"Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?" (1. Corinthians 11:14)

Many people take issue with the teaching of this passage of Scripture. Some say it is a shame, but not a sin. This is a false dichotomy, for shame is the emotion of sin and is its natural result. It follows, therefore, that the reason it is a shame for a man to have long hair is because it is a sin. We ask, a shame unto whom? Is it a shame unto "him" - the man himselff who is wearing the unbiblical hairstyle, or is it a shame unto "Him" - God, who made man in His image? Certainly both are true. The Lord is dishonored any time His Word is disobeyed.

The word shame is translated from the Greek word atimia, which is translated "dishonor," "reproach," or "vile" in other places. In 1. Corinthians 15:43, it is used to describe a dead and putrefying, decaying body. In Romans 1:26, atimia is translated "vile. Thus to wear the hair in locks, braids, or ponytails is an offense to manhood and is a token of effeminacy (1. Corinthians 6:9). Revelation 9:7,8, portrays the locusts having men's faces, with hair as women, as demonic. It is no wonder that sodomy and other forms of immorality are rampant in our society.

For a believer to wear long hair is to commit the sin of worldliness (James 4:4, 1. John 2:15). He thus becomes a stumbling block to his fellow believers and an offense unto God.

Many try to justify their long hair by stating that Jesus Christ wore long hair. To set the record straight, there is not a shred of Biblical or historical evidence that Jesus wore His hair long. All such statues or pictures are the products of people who never saw Him and who lived hundreds of years later.

Jesus was not a Nazarite! According to Numbers 6:5,7, a Nazarite did wear long hair. However, Christ was a Nazarene and not a Nazarite! Although the two words look similar in English, they are entirely different in looks and meaning in the original language of the Bible. A Nazarene lived in Nazareth (Matthew 2:23). A Nazarite was one who took or was placed under the Nazarite vow. The most notable Nazarites, whose vow was for life, were Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist.

A Nazarite could not use any product of the vine. Thus, Jesus could not have instituted Communion if He had been a Nazarite, for in it He drank of the fruit of the vine. Nor could He have touched the funeral coffin of the dead man in Luke 7:11-18. If He had been a Nazarite, Judas would not have needed to identify Him in Gethsemane, for Jesus would have been the only long-haired man there.

The Bible speaks of Absalom, who was not a Nazarite yet had long hair. This man is to be noted for his vanity, arrogance, rebellion, and self-will - characteristics of the hippie movement of the 1960s and early 1970s. This young man came to an inglorious, shameful, and untimely end. Long hair does speak. Even today it is frequently used to signify drugs, rock music, and civil disobedience, whereas short hair speaks of authority and discipline.

In Ezekiel 44:20, God commanded the Levites, "Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll (to cut off or cut short the hair of) their heads." It is interesting how they interpreted this and carried it out. The Talmud required Jewish priests to cut their hair every thirty days. It specified what became known as the "Julian" or "Caesar" cut, as required for Jewish priests or rabbis.

"If any man seem to be contentious [carnal, rebellious, stubborn, or argumentative], we have no such custom [of long-haired men and bobbed-haired women], neither the churches of God" (1. Corinthians 11:16). Some professing Christians today look for loopholes in the Scriptures. If the Holy Spirit is truly abiding in our hearts, brethren, these things ought not so to be.

Do you like the truth? Paul said, "The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2. Timothy 4:3,4). Repent, forsake your sins, and keep the commandments of God, or you will suffer the eternal consequences.

No believing parent should permit his teenage son to have long hair if the son stays under his father's roof. The unisex trend is a device of Satan to break down and blur the mark of distinction that God instituted between the sexes. Satan means to make women ape men , and men ape women.

Those who ask the question, "How long is long?" often manifest a compromising attitude toward obeying the plain command of the Lord. Why split hairs about something God has commanded? He has drawn the line, and let us not try to erase it. Preachers who compromise on this subject, hoping to reach more young people, fight against God Almighty.

If you are a new believer in Jesus Christ, you are no longer uninformed or misinformed. As a man, patronize your local barber regularly, keep a good, decent haircut, and please your heavenly Father in this area. Don't worry about how different you might look to others! Clip off the locks that hang below your hairline. Never allow your hair to become shabby, shaggy, or bushy. If we are faithful in these little things, then the Lord says He will entrust us with greater things (Luke 16:10; 19:17). You will surely find favor with both God and men.

This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous. 1. John 5:3.