Richard Hollerman

From the first to the last, from the time of Christ until the present time, and all time in between, we know that how we appear before others would be considered vital. Isn’t this true, my friend?

When we think of our appearance, we must wonder. Scripture does say many positive things about how we dress and how we appear before others. On the other hand, we know that both men and women are not to be seen before others in a certain way.

We do know that “God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). God doesn’t look at the “external” appearance alone but at the heart (1 Peter 3:1-4). He would be interested in “the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit” (1 Peter 3:4) and this is what interests Him. (See Luke 16:15; 1 Kings 8:39; Jeremiah 17:10.) What is it with you and me?

I have written elsewhere that probably 95 to 99% of people are more interested in their outward appearance and leave undone the inward appearance. We are naturally interested in the part that others see and are not that concerned about what God alone sees. Just what do others see? And how do we appear before others?

Perhaps a few words or questions may be good at this point.

Concerning the woman, let’s ask these questions. We do know that there are girls at age 8 and there are girls of age 18. There are women of age 25 and others of age 35. Some are age 50 and others are age 60, and others much older. Thus, we know that there would be different kinds of answers for these age brackets. Think with me about the women that you have seen and perhaps even the women that you know now. (Ae you, personally, one of these women?)

Is the hair of a natural color or dyed in any way? We have seen blond hair instead of brunet hair. We have seen green, blue, orange and red hair instead of the natural colored hair.

Is the hair of natural length or does the woman cut her hair short? Is her hair altered in some way to make it bizarre and unusual? (We have seen styles that are amazingly worldly.) Does the woman twist and in any way do something to the hair to make it strange in appearance?

What about the skin? Think about this. Does she wear tattoos? Does she do anything that would change the appearance of her skin in some way? What about body markings? We have seen (and so have you) piercings of the flesh. Is this glorifying to God?

What about her clothing? Is it worldly and the color—what is this? Is it worldly? Does she wear pants to look like a male or something else? Does she wear shorts to attractive attention? Does she wear clothing (or lack thereof) that would emphasize the female anatomy? Does she wear see-through outfits to attract the opposite sex? Does she wear apparel that would display a worldly attitude—or a Christian and spiritual demeanor?

(We also realize that a woman’s weight—or a man’s weight—might have much to do with whether or not the person is attractive and Christian in appearance.)

Regarding the man, probably some of the same questions may be asked of him. What about hair length? What about hair styles? What about markings? And tattoos? What about the form and fashion of his clothing? What about his lack of clothing or color of clothing or the worldly form of his appearance?

We know that these sorts of questions may seem somewhat paltry and trivial. They may seem petty or picayune. But, really, since our appearance is what matters and how others see us, we know that this does matter. If you are a Christian and are honest in your endeavors, if you are sincere or non-hypocritical in your appearance (1 Peter 3:1-4; 1 Timothy 2:9-10), we hope that you do take these matters to heart and honestly seek to deal with them.

Isn’t this right? Isn’t this what you should do?