2I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you. 3But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man,a and the head of Christ is God. 4Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. 5But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved. 6For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head.
7A man ought not to cover his head,b since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. 8For man did not come from woman, but woman from man;9neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her ownc head, because of the angels. 11Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.
13Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, 15but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. 16If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God. (1 Corinthians 11:2-16)
Thoughts: This passage is a good example of cultural admonitions mixed with normative admonitions. When I was in college in the 70s (when the post-Beatles long hair was the fashion), some very conservative Christians knocked on my door right after I was through leading a Bible study. They tried to convert me and would not listen to my profession because my hair was long. They came back later and said that I "could be a Christian but I really needed to listen to this passage about males not having long hair." This is a dress code- a fashion code. It is similar to wearing tassels on your robe in the Old Testament. This is one of the "indifferent" things that we talked about earlier. This was based on the "practice" of the churches at that time. No doubt there were cultural reasons for these commands. Some point to long hair for men as being a sign of a male prostitute, and likewise a shaven head for a woman as a sign in that day and culture of a female prostitute. Christians were to avoid such things.
There are some principles here that are especially worth noting. Verse 11- we are (male/female) not independent of each other. God made us all. Paul talks some of headship here, but it is balanced with the face that we need each other and we all need God. Headship is not dictatorship, nor is working together in this way to be discounted Cart Blanche as always evil as some would. Paul's image of the head being part of the body that could not function without the rest of the body is more applicable here than the American top-down mentality. Someone once said about her husband, "He may be the head, but I am the neck that turns the head whichever way I want it to go." A head without a neck or the rest of the body means little. That we put more value on the head (and not say... the heart) is our own artificial evaluation. Yet Christ is the head of the body (the church) in a different sense. He does give direction to our life as a church and without Him we would not be here at all.
There are some principles here that are especially worth noting. Verse 11- we are (male/female) not independent of each other. God made us all. Paul talks some of headship here, but it is balanced with the face that we need each other and we all need God. Headship is not dictatorship, nor is working together in this way to be discounted Cart Blanche as always evil as some would. Paul's image of the head being part of the body that could not function without the rest of the body is more applicable here than the American top-down mentality. Someone once said about her husband, "He may be the head, but I am the neck that turns the head whichever way I want it to go." A head without a neck or the rest of the body means little. That we put more value on the head (and not say... the heart) is our own artificial evaluation. Yet Christ is the head of the body (the church) in a different sense. He does give direction to our life as a church and without Him we would not be here at all.
Prayer: Lord, give us wisdom in interpreting your Word. Keep us from making cultural things like hair and clothes the main thing of our faith. But also keep us from ignoring the lasting principles found from you.
Mennonite woman head covering.
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