Some of these passages even recognize that certain external, bodily disfigurements will bar a priest from exercising his ministry. In some of the longest passages in the Pentateuch, God prescribes in great detail how the priests are supposed to dress. In both the Old and New Testaments, God reveals Himself as someone who actually is concerned with external matters such as dress, grooming, and adornment. So does the above soundbite capture the teaching of these Scriptures? Should we look only to the heart and remain indifferent toward issues of dress, grooming, and adornment? I think the answer to this question is decidedly negative. So Paul posed the rhetorical question, “Do you look on things after the outward appearance?” He then followed this question with an assertion of his authority and of his determination to employ it when he arrived in Corinth. Gauging Paul’s true stature by his unimposing bearing, they had decided to discount both his teachings and his threats. In this context, many of the Corinthians were dismissing Paul because of his unimpressive appearance (probably squat, homely, with pus gathering in his eyes). Perhaps a subsidiary reference is 2 Corinthians 10:7. At that moment, however, the Lord interrupted to say, “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.” Something about the oldest son’s height and bearing impressed Samuel, who took Eliab as the Lord’s choice. In this text, the Lord has sent Samuel to Jesse’s house to anoint a king to replace Saul. So does God say what the above speaker said He says? Does God mean what the speaker takes Him to mean? The above soundbite refers to 1 Samuel 16:7. But once one accepts this line of reasoning, where does one stop? For example, the speaker who delivered these remarks has been known to preach while wearing a “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” tee-shirt-and then to draw attention to it, ironically inviting the audience to look at his outward appearance. Eruptions of this sort are typically meant as objections to the “suit and tie” culture that has been traditional in much of American Christianity. What’s God’s Word teach about worship?… My God says, “You look at the heart, not the outward appearance. Take the following as an example, drawn from a real sermon delivered by a real preacher. They are also bad for theology and church order. They resist examination and exclude careful thought. Soundbites, however, admit no qualifications or nuancing. In any political campaign, some politicians would like to reduce policy statements to slogans and soundbites.
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