Funny Friday: To Beard, or not to Beard?

To beard, or not to beard?  That is the question for young men in ministry.  At least if working in more 'established' churches is where you see yourself.

I remember having these conversations in seminary, and beyond.  Can I get the older generations to respect me when I have this baby face?  For many, the answer is to grow the beard.  I myself have been a bearded wonder for many a season, mostly as my winter face-coat.

For the majority of my time as a music and worship minister, I was the youngest or near youngest in the room during the adult choir practices I was leading.  And I have to say, there was a noticable uptick on the respect-o-meter when my face was covered in bearded awesomeness.  I've sported the hipster goatee since I was in high school, but when things needed to get serious, full on Grizzly Adams was in order.

Yes, for me, conducting Britten needed a beard.

As I've crossed into my 30s, I've experimented and have recently gone clean shaven.  It hurts my heart sometimes, but I do it, and things have been fine.  The thick-rimmed glasses help immensely.

Then, this last Sunday I visited the college class (one of my young adult small groups at church) for the first time.  I introduced myself to many of the students at the start of class.  One of the students came in a little late, so she hadn't met me yet.  She'd also been away at school, so she had no idea who I was.

The leader introduced me a bit later, and the convo went something like this:

"Have you met Jarrod?"
"No I haven't!  Did you just start school at UTA?"

Epic.  The blessings of a baby face.

So what now?  Maybe the answer lies here, in this amazingly thorough and scholarly researched infographic from Out of Ur: