Too Much Emphasis on Outward Appearances?

Have you ever considered how much time, energy – and money – we expend working on and worrying about outward appearances?  

The global beauty and personal care industry generated more than $640 billion in 2024 and is projected to exceed more than $675 billion this year! That is a lot of makeup, mascara, eye shadow, lipstick, hair color, shampoo, conditioner and other products. For some, it’s just an effort to enhance natural attributes. But for others, it’s more like trying to make the proverbial silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

 

Digital photography and specialized software now make it possible to delete flaws and blemishes from photos. Don’t like those freckles or that beauty mark, scar or wrinkle? No problem. With a few clicks or swipes, we can make them disappear from the photographs. (But they’ll still be on your real person.)

 

We have red carpets where the famous and infamous parade wearing costly gowns and tuxedos; A-list folks trying to look better than their fellow celebrities. And even though their popularity has waned, beauty contests are still being staged, ranging from Little Miss Podunk to Miss America and Miss Universe. Even though we’re told, ‘Beauty is only skin deep.’ 

 

Each of these, along with many other pursuits, are strategically geared toward our fascination with outward appearances: Seeking to impress people with how we look externally.

 

But just as we can’t always judge a book by its cover, what we see of someone on the outside isn’t always what we’d find on the inside – if we ever get close enough to get better acquainted.

 

As a journalist, including serving as editor of newspapers and a magazine for more than 27 years, I interviewed hundreds of famous people, folks you’d immediately recognize by name. In many cases, even as a professional, I couldn’t wait to meet them and get to know what they were really like.

 

Some proved to be an absolute delight, the ‘what you see is what you get’ kind of individuals. Others, however, not so much. There were some who, from the introductory handshake, had an air of “How nice it is for you to meet me.” Ever encounter people like that?

 

Often the personas we see on TV, the movie screen, or standing behind a podium don’t line up with who someone really is. That can be disappointing, but the outward appearance in many cases is all we have to go on. Sometimes when we’re thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to get to know that person and spend time with him (or her)?’ it’s a good thing we can’t. Why pop our bubbles?

 

Interestingly, in the Scriptures the Lord repeatedly shows He has no illusions about outward appearances. Addressing the Pharisees and the religious leaders, Jesus repeatedly rebuked them for their outward hypocrisy. “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the One who made the outside make the inside also?’” (Luke 11:39-40).

 

Another time Jesus was speaking to crowds of people and His disciples, denouncing superficial religious practices. Among His statements was this observation: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness” (Matthew 23:27-28).

 

Clearly Jesus was more concerned about the truth rather than trying to win friends and influence people.

 

Well, if God puts little stock in outward appearances, no matter how good we look, what is important to Him? We find the answer in the account of how He chose shepherd boy David to succeed King Saul, another sad example of someone who looked better on the outside than the inside.

 

The Lord had sent the prophet Samuel to the home of Jesse to find the one He had chosen to become king. After reviewing each of Jesse’s sons – or so it seemed – and having God say, “No, not him…. Not him…,” Samuel learned there was one more son: David, out in the fields tending the sheep. In those days, if shepherds didn’t rank at the bottom of the totem pole, they didn't have far to fall.

 

Nevertheless, Samuel instructed Jesse to send for his youngest son. Because God had told him, “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

 

This isn’t the only time the Scriptures tell us the priority God places on the inner person. Proverbs 16:2 tells us, “All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord.” Similarly, we see in Proverbs 21:2 that “All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart.” If only we could do this with politicians, right?

 

Society places special emphasis on women’s outward beauty, including annual selections of ‘the world’s most beautiful woman.’ But it’s clear the Lord uses very different criteria. In a passage about marriage, the apostle Peter wrote to wives, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and find clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight” (1 Peter 3:3-4).

 

This doesn’t mean He wants us to present ourselves to the outside world as slobs, that we should consciously neglect our outward appearance. But if our desire is to serve Christ and represent Him to folks we encounter each day, it’s our inner person – integrity, compassion, sincerity, and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) – that He wants to shine brightest.