HAIR-ITAGE OR HAIR-ETICAL?

•    much spent on hair maintenance
•    Great Command includes loving God with all we are
•    offer parts of our body to God as instruments of righteousness
•    hair actions reflect deeper issues

HAIR’S UPSIDE: HEALTH, BEAUTY, FIDELITY

•    indicator of wellness, virility
•    OT: Esau, Absalom, Nebuchadnezzar, Elijah, Ezekiel
•    “Nazirites” special class - including Samson
•    sign of fidelity: different from pagan styles

A WOMAN’S GLORY, THE ELDERLY’S HONOUR

•    important part of woman’s beauty / “glory”: power to capture kings
•    gray hair the splendour of the aged
•    King of King’s hair colour .............

GOD’S PROTECTION, PRESERVATION, AND CARE

•    God knows number of, and can protect entirely, hairs on our head
•    hair visual indicator of poor diet / illness / trauma

MOURNERS, DECEIVERS, AND MANIPULATORS

•    loss of hair associated with grief, protest, shame
•    element of wicked Jezebel’s arsenal: used to seduce / deceive
•    church not to be competition of bonnets or braided hair: beauty inner not outward
•    Greek woman’s head covering sign of authority / orderliness in that local context
•    real men lead with love, e.g. chopping onions

DOWNFALL OR DEVOTION? HANGUP OR HALLOWING?

•    set mind not on flesh (death) but Spirit (life, peace)
•    offer our hair as part of “living sacrifice” in worship
•    Christ’s inner transformation producing true beauty that mirrors His beauty
•    Absalom proud of hair, but proved fatal hang-up
•    sinful woman washing Jesus’ feet: tool motivated by forgiveness
•    Mary spreading perfume with hair: become identified through devotion