A Christian Response to Religious Accommodation Requests for Beards

Religious accommodation has been a hot topic in the last few years without much effort to deny it or discern if it’s helpful. Now that we’ve had some time to look back on what these requests accomplished it has become clear that in many cases there was no spiritual benefit to the requestor, nor discernment in the approving authorities.

I am not blameless, not in the least, having helped to push through my fair share of religious accommodations. Most were not from the Judeo-Christian foundation, but some were, and in the last few years, especially the last few months, God has shown me several things from the scriptures that I want to write down for future reference and posterity.

While the following can apply to any follower of the Bible and the one true God, I am basing my observations on the Bible, not Jewish tradition or the Talmud or history, so it may or may not resonate with those who have added to the Hebrew scriptures. I’ll reference some historical figures here, but they’re to support the argument, not to act as the foundation. This article is written from a Baptist perspective.

Service Before Self

The first thing I want to say is that most religious accommodation requests should never have been submitted. I base this on the principal of laying down our rights for the privilege of serving our fellow man. Paul surrendered his rights for the blessing of preaching the gospel,

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my workmanship in the Lord?...Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?...If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others have this rightful claim on you, do we not even more?

Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ…

But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision…for thought I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. ~ 1 Corinthians 9:1,3-5, 7, 11-12, 15 (emphasis mine)

I’d say that’s pretty definitive, but if you’re not convinced by scripture, try these quotes:

Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country. ~ John Fitzegerald Kennedy

Let good citizens prefer the public good to their own private interest... For a citizen who consults only his own disgusts or profits is a parasite upon the commonwealth. ~ Cicero

No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Defending True Religious Accommodation

Sometimes there is a place for a religious accommodation, and I want to emphasize there is a time to say, “whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20) and “we must obey God rather than men” (Acts 4:29).

But, most of the requests are optional and are not matters of spiritual fidelity. If we treat all requests as valid, then we cheapen the real wrestlings of men like Desmond Doss and Alvin York and other conscientious objectors who have done wonderful things for the service of the United States despite their religious accommodation requests. We need men like them so that if the government asks us to bow before idols or wage unjust wars or pray to anyone other than the living God, we have legal precedent and past wisdom to fight for God’s righteousness and his calling in our lives.

Hugh Latimer is famous for preaching an incredibly harsh message to King Henry VIII and being threatened with his life if he didn’t recant by the following Sunday. The very next Sunday he preached the same sermon with renewed fervor. Before preaching he asked himself aloud,

Hugh Latimer, dost thou know before whom thou art this day to speak? To the high and mighty monarch, the king's most excellent majesty, who can take away thy life if thou offendest; therefore take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease!

But then consider well, Hugh, dost thou not know from whence thou comest; upon whose message thou art sent? Even by the great and mighty God! Who is all present! And who beholdeth all thy ways! And who is able to cast thy soul into hell! Therefore, take care that thou deliverest thy message faithfully. ~ Hugh Latimer

After the sermon Henry, instead of executing Latimer, remarked that he wished he had more ministers with such conviction and integrity towards God.

In this case we whole heartedly should follow the United States Marine Corps Motto: Semper Fidelis, or Always Faithful. Most of our religious accommodation requests have been about fidelity to ourselves, not our God nor to our country. We’ve expended tremendous time and effort for individuals who were just trying to be served, and this is not right. No wonder so few were helped by this process, even when it was approved. In trying to waive or change the laws of the country or organizations for individuals, we’ve failed to put service before self.

So, reader, learn this lesson well: religious accommodation is only warranted when those laws or policies directly contradict the will and commands of God. In this case all individuals are called to choose to serve God rather than man, even if it costs them dearly. If the law or policy is unjust, then it should be fought and fixed at the appropriate legislative level, not at the individual level. Lawmakers and policy makers must consider this before pushing mass requirements or mandates.

If we are faithful to religious liberty and human flourishing within organizations (discipline is good for people, despite what we’ve been led to believe, consider 1 Timothy 4:7-8, 2 Timothy 2:4, Hebrews 12:3-11), then we’ll see morale improve, a common goal be upheld, and individuals seek the highest and best usefulness of their teammates.

A person who is convinced that they cannot submit to the orders of those appointed over them while serving God, then they should be helped to transition, within a reasonable timeframe, to a place where they can serve God and their conscience.

Permanently exiting an organization for a spiritual conviction may sound harsh, but as we learned by kowtowing to every request is that the organization will soon stand for nothing. Take the military for example: the emphasis very quickly turned from defending the country to avoiding lawsuits and bad press. Fading away from long-standing convictions quickly led to forgetting priorities and allocating manpower to things that didn’t matter and didn’t even help anyone, even the people requesting the help.

Nazarite Vow

Now, the top of this list is beards. The United States military has long held to the tradition of a clean-shaven appearance. Right or wrong, this is the currently codified law of the United States military. Every military member has raised their right hand and stated that they will obey orders. But beards were the hot-button topic recently, and certainly will be again, so I want to consider a few things from a Judeo-Christian worldview on whether beards are an integral part of the faith.

First though, I want to look at temporary concessions where I think we can work with people for their good and the furtherance of the organizations where they’ll work. Take for example the Nazarite vow. Outlined in Numbers chapter six we see that a Nazarite vow has a lot of requirements. If you don’t want to read the whole list, know that it has dietary, grooming, sanitary, and sacrificial requirements. The Nazarite vow is an opportunity to seek the Lord in a similar way as a Levitical priest:

1. Be you a man or a woman from any (or no) tribe (Numbers 6:2)
2. Intentionally for the purpose of holiness (Numbers 6:2)
3. Abstaining from wine and strong drink (Numbers 6:3)
4. Abstaining from vinegar made from wine or spirits (Numbers 6:3)
5. Abstaining from all grape products (Numbers 6:3-4)
6. But for a predetermined amount of time (Numbers 6:4, though lifelong exceptions occurred elsewhere)
7. Without cutting of the hair on the head, neither the beard nor the locks (hair) (Numbers 6:5)
8. While avoiding approaching or touching a dead body (Numbers 6:6-7)
9. But ready to completely shave your head and making offering of doves if a dead body is touched (Numbers 6:9)
10. Expecting to make quite a few offerings, including a ewe lamb, a ram, and bread (Numbers 6:14-17)
11. And completely shave your head and burning your hair when complete (Numbers 6:18)
12. Along with an OPTIONAL additional contribution (Numbers 6:21)

All this to say, it’s not an easy vow, and while it does allow for the wearing of a beard, this is not a standalone command. The only optional pieces of this vow are

1. If you’re going to take it
2. How long you’re going to observe it
3. If you want to include a money offering at the end

Paul upheld the vow and paid the expenses (likely the mandatory offerings from verses 14-17 and the optional offering from verse 21) of four Jews in Jerusalem as well as observing his own Nazarite vow in Acts 18:18.

To make it more complicated, we see men like Daniel observing a sort of vow in Daniel 10:3, similar to a Nazarite vow, but mainly focusing on avoiding wine and meat (of which the Nazarite vow says nothing) and anointing, and there is no indication that he shaved his head afterwards. Daniel’s fast or vow lasted twenty-one days. Mephibosheth also observed a modified version when he knew David’s life was in danger (2 Samuel 19:24).

So, all of this to say, we should be accommodating people who want to take vows like this. If it’s in the military where there is some chance that interacting with a dead body is possible, the members should have a good plan to end the vow early (v.9). If they’re fasting from meat like Daniel, and there is a chance they will be in an austere location where vegetarian food is unavailable, they need to be sure they’ll serve others over endangering them and break their vegetarian fast early.

If the member is serious about growing a beard, ask them if they’d be willing to take leave; this could be part of the optional offering. We don’t want to be legalistic, as Daniel shows us there are other options for fasting, but we do want to be sincere and ensure our people are sincere. Again, the ultimate purpose of the Nazarite vow is to serve God, not to impose our rights or desires on others.

Joseph – The Shaved Ambassador

Do we have an example of someone who was serving God and people in austere, less than ideal, conditions? Was he required to wear a beard? Quite the opposite. Joseph spent years (at least two, maybe as many as thirteen, see Genesis 37:2, 41:1, 41:46) in prison, undoubtedly growing a pretty substantial beard. When it became apparent to the Pharaoh of Egypt that Joseph could help him, Joseph was summoned quickly. But he did not go directly to Pharaoh, the text is clear that he took some time to clean himself up, which included shaving his beard (Genesis 41:14).

There are many people worthy to be emulated in the Bible, none more so than Jesus Christ, but Joseph is near the top of that list. If Joseph took time to make himself presentable in service, and he did, then you’ll be very hard-pressed to convince me that the wear of a beard is a significant part of Christianity.

Shame in Shaving

But, you might say, shaving was seen as shameful in 2 Samuel 10 when a band of David’s men are mistreated and half their beards were shaved off and their clothing was rent in twain. The purpose of David leaving these men in hiding until their beards grew back was not so that they’d have beards, it was to let the reminder fade from how they had been shamefully treated on a diplomatic peace-making trip to supposed allies.

The shaving of half their beards was an outward sign of someone else’s sin and the inward shame of David’s men; the shaving was not the point, if it was the Ammonites would have shaved their whole heads. If any of your members are mistreated by an enemy, learn from this story to seek to restore them from their shame.

In Christianity, we see this mirrored by the transformation that turns sinners into saints (consider 1 Corinthians 6:9-11), who used to be horrible lawbreakers but are now washed, justified, and sanctified.

Jesus’ Beard

You might say, “Jesus had a beard! As a follower of Jesus, I should imitate him by having a beard! After all, 1 Corinthians 11:1 and 1 John 2:6 and 1 Peter 2:21!”

Have you ever studied how we know that Jesus had a beard? It is only mentioned in one place in scripture, Isaiah 50:6, where we see it torn from his face by those who were persecuting him. If Jesus’ beard somehow made him more holy, pious, or righteous, then we would expect the Bible to make something of it, rather than show that it was used to increase his obedience (to allow people to mistreat him) and shame and sorrow. Early Christians like Polycarp, Irenaeus, and Justin Martyr don’t mention Jesus having a beard at all, except to quote Isaiah 50:6.

Charles Spurgeon and Clement of Alexandria made arguments from nature that a beard is natural, scriptural, manly, and beneficial, and I can agree with them on all of those. But beards are all still optional. Spurgeon went on to say,

You might put on tomorrow a garment without seam, woven from the top throughout; you might put sandals on the soles of your feet; you might wear your beard uncut, and so say, “In all this I seek to be like Christ,” and you might even ride through the streets of Jerusalem upon a colt, the foal of a [donkey], but you would be no more like Christ than you are now. The greatest conformity to his image must be within. (emphasis mine)

Become an imitator of Christ by coming not to be served, but to serve (Mark 10:45), and enduring the suffering he endured (Romans 8:17-18, 1 Peter 4:1-3).

Final Thoughts

If a person wants to grow a beard, they are welcome to do it outside of an organization that requires it.

If you want to anoint your beard with oil, then do so physically outside of the military or when you’re on leave. If you want to do it metaphorically, then humble yourself and promote unity among brothers (Psalm 133:1-2, compare 1 John 2:20). In multiple cases the beard was the downfall of the wearer (1 Samuel 17:35 (granted, it’s a lion that suffered, but it’s impossible to grab something by the beard if they don’t have a beard…) and 2 Samuel 20:9).

In other places it was a source of shame (like David’s servants, and Jesus’ humiliation). Ezra and Ezekiel used their beards to express mourning and judgement over the sin of the people (Ezra 9:2-6, Ezekiel 5:1-17). If Ezra didn’t have a beard, would he have been able to express his mourning? If Ezekiel didn’t have a beard, would he have been able to illustrate God’s judgment? In both cases these were apt illustrations, not requirements.

Conclusion

There is no room for religious accommodation for physical reasons in Christianity, only in matters dealing with eternity. When it comes to these accommodations, we’re not waiting for it to get approved on earth, we’re announcing that it is already approved in heaven.