Our society has become almost totally superficial. In 1902, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, which was called “the Mother of Fraternities” because of the number of Greek societies on campus, first enrolled women. It was no surprise that those young women wanted their counterpart Greek society, and Delta Zeta was formed by six of them. Their creed promised they would “crusade for justice” and “give understanding and appreciation” to friends. I wonder what those first six members would think now.
Asociated Press reported on March 11, 2007, that the Delta Zeta sorority at DePauw University in Indiana kicked out 23 young women the group did not feel fit the “physical” image the sorority was going for—they didn’t look right. So much for a crusade for justice, understanding, and appreciation. But they aren’t the only ones.
I read some statistics recently that I found appalling. Cosmetic surgery in this country has increased dramatically. In the July 17, 2006 issue of The Des Moines Business Record in an article entitled “Looking Like A Million,” Sarah Bzdega states that there were more than 10 million such surgeries in 2005. This does not count reconstructive surgeries for such things as injuries or breast cancer, which actually decreased 3% from the previous year. These figures only include things like liposuction, face lifts, nose and ear jobs, breast augmentation and buttock implants. Minimally invasive procedures also increased 13%, and many of the patients are now men as well as women.
Have you noticed the plethora of weight loss commercials? And why are these people losing weight? Not for their health, but so a man can have a “trophy wife” and another can have a “better sex life,” and a forty year old mom can have a “smoking hot body.” More and more young women are falling into eating disorders because they want to look acceptable. Americans are so consumed with the concept of celebrity that we care more about looking like our favorite star than being a decent human being. I have even heard “Christians” say things like, “It’s a pity she isn’t better looking,” when meeting a new bride. Truly Samuel was right when he said, in 1 Sam 16:7: for man looks on the outward appearance… But shouldn’t we, of all people, be better than that?
What good will it do me to look 40 when I am 80 and my time is up? It will not keep me from dying. It will just make a pretty corpse. What are we teaching our children about what to look for in a spouse, someone beautiful on the outside or beautiful on the inside? It is really true that the inner person can eventually effect how the outer person looks, especially to those who know them best. That is what they need to hear, and more, need to see exemplified in the Christians around them.
I bet when the judgment scene in Matthew 25 unfolds, the right side will be overrun with pleasantly plump, gray-haired sheep, still sporting all their laugh lines, while the left has an inordinate number of thin, gorgeous goats. And I bet every one of those goats would take all their crows’ feet, gray hairs, and thigh fat back in an instant for a chance to switch sides.
But Jehovah said to Samuel; Look not on his countenance or the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For Jehovah says, for man looks on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looks on the heart. 1 Sam 16:7
Grace is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Prov 31:30
Dene Ward
Asociated Press reported on March 11, 2007, that the Delta Zeta sorority at DePauw University in Indiana kicked out 23 young women the group did not feel fit the “physical” image the sorority was going for—they didn’t look right. So much for a crusade for justice, understanding, and appreciation. But they aren’t the only ones.
I read some statistics recently that I found appalling. Cosmetic surgery in this country has increased dramatically. In the July 17, 2006 issue of The Des Moines Business Record in an article entitled “Looking Like A Million,” Sarah Bzdega states that there were more than 10 million such surgeries in 2005. This does not count reconstructive surgeries for such things as injuries or breast cancer, which actually decreased 3% from the previous year. These figures only include things like liposuction, face lifts, nose and ear jobs, breast augmentation and buttock implants. Minimally invasive procedures also increased 13%, and many of the patients are now men as well as women.
Have you noticed the plethora of weight loss commercials? And why are these people losing weight? Not for their health, but so a man can have a “trophy wife” and another can have a “better sex life,” and a forty year old mom can have a “smoking hot body.” More and more young women are falling into eating disorders because they want to look acceptable. Americans are so consumed with the concept of celebrity that we care more about looking like our favorite star than being a decent human being. I have even heard “Christians” say things like, “It’s a pity she isn’t better looking,” when meeting a new bride. Truly Samuel was right when he said, in 1 Sam 16:7: for man looks on the outward appearance… But shouldn’t we, of all people, be better than that?
What good will it do me to look 40 when I am 80 and my time is up? It will not keep me from dying. It will just make a pretty corpse. What are we teaching our children about what to look for in a spouse, someone beautiful on the outside or beautiful on the inside? It is really true that the inner person can eventually effect how the outer person looks, especially to those who know them best. That is what they need to hear, and more, need to see exemplified in the Christians around them.
I bet when the judgment scene in Matthew 25 unfolds, the right side will be overrun with pleasantly plump, gray-haired sheep, still sporting all their laugh lines, while the left has an inordinate number of thin, gorgeous goats. And I bet every one of those goats would take all their crows’ feet, gray hairs, and thigh fat back in an instant for a chance to switch sides.
But Jehovah said to Samuel; Look not on his countenance or the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For Jehovah says, for man looks on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looks on the heart. 1 Sam 16:7
Grace is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Prov 31:30
Dene Ward
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