The bible tells us that God doesn’t look to the outward appearance, but that He looks at the heart of the individual. This is how He determines where their devotion is.  I wonder why we look at someone who is different than us and we question their devotion to God.

When my son was 15, he became a Christian; and his life was changed as a result of a crush on a girl, and being around where she was at church.  He didn’t start out to find God. He just wanted to spend time with this girl he liked and her really cool mom the youth pastor. The cool thing is, God used that opportunity to plant a seed bursting out of his life and bloomed in his heart.  On the outside, my son looked the exact same, long hair, skinny jeans, concert t-shirts you aren’t really sure what the band is saying and lip piercings.  On the surface, when people would glance at him, I know they thought he was a strange wild child, but this tender hearted teen loved to make people laugh. When he talked about being a Christian, it just made my heart smile.

So why was he judged?  I know the bible is adamantly clear about “Judge not, lest you be judged.”  But we often look at someone’s appearance and decide they must meet our standards before we will call them a “Christ Follower.”

My son asked if he could spend the night with a friend the one night, one he had not seen in a long time. When he said that the mom hadn’t let him come over in a while because she thought he was of the devil (based on his appearance) my son then proceeded to tell me his “plan.” He would talk about church and his newfound belief so this woman would know he was a Christian. At first I said “good idea” then I realized this woman was judging my son on his outward appearance alone. She wasn’t taking the time to even determine if his tree was bearing fruit or what his heart looked like.  I have seen this happen so many times, I have been guilty of it myself.

It’s time to put a stop to how we view people we come in contact with. So what if they people look different! Who cares if we don’t like the same music you listen to, why does it matter if their hair is blue or they have pierced skin, what matters is that we show love. That is our only mission. It is a lie to think you have any right to judge another person. Whoever told you that is telling you wrong.

Note:

I wrote this when my son was 15, he is now 27 years old. He has lost the skinny jeans, the lip piercings. He has become one of the best fathers I have ever seen. His beliefs have changed based on his own journey, but that is his story to tell. I was proud of the man he was at 15, and I am proud of the man he is today.

©2021 Marsha L. Brown