I know you are intrigued by my heading. What do eyebrows have to do with Christian parenting? Not much. This post is a little light on the “parenting” part. Although, I do believe that any Biblical truth we learn is applicable to parenting, because at the very least, it should be an active word that changes us- thus changing who we are, and who we are as a parent.
Back to eyebrows.
I was noticing the other day how babies are born with such faint eyebrows. We know they have eyebrows, it’s just that we can’t see them very well. The eyebrows have a long way to go before they can try out for the next Brooke Sheilds or Groucho Marx look-alike. Even my babies with the darkest hair still have delicate eyebrows. No one feels the need to take their toddler to the salon to get waxed.
Somehow, between babyhood and adulthood, that changes. Teenage girls are already plucking and preening. Some boys are starting to develop the old uni-brow, reminiscent of Burt, from Sesame Street. I suspect the change has something to do with puberty, but I’m not motivated enough to Google it. Whatever causes the change is irrelevant. It happens.
I got to thinking about how similar that is to sin. We are born with a sinful nature, but really, one barely notices it on a sweet little baby. This faint hint of selfish humanity is there, but overall, children are held as an example of what we need to be like to enter the kingdom of heaven. Unfortunately, as we age, some of the innocence and faith wears off, and the sin nature starts peeking out a little more. Our eyebrow hairs of sin grow darker and thicker. Then they start popping up in places that are very unbecoming. Some people don’t care. They just let it go. Shaggy, bushy, unruly sin- ungroomed, for all the world to see. Others try to tame the wild hairs. Waxing, plucking, cutting. We remove the obvious, socially unacceptable sins, and comb the rest down into an attractive shape. I know that when I get my eyebrows waxed, they look great. And they stay that way for a couple of weeks. Until…
Here come the hairs again. I’ll keep them at bay for a while, tweezing at home. Finally I’ll break down and pay for another wax. (Hmmm, sounds a little bit like how some people view going to church. They’ll go just enough to keep up appearances.) Can we ever get rid of the hairs? No. They’ll always try to come back. We just have to be vigilant enough to catch them before they get out of hand.
What I want you to do is: next time you look at your eyebrows, ask yourself, “Is there any sin I need to pluck out of my life? Are there any unruly hairs that are ruining my beauty as a Christian?” You may need to go to the Great Physician (beautician?) and get a good wax.
PS. Just how are you supposed to see your spiritual eyebrows? The Word of God gives you pretty good lighting, and the Holy Spirit makes an excellent mirror. 🙂