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There are three things that we need to keep in mind as we read this chapter.
1. It’s all about being like Jesus
2. Paul is talking about conduct in public worship
3. There were cultural realities in Corinth that do not necessarily apply to us today
1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
2 I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings, just as I passed them on to you.
It’d be great if we could just stop right there. This is a wonderful verse – and one I try to live by. The Corinthians were guilty of man-worship – putting loyalty to a man in too high a place. But Paul says – you can follow my example – as I follow the example of Christ.
Jesus Christ IS our example. If I or Paul or anyone does anything that is out of the character of Christ, then by all means DON’T follow my example.
God will never tell you to violate His character in order to do His will.
So, skipping on chapter 12 …
The rest of this chapter is filled with hard to understand and controversial subjects, which I will try to explain – but I think we need to keep verse 1 in context as we read the rest of the chapter – everything, and I mean everything should be done in keeping with the character of Jesus Christ.
3 Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
Notice here that Christ is over the man – if a woman is married to someone who is not in subjection to Christ – then she is under no obligation to submit to ungodly behavior – as Chuck Smith says – she must “skip the missing link” and be submissive to Christ – remember – the goal here is imitate Christ’s behavior.
And remember the context here is about head-coverings.
4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. 5 And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head-it is just as though her head were shaved. 6 If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head. 7 A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. 8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; 9 neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head.
Culturally, women wore veils – if she didn’t she was saying “I’m available” to a man. As the Christian women of Corinth came to understand their freedom in Christ they were perhaps rebelling against the veil thing – but Paul warns them not to do something that would say the wrong thing culturally.
This is in line with his arguments in chapter 9 “To win the Jews I became like a Jew” and so forth. And then in chapter 10 “do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jew or Greek.” We have to be aware of the cultural ramifications of our behavior because they can speak louder than our words of the gospel.
As far as the men were concerned – it’s a little odd that Paul would tell them to uncover their heads – today of course, Jewish men cover their heads with little yamakas.
But the point here is that Paul wants the Corinthian husbands and wives to honor the cultural norms surrounding them regarding public conduct. Otherwise God is dishonored. One example that fits today – a man appearing to be gay or unfaithful to his wife as a Christian – or a woman acting like a lesbian or unfaithful to her husband. These would bring disgrace to the Lord – so our conduct in public does matter. We don’t want people focusing on the wrong things – on us, instead on what God is doing through us.
As far as the last verse there – “because of the angels” is a bit troubling to interpret. The consensus is that angels watch out for the worship of God by His people and want things to be done properly and in order.
The next part of Paul’s argument seems to run counter to what he said in verse 3.
11 In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12 For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.
In reality, men and women are equal before God – and we are interdependent on one another. Some people argue that these sections show that Paul was a chauvinist. I don’t buy that – in fact, it was Jesus Himself and through Paul that brought changes to society that helped equalize men and women.
But Paul is saying that if you become so different than the culture around you, then you become the focus – so men and women should act in ways that don’t offend the cultural norms – but in reality, we are really interdependent on one another and we are all under God’s authority.
Woman was created as a “completer” or “helper” to the man – not as a slave or servant. In fact that word used in Genesis is the same word used later to denote God as the “rescuer” of His people.
Paul says in Ephesians 5:21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
So don’t get from this that women are less than men – God looks at us all equally. Now to help things run smoothly he has the husband covering the wife – protecting her, building her up, loving her – and He covers the man – challenging him, helping him – it doesn’t remove the relationship of the woman with God at all.
So next we go back into some of the more controversial verses of this chapter.
13 Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, 15 but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. 16 If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice-nor do the churches of God.
In a way Paul is saying: yes, men and women are equal – but the differences between them shouldn’t be blurred.
Remember – the main topic here is the wearing of hair by women, and cultural appropriateness. Basically Paul is saying that Christian women should respect the culture around them – a culture where Greek women covered their heads with wraps or had long hair.
And notice how he gives an “out” in verse 16. “Its not a big thing” he says – and its not a “rule” universally for the church – it was something applicable to the church in Corinth, mainly.
It shows us a couple of things – that it is a mistake to apply everything without consulting the context – that these letters are real – dealing with real situations, not just something made up – and that there are specific things God deals with in specific churches – He doesn’t apply a “cookie cutter” approach.
So next he chides the Corinthians for their behavior in times of fellowship and communion:
17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.
In Acts 2:46-47 we get a picture of everyday life in the first century church: 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
“breaking bread” meant they gathered for communion, and for “love feasts”. These were communal meals, where everyone shared with everyone else – or they were supposed to.
Paul says when you come together there are divisions. The Corinthians were rife with division between leaders and factions in the church. I think Paul is being sarcastic when he says “there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.” All through chapters 2, 3, & 4 Paul lambastes the church for creating factions around leaders – as if one faction or another is the “approved” one by God. This is just another example of how that destructive behavior has hurt the church – he goes on:
20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21 for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. 22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!
So apparently these factions, or family groups – would gather with their huge feast and eat and drink – while others with little or nothing to eat would be left out. Notice the contrast with Acts 2. I remember when we used to bring meals to my daughter Beth at play practice. Some kids would sit alone with a very meager meal – other families would spread out a table cloth and have practically a 7 course meal laid out.
The class differences in Corinth were exacerbated during these times – Paul says “this isn’t the communion” that the Lord envisioned. Communion is supposed to tie us together, not tear us apart.
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
The people of Paul’s time, and especially the Jews, were quite familiar with feasts and their purpose. Jewish law had feasts at different times all year long to celebrate God doing wonderful things – like Passover. This feast was designed to remember the most important thing God did for man – salvation through Jesus Christ. The “love feasts” here culminated with the taking of communion.
Paul is saying – take communion to remember what Jesus did – and proclaim it abroad. The word “proclaim” comes from the same word as “angel” or “messenger.” Communion should be a message of the Lord’s work on the cross – not a time to separate us into different groups based on our wealth or social status.
So after laying the ground work for the real reason for communion, Paul shows how the Corinthians were abusing it:
27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
So this section here has caused a lot of concern. Some folks believe that taking communion in “an unworthy manner” means that if I’m unworthy or have done anything wrong or haven’t confessed my sins – then I could get sick or even die.
I think that we should examine ourselves – not just before communion, but every day. The Apostle John says 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
But not taking communion because we are “unworthy” is not what I think is going on here. First – we can never be “worthy” of what the Lord did for us.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
We come to Christ and believe that He died for our sins – that’s the only thing needed. Paul says “in an unworthy manner.” This probably refers to how they were acting – getting drunk at the love feasts – then taking communion. When you’re drunk your inhibitions and your awareness are altered.
I think the more important thing here is that we should be fully aware of what taking the broken body and blood of the Lord means – what a sacrifice He made for us – what a gift His body and blood are, and we shouldn’t let anything alter our awareness or perception of that.
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
This is a tough section to interpret. Some could argue that sickness is then the result of our sin or our inability to judge ourselves. I don’t buy that argument. There are in fact a number of reasons for sickness and death – most of the time it is the result of living in a fallen world.
But some commentators suggest this: that the Corinthians were so bent on their factions and were causing so much harm in the body that God was basically saying – I can’t trust you anymore and I’ve got to take you home before you cause any more trouble. It’s discipline then – not judgment or damnation. Better to suffer or even go home prematurely than suffer the fate of the world which rejects Christ altogether.
Conclusion
1. We should be like Christ in all things
2. We should pay attention to how we appear to the culture
3. Men and women are interdependent
4. The distinctions between the sexes should not be blurred
5. Fellowship and communion is a time to celebrate how the Lord has saved us and brought us together – not a way to separate us and show how some are “better” than others
6. We need to recognize the importance of what Jesus did for us and proclaim His death, burial, and resurrection every time we take communion
