It is the one month of the year when you can look as ridiculous as possible…and get away with it.
All you have to do is mutter the immortal words, “It’s for charity.”
For 30 days men take up the challenge.
The challenge to change the world.
The challenge to stand up.
The challenge to be different.
The challenge to make a statement.
The challenge to grow a moustache!
And speaking from personal experience, for some of us, it is a bigger challenge than you might think!
November has had a face lift quite literally.
No longer do we think of autumnal picturesque scenes of golden leaves on the trees.
Now we think of the “handlebar”, the “horseshoe”, the “chevron” and the “Pancho Villa” to name just a few.
We think of Moustaches!
Let me explain where this sudden love for facial hair has come from.
In 2004 a charity called “The Movember Foundation” was set up to help raise awareness for male heath problems. It planned to do this by challenging men or “Mobros,” to grow a moustache for the duration of the month of November, which is renamed MOvember, and through doing this, raise money and awareness for male health problems such as prostate cancer and depression.
However the challenge is not for the faint hearted.
It is for real men.
The Movember website has strict rules which all Mobros must adhere to so no cheating takes place.
The rules of conduct given on the Movember site are:-
1. Once registered at movember.com each mo bro must begin the 1st of Movember with a clean shaven face.
2. For the entire month of Movember each mo bro must grow and groom a moustache.
3. There is to be no joining of the mo to your side burns. (That’s considered a beard.)
4. There is to be no joining of the handlebars to your chin. (That’s considered a goatee.)
Each mo bro must conduct himself like a true country gentleman.
Simple.
Men all over the world have accepted the challenge of becoming a MoBro and attempting to grow a moustache and I myself (Stupidly) along with my male colleagues at work have also accepted the challenge.
I will be honest with you.
You do need a magnifying glass to see my attempt at a moustache.
I look on with envy at the ‘real men’ in work who can grow handlebars, and even have to groom their moustache because it is so thick.
Real men.
Real heroes.
However our charity work was not well received at the beginning.
Walking around work we were met with many giggles, laughs, sniggers, confused faces, puzzled looks at our new chosen style.
Many all believed it was a joke.
Many believed our electric razors had broken and we looked scruffy, dirty, some even described us as looking like a homeless person.
We were misunderstood.
Fast-forward a couple of weeks after a bit of Movember publicity and we are known as the MoBro’s in the office.
One glance at our upper lip and people know we have chosen to do this for charity.
Now you may need a slightly closer look at my upper lip to see if I’m growing anything at all but once you see my pathetic attempt you realize it is all in aid of Movember.
You see, people look at us and can tell we are a part of Movember and trying to raise awareness for male health problems.
People don’t need to ask, just one look at our moustaches (all with individual varying success) and people can tell we are apart of Movember.
It got me thinking.
When people look at you, what do they see?
I’m not talking about physical appearance.
What do people really see when they see you.
The question is, do they see a follower of Christ?
From the way you carry yourself.
The way you act.
The words you speak.
Your emotions.
Your morals.
Your motives.
Your actions.
When people look at you what do they see?
Do they see Jesus?
As followers of God, we are called to be examples, to be a light, to be “Christ Like” to the world.
However is this always the case?
If this really was the case would we let insignificant things such as popularity, social status, outward appearance, relationships and what we believe to be our identity or really, what we believe our identity in the world should be, get in the way of living a life for God?
As follower of Jesus Christ we are called to be his example to non-believers of him.
This is something I struggle with hugely.
God’s Son, who came to earth from Heaven, to die for us on a cross, to save us from our sin, who lived a perfect, sinless life.
We are called to be an example of him?
How can me, an ordinary guy, who fails every single day to live up the incredible perfect standards of Jesus Christ be a worthy enough example of the incredible love and grace that Jesus Christ has poured over my life to the rest of the world?
Well I will be completely honest with you.
I made this big extravagant point and thought…I don’t have an answer.
I have no idea how I am meant to do this.
I started to panic and thought ok, blog scrapped, back to the drawing board.
But with one last shot I picked up my bible verse book titled “Promises Promises Promises,” and turned to the page titled, “Self-Image” and I was overwhelmed with answers.
You see it is not left completely up to us to be an example of Jesus.
This is were I was going wrong.
Ephesians 1.11 says, “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.”
It is in Christ that we find who we are and what we are living for.
It is in Christ we find out how we should be living, how we should be setting an example to the world.
He is our example.
Our Standards.
Our role model.
A Christ Like attitude.
But even more so.
We aren’t striving for perfection by ourselves.
Philippians 4.13 says “ Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the one who makes me who I am.”
You can do it.
Simple as that.
There has never been a more motivational sentence.
You can make it through ANYTHING! With Jesus Christ.
So when you feel that standing up for God, being different from the crowd, being different from the world is too much for you, remember you can make it through anything in the one who makes you who you are.
The point is best summed up by this amazing analogy I listened to in a podcast in my car driving home from work.
When you step into an expensive jewelers, the diamonds sparkle.
However on request to get a closer look at a diamond, the jeweler will take out the diamond and hold it against a black velvet backdrop to emphasis its sparkle.
It shines.
Just like the diamond, God places us in a black backdrop. A black area were there is pain, suffering, neglect, hurt, sorrow, sadness, disappointment.
The world.
Our world.
Our school, our relationships, our family, our friends.
Our life.
God has placed us in these “black backdrops” to shine just like the diamond, even brighter for him.
To be a shinning example of the incredible grace and Love of Jesus Christ.
So the question is, when people look at you, do they see someone shinning for Jesus Christ?
1 Peter 3.3-4 “What matters is not your outer appearance – the styling of your hair, jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes – but your inner disposition. Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in.”
