I would be willing to say with confidence that everyone who has ever stood to preach on 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 has noted just how difficult this text is, and since I want to be no exception, let me tell you up front that this text is extremely difficult. It’s difficult for a number of reasons and on a number of fronts. It’s difficult simply in trying to decide what Paul means with certain words or references he makes throughout. So, for example, after mentioning that the head of a wife is her husband and the head of every man is Christ, Paul says in verse 4, “Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head.” Well, does that mean the man’s literal and physical head on top of his body or Christ? And the same question exists referring to the woman’s head in verse 5. Then, what is this covering all about? Is it one’s hair or some kind of covering one would wear on his or her head? Why would men not need to cover their heads while women would need to cover theirs? Then, in verse 10, Paul notes that a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head (a phrase in and of itself that is quite difficult to understand) before concluding with the phrase, “because of the angels.” What? Maybe the Corinthians’ response would have been, “Of course,” but if so the years and changes in culture have not made it so easy for us to understand that reference.
And that is just some of the difficult elements of understanding what the text is saying. But now consider the difficulty in application. Here, in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, we have a text referencing wives wearing head coverings in a public worship service, but our churches aren’t full of women with head coverings. So, how do we apply it? Do we ignore this text just because we’re uncomfortable with it? That’s not acceptable.
That really leads us to one final element that is difficult with a text like this, namely, our hearts. I mean, we say we want to be people who obey the Bible at all costs, but do we still want to obey if it requires the ladies to start wearing head coverings on Sunday mornings? My guess is that most women, if not every woman, in this room is thinking, “I sure hope his conclusion is that we don’t have to wear head coverings.” You see, this text is difficult throughout and on so many fronts. And I’ll admit that this is one reason why I force myself to preach through books of the Bible and print out the sermon text far ahead of time, because if I didn’t, I’d be tempted to avoid texts like this or minimally tell you that we’re going to stop this series at 1 Corinthians 11:1 and pick up again at a time to be determined. I’ll admit, nothing in me thought, “Yes, I finally get to preach the text about head coverings” when I began studying it this week.
So, with all that said, let me tell you how I’m going to approach preaching this text this morning. I want to divide the sermon into three sections. First, I want to try to describe what it seems is the background for this text and what Paul is actually talking about. Then, I want to try to answer why it is that Paul was so insistent on the women wearing head coverings and the men not wearing them and what that says to us. As I answer the “why” question, I will also make some application along the way. But in the end, I want to use the last bit of our time to really dwell on how we need to apply the teaching of this text in our own setting. So, let me begin by trying to answer what Paul is dealing with in these verses.
Well, first, I think Paul is talking about some kind of covering that he wants wives to wear over their heads when praying or prophesying in the corporate worship service. That is, I don’t think this is a concern Paul has for a certain hair length, necessarily. Now, it is true that Paul says in verses 14-15 that a woman’s long hair is her glory and that her hair is a covering for her, but I think Paul’s using that as an illustration. He’s basically noting that if it would be disgraceful for a man to have long hair in their culture and for a woman to have terribly short or no hair would be disgraceful, then that points them to the need for women to wear this covering and men not to wear it. So, I think Paul is making reference to an actually garment that a woman would cover her head with, and he’s not suggesting that the longer a woman’s hair is the more holy she is.
Also, I think the reason Paul is dealing with the issue of head coverings is because of what these things suggested in the culture in their day. If you saw a woman with a man and she was not wearing a head covering in their culture meant that she was probably not his wife and was perhaps a prostitute. Similarly, a man wearing a head covering would be to present himself as a woman, as men who wore long hair in that culture suggested to others that they were pursuing a lifestyle of homosexuality.
Moreover, Paul limits these instructions to the worship service, and particularly to the act of praying or prophesying. Now, you know through our Sunday school classes that I think gift of prophecy or the act of prophesying described here in 1 Corinthians was not preaching. Nor was it necessarily predicting what would happen in the future. Prophecy was rather a sharing of something the Spirit brought to mind that would build up, encourage, and console another. And if you think of prophecy as simply something the Spirit brings to mind so that you can edify another, that’s not crazy or scary at all, is it? In fact, I think this kind of think happened in the church at Corinth quite naturally and happens in our own church regularly and naturally.
And at Corinth, Paul expected both men and women to pray and prophesy as they would gather, but he expected the women to wear coverings when they did so and the men not to wear them. So, I’ll answer this first question briefly. I think Paul is dealing with actual coverings to be worn on the head, not just one’s hair, and I think this was an issue because of what this attire or lack thereof suggested in their culture. Finally, Paul expected them to obey this command any time a man or women prayed or prophesied as the church gathered together. Now, let me take a bit longer in answering the question, “Why?”
I can answer this briefly by noting what I already have, namely, that wearing or not wearing head coverings reflected something in their culture. And Paul was concerned about what message the church was sending. Let me note a few things that I think Paul wanted the church at Corinth to reflect in their public worship.
Now I know these words are taboo among man in our own day, but without an understanding of authority, submission, and honor, the Christian life is simply impossible to live. You cannot obey Christ’s commands without understanding authority, submission, and honor. The Lord designed the world in these categories. And in this world, everyone has a head to whom he or she submits except God the Father.
This is where Paul begins. He commends them in verse 2 because they remembered him and what he had taught them. But either this issue of head coverings was one area where they had missed what he taught them, or there was a group in the church not obeying Paul. Therefore, after commending them generally, Paul takes up an issue where either they didn’t understand or weren’t obeying, namely, in regard to head coverings.
But note where he starts this conversation. He writes in verse 3, “But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.” Now, the word for man and husband in Greek is the same word as is the word for woman and wife. But I think the ESV translates well here when it says “wife” here because the Bible doesn’t suggest that every man is every woman’s head (i.e., authority) but only that woman’s husband.
Therefore, noting that, do you see Paul’s point? Everyone except God the Father has a head, one who is their authority and to whom they submit. Every man submits to Christ as his head. Every wife submits to her husband. And even Christ submits to his Father, something we see throughout the Scripture as Jesus clearly acknowledges that he has come to do the will of his Father.
Now, this doesn’t mean that men and women aren’t equal or the men are superior. In fact, I think this is why Paul specifically mentions that Christ’s head is God the Father and mentions it last. In case you were beginning to think that headship equals inequality or superiority, Paul ends by saying that the head of Christ is God, and you’re thinking must change. It doesn’t suggest inequality or superiority, but it does suggest authority, submission, and honor in our world. This is the Lord’s design.
And in that culture, a married woman would cover her head. Therefore, could you imagine what message would be sent in regard to authority, submission, and honor if these things were reversed? If in that culture you walked into the Corinthian church and saw men with head coverings and their wives without them, one message it would send is that they’re completely against the understanding of men as head of their homes and as wives as submitting to their husbands. Moreover, since this is the Lord’s design for marriage (as we see in Ephesians 5:22-33) it would declare to the Lord that we are trying to overthrow his beautiful and specific design. Consequently, the woman would dishonor her head, her husband, by not covering her head by suggesting her unwillingness to submit to him and see him as her head. And the man would dishonor the Lord Jesus Christ were he to cover his head, suggesting his complete disregard for the Lord’s design and unwillingness to walk in the role crafted for him by the Lord himself. This is why Paul says in verses 4-5, “Every man who prays or prophesies with his head uncovered dishonors his head [here I think he means Christ], but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head [here I think he means her husband], since it is the same as if her head were shaven.”
Now, I will comment in a second on the reference to the woman shaving her head, which Paul mentions again in verse 6. But let me continue this note of authority, submission, and honor. I’ve already mentioned authority and submission as the man submits to Christ as his authority, and the wife submits to her husband as her authority. But note the issue of honor here as well, specifically noted by Paul’s use of the word “glory.”
Paul writes in verse 7, “For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man.” Now, this might sound at first that Paul is suggesting that only men and not women are made in the image of God. But that’s not what he’s saying. We know from Genesis 1:26-27 that both men and women are made in God’s image. What Paul is saying is that both men and women were created in God’s image so that they might bring glory to him, but the woman has an additional role in that she is to bring glory to her husband. Do you see? Even as we might say that men and women both submit to Christ as their authority, but wives also must submit to their husbands as their authority.
And Paul grounds this in the creation of the woman herself. He notes in verses 8-9, “For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.” Paul notes that in the beginning, God first created man, not woman. But then he decided that it was not good for man to be alone, so he caused Adam to fall asleep, took one of his ribs, and made a woman for him, his wife. This is what Paul is referring to when he says that woman was made from man not man from woman. Paul is referring to Genesis 2. Moreover in Genesis 2, we see that the woman was made to be a helper for her husband. Thus, Paul adds that the woman was created for the man in that instant. God didn’t create the woman and then create man as her helper but the other way around. And Paul then grounds this order in our world in the very creation of God in the beginning in Genesis 1-2.
Now, this doesn’t suggest that somehow one sex is superior or not dependent on the other. Men and women are both dependent on the other. That’s why Paul says in verses 11-12, “Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman.” Yes, the woman first came from the man, but now men are born of women, so he isn’t saying this to suggest that one sex is superior to the other. He is, however, noting headship, submission, and honor.
Because the woman was created to submit to and bring glory to her husband as well as to the Lord, the wife must make sure that she conducts herself in a way that brings honor and glory to her husband. Were she to walk around without a head covering in that day in Corinth, she would have suggested a number of bad things, one of which is that she doesn’t care to bring glory to and honor her husband. Therefore, Paul commands wives to wear head coverings when praying or prophesying in public worship.
Let me then say this by note of application. In our own day the culture around us suggests that we should be ashamed of and embarrassed by notions of authority, submission, and honor, especially in our homes, but the Bible again reminds us that this is the Lord’s very design. And, as believers, we need to be willing to appear foolish before the world rather than to disobey our Lord.
But it’s not just that, God’s ways are always wise and good. And so honoring the Lord’s design in your marriage will be good for you in your marriage. We’re not pragmatists, obeying the Lord simply because it’s good for us, but I will say that it is to your practical advantage to obey the Lord in regard to the designed roles he’s given us in marriage. Men, if you will lead, love, cherish, nourish, and be willing to lay down your wives for your wives, and wives, if you will respect and submit to your husbands, your marriage will be happier. You fight against the Lord’s design at your own detriment, and we obey him at our own cost. And where marriages are less than glorious it is without exception that the man, the wife, or both have disregarded at least one aspect of the calling the Lord has given them in marriage.
So, we’re not ashamed of this as a church. We’ll rejoice in the Lord’s designed roles for marriage. And where the Lord calls men to lead in certain roles in the church itself, as pastors for one example, we’ll obey. Reason number one why Paul wanted them to appropriately use these head coverings in public worship is because he wanted them to reflect a proper understanding and acknowledgement of authority, submission, and honor to those around them. But there are more reasons I want to note as well.
Throughout the text Paul refers to women cutting off their hair or shaving their head as a disgrace and men having long hair as a disgrace. So, for example, Paul writes in 5b-6, “… since it is the same as if her head were shaven. For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head.” And again in verses 14-15, “Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.” Why would it be a disgrace for a man to have long hair or a woman to have short or no hair?
Well, I think it’s because of what it would suggest in that culture. In that day, for a woman to go without a head covering would suggest a number of things, and none of them were good. Men regularly had sexual partners in addition to their wives, so to see a married man with a woman without a head covering would suggest that this woman was simply one of those sexual partners, perhaps even a prostitute. Moreover, there was a move in the culture of women saying, “If a husband can have sexual partners outside of a marriage, then so can women,” and these women represented that call by having uncovered heads. Then, a woman with a shaved head would suggest either that she’d committed adultery and was suffering judgment for it or that she was pursuing a homosexual lifestyle just as a man with long hair in that culture suggested that he was pursuing a homosexual lifestyle. And Paul is concerned that none of that be communicated. That’s why he is concerned to make sure that accurately reflect modesty and morality in their worship.
And isn’t the call the same to us? Wouldn’t it be embarrassing for us at wear certain attire in our worship service that made us look like we were immoral and immodest like unbelievers? Wouldn’t it send a false message to the world about what we believe and practice?
In verse 10, Paul says, “That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.” Now, first, I think a better translation would be she must have authority over her head. The idea being that she needs to have authority over her very appearance, suggesting modesty and not immorality. But what does Paul mean about the angels? Well, he could mean that angels take note of the church and would be dishonored at a church full of professing believers suggesting they’re characterized by immorality and immodesty. But it could also mean something else.
The word for angel is also the word for “messenger,” however, so Paul could be referring to the practice of Roman messengers coming to observe Christian worship services and report to Rome what was going on. After all, Paul does mention later in this letter the possibility of unbelievers entering the worship service, and we know that Rome was full of paranoia about sects gathering and conspiring to overthrow the government. And if that’s what Paul is referencing, then he is concerned about the church’s witness to outsiders by what their attire (head coverings) or lack thereof suggested to them.
Again, we must have the same concern. Don’t risk the possibility of unbelievers thinking we’re characterized by immodesty and immorality because of our dress on Sunday mornings. That would be as disgraceful as a woman in Corinth voluntarily shaving her head and walking around in the first century. Let us seek to reflect modesty and morality. And let me add something else here.
Another reason why Paul wanted men not to wear head coverings and women to wear them is because to do opposite of this would to be for men to look like women and women to look like men. But as believers, we do not despise but delight in the distinctions of men and women and gifts and aspects of God’s good creation.
Now, let me show you why I think this point can be made from the text. In verses 14-15, Paul writes, “Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair it is her glory?” What does Paul mean there? Some have suggested that nature typically causes men to lose their hair over time and typically women don’t have this, so maybe that’s what Paul is saying. But I think he’s rather meaning something like our natural instinct. So, then does our natural instinct really drive men to have short hair and women to have long hair? I mean, not necessarily. When I was in eighth grade, I really wanted me hair to grow long because I thought it was cool, especially flipping out from underneath a ball cap.
Well, when you consider that in first century Corinth for a man to have long hair meant that he was looking like a woman and for a woman to have short hair meant she was trying to dress like a man, I think it makes more sense. In essence, Paul is saying that our natural instinct as men is not to look like women, and the natural instinct as women is not to look like men. We might apply it by saying, “Doesn’t nature itself teach you, men, not to wear dresses?” Of course it does. It might not in a culture where all men wear dresses and women don’t. But in our culture, yes, the natural instinct of men is to appear not as women and women not to appear as men. For a man to put on a dress and makeup and go out in public is disgraceful. Again, here is an area where our culture may press us to accept that as normal, but it’s not normal.
God created the distinct sexes of male and female. God loves manhood and womanhood. Now, we don’t have to caricature these realities so that all men have to grow big beard and drive Harleys and women must wear dresses and aprons and tiaras. But it is good and right for men to delight in being men and women to delight in being women. In fact, one of the faults of the feminist movement in our day is that it suggests that women aren’t valuable unless they’re acting like men. That’s degrading to women and a denial of the glory of womanhood that God has made. So, as a church, we should embrace and delight in gender distinctions, again, so that we might properly witness God’s design before a world in rebellion against their Maker. Now, let me give a word of more specific application because Paul would not expect us to be contentious about obeying the principles he’s laid out here but to embrace them in all the churches, as he notes in verse 16.
How do we reflect these things at Cornerstone Community Church? Well, let’s first talk about male leadership and equality between men and women. Paul expected the church to delight in male leadership, yet he clearly intended men and women to pray and prophesy as the church gathered. Well, our approach to try to honor both of these elements is seen in our Sunday services. We understand our Sunday gatherings as one long service with an extended intermission in the middle. That is, our Sunday evening gathering is simply an extension of our Sunday morning gathering. I’m not saying that simply for the sake of applying this text. That’s how we’ve attempted to teach the church and picture this for years.
And we’ve decided that since there are so few opportunities to lead the congregation in our Sunday morning service that we’ll use those few opportunities to uphold the biblical teaching of male leadership in the church and the home. We ask men to lead in our public praying and reading of Scripture. Women and men may lead out in our music, but we try to demonstrate an attempt to uphold male leadership in these ways. Then, in the second part of our Sunday worship gathering as we gather for prayer on Sunday nights, this is a service set aside for prayer and for sharing what the Spirit might bring to mind so that we might share with others for their upbuilding, encouragement, and consolation (i.e., prophecy). And we encourage men and women to lead in these times of prayer and prophecy.
However, in neither of these times (the Sunday morning or Sunday evening portion of our Sunday gathering) do we exhort wives to wear head coverings. That is, if you haven’t been on a Sunday night, you could theoretically think that since women are praying and prophesying perhaps on Sunday evenings that this is the time they wear their head coverings. But it isn’t. So why?
Well, the answer is that I think head coverings were a specific application of the principles of headship, authority, honor, modesty, morality, and gender distinction in that day whereas that is not a specific application of those timeless principles in our day. That is, just as we don’t greet one another with a holy kiss (a specific application) but do try to love one another (the timeless principle) and even demonstrate our affection for one another as we shake hands, pat a shoulder, or hug, so I don’t think Paul intends us to wear head coverings in our day because they wouldn’t necessarily communicate these principles in our day.
In fact, on one particular Sunday when a women wore a head covering, a visitor asked me about her, saying, “Why is she trying to draw attention to herself?” I answered that this women was not trying to do that but thought that’s what she needed to do to obey a certain biblical text. But interestingly, to this visitor a head covering communicated just the opposite message in our culture that Paul intended it to reflect in first century Corinth.
But the principles in this text are timeless. And as a church, we need to make sure that we’re reflecting and thinking of specific ways to reflect our understanding of authority, submission, and honor. We need to reflect modesty and morality in our dress. We need to reflect our appreciation of gender distinctions so that men look like men and women like women. And we need to make sure that to outsiders we’re properly reflecting the gospel, which is why every Sunday we try to make clear that our hope isn’t in our good works but our faith and hope is in the one who lived, died, and was raised for us. So, let us show that now and show our desire to obey God’s Word as we come to the table now. Amen.