Haircut Confessional

In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 2:3 (NLT)

When I go to get my haircut, something weird almost always happens. No, it’s not necessarily anything I do, or even the barber does. It’s what happens when they find out my career. Hair stylists, barbers, whatever you want to call them (just be nice), are generally good at having conversations with their customers. One of the normal questions they ask in the course of the conversation is, “What do you do for a living?” As soon as I say that I am a pastor, one of two reactions happen: 1) They shut up, and the conversation dies there; or 2) they begin confessing all of their sins, the sins of their children, their neighbors, their dogs, cats, and bunny rabbits. They share all of the consequences that have resulted from their poor decisions. I try to kindly let them know that I am not a priest, but it doesn’t do any good. But, generally, I think they just want to unload their burdens on someone. So, I sit, listen, remind them to actually cut my hair, and offer to pray with them when they’ve finally got it all out. It’s weird. It’s awkward. It is what it is.

Here’s why I tell that story. Why do we complain about the consequences of our sin? Whether it’s to a pastor, parent, friend, or even God, why do we feel like we should complain about our situation? We’ve made it after all. We’ve decided to follow our own wisdom, rather than that of our Creator. Therefore, our decision-making is flawed, and bad things will happen as a result. It’s like deciding to purposefully smack your hand with a hammer and then complaining about the pain.

As our verse today says, “In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Every time we make a decision apart from God, we will suffer as a result. And, it’s our own fault. His wisdom is perfect. Our wisdom stinks. We will make poor choices when we trust our instincts, feelings, emotions, or any other source that is not of God.

So, how do we access God’s wisdom? In two places: 1) the Bible, and 2) the Holy Spirit. I will say this, the two are not mutually exclusive. In other words, the Bible reveals the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit reveals the Bible. We access the fullness of God’s wisdom by trusting in, and interacting regularly with, both sources.