The Haircut

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to get a haircut and have no one notice? People always state the obvious..."Hey, did you get your hair cut?" No I had a new radical procedure done that sucks my hair back down into my head! Or "Hey, nice hair cut"...did they really mean that or are they being sarcastic because the hairdresser butchered your hair? My son and I went last Sunday and got our hair cut. Yes everyone noticed and made the above comments but we refrained from making a smart comment in return. We just smiled and said thanks.

Later that day a passage of scripture came to mind and it reminded me of our haircut experience. No I am not talking about Sampson and Delilah. Take a look:

Acts 4: 5-13 - 5On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, "By what power or by what name did you do this?" 8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, 9if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

That last sentence says it all. People recognized that Peter and John had been with Jesus. It was not simply a haircut that made people take notice of them, it was a transformed life. These were two men who spent time with Jesus and everything about them was different. These guys did not just blend in with everyone else. Their words and actions did not match what people expected of them.

Peter and John were uneducated. The Greek word used here is agrammatos which means illiterate or unlearned. They should not be smart enough to say what they were saying, they should not be smart enough to know all that they were talking about. These guys were also common. The Greek word for this is idiōtēs which means one who is unskilled at any art. It is the origin of the word idiot! These guys were way out of their league! They were not trained orators or professional pastors! Yet God used them in a mighty way. I believe he can do the same with you and me. Are you spending time with Jesus? That, I believe, is the key to a transformed life that will get people to recognize something other than your haircut.