I know the phrase. I’ve used the phrase. One thing I haven’t done is tried putting lipstick on a pig. The logistics alone make this quite the monumental feat. As I said, I’ve never tried but if you use your imagination, you can hear the squeals, picture the battle of wills and even smell the… those with a less vibrant imagination are thankful they don’t see, hear, feel and smell the way those of us who can get lost in our own thoughts do. Putting that aside, putting lipstick on a pig is not only tough, it’s not worth the effort.

No lipstick brand can make a pig anything else but a pig.

Often used to describe a failed attempt to make something look better than it does, putting lipstick on a pig, no matter your level of imagination, creates a strong metaphor. When applied to almost any part of our lives, it is a warning; do not try this at home, or anywhere else for that matter. I bet if you are a person comfortable with self refection, someone who finds that knowing yourself is the best way to live, you can find many places you have tried to dress up what cannot be dressed up, hide what cannot be hidden and/or shift attention from what is reality.

Have you been putting lipstick on your faith?

Have you been putting lipstick on your pig? Wow! I am feeling discomfort with this question so I must assume you are too. Let’s back up a bit. I think we must first establish why anyone of faith would call their faith a pig. They wouldn’t, but many on the outside might. It is not that they or we would say it out loud but rather it is inferred by the way we act. Faith, at least true biblical faith, is not a pig but because it is not stylish to be a practicing Christ follower, we might be tempted to do a makeover, to put lipstick on our pig. When I say Christ follower, I don’t mean Christian in the traditional sense of the word but rather someone who follows the teachings of Jesus.

 Did you just separate Christ following from Christianity?

 Yes, I did!  That’s the lipstick on the pig of our time. Not only is it a personal act of applying makeup, it has also become a churchwide MaryKay™ party (sorry to all of you who sell or use this product). Christ following was and is supposed to be different from the ways of the world. When we look inside ourselves and our churches, we should see something so different from the world, so radical from our sin nature, that we would call it a pig. Christianity might be appealing at least in our North American culture but Christ following is a pig to which many try to apply lipstick. I might have crossed the line but I hope you will forgive me for calling following Christ’s teachings a pig.

Many have tried to dress up the ugly.

Again, forgive me for calling Christ teachings a pig and now ugly. Again, I ask you to reflect, to look inside yourself and your church and ask this question: Have I/we tried to sugarcoat the gospel (the glaze often used on ham by the way) to make following Christ easier to swallow (something else you do with a pig once it’s dressed up)?

When I look around, I see more and more lipstick.

To be part of the in-crowd rather than the crowd that follows the One who’s birth was not in an inn because there was no room, we put lipstick on what can only be described as a pig when compared to the things that fulfil the desires of the flesh. We hold up worldly people doing worldly things as Christians. We call on grace to carry us as we embrace ungodly living and those who are popular as long as we can call them one of us. We look at Christianity as something beautiful but Christ following is something that is less desirable. Our churches do the same. We say we want to reach people with the gospel but what we are really peddling is a way to stay in the world while claiming to be different, to be Christians.

We must think Christ following is a pig or we wouldn’t be putting lipstick on it.

Jesus said, “You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 10:22 (NIV). Does the world hate you/your church because you will not tolerate its ways in your life. Does the world hate your church/you because you don’t embrace people who live outside the ways of Jesus while stating they belong to Him? If you answered yes to these two questions and while using your imagination you don’t feel the bruising, hear the obnoxious squeals and do not smell the smells that come from wrestling a pig, you most likely aren’t trying to put lipstick on one.

Stop trying to make what is already beautiful, beautiful.

Following Jesus is beautiful to those who see creation through the eyes of the Creator. The problem is, most are still using their worldly eyes to see and understand what is not of this world. Our political views take the ungodly and excuse them as imperfect followers of Christ. Our love for Hollywood, sports stars and musical talent causes us to take what they promote in their personal and professional lives and excuse what is said and done as the actions of a Christian who is not perfect.

Choose your pig.

To change the demands of Christ for those who follow Him so as to make them irrelevant, we put lipstick on a pig. You can choose which is the pig, the outcome is the same. You can suggest that the message of transformation, the command to be Holy as I am holy (Leviticus 11:44 1 Peter 1:16), is not important and therefore make the Gospel a pig that needs dressing up or you can ignore the behaviour of those who say they are Christians and ignore it because you want to fit in with them and therefore make them the pig by dressing them up.

You choose which pig gets the lipstick or better still get rid of the lipstick!

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2 (NIV)