Last year, I highlighted the unfortunate popularization of cosmetic surgery among teenagers. And its popularization among all ages is predicted to get even more extreme. In fact, The American Society of Plastic Surgeons predicts:

• 17% of Americans will have had cosmetic surgery by 2015
• 55 million+ cosmetic surgery procedures will be performed in 2015

Those are big numbers. But to truly grasp the incredible rate at which cosmetic surgery is growing, look at the cosmetic procedure trends of the past 8 years.

Number of Cosmetic Procedures in America

• 2000 = 7,401,495
• 2006 = 10,984,003
• 2007 = 11,795,065
• 2015 = 55,000,000+ (predicted)

It is hard to believe that plastic surgery was taboo in the 1980s. America is increasingly becoming consumed by vanity. It is a bad habit that shapes the way people think and live.

For Discussion:
- How has superficial culture affected the people your church is called to reach?
- What do you think is the best way to relevantly reach a superficial culture?
- How can the church help reverse this trend of vanity and insecurity?

[via Live Science & Forbes]