HOW DOES MY HAIR LOOK?

“How does my hair look?” Jerry said. I pondered. Louder with added force, he repeated, “How does my hair look?”

I quickly responded, “It looks fine.”

I lied. It looked awful.

I thought: “Why is Jerry concerned about how his hair looks?” His clothes were filthy. He smelled. Facial disfigurement and leg sores covered his bloated body. And he sometimes twitched, coming down from his latest drug binge. Now he was checking in at the gospel mission—again.

The Bible says, “God does not see as man sees. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." It would be difficult to consider that Jerry’s heart was possibly more attractive than his hair.

Jerry has traversed more spiritual mountains and valleys in his thirty years than most people in a lifetime. When he is hot for God; he blazes. When he’s cold; he crashes hard. Through all he knows more scriptures than almost anyone I know—when his mind is clear. And I’ve often thought that we would be ministry partners someday.

But today he was not a pleasant companion. I wondered what would happen if he had one more binge, one more street fight. “Jerry, look at me,” I said. “This may be the last time I see you alive.”

This angered him; practically yelling: “I’m not going to do drugs anymore!”

Was this the real Jerry? What did his heart look like at that instant? I do not know. I need to ask God to forgive me; my eyes were focusing on his outward appearance.

I need to go visit Jerry, changing my attire. As the Bible says—“clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience; bearing with one another . . .  forgiving as Christ forgave you . . . beyond all this-- wear love.