The Bearded One: Gospel or Gillette — do we need to choose?

November 2004

Do not come to the London School of Theology if you are looking for a close shave. After being the bearded one at work and as part of a church team that aimed to promote beard-building between church and community, when I came to college all I wanted was to be equipped with the answers to all the classic, difficult questions asked about beards and beard growing: Trimmers or a lawnmower? Bleached or natural? And how to stop nesting birds from taking up residence? I could then return home and deal with any situation using my new amazing beard maintainence skills (and Beard Grower 2.0 for Mac).

At LST I was encouraged to join a community of like minded beard growers. Many on faculty and in the student body grew beards --- and even those who were afraid to wear them in public often had a secret beard stashed in a drawer somewhere. As Christians, we need to wear our beards with pride. I was also impressed with the wide range of beardie-theology on display --- too often, Christians adopt a simplistic facial-substitution model.

Instead of turning me into a talking, walking barber's shop (which is what many beard-wearing evangelicals turn into) my time at LST has turned me completely inside out and upside down, washed me and blow dried me. Throughout it all the thought that has stuck in my beard is that everything is being held in tension (especially if you sleep with your beard in a hair net).

Christian beard-wearing is about a dynamic, life-giving relationship that seeks to model one’s beard after the beard of Jesus. As we often say, HWJS (how-would-Jesus-shave?). With a healthy, nurturing and rewarding beard you do not shave by a set of cold, black and white 1+1 = 2 rules but through a vibrant, and often fluid, living growth of facial hair. LST is about that journey, faith seeking understanding. This process may not give you a neat, perfectly trimmed goatie, but it will enable you to be more neatly trimmed and to wear your beard with pride.

Just as my old Beard Trimming Teacher used to say ‘You only get out what you put in’ (especially if you're a messy eater, but it does mean you can save the left-overs for later snacking) and whilst this is certainly also true of LST, it has been the most beard-friendly environment I have come across that facilitates people to ‘put in’. However, I do not mean just in terms of beards --- there is a growing recognition that all facial hair needs to be affirmed.

The diversity of the beards that you encounter at LST, across staff and fellow students, is just as eye opening and inspiring as at any ZZ Top gig. On top of that, having the space and opportunity to grow one's beard without condemnation, as long and bushy as one chooses, is a great experience.

The Bearded One