Pentecostals

7. Why do some Pentecostals look unfavourably on those brothers who have a beard?

Because in their opinion he who has a beard is a person who never washes himself or who washes himself rarely. In other words, he is a dirty person, who doesn’t take care of his body just as the tramps who live in the railway stations or in the undergrounds. Therefore, according to them, having a beard means to be dirty or shabby.

Then, there are some Pentecostals who look unfavourably on those who have a beard because their pastor does not have a beard and has never had a beard, and in addition to this they have heard their pastor speak against having a beard; therefore they think that a pastor or a minister of the Gospel should not have a beard. Unfortunately here in Italy in some Pentecostal circles there is a strong prejudice against those who have a beard, even though it is natural for a man to have a beard because God made man in this way. Is it not true that the hair of beard grow by nature as the hair of the head? Why then don’t these people, who look unfavourably on the beard and don’t grow a beard, shave their head also?

Now, I am not saying that all men must have a beard, but that it is wrong to have a prejudice against those brothers who have a beard.

Aaron had a beard (Psalm 133:2), David had a beard (1 Sam. 21:13), Ezra had a beard (Ezra 9:3), the prophet Ezekiel had a beard (Ezek. 5:1), and Jesus Christ also had a beard for Isaiah said about Him: “I gave My back to those who struck Me, and my cheeks to those who plucked out the beard” (Isaiah 50:6 – NKJV). He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

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