Lies of the Beautiful People

I was listening to Sixx AM this morning. No I was not listening to the birds chirping or the breeze blowing through the trees at six in the morning. I was listening to Sixx AM, the side project band that Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue has pulled together. Their newest song is called Lies of the Beautiful People. It is a great tune and has some powerful lyrics. Take a look at some of the lyrics:

Well this ain't no sideshow
This is the great unknown
This is the poison we take
Yeah

Outside the velvet rope
Standing there all alone
Are the grotesque and ashamed
Yeah

Well if you think real beauty's on the outside
Well that's a far cry
From the truth

Maybe all the information you received
Well you should not believe
There's no proof

Save yourself from all the lies of the beautiful people
It's time to run from the lies of the beautiful people

As I was listening to the song and reading the lyrics I could not help but think of the interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees. Take a look at how Christ calls them out over their outward beauty and internal filth:

Matthew 23: 1-7 - 1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. 5 “Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’

Matthew 23: 25-28 - 25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. 27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Just a couple of observations: First, we have been given the truth. God's Word is truth.

John 17: 17 - Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

We have to spend time in God's Word if we are going to know the difference between truth and lies. Second, we cannot be deceived nor should we deceive others by outward appearances. We cannot focus on the outward appearances of others. We have to get real with each other, break down the walls and expose our lives to others so we can help and be helped.

I Samuel 16: 7 - But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Nikki Sixx is no preacher but I think he has spoken a truth that we can all benefit from. Don't believe the lies, don't be fooled by the outward appearances of the beautiful people. Christ focused on man's heart. We need to do the same.