Text: 1 Cor 11:2-16, Title: Bald-Headed Women, Date/Place: NRBC, 9/4/11, AM
A. Opening illustration: my conversation with a prominent pastor about the fact that he told his congregation when he dealt with this passage: I have no earthly idea what it means.
B. Background to passage: OK, remember that Paul is answering questions from the church about lots of things, lawsuits, marriage, immorality, eating meat offered to idols, and now for the next four chapters, he deals with issues related to public worship and church life. And the first issue he takes up is this thing of head coverings in the church. Now with the things that he says, I will probably offend someone here by simply reading the text. But let me remind you of some things, and assure you of some things.
C. Be reminded that God inspired every word of the text, every verb tense, word order, thought, idea, and argument in the bible. Be reminded that it is not our place to sit in judgment over the Word, but to understand it and obey it. Be reminded that Jesus didn’t shy away from difficult teaching, and there are some difficult teachings.
D. Be assured that even though parts of this text may be unclear, we have been given enough to understand what we need to understand. Be assured that I have done my best not to let personal preconceptions ruin the meaning of the text. That having been said, I will probably offend some of you here today, especially the ladies. But know that I do not have that intention, and I will try to choose my words carefully, so as to explain, but not needlessly offend. Good scholars disagree on these things, and I am more than open to discuss the interpretive issues of this text. But let me leave you with rule #1 of dating according to my brother: “If I say something that can be taken in two ways, one good and one bad, always assume that I meant it in the good sense of the word.” And rule #2 is that when you are in doubt, refer to rule #1.
E. Main thought: What to think about head coverings
A. What is he talking about? (v. )
1. This is a very odd passage with a lot of interpretive issues: headship, women prophesying, head coverings, glory of God and glory of man, authority, angels, long hair, nature…explain bits and pieces of these. He grounds these two issues in the Trinity and in creation and the created order. But the main two points that he is dealing with are:
i. Male and Female distinctions: Much like our women’s liberation movement that has done women a few favors and many injustices, these ladies in Corinth were using this new freedom to throw off social norms about the way that men and women were “supposed” to act. And that is where the head coverings come in. The marks of loose, rebellious women of the time were to shave their heads or cut their hair short like that of a man. So when the Corinthian women “let down their hair” and removed head coverings symbolizing their freedom, they did more than that. They were indicating to the culture disrespect for men, for God, for authority, for creation, etc. Not too dissimilar to the eating in temples, and to refraining from marital relations. It was embarrassing to the men in the church.
ii. Reasons: After comparing this throwing off dishonor to having your head shaved, he gives some reasons: 1) v. 7 - Man is the glory of God, woman is the glory of man. Not denying that woman bears the image of God (note that image is left out of the second part of the verse), but saying that man was created after the image of God and glorifies Him, and woman was created after the image of man, and glorifies Him. So in some way it shows respect or honor to the man if she is covered. 2) v. 8 - Man was not created from woman, but the other way around. 3) v. 9 – Man was not created for the woman, but the other way around. Note that he also said that they are not independent from each other. 4) v. 14-15 – Even nature teaches you that men should have short hair.
iii. Male Authority and Female attitudes: What is really important here is attitude. The way these women were acting demonstrated a rebellion against a created order. Paul says that the attitude of submission should be demonstrated from woman to man, man to Christ, and Christ to God. This may be one of the most difficult aspects of this text. Just a quick reminder that the bible never tells men to exercise authority, only women to put themselves in submission. This text is about dressing and acting in a way that shows authority to men.
2. 1 Tim 2:9-10, 1 Pet 3:1-6, Eph 5:22-24,
3. Illustration: one the longest FB dialogues that I have ever had was this week about being a man,
B. Does this really apply? How?
1. Men shouldn’t look like women, and vice versa. This is about the simplest application there is. And you would think that this would go without saying, but not so in our culture. The rise of the radical feminist movement in our country is continuing to blur the lines in role distinction because they say there should not be any. Hair style is one place, but others are making headway as well. Maleness and femaleness is not as clearly defined as it used to be. So, do you look like the opposite sex? Are you honoring the distinct nature of the created order? Just as a side note, this is as much a condition of the heart, than of the attire (for you can dress right, then not be right). And there is no standard that I know of that says how long, long hair should be.
2. How do you dress to demonstrate God’s created order
i. Women—to demonstrate submission. Ladies, how does what you wear reflect that God’s order is primary in your life? Does your husband or father approve? How about your father in heaven? Is what you wear telling the world that you are under the authority of a man? And of course, what is especially in view is attire at public worship. Do you look like an immoral woman? If you’re not selling it, don’t advertise it. Again, more is about attitude. Ladies, are you submissive to your husbands? Does your attitude defer to his leadership? Do you dominate him, belittle him, and emasculate him? Do you respect the male leadership in this church? Are you submissive to it? Can others tell?
ii. Men—to demonstrate the image and glory of God. And the only reason that I deal with the women, is that Paul does, throughout most of the text. But with men there is also and application: do you pray with your head uncovered? Do you demonstrate the fact that you are the image-bearer of God to the world, and you live to glorify Him? Because I would posit that even more so in our world today, the failure lies more on the part of men, not being men, than on the part of women not being submissive.
iii. In the church—do we look like the people of God? Our worship should reflect our commitments to faith and practice. Everything from the way we dress to our preparation to worship to our attitude and thoughts about it, should flow from our understanding of who God is, and what he wants from us.
3. Illustration: special on transgendered children on ABC on Wed night,
4. So am I saying that Paul is saying that women should cover their heads when they pray? Although I did find someone who believes that is literally what is being taught here. I think the point fails though when a person comes in a sees the covering, and decides that she is a little strange, not submissive to male authority. Or that men should not have long hair? No, what Christ wants from us is much bigger and much deeper.
5. God’s created order goes much deeper into our lives that we can imagine. And the bottom line even with clear texts like this one, is that we all must submit to it. And realize that God has made things a certain way for a certain wise and purposeful reasons. And things actually work better if we do it God’s way!
A. Closing illustration:
B. Recap
C. Invitation to commitment
Additional Notes
• Liz Curtis Higgs was one of the best-known disc jockeys in America, and she lived quite a…wild lifestyle without God. In fact, Howard Stern was the A.M. show, and Liz Curtis Higgs was the P.M. show. And one day Howard Stern said to Liz, “You know, you need to clean up your act.” Now, that really says something if Howard Stern is saying it.
And because Liz Curtis Higgs had been burned by so many men, and her heart had been broken…she became a militant feminist. And I underscore, militant feminist. But she had a Christian girlfriend who kept inviting her to church. So one day after a long, long time, she said, “Okay, I will go to church one time and one time only.”
So she went to church one time with her friend. And that week, the pastor just happened to be teaching on the Bible verse that says, “Wives submit yourselves to your husbands.” Not exactly a good verse to start with a militant feminist. And she got a little uptight, a little ticked, a little angry. But she continued to listen, and she actually heard the second part of the verse.… You see, the second part of the verse says, “And husbands—you sacrifice yourself; you give yourself for your wives just as Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for the church and died for her.” Who is asked to give their life up? The husband.
When Liz heard that part, she leaned over to her friend and said with a little cynicism, “I’d gladly give myself to any man if I knew he would die for me.” And her friend leaned over and said, “Liz, there is man who loved you enough to die for you. His name is Jesus Christ. That’s how much he loves you.” And it was not long after that that Liz dropped her guard, surrendered her life to God in love, and became a believer. Today she is a well-known Christian author and speaker.
