Assume for a moment that you walk into a beauty or barber shop that has only two hair stylists. One has a messy hair while the other has a well-groomed hair. Which stylist would you choose to cut your hair? Most of us would be tempted to go to the one with the good looking hair (unless you like some weird hair styles), because we make some assumptions based on how they both look. But looks can be deceiving … the person with the messy hair might have cut the other stylists’ hair and vice versa. Tom Pryor in his article “Looks can be deceiving” uses this illustration to help the readers understand the deception of our judgment based on pure looks.
No matter how many times we were deceived by optical illusion in the past, I think it’s almost impossible for us to overcome the temptation to make judgments purely on the basis of looks and appearance. I admit that most of the times we do not have the access to deeper or essential information to make a better judgment, but when it comes to judging people and other important decisions in life it is very crucial to take time not to judge purely by how people look.
It’s almost impossible for us to overcome the temptation to make judgments purely on the basis of looks and appearance.
We live in a world filled with products which imitate the original; in fact there are so many imitation products that it is really very difficult to find the original. It’s funny that many times the duplicate looks more original and shiny than the original itself. The advancement of technology and science has enabled us to perfect the art of duplicating to the extent that we cannot discern the difference between the original and the duplicate.
The advancement of technology and science has enabled us to perfect the art of duplicating to the extent that we cannot discern the difference between the original and the duplicate.
Even great prophets are prone to this problem of deception by looks. If you can turn with me to I Samuel 16:7, we find the Lord saying to the prophet 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”. This shows that the deception of looks is real and it is possible for even the most spiritual prophets to be deceived by the external looks.
If we are not careful to God’s prompting and guidance it is very easy for us to be deceived by the appearances. As a human being Samuel could only see the outside that was very impressive, but the Lord looks at the inside which we cannot see or understand, and that is why we need to constantly ask God to give us the wisdom to discern between the people who are looking good and the good people.
In 1997 I went to Bombay for a Christian conference. We stayed in a big hotel where there were many other visitors. As I was reading the newspaper in the lounge I saw a person with lots of tattoos, long hair and a shiny ear ring. Honestly it took some time for me to figure out whether he was a man or a women. Anyway, I saw him checking in and thought how impossible it would be for anyone to reach him with the gospel of Jesus. But that afternoon I was shocked to see him taking a seminar in the same Christian conference on how to reach the gangs of Bombay. I was very ashamed of my judgment and hasty conclusion. Appearances can be very misleading; let us try to take some time to know before we judge, and ask God for discernment when we deal with people.
We need to constantly ask God to give us the wisdom to discern between the good looking and the good.
– – Author: Rev. Francis Burgula – –
