Haircut Spirituality
Yesterday was the day. We pulled out the metal folding chair, broom and dustpan, clippers, and comb, and I got to work cutting my husband’s hair. From our back deck, I have witnessed the neighbors on both sides of us nervously trimming, husbands sometimes walking away with uneven sideburns. One of the new rhythms many have adopted during the pandemic, I suppose. A quiet marker that another six-to-eight weeks have passed. A small reminder that we are not living in Groundhog Day. A sign that we too have grown a little bit. But not all growth is simple and expected, like my husband’s hair. The most important growth usually involves the uncomfortable but helpful pruning of a loving God.
Perhaps, the pandemic has presented an opportunity for you to examine yourself in new ways. Once the enthusiasm for self-improvement wore off a few months of staying at home, it seems like a lot of people are on a path of self-discovery that is less than flattering. The pandemic has exposed unhealthy habits, coping mechanisms, and sins that were easy to ignore in the busyness of everyday life. But this exposure of our hearts is actually a work of God. We need to know what is stunted in order to realize what needs to grow. As unpleasant as it is to realize you are not as effective or kind or disciplined or patient as you thought you were, whatever is being uncovered holds the promise of sanctification—the quiet and guaranteed work of the Holy Spirit.
SANCTIFICATION IS THE WAY OF HOLINESS
To be sanctified is to be set apart for holy service to God. It is a work the Holy Spirit begins after one confesses faith in Jesus and is justified (made right) by his life, death, and resurrection (Heb. 10:10; Rom. 5:1; 1 Cor. 6:11). Sanctification is a lifelong process of being changed to look like Christ. When we believe in Jesus we are not just affirming that he is good and holy and God (2 Cor. 3:18). When we believe we are also adopted by God to be brothers and sisters with Christ, co-heirs to his kingdom and participants (co-laborers) in his work (Rom. 8:17; Gal. 3:29). God does not call Jesus to one mission and the church to another. The call and the life of Christ become the call and the life of the church (2 Pet. 1:2-4). The Christian life is full participation with Christ in his work, his suffering, his ministry and mission—and ultimately—his glory.
But how is this sinful mess ever supposed to do the work of God? I still sin and I will sin for the rest of my life. Behold, the promise and work of sanctification: God indwelling his people with his spirit and promising to grow us in holiness. Promising to grow us into people who sound like Jesus, show grace like Jesus, forgive like Jesus. Promising to change us from one degree of glory to another.
When I think about the past six months, it is easy to think of the ways I have struggled. But perhaps these struggles are also the trail markers of God’s sanctifying work. When God exposes things in us, we can find hope in knowing we are on the right path. We don’t know how far we have to go, we’ve never walked this particular trail before, but the revealing of our sin is always a work of the Spirit—the firstwork of the Spirit. The second is to redeem and sanctify—make holy—those lost parts of ourselves.
Our gracious God does not uncover our sin in order to shame us, but to show us the precise places he wants to grow us. It is the desire and joy of the Father to sanctify us. And as he does, we can be sure we will grow in humility and grace-empowered obedience.
SANCTIFICATION IS THE WAY OF HUMILITY
J.I. Packer in his book Finishing Our Course With Joy says, “Real spiritual growth is always growth downward, so to speak, into profounder humility, which in healthy souls will become more and more apparent as they age.” As we grow in our sanctification, we grow in humility. The more God reveals my true nature to myself and his perfect splendor, the more humble I become.
There is nothing more humbling than standing in the presence of a perfectly holy God. Paul in Philippians says that Jesus was the truly humble one—he was fully God and yet he humbled himself to the point of death (2:8). As God reveals unhealth and sin in your life, remember that the promise of sanctification is to make you more like Christ—to make you humble.
But humility isn’t just about knowing your place before a holy God, true humility is always worked out in the context of relationships. It’s easy for me to think God sanctifies me so that my relationship with him will be better. Although we are always growing in intimacy and knowledge of Christ, we are already adopted children of God who are accepted on the basis of Christ’s perfection (Rom. 8:14-19; Eph. 1:5). Therefore, our sanctification is not about improving our position before the Lord. Rather, the purpose of sanctification is for the sake of others. God sanctifies us so that might be holy, acceptable, and pleasing in his sight (Rom. 12:1-12). But also so we might embody Jesus to our friends and family as we consider them more important than ourselves and shine the light of Christ in the midst of a broken world (Phil. 2).
SANCTIFICATION IS THE WAY OF OBEDIENCE
As the Spirit grows us in humility, he also grows us in obedience. Obedience can be a weighty word that for many sounds like trying to prove your holiness through your actions. But this is not biblical obedience. Out of love, Jesus perfectly obeyed the Father’s will at all times. Paul says that he humbled himself by becoming obedient even when it meant denying himself to the point of death (Phil. 2:8).
Jesus’ obedience was motivated by love, so in some sense, sanctification is God expanding our hearts to love him more and act in accordance with his word (Ps. 119:32). Through the Spirit’s sanctification, we love Jesus more and are transformed into his likeness as people who treasure and keep the commands and word of God.
But as we grow in humility and loving the Lord more, the Spirit also reveals to us greater depths of God’s love and grace for us in spite of our sinfulness. The last time I confessed sin to my husband, I felt the prick of shame as I owned up to my actions as being petty, cold, and selfish. In the conversation arc of confession, there is the terrifying moment before the other person responds. The gut drop as I wonder what judgment my husband might pronounce over me. But that terrifying moment of being exposed, admitting imperfection, and feeling the finger of shame point at me is always met with grace. My husband has yet to not forgive me or be gracious to me. He too is beginning to look a lot like Jesus. But how much more does our perfect God extend love, mercy, and compassion to me while I am still a sinner (Rom. 5:8)? The Spirit convicts but also meets me with grace. Grace is the fuel of obedience. As the Spirit sanctifies me, knowing I will always be met with grace empowers joy-filled obedience to Christ.
So, perhaps, the next time you cut your hair, take a moment to consider the slow, uneventful, quiet growth that has occurred and remember God’s promises to grow you. Today, if the Lord is revealing your weakness, trust that his Spirit is bringing to completion the good work he has started (Phil. 1:6), transforming you into the likeness of Christ from one degree of glory to another (2 Cor. 3:18).
Anne Kerhoulas is a writer for Christian Union. After six years of campus ministry at Harvard University, she moved to Asheville, NC with her husband and twin daughters. She loves hiking, creating, and helping people grow in their love and knowledge of Christ. Read more of Anne’s writing at Daily Discipleship.