"I was watching TV one sleepless night and stumbled upon an infomercial for some beauty product. The commercial showed before and after portraits, that to my eye, looked like the same photo just photoshopped. I laughed to myself. Then I made this video."
Anyone
who is familiar with the UPC knows that the majority of UPC churches
and their affiliates teach against women wearing make-up. The
official position of the UPC on make-up is this:
“Since
the primary effect of makeup is to highlight sex appeal, we reject
makeup as immodest1.”
However,
since I spent my whole life in the movement I know from personal
experience that this is not the view taught in the churches. (At
least, I have never heard this view taught.) The argument against
make-up that I always heard was taken from three Scriptures (2
Kings 9:30, Jer.
4:30, Eze.
23:40).
The reason that it was taken from three Scriptures is because there
are only three Scriptures in the entire Bible that say anything
against make-up!
You
see, make-up is a non-issue Biblically. Nothing was ever said about
the subject positively or negatively. There are three Scriptures
that make reference to make-up in passing, but none of the three
even hint that make-up is a sin. Again, it’s a non-issue.
Unfortunately,
the UPC takes these three Scriptures, twists them out of context,
and creates a doctrine out of them. That would be bad enough of its
own, but the situation is made worse because many UPC churches teach
that wearing make-up is a sin. In other words, it’s not an
optional doctrine in any UPC church that I’ve ever attended. (The
one exception is a church that I attended for five years. The
pastor–who I dearly love and respect–allows make-up as long as
it does not change the base color of the skin. He is considered
extremely liberal by many other pastors.)
In
this article I am going to show what the Bible says about make-up,
and then respond to the UPC position on the issue.
Is
Wearing Make-up A Sin?
Now,
if you’ve read my article on Jewelry then
you read about how sin is defined. I’m not going to repeat it all
here. Instead I recommend that you read the section of the article
titled “Does the Bible Ever Say That Wearing Jewelry Is A Sin?”
I will briefly recap the subject here by reminding you that the Old
Testament Law (Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy) defines what sin
is (Rom.
7:7).
Everything that is a sin in the New Testament was also a sin in the
Old Testament Law, but everything that was a sin in the Old
Testament Law was not
necessarily a
sin in the New Testament.
The
reason that I said that is to say this: The Bible never defines
make-up as a sin. The Old Testament Law was completely silent on the
issue, and the New Testament never mentions it at all!
What
Does the Bible Say About Make-up?
As
I mentioned at the beginning of this article, make-up is only
mentioned three times in the Bible (2
Ki. 9:30, Jer.
4:30, Eze.
23:40).
Here is what these three Scriptures have to say:
2Ki
9:30 NASB
(30) When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of
it, and she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out the
window.
BTS Fotoshop from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.
Jer
4:30 NASB
(30) And you, O desolate one, what will you do?
Although you dress in scarlet, Although you decorate yourself with
ornaments of gold, Although you enlarge your eyes with paint, In
vain you make yourself beautiful. Your lovers despise you; They seek
your life.
Eze
23:40 NASB
(40) “Furthermore, they have even sent for men
who come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and lo, they
came–for whom you bathed, painted your eyes and decorated
yourselves with ornaments.
One
does not have to be a Bible scholar to see that none of these
Scriptures say anything about whether or not a person should wear
make-up! However, there is also a fourth Scripture that I often
heard used to preach against make-up. It is 1
Tim. 2:9,
which says:
1Ti
2:9 NASB
(9) Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves
with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair
and gold or pearls or costly garments.
You
might be asking at this point how 1
Tim. 2:9 has
anything to do with make-up, and that’s a very valid question! The
confusion seems to come from a misunderstanding of the KJV
translation of the Scripture. The KJV uses the word “shamefacedness”
instead of “modesty.” As near as I’ve been able to figure out,
many UPC preachers assume that “shamefacedness” means that a
person shouldn’t wear make-up. The logic seems to be that it has
the word “face” inside of “shamefacedness” so therefore it
must be talking about make-up. This is an example of the sort of
shoddy Biblical study that is done by many UPC preachers and
pastors.
Overwhelming
Evidence?
I
think anyone will agree that these four Scriptures are hardly
overwhelming evidence against make-up! The fact is, the Bible just
doesn’t say whether or not a woman can wear make-up! We have to
assume that if it mattered at all to God then He would have
mentioned it at least once,
right? Why should we have to take a few Scriptures that are hidden
in the depths of the Old Testament and twist them together in a
convoluted fashion to form a doctrine? It seems to me that God was
pretty plain about the stuff that mattered to Him! For example, look
at Gal.
5:19-21:
Gal
5:19-21 NASB
(19) Now the deeds of the flesh are evident,
which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,
(20) idolatry,
sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes,
dissensions, factions,
(21) envying, drunkenness,
carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I
have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not
inherit the kingdom of God.
That’s
pretty plain, right? I just don’t think God’s sitting up there
seeing how many people He can trick into going to hell! A god who
does that is the antithesis of the God of the Bible!
A
Few Questions for the UPC:
Here’s
a question that I have for the UPC:
If
make-up is evil because it enhances our sex appeal, then what other
things are we not allowed to do?
Are
we not allowed to wear deoderant?
Are
we not allowed to brush our hair?
Are
we not allowed to wear color-coordinated outfits?
Are
we not allowed to wear matching socks?
You
see, I really want to enhance my sex appeal! I’m 26, and I want to
get married some day! Because of that I do all sorts of stuff to
enhance my sex appeal! I brush my teeth twice a day, I style my
hair, I make sure my socks match, I exercise regularly enough to
keep the worst of the flab off, etc. What’s wrong with doing that?
Just because a woman wants to make herself attracted doesn’t mean
that she’s promiscuous! Every single one of us does things every
day to enhance our attractiveness to the opposite sex!
Here
are a few other questions:
If 2
Kings 9:30 is
saying that make-up is evil because Jezebel used it, then doesn’t
it also mean that we can’t look out the window?
If Jer.
4:30 is
saying that make-up is evil because Israel wore it while they were
backslidden, then doesn’t it also mean that wearing scarlet is
evil?
If Eze.
23:40 is
saying that make-up is evil because Israel wore it while they were
backslidden, then doesn’t it mean that it’s also evil to take a
bath?
Isn’t
this all a little bit ridiculous?!
Conclusion:
You
see, this is the problem with UPC theology: It’s a house of cards.
The UPC has made the claim that they and their affiliates are the
only ones who possess Truth. But what happens when they find out
that something they taught as Truth was wrong? It throws everything
else into question! If they can be wrong on one point then they can
be wrong on other points as well.
I
believe that this is what is happening with make-up. The UPC has
been backed into a corner. More and more people are seeing that
there is absolutely nothing wrong with wearing make-up. There’s no
Scriptural basis for not wearing it, and there’s no logical reason
for not wearing it. Now the UPC is forced to defend a doctrine that
makes no sense, because if they back off this doctrine then it might
cause their members to doubt other doctrines as well.
This
is why I believe that the Bible should be the ultimate rule of
authority. If I find that I’ve misunderstood something in the
Bible then I have no problem changing my beliefs. I don’t claim to
have a monopoly on Truth. I claim that Jesus is
the only way to God, not any one Christian denomination!
Folks,
God doesn’t care whether or not you wear make-up! If He cared then
He would have put it in the Bible! If you are a woman who feels that
God does not want you wearing make-up then that is between you and
Him, but God never gave any organization the right to dictate a
doctrine that has no Scriptural basis as being necessary for
salvation!
References:
United
Pentecostal Church International, Position
Paper on Modesty,
Accessed 2006-12-21 20:02:31 [↩]
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Bloggers
note: READ Scripture in context. Remember Kafe's (Peters) warning
when reading Sha'ul's (Paul) letters!
2Pe
3:14 So then, beloved ones, looking forward to this, do
your utmost to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,
2Pe
3:15 and reckon the patience of our Master as deliverance, as
also our beloved brother Sha’ul wrote to you, according to the
wisdom given to him,
2Pe
3:16 as also in all his letters, speaking in
them concerning these matters, in which some are
hard to understand,1 which those who are untaught
and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do also the
other Scriptures.
1 First
of all, then, I counsel that petitions, prayers, intercessions and
thanksgivings be made for all human beings, 2 including
kings and all in positions of prominence; so that we may lead quiet
and peaceful lives, being godly and upright in everything. 3 This
is what God, our Deliverer, regards as good; this is what meets his
approval. 4 He wants all humanity to be delivered
and come to full knowledge of the truth. 5 For God
is one;a and there is but one Mediator between God and humanity,
Yeshua the Messiah, himself human, 6 who gave
himself as a ransom on behalf of all, thus providing testimony to
God's purpose at just the right time. 7 This is why
I myself was appointed a proclaimer, even an emissary - I am telling
the truth, not lying! - a trustworthy and truthful teacher of the
Goyim. 8 Therefore, it is my wish that when the men
pray, no matter where, they should lift up hands that are holy -
they should not become angry or get into arguments. 9Likewise,
the women, when they pray, should be dressed modestly and sensibly
in respectable attire, not with elaborate hairstyles and gold
jewelry, or pearls, or expensive clothes. 10 Rather,
they should adorn themselves with what is appropriate for women who
claim to be worshipping God, namely, good deeds. 11 Let
a woman learn in peace, fully submitted; 12but I do not
permit a woman to teach a man or exercise authority over him;
rather, she is to remain at peace. 13 For Adam was
formed first, then Havah. 14 Also it was not Adam
who was deceived, but the woman who, on being deceived, became
involved in the transgression. 15 Nevertheless, the
woman will be delivered through childbearing, provided that she
continues trusting, loving and living a holy life with modesty. CJB
1Ti
2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in
modest apparel, with shamefacedness and
sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly
array; KJV
Since
I began studying authentic Messianic Judaism one point became clear,
“When reading scripture, context is everything”. Context
trumps false doctrines hands down.
When
in doubt about a reading the B'rit Hadashah...”Shema” -“Hear
oh Israel Adonai our God is Echad (One God)
Love
HaShem fully and be a blessing to my neighbors by Loving them as
myself.
aidōs
has nothing to do with wearing make-up !
G127
αἰδώς
aidōs
ahee-doce'
Perhaps
from G1 (as
a negative particle) and G1492 (through
the idea of downcast eyes); bashfulness,
that is, (towards men), modesty or
(towards God) awe: -
reverence, shamefacedness.
shamefacednessG127
G127
αἰδώς
aidōs
Thayer
Definition:
1)
a sense of shame or honour, modesty, bashfulness, reverence, regard
for others, respect
Part
of Speech: noun
feminine
A
Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: perhaps
from G1 (as
a negative particle) and G1492 (through
the idea of downcast eyes)
