I guess these teachers have no problem putting you on the spot, I thought to myself as a picture of a scantily clad Thai celebrity was shoved in my face. My teacher had just asked me if I thought the lady in the picture was pretty. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I replied, “Suay,” (the Thai word for pretty).

Our language school teachers frequently ask us how we think various people look. In semi-jest, they even ask us whether or not we think they are pretty. The fact of the matter is that we have observed that beauty seems to be one of Thailand’s core cultural values.

When traveling on the sky train to and from language school, I often see ladies holding up pocket mirrors as they brush on make-up. Most Thai women dress their best whenever they leave home. Many TV and billboard advertisements are for beauty products. People from all over Asia come to Thailand for plastic surgery. Even some Thai men take part, and each year thousands have sex changes to pursue the feminine ideal of beauty.

A month ago I was invited to preach at the main Thai Adventist church in Bangkok. As I prepared my sermon, I asked the Lord to give me a Biblical message that would be culturally relevant to Thai people. AFM missionaries strive to deeply understand the core values of their host cultures so they can communicate Bible truth in ways that speak to the hearts of their people.

Though our study of Thai culture is just beginning, I started to think about the Thai value of beauty.

Thinking about it from a biblical perspective, I was deeply impressed by the fact that the primary metaphor scripture uses to describe God’s church is a beautiful bride. For example, Jeremiah 6:2 says, “I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.” In Ezekiel 16, God’s covenant relationship with Israel is described as a marriage. The chapter describes how God symbolically adorns His bride with beautiful garments and gems, and says in verses 13 and 14, “Thou wast exceeding beautiful . . . And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God.”

God desired to make Israel so “beautiful” that even the nations around them would take note. Deuteronomy 28:1 says, “If thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth.” Israel was to be made beautiful by honoring God’s law, and this would cause the surrounding heathen nations to say, “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob: and He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3). God is like an advertiser using beautiful (hearted) people to advertise His products, hoping to attract others who desire the beauty He longs to give them through Christ.

In this Thai culture that values and seeks for beauty so passionately, if I ever hope to attract people to the Gospel, my life must a living representation of the Gospel’s beauty in all its fullness. I am reminded of the words to a familiar hymn: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” Allowing Christ to live in us—living out the truths of His word in our everyday lives—will give people a glimpse of Him. And as they see His beautiful character reflected in us, they will desire Him more than they desire fleshly beauty. Please pray for us as we strive not only to show the Thai people the beauty of Gospel truth, but as we seek to be made beautiful through the Spirit of Christ living in us.

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” (Isaiah 52:7).

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