Thread: Can someone be long-haired and Christian?

Can someone be long-haired and Christian?

By Jason F. Wright | Fox News
1 hour ago

Meet 15-year-old Ben. Ben has long hair. Ben listens to wildly inappropriate music. Ben is rebellious, bitter and has no respect for authority. Ben smokes behind the barn and slings a vocabulary saltier than beef jerky.

Maybe that’s all true. Perhaps this great church friend of mine is all those things.

Or maybe he just has long hair.

Let’s confess – most of us have made quick judgements about people who don’t fit our mental image of a modern-day disciple of Christ. Too often we want white teeth, short hair on males, a light amount of makeup on females, neat clothes and maroon minivans.

Years ago I overheard someone ask a first-time visitor at church why she’d worn sweatpants to Sunday services. (I happen to know that at the time, sweats were the best option she owned.)

Another member complained that someone came to church with tattoos exposed. Oh, the horror!

Yet another worried aloud about a young man with an earring.

Back to Ben. My shaggy young friend knows that opinions can hit and hurt like quick punches. He’s heard the whispers, seen the stares and felt the judgement.

Ironic, isn’t it? Christians judging Christians for not being Christian enough?

Maybe Ben and every other long-haired, tattooed and sweats-wearing Christian needs a T-shirt that says: “But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” (Samuel 16:7)

What would we see if we looked on Ben’s heart? What would we find if we didn’t let our eyes get tangled in his hair?

Ben is more Christ-like than most people I know. He’s thoughtful, soft-spoken, respectful and kind-hearted. He’s talented, self-aware and forgiving. He has a long list of leadership qualities and owns that kind of warm personality that makes you want to be around him.

Ben’s not perfect, of course, and he has teenage moments like every other kid, but he starts each day desiring to be a little bit better than the day before.

He wants to be even kinder, more patient and more willing to serve. He’s working to become a better son, brother and friend.

Um, isn’t that the definition of a disciple of Christ?

My dear friend knows that the day will come for shaves and haircuts. In fact, he’s planning to donate his long hair to Locks of Love, a well-known nonprofit that provides hairpieces to patients battling cancer and other illnesses. Sounds like something Christ would do, doesn’t it?

In the meantime, he and everyone else who doesn’t fit perfectly into our trending definition of Christianity knows that long hair and a beard don’t disqualify him from discipleship any more than sweatpants or ink on the arms.

Meet Ben. He’s a teen who knows that he’s not defined by his hair, but by his heart.

And odds are you know a Ben, too.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/...christian.html

Christians for far too long have been too judgmental. We have also too often made our churches a groupie club and been far too political, way too involved in politics using their power of the pulpit to push religious agendas through the government. In my opinion, these are not healthy actions or positions in the United States where church and state are to be separate. We may need organized religion to learn about Jesus, but we do not need organized religion to be a Christian. Churches need to remember that.

We Americans are not used to taking a back seat in today's world. But when it comes to the Bible, it is required that we take a back seat in order to understand.

What is this "back seat"? It's simply culture. The Bible was written in a different culture. Sometimes it's hard for Americans to see the world in a culture that is not American. I'm guilty of it too.

Jesus never said to NOT judge. He was telling people HOW to judge.

Ultimately, the "Judge not..." statement was warning people about hypocrisy. After all, if you're doing the very thing that you condemning others for, how is that morally right?

https://www.waynestiles.com/judge-no...t-jesus-meant/

Only behaving makes person Christian. If someone has long hair or tattoos it doesn't mean he's worse than us. My friend has long hair, a tattoo on his hand and smokes sometimes. I even made him girly hairstyle one time and straight his hair with hairbrush from a review in this article. And he likes it. In our church, everyone used to him, because he's a very good person, kind and always ready to help everyone. But when we go out from church some people look on him so weird like they ask what this guy forgot here, but they don't know him, how people can make an opinion about someone if they don't know what kind of person is he?

Welcome to ALIPAC Merryjo! And I agree with you 100%!

A warm welcome to you merryjo. Thank you for joining and contributing to Alipac.