one college they said that the average 18 year old kid wont
grow a solid beard, it looks unkept, they had a strict dress code and wanted
the students to look good so they added that in as a rule. Whether I agree or
not that a student looks good with a shabby beard or not, that doesn’t really
matter does it? It’s their school and they get to make the rules. If I went
into the military I would have to shave every day, so I just needed to accept
that is was their rule and deal with it. However, at the other school they took
a different approach. They simply said “it is sin”.
Now, at the first school it was a rule, so for me to ignore
the rule - ignoring the rule is a sin. There was a law and I had to live under
it while I was there. BUT, the second school took it much further, they claimed
that it was not breaking the schools rule that was a sin, it was the act of
having a beard is a sin and therefore any christian man in America that
has facial hair was in sin! (even santa!)
Galatians 2:17-19
17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ,
we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly
not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a
transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I
might live to God.
Naturally I had to bite on that one and question it… I
did go directly to the man that was preaching those words from the pulpit and I
asked him “what about my friend Jesus?” At this point that man then
challenged me to show him in the Bible where it says that Jesus had a beard… so
again I bit and I showed him the part where the Bible says the guards plucked
out his beard. The preacher looked me in the eye and asked me what would hurt a
man more… to have the hair of a full beard plucked out or for someone to
actually pluck out the stubble on an unshaven mans face… he believed that
Jesus simply didn’t shave in the 2 days he was in custody. … I
honestly thought the guy was joking. I wanted to get mad and argue with him,
but I couldn’t. I remember looking at the smug look on his face as he truly
believed he had just won an argument with me… I remember thinking “really,
you believe that… thats so.. sad.” I was sad for him. I
couldn't get angry because I was sad for him. What other things in life did he
build laws around that simply weren't true? What things in life would he miss
out on because of his beliefs? Sure, he would never know the joy of picking
icicles out of your facial hair on a snowy day, but what else would he miss out
on? How much art will he never see, what foods will he never taste, what books
will he never read? Will he ever spin around the living room dancing with his 5
year old, will he stay glued to his chair as his daughter the bride asks him
for a dance?
Convictions are great, there are certain things that I will
never try because I have a conviction that I choose not to participate, that's
fine. But laws restrict us from what we generally want to do… I want to
drive 80 miles an hour, but the law won’t let me… He will live his life
with laws holding him back from being alive, only to find out one day that what
he thought was a law was just something someone once told him, and Jesus wanted
him to live.
Answer This:
1. What are
some convictions you have and stand by even though it would be fine for others
you still choose not to partake? (example: drunkeness is sin, a glass of
alcohol is not sin, however I choose not to drink because I tend to get
addicted to things and I don't want to risk it… )
2. What do they mean that the Law brings death? Is the Bible
telling you not to obey the law? Is the Bible ok with you kidnapping children
and beating up old people?
3. “For through the law I ________ to the law, so that
I might ________ to God.”
Take a minute and journal your thoughts about trust:
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Written by Jeff
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