Holy Hair!

I took my friends to a neighboring church to hear an evangelist last night. They were hungry for a positive spiritual experience with God and all they got was a negative legalistic experience with Man. It was an evening full of disappointment. The worship service was beautiful (although for me, the surplus of patriotic music accompanied by people standing everywhere- arms raised, worshiping made me ask myself if we were, in fact, worshiping God or our Nation). Nevertheless, it started out good enough and you could feel the Spirit of God strongly present to minister. I had high expectations for one of my friends to receive the Holy Spirit.

The preacher took the stage and I was excited as he began with his opening remarks about convictions and how the supreme court had defined them as beliefs nothing could sway you from: not family, friends, threat of lawsuit, imprisonment or death. I anticipated a sermon about martyrdom and the spreading of the Gospel message. My mind was wondering if he would include modern examples like the shooting at Columbine. This was going to be an incredible night, I could just feel it in the air...

What started out as a beautiful experience quickly went downhill. Apparently his convictions were more aimed at holiness and a separation from the world...not necessarily in belief or in action...but specifically in outward appearance. I understand that it could be argued that our appearance is an integral part of holiness, but this was the whole point of his sermon. Apparently this is the conviction he would take to courts & prison & death. Ok. I'll buy that. But where was the gospel message? Why wasn't he preaching the power of Christ and the blood and the cross? Instead he began preaching a different power...a power that centers on us... specifically: Hair

These were his points/arguments without all the rhetoric...

1) Every great move of God has been one that began with a movement towards holiness…
2) Hair die allegedly causes cancer
3) Make-up is a 'mask' and people who wear it have deep psychological issues
4) Makeup is from a rebellious heart that’s un-submissive to their original creator's intent
5) In the animal kingdom, the animals that mate for life don’t flaunt themselves like animals that are always looking for new mates... animals that mate for life look identical, "with no distinguishing characteristics" (Doesn't this kinda sound like an argument FOR unisex fashion?)
6) "Defile," according to Vines' Bible Dictionary, means "to stain, tint or dye with another color as of the staining of glass…." - Hence, if any man "stain, tint, or dye this body, Him shall God destroy! THAT IS POWERFUL!!!!" (this referred to tattoos...which I've previously blogged about)
8) Charismatics buy more porn in motels than other Christians
9) Charismatics have more gawdy, made-up women, which opens them up for perversion
10) Churches that "go charismatic" do so because the men want to exploit the women
11) Hollywood knows what theologians don’t: "the difference of what a good woman looks like vs. a prostitute" (ie: Jesus of Nazareth: reference to Mary of Magdalene's transformation from prostitution to discipleship)
12) The Occult Dictionary talks about womens' hair & its role in casting spells
13) It's a well known fact that Male Hippies who grow their hair long are attacked by a demon of homosexuality 2 years into the "long hair" stage
14) The word ‘endued’ means “clothed” and the word ‘perfect’ means “tailor made”
15) In Greek, 'Adopted' denotes a "change of dress code"
16) Only eternity will tell how many times a woman’s uncut hair saved someone in their life because of angels
17) The only exegesis from the sermon (if you can honestly call it exegesis and not proof-texting) is below:
Then the Bible goes on to say, "For this cause, ought the women to have power on head because of the angels." That is a fascinating and intriguing study. "For this cause, ought..." "Ought" in the Greek means to "owe or be indebted". "For this cause, ought the women to have power." The word "power" means, "authority, ability, authority, rule". "...on her head because of the angels." The word "because" is translated to mean, "through, by or with". So, if you put it together, what I Cor II:10 is saying, "For this cause ought the women to have power on her head because of the angels." Therefore, the women is indebted or owes her authority on her head with the angels. "Power." The original meaning is the "ability to perform and act, the right, the authority". Now, get this, "and the permission conferred upon her by a higher court".

"For this cause, the women is owing or indebted to the inward power, which is conferred upon her by a higher court with and by the angels."

What?!? How did he arrive at this?…Where is the hermeneutical ethic?
This is the only exegesis he even attempts & he destroys it

Ten minutes into the sermon, My friend who was expecting to receive Christ's Spirit turned to me and asked, "Where the heck is he going with this (and he didn't say 'heck')?" We tried to laugh and get involved with the sarcastic comments about aging women and depleting make-up skills. We stayed as long as we could out of respect. It was interesting hearing points from every type of writing (historical documents, magazine, the Occult dictionary) with very little from the Bible. (*When he pointed out the occult dictionary and how hair is used in spells, he said witches would twirl their hair in the wind to doubly increase the impact of their spells! - interesting.)

Part way through I turned to look at one of my friends who came with us. She's a cosmetologist by trade...make-up & hair styling are her livelihood. He was destroying everything she lived for. Apparently (according to him) she had deep psychological problems because she wore make-up and tried to hide herself behind a mask in open rebellion toward her creator (Whom she serves everyday of her life in beautiful, tangible ways). The Evangelist's line of logic (that uncut hair on women has saved their babies and relatives from disaster) lead to the logical conclusion that relatives of hers, who may have perished in accidents, could have been her fault....When I looked at her, she was crying. They were not tears of joy in the Gospel Message. They were not tears of conviction. They were tears of hurt, disappointment and pain.

It was a destructive moment. All the hopes for the evening - new life, spiritual awakening, growing depth in Christ, Healing in the Spirit of God, Faith in the Gospel Message... All of them - were being destroyed. Irreparable damage was being done and I had to be an instrument of God to try and stop the bleeding and heal the gaping wounds of my disappointed and confused friends.

We left as soon as the crowd stood. As we walked out I saw two women twirling their long hair in the air, trying to increase the power of their prayers. The Church I had held in high esteem momentarily felt like a cult.

We went to Bennigan's and processed the night. I felt the Holy Spirit move and comfort hearts as we talked about scriptures, bad interpretations, and the Gospel. We have a great group. They'll be alright (with a bit of therapy...j/k). But it will be a while before I feel comfortable bringing my friends to this church again...