Pizza Drama Queens

Do not let your adornment be merely outward--arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel--rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. 1 Peter 3:3-4

Several years ago, not long after our return to Liberia after the end of its civil war, Mark and I decided to eat lunch at the lone pizza restaurant in the country, a place whose presence in the country we truly appreciated.

Image stockx.change "vorax"

We had just been seated and placed our order when two Liberian young ladies entered the little restaurant. They were dressed extremely stylishly and were very beautiful. And because the war had just recently ended and it was still quite unusual to see people groomed so perfectly, I all but stared. It was truly amazing: perfectly fitted jeans (no used clothes market stuff here!), crisp shirts (obviously imported from somewhere!), expensive jewelry (no plastic, for sure!), and, the final touch, intricately braided hair. Wow. 

And it was easy to ascertain these girls knew just how stunning they looked. They exuded confidence. It seemed obvious these girls were from a wealthy home and it crossed my mind that between their beauty and wealth, they were no doubt highly pursued for marriage. 

The waiter took their order and Mark and I turned back to our conversation. Some time later our food was served and then shortly after that, the food for the young ladies. However, something was amiss with their order. The previously quiet restaurant erupted in commotion. Voices rose higher and higher and it became apparent within moments that no consolation, explanation or apology was going to quiet the situation. These girls were infuriated that their order had been botched and rather than two pizzas, as they had ordered, only one had been served. Did the waiter not hear them order a pizza each? Did the waiter think they didn't have money for the second. Huh? Huh????

And then an interesting thing happened. Without one thing physically changing about their outward appearances, neither of these girls looked beautiful to me any more. In fact, I was inwardly horrified that soon one or both of these girls could be pursued for marriage. What if it worked? What if some poor unfortunate soul got her and after they married discovered something this small could send her over the edge? All this drama over a pizza?

Image public domain

Truly these girls epitomized the biblical word "vanity." The meaning of the word vanity has morphed so much in our culture that we think of it primarily as excessive pride in one's appearance. And it does mean that. But in the Bible the word vanity more often means futile or worthless. And while I don't mean to imply these girls were worthless—of course they weren't!—their fancy clothes and hair certainly were. In fact, they were worse than worthless because they attracted men to something that was an illusion. Their beauty.

I have done that, although hopefully not to that degree and hopefully not publicly! But my family can attest that I have had tizzy fits over small, insignificant things. And when I do, no matter how stylish or pressed my clothes, no matter if I am having a good hair day or a bad hair day, I am going to look ugly.

Proverbs 31:30 says, "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised." That is the kind of woman I want to be because, let's just face it, no one looks pretty playing the part of the drama queen. 

Liberian woman braiding hair -
Image Heidi Sheppard

See The Lowest Servant in the Room.
See "What Not to Wear"—Liberia Edition.