Frequently Asked Questions

Dreads

Question:

Some say that it is an abomination for men to have long hair. What is Christafari's opinion on this? What does the Bible have to say about it?

Answer:

As you can imagine I still have to deal with people that vehemently disagree with my long hair image. The worst comment that I ever received regarding this matter was sent to me as an e-mail. The individual wrote;

"Mark, If you say you are singing about the Word of God, I wonder which Bible that is? If it is the Holy Bible of the one true God Jesus or Satan's bible? Because if you really follow God's Bible you would know what II Corinthians Chapter 11 says about men having long hair. I really do not think that someone who says he serves the Lord will look like Mark. I am ashamed on the influence you are giving our teenagers. No wonder our teenagers are going through what they are going through.

My message is for you all to obey Acts 2:38 and the Lord will guide you through his Spirit on how we must look and act in order to be saved."

Well isn't this a passionate e-mail! I have no problem commenting on the long hair issue since I have been dealing with it for over 10 years. Regarding long hair, I don't think there is any other scripture that is quoted to us more than I Corinthians 11:14. It says - "does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him". Seems a little bit confusing, doesn't it? I guess any scripture would when you take it out of context! Paul continues in verse 16 to say, "if anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice - nor do the churches of God".

Is there any reason in nature why a man's head should be uncovered and a woman's head covered (see verses 3-15)? Is there a reason why one should wear long hair and the other short hair? Not really! The uncivilized tribes know nothing of this reasoning! It can only be traced to custom. Isn't custom 'second nature'? Original nature doesn't teach us this, but custom and tradition does. That's why Paul says, we have no other "custom" (KJV).

As I have stated in an earlier question about dreads, two times in the book of Acts Paul cut off his hair to complete a vow he had taken unto God (Acts 18:18 & 21:17-26). One of the main directives of this vow was to not cut your hair for a specified amount of time or for life (Numbers 6:5). So we know that Paul's hair was not always short. Samuel took the Nazarite Vow to not cut his hair, and then of course there was Samson (see Judges 13-16). He fell because he cut his hair and rebelled against God. His mother had vowed to the Lord (even before he was born) that his hair would never be cut- as a tribute to the glory of God!

Please remember that these things were very important in Paul's culture at the time. One of the main reasons why it was so important to the Church of Corinth was because in that culture only the male prostitutes wore long hair. Of course, things have changed since then! Long hair is accepted in virtually every job place and most churches. For Paul, enforcing these things depended upon the common understanding of his culture. Where this culture no longer exists - neither do the conclusions!

In this very opinionated e-mail, the author wrote "I really do not think that someone who says he serves the Lord will look like Mark." My friend, I think that you would be pretty shocked if John the Baptist walked into your church today. You'd probably kick him out (and maybe even Jesus too). I bet you that this individual has a painting of a long haired Jesus on the wall in his house! Yet my message is no different than that of John the Baptist "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world".

One last note- according to the context of the passage, for those people who feel they should enforce the "long hair issue", they need to make sure that the women in their church are wearing veils over their heads in the pure Eastern sense that Paul was talking about! That would be a little silly, wouldn't it? Here is the point; "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the lord looks at the heart"(1 Samuel 16:7).

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