Getting the look

It's hard to be a relevant, missional servant-leader. Your efforts are rarely acknowledged and your creative attempts at lifting worship to a higher plane so often go unnoticed.
I was in my luxury suite at a hotel in Miami last week, and looking over my Twitter feed and realizing that no one, NO ONE, seemed to know I was not working away at my home church.

This is a common problem. Things that seem obvious to us just pass by other people. We start a new sermon series and no one says a thing. We move into a larger office and nothing is said. We arrange a large, multi-regional pastor's conference and it's all, Ho-hum.

If we change our clothes or appearance, we are lucky if anyone says a thing. We might as well be invisible.

But it's all okay, because God notices when we use a new, state-of-the-art headset. If he has the hairs on our heads numbered, he also has our headsets numbered. He notices when we've lost five pounds at our new home gym. He enjoys our new Ipad and likes our clever Facebook status message, even when no one else does. He takes notice when we've rubbed shoulders with our new friend, the hot Christian celebrity. Or when we've clinched the book deal. He knows. And that's really all that matters.

God's Seven Hair Care Tips

Relevant leaders don't want to preach dry, boring messages straight from scripture. It's important that they identify "felt" needs and appeal to those. Later, after the unchurched seekers become regular attenders, you can hit them with the gospel, or not.

The important things is to focus on felt needs. And what is felt more than hair? Face it. You're always touching your hair. You always leave the house wondering if your hair looks okay. Hair care is one of the TOP felt needs.

So, how does God want us to care for our hair?

1. First, God wants us to HAVE hair, even if it's just a little. He's got the number of our hairs counted. That means, he expects us to have hair, enough to count anyway.

2. The fact that he cares about something as seemingly insignificant as hair means that little things are important to him. Yes, even hair care and hair style.

3. Is it okay for men to have long hair? Yes. Some of the greatest Bible heroes like Absalom and Solomon had long hair. God's okay with that.

4. How should we care for our hair? Well, we know that kings had their hair anointed with oil. That means that hair care products are biblical. Use some gel every once in a while. Anoint your hair and make it look good. You are reflecting God if you claim his name. Are you a Christ-follower? Then, look your best.

5. Don't spend too long in the salon. Both Paul and Peter warn women against taking too much trouble with their hair and focusing on outward beauty. Still, you don't want to look like a slob for God.

6. You can serve God with your hair. A woman in Luke used her hair as a drying cloth to wipe Jesus' feet. She served God with her hair. Make your hair a focal point (I wish my hair were ten-feet-high!) and you might just open up an opportunity to discuss spiritual things.

7. Gray hair is not a problem. Scriptures talk about gray hair as a good thing, a revered thing. So, if you're going gray, that's OK.