Acts 18:18-20 

Paul got a haircut.

While leaving a city that had not been kind to him for the past 18 months, The Apostle Paul got a haircut.

I am unsure what types of tools were used for a haircut in the years 52-53 AD, but it couldn’t have been pleasant. Especially when the hair being cut had not been cut for 18 months.

It reminds me of when my dad was in the early stages of Dementia and unable to do things like shaving so it became my job. There is an intimacy in shaving your dad. You are forced to stand very close – close enough that you can hear every grimace and see every flinch. With every swipe of the blade, dad would make a sound and a face. I would quickly ask if it hurt to which he always said ‘No.’ He was lying. He and I would always laugh about it later.

I wonder if cutting hair that had not been cut, or possibly washed, for a year and a half is sometimes painful and causes a grimace or a flinch. I wonder if scissors, or a razor, or even a stone, find that uncut hair has become very settled into the head. I wonder if whoever helped Paul cut his hair, assuming there was someone helping, could hear his groans or see his flinch.

Paul, regardless of the haircutting process, did get the hair cut, and (this is significant) he got it cut while he was not yet fully away from Corinth. It would be more accurate to say that he still had one foot in Corinth and one foot on a boat leaving Corinth.

Paul had made a vow to God after God made a promise to the Apostle. A promise from God to be present with Paul regardless of the circumstances. It was Paul’s vow to stay in Corinth. Or, maybe it was a vow to expect God’s presence in every miserable moment. A promise he held onto even when God did not seem to be present.

Paul, for 18 months, stayed. He stayed when he was kicked out of the Synagogue. He stayed when the religious leaders dragged him to the Roman official in hopes that the official would decide that Paul needed to die. He stayed when the Roman official said ‘No’ to the leaders’ request. And, he stayed when God provided another place for Paul to preach when he was no longer welcome in the Synagogue.
Whether good or bad, Paul stayed.

Paul stayed through the misery and strived to notice the moments when he saw proof of God’s presence. There were more moments of misery than proof of God’s presence, but there were enough for Paul to stay.

And then, somehow Paul knew it was time to leave. The long hair had been a proclamation to himself that God promised to be present. Much like the rings of a tree trunk that proclaim the years and even the trauma of the tree — each inch of Paul’s long hair had been the proof that Paul not only endured and survived, but that God was present with Paul through the entire journey.

And, possibly the freshly cut hair was a vow, or reminder, that God would continue to be present, even in the coming miserable times.

Staying in Corinth much longer would have probably been too long. Paul had strengthened his faith and trust in God. He was now ready for the next place, most of which would just be another version of miserable, and then ultimately there would be death.

But for those experiences Paul was now better prepared thanks to his time in Corinth.

The end of June 2026 marked 40 years of vocational ministry since I graduated Seminary. Those years have been great and they have been miserable. That is the reality when you live in an imperfect world. Sometimes people were hateful, but more often they were loving and embracing. Sometimes I was a jerk and ungrateful and sometimes I was not. I spent 9 of those years as an associate minister and the remaining years as a Pastor. Both positions, and the different locations of the churches, have provided varied perspective viewpoints of church ministry. All provided me a stronger faith and trust in God and a stronger alarm for the times I’m standing on the edge of asshole.

I am grateful for them all.

But in each, there came a time when I asked myself, ‘Do I leave, or do I stay?’ I have also walked alongside other ministers and pastors who have faced, or are facing, much the same question. It is a question that all people face no matter what their vocation is. But in all, whether they leave or stay, there has been evidence that God was present even in the worst of circumstances.

Sometimes it just takes a good look at God’s presence and what you did with that moment. Sometimes it just takes a good night’s sleep.