Whether Christians are allowed to dye their hair is not to be answered with a simple yes or a simple no. This is not because the Bible is unclear on the subject – this is because the Bible illuminates backgrounds for deeds.
Christians are generally allowed to dye hair. However, they should examine their personal motive as to why they do it: do they do it for vanity, for recognition, or for the love of God?
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Is It a Sin to Dye Your Hair as a Christian?
If one deals with the subject of hair coloring for Christians, one very soon comes across Bible verses that seem to apply to it. However, those who see these as rigid laws may not have fully understood what the Bible is actually about.
The Bible is always about moral questions;- that is, about how man behaves and why. The (alleged) regulations for Christians are therefore a mirror against which one should measure one’s own behavior. Surely one must distinguish between the old and the new testament and regard these in each case differently – however I would like to keep this article rather practical nature.
Let’s look at one of the common verses in the Bible:
Likewise, women are to come to worship inconspicuously and plainly dressed. They are not to stand out with fancy hairstyles or expensive jewelry or any fashion folly. The true adornment of women is to do good. By doing so, they prove that they love and honor God.
1 Timothy 2:9-10
Here you can read some things about how a woman should dress in the church. One argumentation could be to say that women in the church are not allowed to dye their hair;- but outside there is no commandment or prohibition for it. Others again read from it that the entire dress of a woman should be subordinated to a certain way.
But this explains the “what” and not the “why”.
To understand this better, we should look closely at the reason of the letter to Timothy: Reading through the letter, one gets the impression of a church that easily gets lost in chaos and loses sight of what is most important. People (in the passage quoted, women) use the gathering to show off for each other and dress up.
They want to be seen and put themselves in the center. Apparently this was especially the case with the women, who abused their new freedom in Christ for their own recognition – by putting on expensive clothes or putting elaborate hairstyles or expensive barrettes in their hair especially for this purpose.
This certainly distracted not only the men from the most important that should be the center of the church: Jesus Christ and the spread of the Kingdom of God on earth. Therefore, the question of hair should be asked the following personal questions:
When are Christians allowed to dye hair?
Accordingly, are there certain rituals that a Christian must observe when coloring hair? Is it generally forbidden?
No. But the question is: Why does the Christian want to dye his hair?
Does he want to dye his hair because he can belong to a certain group? Does he or she want to dye his or her hair so that it stands out? Does he or she want to attract the attention of other people? Does this Christian want to make a certain statement? Is it simply vanity?
These are questions that a Christian must answer for himself or herself in order to find the answer. Giving a clear yes or no again goes in a strongly legalistic direction that is often far from loving one’s neighbor and tends to encourage people to stop trusting God rather than discovering that His ideas are good.
In the end, what matters is whether you can live with your reasoning – and more importantly, whether your decision will lead others away from the faith. For to lead someone away from faith in Jesus with your actions, because they believe but still want to keep some laws, is a greater sin than taking away your own freedom to do something.
Conclusion: Are Christians allowed to dye their hair or not?
If you absolutely want to follow the wording of the Bible, you are advised not to dye your hair. Otherwise, there is no prohibition that forbids a Christian to dye his hair. In practice, one’s own conscience and wisdom should decide whether the individual Christian may dye the hair or not.
