The Closet Professor

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

—1 Samuel 16:7

I know on this blog, I post pictures of beautiful men. I had trouble trying to find the right one for today’s post. We all have our own preferences for beautiful men. When I was younger, before I realized I was gay, I would look at beautiful men and think, “I want to look like that.” I wanted to have the beauty and body of the men I saw in magazines. That was what I told myself: it was only admiration. And while admiration was certainly a part of that, it was also a feeling of lust, something that many Christians believe is a sin. As I grew older and examined myself, I realized, I did not have the same lust for women that I had for men. In fact, I was not attracted to women, no matter how hard I tried. We all enjoy aesthetic beauty, especially that of men. Does it mean that the person is beautiful on the inside? Does it mean that we focus too much on appearances than a person’s inner beauty? Yes, we probably do. But should we? No, we shouldn’t. However, it is part of human nature. So, I post images of beautiful men because we all like to look at them. We may not all agree on what constitutes beauty, but we can agree that there are many attractive men out there in the world. The question is, are they as attractive on the inside?

We’ve all met a physically attractive person before. Beautiful or handsome, we are stunned by their appearance. Sometimes, however, when we get to know that person, their character or personality makes them less attractive. Perhaps they are prideful or annoying in some way. Maybe they are cruel or insensitive to the feelings and needs of others. Whatever it might be, this person we thought was attractive is now repugnant to us. Character is more important than anything else. A person can have a modicum of talent and still enjoy great success due to their work ethic or other positive traits. It is also possible for the most talented individual to never accomplish anything due to laziness or entitlement. Despite knowing this, we still want our celebrities to be beautiful or handsome. We want good-looking people in ads. As much as it might be changing, we continue to deal with impossible standards of beauty in media. It is human nature, and we might say, to look at the surface first. To “judge a book by its cover,” so to speak. As I said, I am guilty of this.

In the above passage from 1 Samuel 16:7, God has sent the prophet Samuel to Bethlehem, telling him that among the sons of a man named Jesse, God will anoint a new king. In 1 Samuel 16:6, when Samuel sees the first son Eliab, he said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!” God replied, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” God judges our hearts, not our physical appearance. It is the inner person that is what is truly beautiful or ugly. Our hearts are capable of so many thoughts and feelings, reflections of the complexities of God. We should not fall into the trap of believing that our looks are to be a source of pride or envy. 

Our true beauty should come from the inside, not from the outward appearance the world often judges us on. In 1 Peter 3:3-4, Peter says, “Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” Peter may be talking to women in this passage, but it is advice for all of us. In Matthew 23:28, Jesus said of the scribes and Pharisees, “Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Sadly, we see similar things today with many religious leaders. However, modern religious leaders and politicians not only do they say things that are hypocritical, but also they say things in a way that is very unchristian, yet they wrap in the veil of Christianity.

Physical appearance has its place and is important to God in that it reveals the glory of His creative abilities. So we should appreciate the beauty God has given us as His most complex and amazing creation. In ways we cannot understand, we reflect His own beauty. God places some value on appearances; if He did not, we would all look the same. It is not a wrong thing for us to notice and appreciate physical appearance as well. However, outward appearance should not be our only focus. If the reason we try to be the perfect weight, wear the best clothes, have facial treatments, etc., is to impress other people, then our physical appearance has become a matter of pride. First Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” While vanity may cause us to alter our outward appearance, our bodies are a temple for God, and we should take care of it.

Nonetheless, we should be humbly aware of our appearance and do so for our health (even mental health of feeling good about ourselves) rather than acting to conform to the world’s standards. Matthew 23:12 says, “And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” James 4:6 says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Sometimes, we feel shame in the way we look. The author J’son M. Lee wrote, “Shame is the demon that keeps many of us trapped in our pain; healing comes when we gain the courage to confront our demon(s).” One anonymous author wrote, “May we each find in ourselves the courage we forgot we have, to see the beauty we forgot is inside us, while battling the demons we forgot we can slay, on a battlefield we forgot we can win.”