Introduction
For whatever reason, “is being short a sin” is a fairly popular Google search. As someone who is 5’2, has studied the Bible for years and has never thought about my height (or lack thereof) as a sin, I find this to be a little humorous. The confusion seems to be based on one particular passage in Scripture.
Why are people wondering if short people go to heaven? Is being short a sin? What does the Bible say about dwarfism? We will answer all these questions and more.
Is Being Short a Sin? What Does the Bible Say?
Nowhere does the Bible describe being short as a sin. However, there is one passage in the Bible where height (dwarfism, in particular) is mentioned as a disqualification for doing anything. That passage is Leviticus 21:16-23 and it seems to have caused some confusion about what God thinks about short people.
What Does Leviticus 21 Say about Short People Going to Heaven?
This passage says nothing about whether or not short people will go to heaven. Context is important to understand most things, and the Bible is no exception. Let’s look at what this passage does say, in context
Leviticus is a book full of laws for the Israelite people. It includes political laws (how to handle crimes and other circumstances that might cause disagreements among people) and religious laws (when, why, and how to offer sacrifices, who can do so, etc.).
A common theme in the book of Leviticus is holiness and perfection. God used these laws (particularly the religious rites and sacrifices) to demonstrate his own holiness and need for perfection.
The laws about sacrifices are a good example. People could only sacrifice animals without blemishes. . God didn’t want their second best. He also didn’t want anything demonstrating the power of sin and brokenness in the world used in religious rituals.
The tabernacle represented God’s presence. It was a holy place where sin and brokenness could not enter. The priests who came into the tabernacle to offer sacrifices needed to demonstrate holiness and perfection as well. Only males from a certain clan served as priests. Even then, the priest had to meet several other qualifications.
Leviticus 21 lists several conditions that would keep a priest from being able to serve within the temple: blindness, lameness, being disfigured or deformed, crippled, hunchbacked, a dwarf, eye defects, festering wounds, and damaged testicles. These people could not come into the holy places in the temple to offer sacrifices.
Why Would Being a Dwarf Disqualify Someone from Serving as Priest?
It’s not that God does not love people with these conditions (elsewhere, he provides laws that ensure that people with conditions like these that might cause poverty are cared for in Israel). These people were welcome to live among the people of Israel and even among the priests. They just cannot serve as priests coming into the holy place in the temple.
The reason for this is a metaphorical one. God doesn’t want any physical representation of the brokenness of this world coming into the Holy of Holies. The “perfection” demanded for the physical condition of the priests is a physical representation of the perfection that God demands from the ultimate redeeming sacrifice and ultimate high priest: Jesus.
Other Biblical Passages about Being Short (and Tall)
Only one other Bible passage mentions someone being short: Luke 19, the story of Zaccheus. His height is mentioned to explain why he climbed up in a tree (because otherwise, he couldn’t see Jesus). Jesus accepts Zaccheus and goes to his house, demonstrating that shortness is not a barrier to acceptance by God.
If you’re worried about your stature dishonoring God in some way, you should be worried if you’re tall. The Bible describes beings called the Nephilim that are descendants of fallen angels and humans. They’re called giants. One of their descendants, Goliath, was over 9 feet tall.
However, even then, nowhere does the Bible say the Nipilim are destined to be damned or that being tall is a sin. Whether tall or short, God loves you. Jesus died for you. Your stature (or any other physical attribute you have) is not sinful (or holy).
In the New Testament, Jesus reiterates the point that sin is not to blame for physical conditions. In John 9, the disciples see a man who was born blind. They ask Jesus, “who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”. Jesus tells them that the man’s condition was not a punishment for either him or his parents, but that God was going to use his condition for God’s glory.
In summary, nowhere in the Bible is being short called a sin. There is one passage where being a dwarf is a disqualification from serving as a priest, but that is a symbolic gesture whether than a pronouncement about short people in general. Height (or any other physical attribute) is never equated with sin in any way in the Bible.
Can Short People Go to Heaven?
The short answer to this question (pun very much intended) is yes! Anyone can go to heaven. There is no physical attribute that automatically disqualifies someone from entering heaven. That includes things people were born with (height, hair color, skin color, deformities) as well as things that people have control over (piercings, tattoos, weight, etc).
The Bible tells us that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God (regardless of physical appearance) and that God loves us so much any way he sent his son to die on our behalf so that we could experience eternal life with him. God made us all unique and in his image. He loves us all and wants us all to be with him in heaven.
Do Short People Go to Heaven?
Just because all people (short ones included) can go to heaven doesn’t mean that all people will. Again, our entrance into heaven is not dependent upon any physical attribute we possess or any good work that we have done. Instead, it’s a gift of God’s grace that we simply have to choose to accept.
What Does the Bible Say about Getting into Heaven?
If someone accepts this gift of grace by accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior, the Bible tells us that that person will be saved. No sin they have committed or anything else about them can disqualify them from entrance into heaven. God’s grace is greater than all of our sins or any other factor in our lives.
If a person, short or tall, does not accept this gift of God’s grace, that person will not go to heaven. Since they chose to be separated from God on this side of eternity, they will be allowed to live out that choice fully on the other side.
FAQs
Can we go to heaven if we are short?
Yes! Any person of any height can go to heaven. There is no physical attribute that will keep a person out of heaven. Trust in Jesus determines whether we do to heaven or not, not anything we are, do, or are born with.
Why won’t short people go to heaven?
Short people will go to heaven. Therefore, any idea that short people won’t get into heaven is a complete misunderstanding of a law in the book of Leviticus that disqualified people who were dwarves (along with a list of other physical conditions) from entering the Jewish tabernacle (and later the temple).
Those laws were only applicable to the Jews and their place of worship. The tabernacle/temple was a representation of God’s presence for the Israelite people. No one bearing any condition that was a blatant reminder of the brokenness of the world could enter it. This prohibition says nothing about the inherent value of people with these physical conditions.
Conclusion
Being short is not a sin. Short people can go to heaven. The Bible tells us that “neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God”. Whether we’re short or tall, we can take comfort that God delights in us and how he created us. He longs for us to accept his gift of salvation so we can spend eternity in heaven with him.