Archives: October 2009...

Editorial...

Beard envy

Ever since I hit puberty I’ve been trying to grow a beard. Some of you blokes might sympathise with my endeavour. But no matter how hard I try, facial hair is something that seems to be beyond my body’s biological powers.

Actually, to be honest, it’s not all facial hair. Eyebrows and a serious (Tom Selleck-like) tash are readily available to me, but cheek and chin hair remains , at best, patchy and at worst, non existent.

Back at school I had a mate called Rob. One day, in Year Nine, like the rest of us, he was facially hairless. But then something happened - no-one knows what -  but the next morning, as the bus pulled up to his stop on Horsell High Street, fresh faced Robert had gone… he’d been replaced by a chap with more stubble than Clint Eastwood.

And that was it for Rob. He could grow a full-on beard by the end of a single day. It was immense. Some would say it was a gift… especially when all I could muster were some sideburns (that really weren’t sideburns, but just long bits of hair that I combed down the side of my face).

Ever since I’ve had beard envy. I can’t see a chap with interesting facial hair and not feel a little jealous. But it’s not just jealousy, I’m also a little disappointed by my own inability to grow a beard.

Now believe it or not, my beard envy has a parallel in Christian life. Yes, I know what you’re thinking; Jesus did have a beard (according to the pictures). However, that isn’t quite where I was heading.

Ever been in a church service, small group, prayer time or just conversation with a few other people and felt deeply inadequate? You know the feeling… you look around and think ‘that person worships brilliantly’, or ‘that chap just knows how to pray properly’, or ‘they just know everything about the bible’. If you’re like me, you just can’t help but compare yourself to people… and generally I (as with the beard situation) end up feeling a little bit inferior.

Take praying. I’m a bit of a rubbish verbal communicator so when I pray out loud it tends to be short and to the point. However, I have some great mates and when they pray they are rather prosaic and inspiring. I often think I should be more like them, but I just don’t have the words in my head. So, am I a rubbish Christian with no stubble who can’t pray properly?
 
I don’t think Jesus would think so, and he’s the one whose opinion matters. Time and again in the gospels we see Jesus (and his beard) responding to people not because of their skills, talents or facial hair, but because they needed something. It might be they needed healing, social acceptance, forgiveness, love, or maybe they just had a simple question. Everyone Jesus encountered, whether they knew it immediately or not, needed his grace and they had the opportunity to respond to him and his love. And that’s what’s important; that we respond to Jesus and bring our needs to him, receiving his grace and not just other people’s acceptance.

I guess if you have a little spiritual envy (as I’m sure we all do at times) take the situation to God. Spend a while thinking about what it is about a person and their relationship with God that you admire. Ask God to show you positive habits and ways that you can take those things and make them yours… you don’t want to copy others, but authentically develop a relationship with God that makes sense to you. There might be stuff that God asks you to change, or he might say ‘actually, I don’t care you’re not like them, you’re you and I love that… keep going as you are’.

I’ll always struggle not having an awesome beard, but I might give the tash another go and though I may not be the world’s best intercessor, a simple prayer isn’t all that bad after all (Matt 6v7-8).
 
Anyway, back to the other articles. We’ve got a new series beginning this month. Our good mate Craig (who actually started this whole Soul Survivor Magazine thing in the bronze age) is taking the next few months to go through a load of lesser known events in Church history. This month it’s about a fire in Rome. Then we have an audio file from David Westlake on God’s Mission in the New Testament, some answers to a few tough questions and, amongst other things, a few words from Mike P on the wilderness too!

Have fun!

Dan
editor@soulsurvivor.com