Physical Appearance - 2 Corinthians 10:7-10

10:7 - I’m not sure if Paul is bringing up “outward appearance” because he wants to demonstrate the difference the spiritual war in which we are engaged or if he’s responding to specific comments from some Corinthians about his physical appearance. If it is the first one, I would understand this to mean that we can’t always figure out by looking at someone their spiritual status. I’m not a cookie cutter Molly Mormon type, I don’t wear makeup, I have tattoos, etc, but I’m still a member of the Church. And it’s interesting seeing the difference between people in Church in Utah vs. outside of Utah. And I guess that has a lot to do with the lack of genetic diversity in the Utah population. I mean, there was a huge immigrant population in the 1850-1880’s but then no one else really moved here to diversify the gene pool. But that’s not the point, the point is that just because someone doesn’t look like the stereotypical “saint” doesn’t mean that they aren’t and surely doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be. Paul makes an interesting statement that I couldn’t understand, but if we look at it in the context of not judging other, then it makes more sense. Basically, Paul says, “if anyone considers himself to be a disciple of Christ, then let him also remember that we too consider ourselves to be Christ’s.” What I get from this is that it’s up to the individual to decide whether or not their heart belongs to the Savior, and anyone else. Someone who fits the “typical” appearance can just as easily decide that the gospel is not for them. And what is the “typical” appearance of a saint? Jesus gives no description of what His followers look like, except for the light that shines in them, but that is God’s gift, they don’t create that on their own. There are cultural “standards” that vary between time and place, but Jesus never said, “have blonde hair” or “weigh 12 pounds” or anything like that. He meets us where we are, spiritually and physically. It also makes the point that we are all on the same team, regardless of personal appearance. 10:8-9 - Paul’s personal appearance seems to be a point of contention for some of his detractors over in Corinth, which is interesting because the way that Paul looks has absolutely no bearing on my testimony at all. This would argue that Paul’s personal appearance is a complete non-issue in regards to the truthfulness of the gospel. Commenting negatively on someone’s personal appearance has always really bothered me. It’s probably because I have been so insecure about my own physical appearance that I’m very sensitive to comments like that, and I refuse to participate in making someone feel as bad as I have been made to feel. For instance, I might not be a fan of a certain president, but any commentary that I make about him will never include anything about his physical appearance. In fact, it really bothers me that people keep calling him, “Cheeto” and other orange things, or ridicule his hair and stuff like that. I feel that when we focus our attention on attacking someone’s physical appearance, then we delegitimize our critiques of his politics. Like when he calls a woman “horse face” or “nasty,” that’s only a commentary on his inability to logically debate their ideas. I won’t do it, there’s plenty of other issues to debate. I think Paul’s saying that his letters have God’s authority but also his uplifting Spirit. He doesn’t want them to be afraid of the counsel because it’s ultimately for their good. 10:10 - It does seem that he’s pretty butt hurt about his detractors talking crap about his physical appearance though, because he says “for his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible.” So they are saying, “he writes very powerful stuff, but when he comes here in person, he’s not that great.” I wonder if they are implying that they think maybe someone else is writing the letters and Paul’s just taking credit for them. The word “contemptible” is cross referenced with 2 Corinthians 11:6 which says, “But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been thoroughly made manifest among you in all things.” I wonder what he means by “rude is speech,” because I have been accused of being “rude in speech” just naturally, meaning that I’m not a warm and friendly type, so I can relate to being this type of person. I’m taking Paul’s description of his appearance from his critics as meaning that they think that he’s ugly and annoying. The article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com quotes Joseph Smith on January 5, 1841 describing Paul as, “he is about five feet high, very dark hair, dark complexion; dark skin; large Roman nose; sharp face, small black eyes, penetrating as eternity; round shoulders, a whining voice, except when elevated, and then it almost resembled the roaring of a lion. His was a good orator, active and diligent, always employing himself in doing good to his fellow man.” I’m not sure how Joseph Smith knew this, but I had heard something like in the early days of the Church, all types of people ministered to Joseph Smith and taught him the gospel, like Nephi, Moroni, and I guess that includes Paul. Honestly, that description of Paul is not what I envisioned and I can see how that might be surprising to a lot of people as well. Now, is it enough to reject the gospel? Of course not. Neal A. Maxwell as noting Paul’s “absence of a commanding physical presence- or, in modern political terms, the absence of charisma- can cause people to disregard or dismiss one actually sent of God, even though the substance of the individual or his message is exceedingly important.” Human nature is interesting, in that people can be naturally drawn to someone, even though they are con artists or predators of some kind. There is a personality trait that makes people more appealing to the masses, and apparently Paul didn’t have it. This begs the question, why didn’t God use one of his super appealing, convincing prophets to bring the gospel? I think it’s important for people to accept the gospel because of the message and their desire to have Jesus Christ in their lives. If people become attached to a certain leader or a certain preacher, then their devotion to the gospel might not be as deep as it needs to be. I think this is one of the reasons why missionaries are rotated out every few months, to avoid investigators becoming too attached to a certain missionary. I think this is why Joseph Smith had to die before the saints moved to the west, so that those who came went did it because they loved the Lord, not because they loved Joseph and wants to go with him. Same with Moses. The IM says about the attacks of Paul’s physical appearance, “demonstrate the weakness of his detractors’ character. The scriptures contain many examples of the Lord using individuals with perceived physical weaknesses to accomplish His work. For example, both Enoch and Moses struggled with physical challenges. The Lord stated that ‘the weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the might and strong ones.’” Physicality doesn’t mean anything to the Lord. I mean that of course there is the word of wisdom and treating our body like a temple and all that, but for the most part, the IM quotes Elder Marvin J. Ashton as teaching, “When the Lord measures an individual, He does not take a tape measure around the person’s head to determine his mental capacity, nor his chest to determine his manliness, but His measures the heart as an indicator of the person’s capacity and potential to bless others.” This life is hard enough and obeying the commandments is challenging as we grow spiritually. Just imagine how much more difficult and arbitrary life would be if our physical bodies were being judged as well as our spiritual selves. This is pretty comforting to me actually. And I think it’s interesting because Satan tries so hard to make us hate our bodies and for the most part, he succeeds. But ultimately, our feelings towards and our treatment of our physical bodies don’t really matter too much because if anyone who physically hurts themselves is struggling with a mental health issue, so that’s not a sin, but a challenge. Anyone who is healthy in mind also wants to be healthy in body, so they do what they can to accomplish this. It’s nice to know that my body is not what is being perfected in this life, that’s a comfort and something I needed to learn right now. Just a disclaimer, I write this as someone who struggles with serious mental health challenges.