Good Grooming

You roll out of bed in the same clothes you wore yesterday—and slept in last night. There’s no time to shower or run a comb through your hair; you just pull on your sweater and race out the door. Does it really matter how you look?

It matters to people around you. Most people would prefer to be around someone who’s at least neat and clean. And it matters to you. Not only your health, but also your self-esteem is better if your grooming is good.

But does it matter to God?

You love Jesus and you’ve accepted Him as your Saviour. If He were to come back to earth just as you are rushing to the bus stop in your dirty clothes and unwashed hair, would He take you up to Heaven just as you are?

Of course He would! Jesus loves and accepts each of us as we are. A homeless person on the street who hasn’t had a chance to shower in two years would get just as big a hug from Jesus as someone all dressed up in a tuxedo, ready for a formal dinner. God doesn’t worry about how people look when He accepts them into His Kingdom. In fact, the Bible clearly says that while people are looking at the outward appearance, God is only interested in our hearts (1 Sam. 16:7).

But what if Jesus doesn’t come today? What if you arrive at school or at work looking the way you do? Are there any good reasons why God wants His people to worry about such things as good grooming?

There are lots of reasons. Good grooming isn’t necessary for salvation, but it is important for a Christian young person who wants to live God’s way and represent Him in the world

The most important reason to care how you look is that you are an advertisement for Jesus. Like it or not, if you tell people you’re a Christian, when they look at you they’re going to think, “So that’s what a Christian is like!” You may not realize it, but non-Christians around you are checking out what you say, how you act, how you treat others—and yes, even how you look—as an example of what Christianity is.

When you take time to make sure you’re clean, neatly dressed, and well cared for, you’re sending out some important messages about the God you serve. You’re telling people that God places a high value on people and expects them to be the best they can be. Remember, God created us in His image. Shouldn’t the image of God we show to the world be the cleanest and best possible?

Not all Christians have always believed this. In the past, some believed that only our souls are important to God and that our bodies don’t matter at all. In fact, some people have gone even further, believing that the body is evil and that we should make it suffer. A medieval monk wearing a hair shirt and flogging himself probably wasn’t a shining example of good grooming. He was sending the message:  “God wants to save my soul, but He doesn’t care about my body.”

But that’s not biblical! The Bible teaches that our souls and our bodies are all part of the same package, and the best way to have a healthy relationship with God is to have our minds operating in healthy, well-cared-for bodies. The apostle John wrote to a Christian friend: “I pray that you may enjoy good health . . . even as your soul is getting along well” (See 3 John 2, NIV). God gave the early Israelites lots of instruction on what to eat and how to care for their bodies, even when they were living as nomads in the desert and good grooming wasn’t the easiest thing in the world.

Other Christians have put a lot of emphasis on health, especially on a healthy diet. But good health is a complete package. It includes not only diet but exercise, rest, recreation, and good grooming. It’s true that the phrase “Cleanliness is next to godliness,” does not appear in the Bible, although many people believe it does. Cleanliness may not be next to godliness, but it’s one thing godly people can do to care for the wonderful bodies God created for us.

Good grooming habits include bathing or showering regularly, washing and styling your hair, and keeping your clothes neat and clean. All these things will not only make you look better, they’ll make you healthier and happier too, because you’ll feel better about yourself.

These things send a positive image of Christianity to the world, and promotes good health. Is there any other reason why Christians should be well-groomed?

As a Christian young person, you should take good care of yourself for the simple reason that you are valuable to God. We hear a lot in our society today about self-esteem and self-image. No one has a better reason to have a good self-image than a Christian. God created you in His image. He bought you back into His family by Jesus’ death on the cross; He puts His own Spirit inside you to help you live His kind of life. No one is more valuable than a Christian. Taking good care of yourself will not only help you to feel better about yourself; it will honor the God who made you so special in the first place

Is it possible to go too far in the opposite direction—to put too much emphasis on grooming? If your morning routine is the exact opposite of the one described above—if you start every day with a shower, a manicure, a pedicure, and an hour of fixing your hair exactly the right way—you could be neglecting more important things: sleep, breakfast, or time with God. Remember that a Christian’s appearance should be an advertisement for Jesus, not for self. The Bible has a lot to say about the sins of vanity and pride, and if you’re paying more attention to your looks than to your relationship with God or with others, those ‘ins may be your downfall. The Bible reminds us that a Christian’s true beauty should always come from inside, not from outside (1 Peter 3:3, 4).

When it comes to keeping clean, styling your hair, and caring for your clothes, you should be looking for balance—a balance between being obsessed with your appearance, and not caring about it at all. A Christian young person shouldn’t fall into either of those extremes.

A lot of people seem to think that the ideal would be for all Christians to look exactly alike—as if God issued us a uniform as soon as we were saved. Should one well-groomed Christian young person look pretty much like all the others?

Absolutely not! God created us all different and He loves diversity. When you’re done with your “grooming routine,” whatever it is, you’ll have a personal “look” that reflects your personality, your tastes, and the culture you live in. A Christian teenager from another country, or even from a different part of town, may look, dress, and wear his or her hair totally different from you. But you can both reflect the image of God who created you. Good grooming is just one more way of making sure you can be your very best—just what God planned for you.

Discussion Questions:

1. Imagine this: There’s a boy at your school who obviously doesn’t take baths or brush his teeth very often.The other kids make fun of him and avoid him.  What could you do to help him?  How could you tell him in a tactful way he needs to learn good grooming habits?
2. Why is it important for Christians to be neat, clean, and well-groomed?
3. What is the relationship between grooming and health?How can bad grooming habits affect your health?

4. Is it possible for someone to take good grooming to the extreme?How?  At what point does the desire to look presentable turn to pride?  What does the Bible have to say about pride?

LIFESTYLE OF A GOOD STEWARD
1.SET APART the first moments of each day to spend time with God. “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice. (Ps 55:17). Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; cf. 1 Peter 5:7  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 5 (cf Ps 1:2 )

2.Improve RELATIONSHIPS through LOVE, FORGIVENESS, and RECONCILIATION. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Heb. 12:14).

3.ESTABLISH one new HEALTHY HABIT in order to hear God's voice more clearly. Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. (3 John 2).

4.Ask the HOLY SPIRIT to GUIDE you to those in your daily life who are open to hearing what God has done for you, and God’s GIFT of GRACE for them. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s possession, so that you may PROCLAIM THE VIRTUES of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light,  (1 Pe 2:9)

5.PREPARE for and ENJOY the SABBATH. …be careful to obey my rules, 20 and keep my Sabbaths holy that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’ (Eze 20:19–20).

6.Faithfully RETURN God’s TITHE which is 10% of whatever income He FIRST gives to you. "Honour the Lord with your capital and sufficiency [from righteous labours] and with the first fruits of all your income" (Proverbs 3:9)

7. PROMISE a percentage ( ____ %) of your income as a regular offering. “Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you” (Deut 16:17

ACTIVITIES OF A CHRISTIAN

1. DO ONE GOOD DEED EVERY WEEK (PREPARE THE SOIL)
2. ENROL ONE VOP STUDENT OR SHARE A SERMON THROUGH WHATSAPP; FACEBOOK etc. (PLANT THE SEED);
3. Help someone, a friend, colleague or a member of your family (Child; helpers; visiting relative) to make a firm commitment to become a follower of Jesus Christ. (CULTIVATE THE SOIL AND NOURISH THE CROP);
4. Help someone a friend, colleague or a member of your family (Child; helpers; visiting relative) to make a commitment for baptism (Harvest);
5. Help one backslider to make a firm re-commitment to become a follower of Jesus Christ. (PRESERVE)

Matheteusate Μαθητεύσατε Disciples

Main text: Matthew 28:19-20

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father

and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded

you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Key words

1. Poreuthentes πορευθέντες Going
2. Baptidzontes Βαπτίζοντες Baptizing
3. Didaskontes Διδάσκοντες Teaching
4. Matheteusate Μαθητεύσατε Disciple (imperative verb.)

A proper understanding of these words helps make sense of exactly what Jesus was

telling his disciples to do.

This text has three participles and one imperative verb. The imperative verb: is a word that tells you what to do and a

participles tell you how to do it. The first word to consider is Matheteusate (μαθητεύσατε). imperative verb. “An

imperative verb in English would typically be a single action-word, followed by an exclamation mark like… “RUN!” or

“FIGHT!” or “EAT!”

The other words to consider are the three participles Poreuthentes – πορευθέντες – Going; Baptidzontes –

βαπτίζοντες – Baptizing; and Didaskontes – διδάσκοντες – Teaching. Participles are “ing” words like “swimming” and

“running” and “eating.”

The imperative verb in this text is surrounded by three participles that were discussed above. The following are

English sentences that have an imperative verb and participles. “Taking out the trash, sweeping the floor, and wiping

down the counters, clean the kitchen!”. In this sentence the imperative verb is “CLEAN” (the kitchen) and the

participles are “taking, sweeping, wiping.” And this is the second example; “Tune up the car; changing the oil,

checking the plugs, replacing the distributor cap.” In the second example the imperative verb is “TUNE” up the car

and the way to do it is by changing the oil, checking the plugs, and replacing the distributor cap.

The idea that is communicated by the text is that as you are going along doing what you do, and going wherever

you go… DISCIPLE. In harmony with this line of thought some translations read “going therefore disciple all the

nations, baptizing them to the name of the father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all

things whatsoever I commanded you (Newberry Interlinear); “having gone, then, disciple all the nations, (baptizing

them—to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all, whatever I did

command you,) and lo, I am with you all the days—till the full end of the age (Young's literal translation). πορευθέντες

οὖν μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος,

20 διδάσκοντες αὐτοὺς τηρεῖν πάντα ὅσα ἐνετειλάμην ὑμῖν· καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μεθʼ ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἕως τῆς

συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος (The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition).

In the great commission in Matthew, “disciple is not an outcome (like a product that you end up with), but it is rather

a process that you are doing.” “The grammar is not telling us to make an object” because “there is no noun in the text

at all but there is only a single imperative verb.” In the text there is Only a command and Only an action word, Only

something to do, and what is it? It is “disciple!”. The message of the particle “going” conveys a continuous action that

is already happening right now, but that also continues to happen into the future. The idea that is communicated in the

text is that “As you're going along in your life” disciple. The great commission is not a verbal command to go, it is rather

a command to disciple as you are already going. As such it should READ: While you're going through your daily

routine, i.e. At work School; Hospital; prison or restaurant. As you are going along doing what you do, and going

wherever you go… DISCIPLE!

From the meaning that we arrive at, it implies that “every person can participate in the great commission without

ever going on a trip, because we're all involved in this Greek participle “going.” We are all going through life in the

every-day” activities. We all have a well-worn path that we walk every day, and that is the place where we do the great

commission, which is to disciple. The message is that I should help someone make a firm commitment to become a

follower of Jesus Christ. The idea is that “I lead the people that I am with, as I am going along, to commit their lives to

Jesus Christ, and lead them into the public affirmation of their faith in Jesus and this is done by baptizing them.

The Ethiopian Eunuch we read about in ACTS 8:26-40 gives us another case in point. “As Philip was going, he

met a man with questions about the Bible. He answered those questions with a Christ-centered answer, and then

lead the man into the waters of baptism immediately.” In other words, “Philip was “going” and he “discipled” by

“baptizing.” He helped the man to understand Jesus, and then baptized him as the affirming act of his new-found faith.

The message goes on to teach us that “I am to spend the time necessary with a baptized disciple teaching them

obedience to everything Jesus taught. We have to teach them everything that Jesus taught and to obey Jesus. “The word teaching conveys both imparting ideas (conveying theology), and living the things I am teaching (consistent modeling). Therefore, in the street where you live, the town you live in, your work-place, and your sphere of influence are the places where you are already “going.”  So, in those places… DISCIPLE!  Do it by baptizing and teaching. The good news is that “you are on a mission WITH Jesus, who is with you as you do what he has commanded.” Now… DISCIPLE! 

     “The work of God in this earth can never be finished until the men and women comprising our church membership rally to the work, and unite their efforts with those of ministers and church officers.” — Gospel Workers, p. 352

     Jesus’ promise is that “I am always with you until the end of the age.” I am not on my own in the Great Commission. It is the mission-enterprise of Jesus himself, who joins me in my going, my baptizing, and my teaching as I disciple others.

Total Membership Involvement (TMI) Initiative

     The TMI initiative emanates from the understanding that as we are going along doing what we do, and going wherever we go… we should DISCIPLE. It is also with the understanding that “every person can participate in the great commission without ever going on a trip, because we’re all involved in this Greek participle “going.” We are all going through life in the every-day” activities. The TMI initiative challenges each one of us to use abilities to DISCIPLE while we go through life in our day to day activities. While going in our day to day activities, we are to disciple: enrol people of VOP; send sermons and lessons through WhatsApp, Facebook, email, etc. and Conduct Bible studies with our friends; colleagues; neighbours; family members and all that we come in contact with. 

    Total Membership Involvement (TMI) Initiative “is a year-round outreach approach with many different outreach activities, and with everyone doing something for Jesus,” ( Ted N.C. Wilson.). “Public evangelism is only a part of TMI its a periodic public presentation resulting from the many personal and public outreach activities and the power of the Holy Spirit.” In TMI, “every part or gift or ministry matters.: Everyone matters, and everything needs to be connected — every effort made, individual or corporate, needs to ultimately connect people with the Source of all power and truth.” Public Evangelism is part of that process, not a stand-alone event.

     Some of the activities that we could engage in include Prayer, food banks, literature distribution, health seminars, and other community outreach programs. All these activities are all part of the continuous process preceding and following an evangelistic series or other reaping events. Ultimately, Total Member Involvement is more than an event or a series of events. It is a way of life. Christ’s Method alone: EGW Ministry of Healing p 143: “Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Savior mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me’”

     We need to engage in Prayer because prayer is absolutely essential, “At the sound of fervent prayer, Satan’s whole host trembles” (Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 346). We need to be deliberate and Have a list of people that we’ll be praying for, Pray daily for each person on the list, Make special contacts with each person weekly, Pray for an opportunity to invite them to a Bible study group or evangelistic meetings, Pray for an opportunity to send them VOP lessons through WhatsApp; or face or email, and Pray they will accept Jesus as their personal Saviour. Share VOP lessons though WhatsApp, Facebook or email. Encourage them to study by joining them in the study and make a follow up on their progress on a weekly bases. Share Adventist songs through WhatsApp, Facebook or email. You can do it.

MAKE A COMMITMENT TO DO THE FOLLOWING

DO ONE GOOD DEED EVERY WEEK (PREPARE THE SOIL)

ENROL ONE VOP STUDENT, CONDUCT BIBLE STUDY OR SHARE A SERMON THROUGH WHATSAPP; FACEBOOK etc. (PLANT THE SEED)

Help someone, a friend, colleague or a member of your family (Child; helpers; visiting relative) to make a firm commitment to become a follower of Jesus Christ. (CULTIVATE THE SOIL AND NOURISH THE CROP)

Help someone a friend, colleague or a member of your family (Child; helpers; visiting relative) to make a commitment for baptism (Harvest)

Help one backslider to make a firm re-commitment to become a follower of Jesus Christ. (PRESERVE)