By all appearances: 1 Samuel 16:6-7

1 Samuel 16:6-7

When (Jesse and his sons) came, (Samuel) looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

I had a conversation recently with a couple I know that is a generation ahead of me. We discussed how folks do and do not dress for church these days, as well as in other more traditionally formal places. These were people who live in the South, where dress is traditionally more conservative and formal.

The fact that I said it didn't matter to me so much what people wore to church shocked them a little bit. 

It would be easy to simply look at Samuel's amazement here at the Lord not choosing Jesse's older (and more physically) impressive sons to be king of Israel as back up for my assertion that God isn't concerned about outward appearances, but that would be certainly overly simple to do, and not perhaps completely honest on my part. Because to say I have never judged by outward appearance wouldn't be true.

As much as I wish it were.

Just as it wouldn't be completely honest of me to say "how we dress doesn't matter."

Because there are times when I have to admit I think it does.

Maybe then the point is that however we see - we see incompletely.

We see on the surface.

We can't see what is really going on in the interior of a person's mind and heart.

A quote I first heard from our Bishop in Southeastern PA, but comes from author Wendy Mass, says this: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know know nothing about."

Underneath what you might see - how it might seem, how they might dress, or act, or speak - is a person who God might think is a leader just waiting to happen.

Lord, it seems so simple: do not judge. But it isn't easy. Help me. Please. Amen.