By C. Robert Wetzel
Crew cuts were popular among boys in the late 1940s. What distinguished them from today’s short haircuts was that the closely cropped hair of the crew cut had to stand straight up. This necessitated at least two occasions of special care. It took a bit of thick hair gel to achieve vertical status, and a weekly trip to the barber to ensure the perfect shape.
Hence all through high school, I made my Saturday visit to Charlie’s Barber Shop in Hugoton, Kansas, to nurture this dubious bit of fashion. I think I must have been about 14 when I received an instructive lesson in biblical discussion during one of these haircuts.
One of Charlie’s three barbers, Oscar (not his real name), was cutting my hair. He knew I was a member of First Christian Church and that I intended to prepare for ministry. Oscar was a lay preacher for a local evangelical church. He said to me rather confidentially, “Someone told me you people down at the Christian church believe baptism is for the remission of sins. They don’t really believe that, do they?”
Of course, he knew that was exactly what was taught at the Christian church, but I did not realize I was being led into an effort to straighten me out doctrinally. He evidently wanted my doctrine to be as upright as my hair. Thus I responded naively, “I think that is what we believe.”
He feigned horror, “No, surely you don’t believe a person cannot be saved without baptism.” I left his chair with a good haircut, but greatly puzzled about what I was supposed to believe about baptism. Thus the next day I asked my preacher.
Jim Keffer had only recently come to First Christian Church. He was a straightforward preacher with that firm sense of conviction that reflected his Johnson Bible College education. When I told Jim what had happened, he suggested a response to Oscar that would have made Socrates proud.
I could not wait until my next haircut, and I made sure I ended up in Oscar’s chair. Following Jim’s strategy, I asked, “Oscar, when Saul of Tarsus saw the vision of Christ on the road to Damascus, was he saved?”
“He most certainly was,” Oscar responded.
“Then,” I continued, “when he arrived in Damascus blind, and he fasted and prayed for three days, was he a Christian and hence were his sins forgiven?”
Oscar said, “Of course his sins had been forgiven. He had been saved.”
“Then surely,” I said, “when Ananias came to Saul and healed him of his blindness, according to your belief, Saul would have had his sins forgiven.”
“Of course,” Oscar affirmed, wondering why I was so dense with these continuing questions.
It was at this moment that I applied the Keffer ax: “Then why,” I asked, “after Ananias healed him, did he say, ‘And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). We used the King James Version in those days.
Oscar was stunned. He thought for a while and finally said, “I will have to check that passage in the Greek.” It was a credit to him that he knew some Greek. But the conversation ended, and I went on my way with the same satisfaction as when our football team had beaten our archrival, Liberal.
A few days later my dad came back from getting a haircut. He said, “What is it with you and Oscar? He told me he hated to cut your hair. He said you had the oddest-shaped head he had ever cut.”
In the future, both for Oscar’s sake and mine, I always waited for another barber. They did not seem to mind cutting the hair of a boy with an odd-shaped head.
Over the years, I have reflected on this experience. As a boy it certainly gave me an appreciation for the teaching I received at First Christian Church. I am grateful I learned early on that what we believe in Christian churches is not as odd as what Oscar wanted me to believe. And my odd-shaped head? Perhaps that, too, was more of an expression of Oscar’s frustration with a 14-year-old boy who had led him into a doctrinal trap. At least I haven’t worried about it over the years.
But then, just recently I visited a local church. A woman I had not seen for some time sat down behind me. She said, “I could tell who you were by just looking at the back of your head.” Perhaps Oscar was right on at least one account.
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This article was adapted from “The Boy with the Odd-Shaped Head,” which first appeared in our July 11, 2010, issue. Read the entre article at www.christianstandard.com/2010/07/the-boy-with-the-odd-shaped-head.
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After ministries with Milligan College, Springdale College in England, and Emmanuel Christian Seminary, C. Robert Wetzel retired with the honorary title of chancellor. For several years after retirement he taught part-time in the Humanities program at Milligan. He currently serves as an elder at the Downtown Christian Church in Johnson City, Tennessee. He and his wife, Bonnie, continue to enjoy the pleasure of living in the mountains of East Tennessee.
Author: C. Robert Wetzel
After ministries with Milligan College, Springdale College in England, and Emmanuel Christian Seminary, C. Robert Wetzel retired with the honorary title of chancellor. For several years after retirement he taught part-time in the Humanities program at Milligan. He currently serves as an elder at the Downtown Christian Church in Johnson City, Tennessee. He and his wife, Bonnie, continue to enjoy the pleasure of living in the mountains of East Tennessee.
