Is It Okay for Christians to Get Plastic Surgery?

Is it okay for Christians to get plastic surgery? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Well, hi there.

Happy Friday. I'm Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us right now with your question. Our phone lines are open.

That's 1-833-843-2673. By the way, we are live on Instagram and YouTube today. You can watch us. Watch Adriel in the studio and send him your question that way. And of course, you can always email us at questionsatcorechristianity.com.

And Adriel, I just looked at the calendar and realized it's Friday the 13th, so don't walk under any ladders or be mean to any black cats. Yeah. Well, Bill, we don't believe in. Okay, I don't. Bill, is that you? No, it was not.

That was our producer. Yeah, Bill, I don't believe in that stuff. Okay. And so I'm glad you don't.

Yeah, thanks. Oh, by the way, we do have a great. Oh, no, he's going crazy with the witch sound effect we do with Halloween coming up. We want to mention we actually have a great resource just for you, which is on the topic of spiritual warfare. We'll be mentioning that a little bit later on. Tell you how you can get it.

It's absolutely free to really prepare you, we think, for some of the discussions that might come up with friends or family members or even your kids about Halloween. So stick around for that right now. Let's go to the phones. We have Adrian on the line from St. Louis, Missouri. Adrian, what's your question for Adriel? Adrian, are you there? I think Adrian's got some phone issues. Can you hear us, my friend? Adrian, I think you're going to have to call us back because we unfortunately we can't hear you.

Let's go to a voicemail from one of our listeners. This came in from Liza. My question is, what does the Bible say about how many kids to have and is it bad to limit the amount of kids that you have?

In today's day, things just cost so much. And so a lot of people limit to two or three kids. But is that biblical or not?

Is that meant to happen? And what would God view it as? Thank you. Hey, Liza, thank you for this question. So a couple of things here. One, I do think that there is wisdom that needs to be exercised here. So the Bible doesn't say you need to have seven kids or five kids or that if you only have two kids, you haven't had enough kids.

And so I think we need to be gracious to one another. I think this is an area where pastors should be binding people's consciences. On the flip side, I think it's also important to recognize that in our society, in our culture, there really is a minimizing of the importance of family and the blessing of children. Because when the Bible talks about children, it is this gift, it's this blessing. I love the way Psalm 127 puts it. I'm going to just read the whole Psalm because it's only five verses. Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.

Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early to retire late to eat the bread of painful labors, for he gives to his beloved even in his sleep. Behold, children are a gift of the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. How blessed.

They will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate. And so just recognizing that, I think that's something that we need to recover because I think that so many people in our culture, and this is, I think, clear outside of the church, but I think it's also crept in, to a certain extent, into the church, is just don't view children as a blessing, as a gift from the Lord. Now, does that mean that you're obligated to have as many children as is physically possible? No, this is where I think that you have to exercise wisdom as a family. I do think it's good for us also to check our own hearts and to ask ourselves the question, well, is it that I'm not wanting to have children for some selfish reason?

And so I think that there's room to explore that. The other thing is sometimes people will point to the cultural mandate that we find in Genesis where it talks about being fruitful and multiplying, and they apply that today as if it meant that that just means you're supposed to have as many kids as you possibly can. But what's so interesting is that language of fruitful multiplication, of being fruitful and multiplying, when you look at that phrase in Genesis and you see how it's unpacked in the New Testament. In particular, in the book of Acts, Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, goes to that phrase over and over again in these summary statements throughout the book of Acts, and he attaches that reality of fruitful multiplication to the advancement of the word of God, the making of disciples, the preaching of the gospel. And so what does it look like to be fruitful and multiply for the church today?

It's not merely just having children, right? That's not how the kingdom of God advances, as it were, all by itself. If that was the case, then you wouldn't even have to be a Christian to advance the kingdom in that sense.

It's this picture of the temple of God, the people, the covenant people of God advancing as the gospel advances, as the word of God goes out and as people's lives and hearts are transformed. And so what should we be committed to? We should be committed to the Great Commission, which isn't a replacement for families or having children, but it just helps us to understand that command of being fruitful and multiplying in the context of redemptive history and how it applies or how we might think about it today, really being fulfilled by the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ that he gave to his disciples in Matthew chapter 28. So, in summary, no, I don't think pastors should bind people's consciences and say, you have to have this many kids. Two, I think we should challenge the idea that's out there today that seems to permeate so much of culture that doesn't view children as a gift, as a blessing from the Lord. And three, we need to exercise wisdom as we think about this as families and be focused on the Great Commission as we're having children, making sure that we're discipling those children and raising them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord as God calls us to. And so let's recover wisdom, for one, in that high view of the blessing of families and of children. Thank you for your question, Liza. Really good counsel. And you and your wife are certainly on the way with five kids. You're doing really well.

Yeah, that's what people tell us, right? And they are truly a blessing. We're so grateful for the family that God has blessed us with, Bill. I always love to come to Adriel's house when his sons like to sword fight with me. It's just a real blessing from the Lord.

Yeah, that's right. En garde. There's a lot of sword fighting that is happening right now in my house because my oldest son has taken apart a bunch of wood that we had in our back driveway yard area. And he's taken that wood and he's made all sorts of, he's got a whole armory that he's set up. And so now all the kids are, I have a small militia that I've formed, so watch out. Okay. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

I could just imagine that. We'd love to hear from you if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Here's our phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Well, we had Adrian from St. Louis on the line earlier. We couldn't hear him because of his cell phone signal, but I think we've got him back.

Adrian, what's your question for Adriel? Can you guys hear me well? Hey, I can hear you now. Okay.

My phone is always doing something crazy. I have a question about Isaiah 45, chapter 7. It says, I form the light, I create the darkness, I make the peace, and I create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. I know the Lord. I know God is perfect. He's not an evil God.

He's an all-knowing God, loving God. But what is it about that particular verse that is throwing me off? Well, I think what's throwing you off and what would throw many people off is just the idea that God is the author of evil, that God is the one who is responsible. He's the primary source, if you will, of evil and wickedness, especially because as a church, Christians confess that God is not the author of evil, that evil came into the world, sin came into the world because of man's sin. And so, you know, I'm currently reading from the NASB, and this is Isaiah 45, verse 7 in the NASB, the one forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity.

I am the Lord who does all these things. Now, the word there can be translated evil, but we have to recognize that in Scripture, words have a semantic range, that is a range of meaning, and the context helps us best determine how a particular word should be translated. And so I don't like evil as a translation there, simply because we recognize and know, based on the teaching of Scripture, that God is not the author of evil, and so that word can also be translated as trouble or calamity, and the context really makes that clear, because the context here is how God is going to use Cyrus, this Gentile king, to bring about judgment and destruction. It's this great prophecy, and so it's talking about God's providential oversight, you know, with regard to the kingdoms of the world and the flow of history. We do believe that God is sovereign, and that by His providence, He upholds all things, and He uses even non-believers, those who aren't a part of His covenant people, to accomplish His purposes, and that was precisely what was happening in Isaiah 45. And Cyrus is a tool that God used to bring about great judgment and great calamity, and God is saying, look, I'm the one who's at work here in the unfolding of human history, and so in one sense it should give us great confidence, Adrian, in God's sovereign power over the world. Even over the quote-unquote Gentile kings, it should be a comfort to us, and I do love this section of the book of Isaiah, Isaiah 45 and 46. Again, these great promises that God is going to deliver His people, He's going to rescue them from captivity. That's what we're seeing there, and you have a lot of contrasts in these chapters between God, the true God, who speaks when it comes to pass, and the idols of the world who are impotent.

You see that especially in the very next chapter, chapter 46, and so Isaiah 45 verse 7 is not saying that God is the author of evil, it's saying that He is sovereignly over all things that happen, even those great calamities, like the calamities that came through King Cyrus. Thank you for that question. Adrian, thanks so much, and thanks for digging into God's word.

We are always so impressed when our listeners take it to heart and spend time really digging in, and that sounds like that's something you do on a regular basis, so we commend you for that. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adrian Sanchez. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, our phone lines are open. We'll be taking your calls for the next 10 minutes or so. Here's the phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. I also want to mention that we have a great free resource available to you, and I mentioned at the beginning of the program that this is a resource that just really, just in time for Halloween, it has to do with spiritual warfare and the devil. Yeah, please don't play the witch voice again, guys. No, don't do that. There it is.

You did it. Well, the resource is called Can the Devil Read My Mind, and we've been offering it now for a few days. Just an excellent—I mean, it's about 70 pages long, so think of a booklet—but diving into the topic of spiritual warfare from a biblical perspective and recognizing how the work of Jesus relates to spiritual warfare today.

Get ahold of this resource. It's written by Pastor David Cassidy, and I know it's going to encourage you. You can go over to corechristianity.com. It's a free booklet, by the way, so there's no reason not to get it. It's a free booklet, and I know it will encourage you. We love Dr. Cassidy. He's a great friend of this ministry, and we'd highly recommend this book.

Again, you may be getting into some discussions with people about Halloween in the next week or two, and this would be a great resource for you to have. Can the Devil Read My Mind? You can find it by going to corechristianity.com forward slash radio. Well, we do receive voicemails here at the Core. You can call us 24 hours a day and leave your message, leave your question for Adriel, even over the weekend.

Do that. Here's one that came in from one of our listeners named Peggy. I've been struggling with this question. A lot of Christians love to quote this verse that both Jeremiah and David like to say, that I am perfectly and wonderfully made by God. And yet, every time when I go to church or when I see somebody sitting Christian, everything worldly, that's what they have.

The thick long nails, the thick long hair, the thick eyelashes, makeup to masquerade their faces. I'm surely saying to myself, these people are really of God, because I remember back in the Old Testament, God said to the people of Israel, do not follow the way of the European people. I don't know what your take on that is, but every time I see that in church, I don't know how possibly these people can call themselves Christ-like. Thank you.

Hey, Peggy. Well, thank you for the question. It sounds like you're looking around at the church and you feel like there's a lot of worldliness and a lot of focus on maybe external image, but not so much on the heart piety and love for God. And I think that that's a legitimate concern to have, the concern of worldliness creeping into the church.

Now, I don't know if pushback is the right phrase, but I would challenge you. You do want to be careful not to just assume the worst about the people in your church when you see them with their nails done or wearing a particular kind of designer clothing, whatever it is. Because you're not looking necessarily at their heart.

You can't. And so I would encourage you not to jump to conclusions, but at the same time, I do think that we need to remember what Peter said in 1 Peter 3. So here he's encouraging, in particular, the wives in the church, and he says, your adorning must not be merely external, braiding the hair and wearing gold jewelry or putting on dresses, but let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit which is precious in the sight of God. In other words, don't just be focused on the external image, on what other people can see, and putting on a good front. There's nothing wrong with caring about how you look.

But here, Peter is very clear. We need to have the priorities in order, and first and foremost, it's that heart of love for God and for His word, and I think that above all else as Christians is what we should seek to cultivate and to grow. And again, that doesn't mean that this other stuff, that there's anything wrong with that. I think also of what Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 4, verse 8, he says, bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds the promise for the present life, but also for the life to come. In other words, he's saying, look, Timothy, and Timothy's a young man, right?

Timothy, exercise is good. I mean, it has some profit, so it's not that there's anything wrong with that, but godliness, training in godliness is even more profitable. And so I think we just have to have our priorities straight. There's nothing wrong with getting dressed up for church or getting your nails done, and I think, again, we need to look at people and jump to judgments because of that. At the same time, sister, I think that we do have to have a concern in the church, and that's what you're seeing in those passages that I just read in 1 Timothy 4 and in Peter's writing as well, a concern for a true heart for the Lord, a true concern about holiness and loving God and personal piety.

And so if that's being neglected in the church, and people are only focused on the externals, on how they look, and it becomes this sort of show, well then, yeah, that's dishonoring to the Lord, and that's not what it's about. And so I could sympathize with your concern, and may God be at work in each of our lives and each of our hearts to cultivate that concern, that love for God and for His word, and to prioritize that in our own lives, and to seek to see that prioritized in our churches as well. And so may the Lord bless you, Peggy, and thank you for reaching out to us.

Some really good counsel. Thanks for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Rick, who's calling in from Nebraska. Rick, thanks for holding on. What's your question for Adriel? Hey, Rick.

I don't know, 275. Hello? Hi, you're on the air.

I was talking to my wife. Yes, I enjoy your show, Pastor, and I have a question on the differences between the King James Version and the NIV version. In particular, Luke 956 in the King James Version, and Matthew 1811 also in the King James Version. And I just, there's differences in part in the Matthew 1811 version, it's completely missing in the NIV version. I was just wondering what your thoughts were on it.

Hey, okay, appreciate your question. So first, with regard to the main differences and why you might see discrepancies between those two translations of the Bibles, is primarily, I would say, because the NIV and the King James, the New King James, are translated from different bodies of manuscripts, New Testament manuscripts. So they're using different New Testament texts or manuscripts in order to get their translations. You do see some discrepancies there, and oftentimes, I don't have a King James or an NIV in front of me right now, but oftentimes there will be a footnote that'll say, you know, this particular verse doesn't appear in the majority of early manuscripts or something like that. Also, the NIV does seem to, it's still, I would say, a good translation, like I like the NIV, it's not the translation that I use, but I think it's more accessible. It's written for, I would say, to be more accessible than the King James, certainly than the King James or the New King James. So there's some of the goals, I think, behind these different translations in terms of accessibility and the sort of philosophy of translation, which I think that could also contribute to some of the differences that you find there. All in all, I would say that both the NIV and the New King James or the King James are good translations of the Bible, and that there's nothing wrong with using either of those. And I think it's helpful to use a number of different translations of the Bible to look at them and to compare them.

And when there are discrepancies, as I said, a lot of times you'll get a footnote there. And so, Rick, thanks for reaching out to us. Thanks, Rick. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Garrett calling in from Missouri.

Garrett, what's your question? Hey, my question is, how do we know the calling on our lives? Because, I don't know, how do we know what God wants us to do with our lives? There's a lot of specific things in the Bible, but I'm talking more like general things, like, does God want me to be a missionary or a musician or something along those lines, if that makes sense.

Great, Garrett. So we sometimes distinguish between God's revealed will and his hidden will. His revealed will is what we have in Scripture, summarized really in his law, what God calls us to as people. And so God has, in one sense, revealed his will to each one of us on a broad level. Now, in terms of the specifics, you know, God, what is your hidden will? Like, what am I destined to do?

We don't have insight into that. And a lot of times people, when they're thinking about the will of God, that's what they're looking for. God, give me the specifics about my destiny or about what I should do in this particular situation.

We're not talking about a sin issue, it's more of a life decision. And there, Garrett, we're called to exercise wisdom. And God does, through his providence, that could be, you know, conversations with trusted counselors, even just your own desire, the desires that he's placed in your heart as you're submitted to his will, shed light on what it is that he's calling you to based upon your gifts, based upon opportunity that you have, and as I said, based upon the people around you who are encouraging you and giving you counsel and insight. And so there is guidance that we have there. And my encouragement to people who are wrestling with this question in particular is, look, grow in your understanding of God's word and being committed to what he's revealed in his word, his revealed will. And there, in that place, there's freedom to pursue the Lord and to pursue those things that he's placed in your heart, those desires, those things that you get excited about in terms of serving others and serving God as well. And as you do that, may God give you more and more clarity as to his will in your life. Together.