Things Might Get Ugly
I am sure that you have heard the expression “God don’t like ugly.” But like many expressions that we often hear, I am not sure precisely what most people mean when they say it. One of the lessons that you quickly learn when you communicate as frequently as I do is that there can be a significant difference between what we say and what others think we mean. That difference stems from the fact that for every word, phrase, or expression, there are a multiplicity of potential meanings. For example, we routinely accuse people of not having common sense. But what is common sense, exactly? The meaning of common sense depends on what we think is common lol. What makes perfect sense to one person may be complete nonsense to another person—depending on their background, environment and values. This is why I usually press people for definitions of the words they use before I answer their questions or jump to conclusions about their ideas. They might mean something entirely different from what I may be thinking. So while I am sure that you have heard the expression “God don’t like ugly,” I am not sure what you think it means. So please allow me to tell you what I mean when I use this expression.
When I use the expression “God don’t like ugly,” I’m making a deduction from another expression that I first heard during one of my summer visits to South Carolina when I was a child. I overheard one of my aunts say “ugly is as ugly does.” The basic idea is that what determines beauty is not one’s appearance, but rather one’s behavior. I agree with that concept. If we define beauty by behavior, then that is the only basis on which I can say that “God don’t like ugly”. Unfortunately, most of us don’t define beauty by behavior. Most of us define beauty by external appearance--which is why the expression “God don’t like ugly” can be misleading. If we define beauty by external appearance, then the “expression “God don’t like ugly” would mean that God only likes beautiful people, in beautiful situations, leading beautiful lives. But nothing could be further from the truth.
i once heard the Reverend Jesse Jackson say that far too many people have the wrong idea about Christmas. He said that our view of Christmas is far too sanitized, too tidy, too clean. In most modern day Christmas celebrations, everything is so nice, neat, and orderly. Mary and Joseph have halos around their head. Jesus is in an expensive looking crib, surrounded by smiling animals with shining, polished teeth. Everything is so nice, so neat, so orderly. But according to the evidence, that’s not what it looked like. Our ideas about the first Christmas have been more influenced by the ideals of western art than by the grim realities of history. The truth is that the birth of Jesus was not so nice, so neat, or so orderly. It was far messier than that. If we define beauty based on external appearance, then we must conclude Jesus had an ugly birth, and an even uglier death!! In fact, not too many scenes in Jesus’s life would make it on an Instagram Reel.
We are obsessed with beauty. All of us do our best to try and look our best. But what exactly is beauty? According to one definition, beauty is the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from shape, color, sound, pattern or design.” The stubborn, unsettling, and uncomfortable truth is that based on this definition, Jesus’ life was not that attractive. In fact, in the prophetic resume of Jesus set forth in Isaiah 53:1-4, we find this assertion:
Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.
From an external standpoint, there was nothing attractive about Jesus. The shape, color, sound, pattern, and design of his life do not give intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind. To the contrary, as we commemorate Good Friday, we are reminded of just how ugly the cross was. Good Friday will never be as popular as Easter. Nobody is going to brunch today.
On at least two occasions (at his baptism and on the mount of transfiguration) we are told that the heavens opened, and God announced that he was well pleased with Jesus. But what is attractive to God is not always attractive to us—because God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are God’s ways our ways.
Question: Have you ever considered that perhaps what you think is beautiful God may think it ugly, and what you think is ugly God might think is beautiful?
We have an instinctive aversion to what we consider to be ugly. And as a result, we tend to avoid it. But by avoiding what we find unpleasant, we might be avoiding the path where we will find God’s true purpose for our lives, and the peace, prosperity, and provision that comes along with it.
When things get ugly, you might be getting closer to God.