IN PERSPECTIVE: PLASTIC SURGERY

I remember a day during the Summer of 2011. I was at Wal-Mart picking up a few items and enjoying the company of a good friend. She headed to the aisle over from me because she had to grab something. As I stood in the hygiene and beauty aisle, I browsed the selection of hair products to see if there was anything that I felt I “couldn’t live without.”

As I scanned the shelves of products, I met eyes with another woman that was turning the corner. I smiled and gave her a nod when she stopped and came back towards me. I figured she probably forgot something so I continued minding my business when she said “Hey you know, you’re very pretty” I thanked her and let her know I appreciated the compliment.

“You’re welcome,” she said “If you would just do something about your nose, I think you would probably look perfect”

I stepped back in disbelief, I was sure I could not have have heard another person say something so mean. She must have noticed my shock because she followed with “Don’t get me wrong, I just think your facial features would be perfect if you considered getting some work done on your nose” she added that she had some work done the previous year and told me that it changed her life.

I did all I could to remain composed, not just because I was offended but because it was ironic. You see, plastic surgery — specifically a nose job — did change my life. If anyone could tell you that, it would be me.

[bctt tweet=”“Plastic surgery — specifically a nose job — changed my life.”” username=”newidentitymag”]

When I was fourteen, I was standing in front of my bathroom mirror getting ready for the day. That morning I was very tired and felt sick. My nose was stuffed up and I still had a headache that had lasted over a week. There was constant pain from the time I woke up until I fell asleep each night. It had gone on this way for so long, I had gotten used to it but that morning I felt worse than usual.

I had already been to doctors and they prescribed me with allergy medicine, telling me that I was just getting sinus headaches because of the change of seasons. That morning I went to blow my nose and out came a small greyish piece of what looked like flesh followed by a terrible nosebleed. I called my mother into the bathroom and she decided that it was time to see another doctor.

We eventually learned that I had a very serious case of nasal polyps and that there was a high chance that they were not all benign. Because of the severity and the size of the growths, the next few months became an indistinguishable string of tests and procedures. They all lead up to the end result which was the reconstructive surgery that not only changed my life but saved it.

It wasn’t until years later that I even thought about the plastic surgery aspect of my procedure. My main focus if I ever spoke about it was to let people know the medical reasons behind it.

When I was 20 I was helping with my church’s youth group and one service my brother told some of the students about the fake parts of my nose. As the flood of questions and comments came in, I humored all of their jokes and entertained their curiosity but one of the questions caught me off guard.

One of the students pulled me aside to ask if I thought plastic surgery was okay. The student was thinking about getting a procedure done as a graduation present from her parents. She had always been insecure about the shape of her nose and wanted to know if there was anything wrong with changing it. This was the first time I could recall that I had ever seriously thought about my views on plastic surgery.

After taking a moment to think about it, I told the student that I did not feel it was right to be so insecure about physical appearances that going under the knife was an option. I expected that to hold her over until I had more time to figure out my own beliefs but she quickly replied, saying “but you’ve had work done, so what’s the difference if it was a medical thing or not? A part of your body was one way before and now it is different.”

I let the student know that I could not give her an answer that favored or discouraged the idea. I asked her to give me some time to think about it more seriously and if we could both be praying about it. She said that she would wait for our next conversation before agreeing to anything.

I’ve always liked the definition that sin is anything we think, say or do that goes against God’s commandments. In my heart, I knew why I didn’t think plastic surgery was necessary but I also couldn’t see where God would be displeased with cosmetic surgery any more than he would be displeased with someone wearing lipstick or buying a pretty dress.

In Romans 5:8 the Bible says “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He loves us completely and many feel that if the Lord could love us enough to send his son Jesus Christ to die for our sins, then surely he could love us no matter our appearance. As I began to use that as my argument for why it is probably wrong to get cosmetic surgery, I began to think about how the same idea applied to why plastic surgery might be okay.

I needed to figure out exactly what I believed about this idea. At the time, I was leading a lot of discussions about beauty, identity and self-worth with the ladies in the youth group. We had tackled all of the big subjects of beauty from how makeup makes women feel to what the Bible says about dressing suggestively. We had discussed so many things in detail but this was the first time I had ever thought about cosmetic procedures.

What about the people considering surgery like the student that questioned me? I wondered if cosmetic surgery was a sin or if the Lord looked at it as something done to take better care of our bodies. What was the real difference between necessary surgery and cosmetic?

Some feel that those that get cosmetic surgery struggle and according to Joseph Edwards, a pastor of a young adults ministry “they just have low self esteem. [Sometimes people] hate themselves so they think looking good will change that.” This can be true and that is one of the reasons it is so important to pray about and discuss the reason behind the procedure with those who care about us the most. When we look to verses like John 15:9, we are reminded that Christ loves us despite any flaws we may see, whether in the mirror or otherwise.

Some would also argue that those who go under the knife actually love themselves more than those who won’t. Katie, a 26-year-old mother of two opted for an augmentation procedure and says that “I got [the procedure] done because I love myself and my family enough to be happy. When I look good, I feel good… if I think I need surgery as I get older, I don’t think there’s a thing wrong with it here and there”

My greatest issue with it was trying to figure out if it was a sin. I’ve always liked the definition that sin is anything we think, say or do that goes against God’s commandments. In my heart, I knew why I didn’t think plastic surgery was necessary but I also couldn’t see where God would be displeased with cosmetic surgery any more than he would be displeased with someone wearing lipstick or buying a pretty dress. To me, it seemed like it was more of a matter of the frame of mind.

Many of the people talked about in the Bible underwent transformations. Though few of them were physical, one that stands out is that of Queen Esther. Esther was a young Jewish woman that was being considered for the king’s wife. He was to choose from a group of specially selected women that were supposed to be the most beautiful and interesting of the kingdom.

In Esther 2:12 the Bible says “Now when the turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after being twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their beautifying, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments for women.” This tells us that even though there was no surgery involved in their process of getting ready for the king, there was a “beautifying” period over the course of a year. A lot of this process was cosmetic and though there are no major details given about it, in those days this may have been their version of what we could consider a light cosmetic procedure.

The Bible talks about the love that God has for us. Even in the commandments that the Lord gave us, we can see that he is only looking out for the best interest of humankind. While there are no verses that specifically say “don’t get plastic surgery”, there is still a guide for us to gauge the appropriateness of it.

We can take this biblical example and look at how God gave Esther favor in such a process. However, this doesn’t mean that the Lord was in favor of the procedure she had to go through. The beautification process was a requirement of King Ahasuerus’ kingdom, not God’s requirement for her. Esther was an Israelite, one of God’s chosen people, and she was made to change herself according to the king’s rules in order to appeal to him. The beautification process was a requirement, not a choice and it seemed to be more social than righteous.

A few summers ago I was traveling with my band and one night we met a young woman named Anita* who wore sunglasses even at night and indoors. She had a long hairstyle that hid her forehead and drew attention from her face. She avoided bright areas and even though she had an outgoing personality, it was clear she was feeling embarrassed about something.

We later learned that Anita had been in a car accident. In addition to other injuries, a pole had gone through her skull and half of the skin on her face had been damaged. She was embarrassed by the condition of her skin and would try to hide behind hairstyles and accessories.

She and I hit it off so we kept in touch through social media. We would check in every month or so to pray for each other and she would come to our concerts near her area. Two years ago, Anita decided she was going to start having plastic surgery for the reconstruction of her face. Everyone was excited for her when she began writing a blog about it so people could follow her journey. Every time she posted, she got hundreds of comments from other Christians that told her they were happy and praying for her.
To date, Anita has undergone 10+ surgeries that have included skin grafts, rhinoplasty and brow lifts. She says “plastic surgery changed my life. I’ll never look the same as I did before… but now I don’t feel like I have to hide. I don’t worry that people will be afraid of me anymore.”

At a conference I met a charismatic couple, they were friendly and passionate about God. They pastored a church together and often speak at conferences and other events. Years before, the wife had decided to have a permanent cosmetics procedure and word spread quickly about it. Soon she was receiving hate mail and being told to her face that she was vain and couldn’t really love God because she was so obsessed with her appearance.
The church was supportive of Anita’s surgery even though she underwent some of the most intense plastic surgery procedures and documented it through the internet. Yet, something as simple and discreet as permanent makeup was considered wrong.

Some argued that because the pastor’s wife was in such a public ministry, she should be held to a higher level of accountability. Though by default, it is also saying that Christians who do not appear in front of large crowds or a camera should be able to do whatever they please. With so many conflicting opinions, without scripture it is impossible to say if plastic surgery is sinful or even morally wrong.

The Bible talks about the love that God has for us. Even in the commandments that the Lord gave us, we can see that he is only looking out for the best interest of humankind. While there are no verses that specifically say “don’t get plastic surgery”, there is still a guide for us to gauge the appropriateness of it.

The Lord created us to be as we are. The Bible says in Matthew 10:30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” To constantly feel bad just because our nose seems a little too big or our shirts don’t fit the way we want them to is not what God intended for us. Our differences are part of what make us individuals so to worry that we are not beautiful or desirable in any way is the opposite of what the Lord wants for us.

This may be why it is a popular view in the church that only health-related procedures are acceptable. These ideas convince us that if someone feels so bad about their physical features that it keeps them from being happy, it seems that it is a matter of pride, insecurity and maybe a lack of gratefulness that would make them want the surgery. However, if someone were to have the same type of cosmetic surgery because they were in pain or ran the risk of health problems, their surgery could be considered a blessing.

With that in mind, perhaps the nature of sin in cosmetic surgery is more about the reasoning behind it than the actual procedure. The taboo may come from the societal pressures of what real beauty looks like. Since there have not been healthy alternative examples explored in the church, some may assume that things like plastic surgery tie Christians to the vanity of the world.

We can look to the two commandments that Jesus called the greatest, in Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV):

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Jesus spoke about loving God and loving others as the most important commandments. Jesus reminds us here that we are called to love God with everything we are and understand that his love for us is unconditional. He loves us wholly and completely as we are, just as he proves in verses like John 15:9 which says “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.”

Above all, I feel it is safe to say that if the recipient has clarity and a substantial reason for doing it, a cosmetic procedure could improve a person’s life. Though just like every major life decision, one should take time to be sure they are considering God’s best for their life. With prayerful consideration and a healthy frame of mind about it, cosmetic surgery may not be a bad thing afterall.

*names changed to protect identity