My primary area of ministry while on staff at Vineyard Christian Fellowship (Temecula, CA — 1990-92) was senior high school youth ministries. It gave me an excuse to let my hair grow out. It got pretty long!
One day I went to the local video shop (remem- ber those?!) looking for a movie I wanted the youth to see. When I told the lady behind the counter I was a pastor from a nearby church she said
“You don’t look like any pastor I’ve ever seen!”
How was I to take that? Was I “cool”? Was I an offense to her?
Should there be standards in the church? Absolutely! But whose? God’s, of course! And with Him it’s the heart, not hair; commitment, not clothing. It’s just too easy to hide behind the exterior.