A Biblical Review of Superficial - (Not the Heidi Montag Album)

BEFORE/AFTER

I was standing in the checkout line of the grocery store. Inevitably, those "trusty" magazine racks were there to ensure I was entertained while I waited. I saw a picture of a girl I almost recognized on the cover of People magazine with the caption "Not Addicted to Plastic Surgery." Looking closely, I realized it was Heidi Montag of the MTV reality show, The Hills.

Before Heidi ever celebrated her 21st birthday, she was no stranger to plastic surgery. She'd already had breast augmentation, lip collagen injections and a nose job. Now 23, she's unveiled herself this week to reveal the results of the 10 procedures she had done in November: mini brow lift, botox in forehead and frown area, nose job revision, fat injections in cheeks, nasolabial folds and lips, chin reduction, neck liposuction, ears pinned back, breast augmentation revision, liposuction on waist, hips, outer and inner thighs and buttock augmentation.

Are you serious?

But she's not alone. About 2 million people in the USA subject themselves to plastic surgery each year. Not so shocking, more females undergo these procedures than males. More shocking: Rather than most of the surgeries being done by older women attempting to reverse or stall the aging process, most patients are younger rather than older.

Many different factors effect my opinion on plastic surgery. The underlying motivation for any unnecessary cosmetic procedure is vanity, which means you've made yourself your own idol. I used to think that only arrogant people were the ones who idolized themselves. However, throughout my recovery from anorexia, I realized that even though I had a very low opinion of myself, my thoughts and actions still revolved all around me. I was my own idol just as much as someone who thinks too highly of themselves. The Bible warns against both conceit (Philippians 2:3-4) and putting too much focus on our appearance (1 Timothy 2:9).

Not to mention, there's the practical side of the argument. These procedures are wildly expensive and not covered by insurance. In addition, recovery time for most surgeries is 6-8 weeks. Not even mentioning the pain and discomfort, that's a long time to be away from responsibilities- whether your job, school, or simply being an ambassador for Christ. Plastic surgery doesn't seem to go along with the Bible's teaching of being wise with the resources God entrusts to us (Proverbs 11:24-25; Luke 16:10-12).

But it doesn't end there. Once you put yourself into the slippery slope of being overly concerned with the approval of the world, lines get fuzzy, decisions become difficult, and before you know it, boundaries get crossed.

Take a close look at the girl on the left. Sure, she may not be the curviest woman to ever walk the red carpet. Her hair has some flyaways, and Hollywood stylists would probably say she's not wearing enough makeup for the camera. One thing is for sure though: she has a killer smile - a smile that starts with her mouth as if she's beginning to laugh and spreads up to her eyes lit up with life.

The girl on the right doesn't have that. Her nose may be perfectly-shaped, and she may have more of the dream silhouette figure, but that smile is gone. Her eyes are lifeless. Her mouth is attempting to curve up in a smile, but it doesn't cover up the fact that she just looks sad. It's as if these two pictures aren't of the same person.

Heidi's bio on Twitter simply reads, "I love Jesus!" In an interview with USA Today, she talks about reading her Bible regularly and describes herself as "kind of a non-denominational Baptist. I have been the most religious person since I was 2 years old. I always felt this crazy connection to God."

Yet, one of her recent tweets invites you to download her new music album on iTunes (somewhat appropriately titled Superficial) -- with links to both the clean version and the explicit version. In 2009, she posed for an extremely provocative photo spread for Maxim...then posed completely naked for Playboy just a few months later.

I just want to shake some sense into her.

I assure you, my desire to shake her doesn't stem from judgement. I've made just as many mistakes as she has - perhaps more. But as someone who has been there, who has tried to live both following God and being of the world, I wish I could tell her it doesn't work. That's a hard life to live.

Trying to remember how you're supposed to act every place you go, searching to remember what actions are acceptable in which places, desperately seeking for approval of whoever is around whenever they're around....it's exhausting.

In Matthew 15:8, Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah in a discussion with the Pharisees: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."

So many of us get trapped into the same thing. We know the right answers we are supposed to say while we're at church or around other believers. Yet, we let the condition of the world have a greater impact on our lives than the teachings of God - the world that seeks to condition us to believe that our society used to be too conservative. We've evolved. We've changed with times. Things that were once unacceptable are now okay. Go ahead. Let loose. Live a little!

But that's not the case. Times change. God doesn't. No matter how much applause I get from people on this earth, it never fills the void of my deepest desire to have the approval of the One who created me.

“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised” (Proverbs 31:30). Even Dr. 90210 cannot hold back the hands of time. All cosmetic surgeries will become lost with aging. Everything that's lifted now will eventually sag. No amount of botox will be able to control the wrinkles forever.

Though I love getting dressed up, trying new beauty products and dressing up jeans and a t-shirt with funky accessories as much as the next female, I try to remind myself often that the only thing really worth beautifying is who I am on the inside: “that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight” (1 Peter 3:4).

This is not a post to question the salvation of Heidi Montag -- or even of anyone who has had plastic surgery done. I just want to offer a different perspective, so I leave you with imagery that I remind myself on days when I find myself being too consumed with what the world sees on the outside.

Imagine your Creator forming you in your mother's womb. He gets excited as He decides on every feature. He gives you your father's dimples, your mother's hair, and even throws in your grandmother's smile. He knows that when she dies when you're only 8-years-old, that smile will comfort your mother in her mother's absence. He gives you a dose of determination, even though He knows that will undoubtably manifest itself frequently in the form of stubbornness. He thinks about your life with a smile as He makes the finishing touches - the lives you will touch, how He will use you.

He also knows you will have moments where you will disobey Him. He'll guide you in the way you should go, and you'll defiantly turn against Him. But each time you return to His loving arms, expressing your regret, He'll hold you like you never left...just like He's holding you now.

And though it happens every time He creates one of His children, it never gets old. Each child He creates has a unique purpose, a hope, and a future. He thinks about how much He loves you in those few precious moments He has with just you...before anyone else even knows you exist.

The next time we're challenged to be superficial - whether with our looks or our behaviors - let's fight the urge to be plastic and pray for God to perform surgery on our hearts to align them with His. As Deuteronomy 30:6 says, "The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live."

Perfection vs. Holiness

Most people take four years to finish high school and at least another four years to finish college. I started high school in August of 1999 and graduated college in May 2005. You can do the math.

As I read, I pay attention to grammar and spelling mistakes…even if it’s just a Facebook status update.

You will never catch me giving 99.9%. I am all…and then some - or nothing.

I have actually referred to second place as “first loser” on a consistent basis.

I insist on mopping my kitchen floor on my hands and knees with a rag. Mops make too much of a mess.

Every shirt in my closet is organized by color and sleeve-length.

Sometimes, I rewrite my to-do list because when I begin crossing things off, it looks too messy.

Other times, if I forget to write something down on my list, but it’s something I’ve done, I’ll write it down and mark it off at the same time.

You get the point…I’m a bit of a perfectionist.

Sure, it’s comical. My Type B husband makes fun of my Type A+ personality whenever he gets the chance. But it’s also serious.

Sometimes, I run myself into the ground trying to keep up with the expectations I have for myself and the ones that I think others have for me (even if they don’t.)

Nine times out of ten, I would rather make myself sick than tell someone “no.”

Though I’ve come a long way since my four-year struggle with anorexia, I still have bad days.

I’m not alone. Researchers have divide perfectionists into three categories:

• Self-oriented perfectionists, who expect perfection of themselves.
o Risk factor: Depression
• Other-oriented perfectionists, who demand perfection from other people.
o Risk factor: Ruined personal relationships
• Socially prescribed perfectionists, who think others expect perfection from them.
o Risk factors: Eating disorders or suicide

I’ve been all three at various points in my life, and I know I don’t want to live like that.

My strive for perfection began with good intentions. I must have been in middle school when I highlighted Matthew 5:48 in my Bible: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

That became my life standard. I was going to be perfect. Perfect student. Perfect church member. Perfect community volunteer. Perfect employee. Perfect body. The pattern continued as I got older. Perfect seminary student. Perfect wife - perfect pastor’s wife, at that. As more roles were piled on my plate, the less perfect I was becoming in every area.

I noticed it in my blogs – particularly the last few. Not that God wasn’t teaching me and that those weren’t good lessons, but I’m never satisfied. I never think that what I have is good enough. I’ll never be one of those people who counts on getting into heaven because I think I’m a “good person.” I know that my salvation is because of God’s grace through my faith in Jesus Christ and NOTHING else.

As James and I began our “Read the Bible in a Year” plan on January 1, it didn’t take but a few days for me to get to Matthew 5:48. I wanted to skip it. But this year was different. I looked at the footnotes in my new ESV Study Bible and read:

As Christians seek to live in conformity to Scripture, they are in fact pursuing the very perfection of God…all of the Law and the Prophets find their perfect fulfillment in the perfection of the Father, which is what all Jesus' disciples are called to pursue.

It hit me that I had been striving for not only what God defines as perfect, but I wanted to fit the world’s definition of perfect too. I began praying for a perspective change – but it was honestly half-hearted because I didn’t really expect anything to change. After all, I’m pretty sure I was high strung by age six.

God didn’t let go.

The next day, I was reading in Matthew 6 when I stumbled across, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6 19-21; 24)

Now, I was starting to feel convicted. I began evaluating decisions I made with questions like: What am I trying to prove anyway? Whom am I really trying to please? What is my real motivation?

I’ve been very fortunate to have some extremely godly women in my life. During a conversation with Elizabeth Parks, she summed up everything I had been struggling with in just a few simple words:

“Michelle, perfection is not the same thing as holiness.”

Wow. That was two weeks ago, and I’ve been unpacking that statement ever since. The realizations have gotten more humbling as more time as passed.

It’s not enough just to know that I need to strive for holiness instead of perfection. But becoming more holy is not a quick fix – it’s a process. And as if that’s not enough, It’s not something I can do on my own. It’s something God has to do in me.

Sammy Tippit in Fire In Your Heart wrote, “An insight into the holiness of God will always produce a life-style of repentance. When one enters upon this highway called holiness, it does not mean that he is perfect. It does mean that he is walking down a road of change. Repentance means a change of heart or a change of mind. Throughout the Christian life we should be continually changed, or conformed, into the image of Jesus Christ.

The last two weeks, I’ve had a peace inside of me that I’m not sure I ever knew was possible. Leaps of faith that would have seemed impossible to me six months ago, have taken place with ease. Conversations that would have intimidated me just last month have been effortless.

And there’s just one secret. I’m not trying to be perfect in my own strength. I’m allowing God to make me more holy in His strength. (And you know that’s a feat that will take HIS strength!)

I found a new verse to be my life goal.

1 Peter 1:16: “Since it is written, “You should be holy, for I am holy.”