ChristianViewPoint.com
 

Long Hair, Tattoos, Body Piercing
and the Way You Dress

page 5

 
 

     Let's look at the verses that have been so often quoted and referred to when it comes to looking like the unsaved and the people of the street.  I Corinthians 9:19-22, "For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.  And unto Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews: to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;  To them that are without law, as without law, (being without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.  To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some."  In verse twenty Paul says to the Jews he became as a Jew.  There is an interesting point here, we know Paul was a Jew, yet he says that he became as a Jew.  I think Paul was saying to us that he was no longer a Jew, and that he did not become a Jew again, but rather became as a Jew.  Why would he say it like that?  We know that Paul told us in II Corinthians 6:17, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you," So we know that he came out from the Jews and would not go back.  So why did he say what he said the way he said it?  I believe that Paul was saying I became the Christian man that the Jews thought I should be.  He became their perception of a Christian.  I don't believe for a minute that Paul turned around and became a Jew again.  He was separate from them.  He would not again subject himself to the law that kills.  But he became the Christian that the Jews expected him to be.  I cannot for one minute believe that if Paul were alive today that he would wear his pants around his butt and let his underwear hang out.  I cannot believe for one minute believe that Paul would pierce, tattoo, grow his hair long and hang out with druggies, gang bangers' or the like.  Paul was saying that he became the Christian that the people expected him to be.  Every unsaved person has a certain idea about what a Christian is and should be.  We are expected by these people to be different. Unsaved people know by instinct that Christians should be different.  They know that we are to be separate and different from them.  If we are just like them, where would be the attraction?  Paul was saying that if the biker or gang member has a perception that we should wear a suite and tie then that is what we need to do.  If the unsaved believe that Christians don't drink and smoke then we shouldn't drink or smoke.  If a long haired hippie believes that a Christian has short hair and doesn't listen to rock and roll, then Paul would have kept his hair short and turned off the rock and roll.  Whether their perception was right or wrong, as long as he stayed within the law of Christ, he became to them what they needed and expected a Christian to be.  Why?  So that he might save some.  Paul did not become a murderer to save murderers.  He did not become a gang bang rapper to save rappers.  He remained separate and became to them their perception of what he should be, so that some would be saved and he could teach them of God and Jesus Christ in truth.  Paul was not saying put on a thong bikini or Speedo's and prance around the beach and expose yourself so that the unsaved can see that you are no different than them.  He said, "I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some."  Paul was saying to us that we are to recognize where an unsaved person is and approach them from that point, showing them that we understand their point of view and where they are coming from.  Yet we ourselves remain separate and are Christ's.  You see Paul did not become weak to the weak he became as weak.  He did not become a Jew, he became as a Jew, and he did not live without law among the lawless, but rather as without law.  After all you cannot convict a man under the Law of Moses if he has never heard of Moses or the Law of Moses.  Hopefully, you get the point here.

 
 
Page 5 of 11
 

Back to the Grid Selection Page