His Word My Sword

In January of 2010, actor Kiefer Sutherland went on national TV wearing a dress. He described that appearance as his “most humiliating moment” ever.

The ’24’ star admitted to talk show host David Letterman “I lost a bet over the weekend. I was so sure New England was going to win, that I told a guy who used to be my friend that if New England lost, I would wear a dress on ‘Letterman’ And so, here I am.” He also said, “This I think may be the most humiliating moment of my life – and I’ve had a couple to choose from.”

Sutherland apologized for embarrassing his family and friends with the outfit, and also described his embarrassment at buying the dress earlier that day.

Ironically, Sutherland’s shame was produced by his earlier pride– pride in his assumed football expertise. Then, as a matter of honor, he had to dishonor himself and his family by following through with his bet. Did he realize how his pride in his so-called knowledge would make him look a fool and bring shame to others?

Sometimes, what we do out of pride not only ends in our shame, but the shame of others. Those things can be relatively benign, as Sutherland’s actions were, but they can also be more serious.

This concept helps us approach 1 Corinthians 11.

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Pride is the Point of 1 Corinthians 11

The entire first letter to the Corinthians deals with pride. Over and over, Paul reveals to the Corinthians that they are prideful. Again and again, Paul takes a mirror and holds it up to show the believers in Corinth that their mistaken pride causes them harm, shame, and dishonor. The Corinthians time and again proved how foolish and immature they were as they showed off their imagined wisdom and presumed maturity. Remember, this letter of Paul to the Corinthians  is in response to a letter from them. Paul is responding to almost everything they write by saying something along the lines of “yes, but…”

In 1 Corinthians, 1-3, Paul corrects the Corinthian church members’ misplaced pride in their various teachers. In chapters 1-3, he also shatters their very concept of wisdom, and highlights that their wrong views come from pride and are regenerated by pride. He teaches them about true humility in chapter 4. He corrects their wrong proud views of toleration of sin in Chapter 5. He corrects their prideful ways of settling disputes in chapter 6. He corrects  their prideful views of  sexual liberty in chapter 6. He corrects their pride both in asceticism and indulgent views of marriage and male/female relations in chapter 7. He corrects their prideful selfish views that might cause others to sin in chapter 8. He corrects their selfish view of their own rights in chapter 9. He corrects their prideful and selfish attitudes towards all they do in chapter 10, in which he reminds them to look both towards Christ and others in all that they do.

After telling them in the previous chapters to cede their pride for others, to display their responsibility by giving up their rights for others, and to be like Paul, who agrees that all is lawful but not everything builds up, Paul ends 1 Corinthians 10:31-33 by saying

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

Then, he continues in 1 Corinthians 1:1-16 with this,

1 Cor. 10:32  Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33  just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

1Cor. 11:1   Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

1Cor. 11:2   Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. 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. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, 5 but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. 6 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. 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. 8 For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; 12 for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God. 13 Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. 16 If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.

This passage continues on the point of pride, and it is quite likely that missing that will result in us missing the point!

Whatever interpretation a believer has of this passage, and whatever practices he or she espouses (or does not adopt) because of it, can easily become a wedge of pridefulness. Satan will use that, and has used it, to divide believers and tempt them to proudly proclaim, “only I have the truth, and the rest of you are wrong.”

Indeed, there are few passages of Scripture that have been used by so many in so many ways as a source of God-dishonoring pride as this.

And that misses his very point, not only here, but in the entire book of 1 Corinthians.

Many believers get so caught up in looking for the practical application of what Paul is saying here that we miss his whole point.

I see no other reason why he would close this passage with verse 16: “If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.”

Clearly, the point of Paul is not for this to become a point of contention.

Here are some things we need to remember at the outset of examining this passage and the issue it raises.

First, the issue of headwear, hair length, or whatever should not be over-emphasized, and it is very possible to do so.

Many people see in this passage an urgency, a stridency, a firmness that, frankly, compared to the rest of 1 Corinthians, is simply not here. Paul does not call anyone a sinner, although he has had no reluctance to do so in the rest of the letter (see 1 Cor. 6:18, 8:12). He does not in 1 Cor. 11 call for anyone to be put out of the church, although he was quick to do so elsewhere (see 1 Cor. 5:2). He does not call to turn anyone over to Satan (as he did 1 Cor. 5:5). He does not say that anyone is bringing judgment upon himself, although he shows no reluctance to do so elsewhere (see 1 Cor. 11:29, 11:34). He does not even say that anyone’s prayers will not be heard, or claim that anyone is violating a commandment!

Yet, people in the church, whatever their understanding of the passage, adopt the view that their position is the “more spiritual” or the “more enlightened.” Some then go so far as to claim that one’s spiritual maturity or submission to God in their lives can be gauged by this issue. That is contrary to what Paul teaches later in this very letter (1 Cor. 13), and what all of Scripture proclaims. Christ Himself said that “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35) Jesus did not mention this issue as a test of being a disciple, and yet we who claim to be His disciples can be tempted to make it so.

Pride is always a sin, and pride in one’s viewpoint is always an enemy of love.

Secondly, some people are simply inconsistent when they approach 1 Cor. 11:1-16.

Many people see in this passage  a universal practice that is for all churches, and declare emphatically that it cannot be discussing something cultural or specific to the people and time to whom the letter is written. Others, with equal certainty, claim that there is no doubt that this is only cultural, and that such a conclusion should be clear to all. Those of either view, if they hold the view too firmly, are in danger of displaying what can only be called a prideful inconsistency.

I point out that danger not to accuse, but to warn.

At least some of the people who make the claim that this passage refers to some universal wearing of head garments by women will also, with equal surety, apparently set aside other Scriptures with which they are not as comfortable (or to which they do not wish to be as conformable). They may declare such verses as 1 Corinthians 14:39 , which says “earnestly desire to prophesy and do not forbid speaking in tongues,”  as  “not applicable to today,” or “something only for the people in Corinth.” Paul makes the statement in 1 Cor. 14 even though he has just explained how tongues might be abused. Yet, the admonition not to forbid speaking in tongues is understood to belong to things which are “for a specific time and place.” Whether that is right or not is secondary to the fact that, when it comes to 1 Corinthians 11, many of the same readers will overlook the lack of specifics and the several other features of the text and declare that it is plainly universal, while other verses are only “for a specific time and place.” This is inconsistency in interpretation, and is made even more perplexing when the more emphatic and unqualified statement by Paul is interpreted as being the more expendable to the passage of time.

And, at least some of the people who understand 1 Cor. 11:1-16 as referring to a cultural symbol of position, will also, with equal surety, reject the idea that other passages of Scripture may be also be cultural.

Thirdly, some people come to this text and forget it is a letter.

We cannot forget that this is a letter between people that know quite a bit about each other that we do not know. It makes references to things that Paul assumes the Corinthians knew but that we, 2000 years later, do not.

There are other cases of this in the Bible.

When Paul tells Timothy in 1 Tim. 5:23 to stop drinking water and to start drinking wine for his stomach’s sake, we assume that such advice comes from knowledge of the circumstances of Timothy. It is not necessarily applicable to us– we don’t stop drinking water ourselves, neither do we stop using Tums and Pepto-Bismol in exchange for drinking wine. It might involve a principle we should consider (wine may be medicinal, and is certainly not sinful in itself).

In Ephesians 4:28 and 1 Thessalonians 4:11, Paul tells people to work with their hands. Does that mean that those of us who don’t use our hands in our work, but who manage or teach or the like should seek different employment? In both cases, there was a particular problem that is being addressed that we can read between the lines (dishonesty in Ephesus and laziness in Thessalonica), but that might not always be easy to discover by reading the text.

When he wrote 1 Corinthians 11, Paul had before him the letter that the Corinthians wrote to him. He also had the experience of 18 months that he had spent with them teaching them various things and setting up their various practices. If we want to know what constitutes a covering, we have one option– look elsewhere in Scripture for what Paul and they would have understood.

Once again, here is the passage (from the ESV):

1 Cor. 10:32  Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33  just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

1Cor. 11:1   Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

1Cor. 11:2   Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. 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. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, 5 but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. 6 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. 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. 8 For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; 12 for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God. 13 Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. 16 If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.

When Paul talks about a man not covering his head (literally, “having down head” or “having down from his head”) and a woman having her head covered, just what does he mean? Did he mean that a man cannot have a toupee? Did he mean that a woman must wear a veil? Can a praying male soldier wear a helmet? Can a woman wear a ribbon or a tiny piece of veil that does not hide anything, but is on her head, and covers part of it?

Or, was the whole point of this passage from the Apostle Paul something other than physical garments, fabrics, or notions?

Examining the Context

As Part 1 of this examination concluded, it is very important to remember the context of 1 Cor. 11 when examining this passage (1 Cor. 11:1-16)

Why? Because 1 Corinthians this is a letter written by Paul to people he knew. What is more, he lived in their town and with them for at least 18 months (according to Acts 18:11), so he knew both them and their city quite well. In addition, Paul is writing 1 Corinthians in specific response to specific questions and issued that the Corinthians raised in a letter that they had written to them.

Paul knew what he meant when he wrote about a woman’s head being covered. He knew the Corinthians would know. However, we are not (exactly) Corinthians of the first century.

To figure out what WE should do to obey this passage, we need to bridge the gap of years, languages, and worlds to figure out what Paul was saying to his readers.

All writing (including 1 Corinthians) has a context. We must enter into that context to understand the writing.

Immediate Biblical Context

Generally, the most important context for understanding a difficult passage in the Bible is the Bible itself.

One principle to apply in interpretation is to examine the immediate Biblical context. That is, by examining  the surrounding passages of Scripture, we might see if terms or ideas are used in the immediate context that aid in our understanding. This we did a bit of in Part 1, and there is not much in 1 Corinthians, beyond a general pattern of correction, that can be brought to bear on this passage. Now, the fact that Paul is sort of slapping the Corinthians around for things they are messing up is helpful, but not so much if we want to understand the particulars of men not having their heads covered and women having their heads covered. That sort of language is just not used or alluded to elsewhere in the first letter to the Corinthians.

Broader Biblical Context

Another principle to follow when you come to a place like this is to examine the broader Biblical context. That is, we might see what other Scripture says.

Here, we might get a little more mileage. The book of Acts tells us (in Chapter 18) a lot about the church in Corinth. It tells us that there were Jews who joined the church early on, but also gentiles. Regarding hair length, which is mentioned in our passage, Acts tells us that Paul probably grew long hair as part of a vow when he was with the church (he cut it off after he left- Acts 18:18). There is not much help about head coverings specifically though.

Where else in Scripture are the heads of men or women mentioned? What do those passages say about headwear or hair?

All believers are to metaphorically put on Christ and the helmet of salvation, but those are pictures and not literal garments or hair styles.

However, there are some pretty clear and specific descriptions of what women are to wear in the New Testament Scriptures.

In 1 Tim. 2:8-10. Paul says

8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.

In 1 Peter 3:3-5, Peter says

3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair, the wearing of gold, or the putting on of clothing— 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 5 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their husbands,

It is interesting that in both these places women are told how to adorn themselves and what to wear. Do you notice that BOTH of them say not to have a fancy hairstyle? We will leave aside the admonition not to wear jewelry of any kind or dressy clothes (although that is in both passages as well).

The mention of hairstyles in these passages is potentially important for an understanding of 1 Corinthians 11 for one big reason. If all women in all churches were wearing something that COVERED their hair (as might be concluded in 1 Cor. 11), why would the arrangement of the hair underneath be a concern for both Paul and Peter as they were writing for the benefit of the Church as a whole years after 1 Corinthians was written?

It seems reasonable to at least admit the possibility from these two passages that, whatever Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthians 11, it did not include something that would hide the hair. Either it was not a hat or scarf, or, if it was, it was something that women in places other than Corinth did not normally wear..

Still Broader Biblical Context

There is another aspect of the “context” of other Scriptural passages on wearing things on heads or on hair styles that should not be overlooked.

Nowhere else in the New Testament are women or men told literally what to wear or not wear when they are praying or declaring the things of God (prophesying). When we are told to wear or put on something in the New Testament, it is always metaphorical. For example, we are told to put on the armor of light (Romans 13:12), the Lord Jesus (Romans 13:14), the new self (Ephesians 4:24), the armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-15), compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, love (Colossians 3:12-14), the breastplate of faith and love (1 Thessalonians 5:8).

In the Old Testament, the priests were commanded to wear turbans, but that would itself be the exact opposite of what Paul is saying, since he told the men not to have their heads covered in the way women were told to. If women were to wear coverings like the Old Testament priests, then they would be serving as priests while the men were not. However, we are told that we are all priests to God in the New Covenant (see 1 Peter 2:5, 1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 1:6).

Admitting That The General Cultural/Historical Context Matters

At some point, if our examination of other Scriptures does not yield a clear confirmation of what exactly having a covered head entails, or if that examination raises other questions that are not answered by our passage, then we might want to get some outside help. We might want to ask “what evidence outside the Bible is there for what Paul and the Corinthians would have understood as covering?” As soon as we do that, we are saying that to understand this passage we must understand a different culture.

Now, there is nothing wrong with that, in my opinion. We will gain more insight into truth that way, I think, than by declining to ask what was going on there at the time. Indeed, throughout the book of 1 Corinthians, understanding requires that we do that very thing. To understand chapter 7, it helps if we understand the historical cultural and legal aspects of marital practices, betrothals, etc. in Corinth. To understand chapter 8, it helps if we understand the kinds of things that went on in idol worship in those days in Corinth.

Knowing these things helps us to understand really and fully what God’s word says– they do not keep us from understanding!

Once we do this, however, we may discover that the world that they lived in is so different from ours that we can no longer do things that they did in the same way that they did them. We may discover that the reasons for doing things the way they did them no longer exist.

In other words, we may discover that there is a cultural difference that will require us to adopt a practically different practice to fulfill the principle of what the people of 2000 years ago were called upon to do.

For example, we might not take the Lord’s Supper out of a common cup or by breaking a single loaf of bread or using actual wine.

We do not think it necessary to baptize people in rivers or on the same day as they confess faith in Christ.

We do not greet one another with kisses, although the Bible says to in Romans 16:16, 1 Cor. 16:20, 2 Cor. 13:12, 1 Thes. 5:26, 1 Peter 5:14, and Jesus says that his host should have kissed him in Luke 7:45.

We don’t wash one another’s feet although Jesus commanded his disciples to do so in John 13 (and remember the Great Commission is a commandment to the disciples to teach all that He commanded). This is despite the explicit command that a disciple wash the feet of others in 1 Tim. 5:10. Why? Because we don’t live in a world in which animal dung accumulates in the street and gets between our toes.

We don’t lift our hands when we pray, although 1 Tim. 2:8 says to do so and Exodus 17, Lev. 9, Neh. 8, Psalm 28, Psalm 63, Psalm 119, Psalm 141, and more.

In all these things, though, the principle remains.

The application may depend on who and where we are, and what life is like in our times.

If you doubt that the different culture and environment of Corinth in 55 AD might be important in understanding this passage, let me just say this. In first century Corinth, if a man walked around the streets wearing the dress that Keifer Sutherland wore on The Late Show with David Letterman in January 2010 to pay off a bet, it would not be the “most humiliating moment” of his life, as it was for Mr. Sutherland. Indeed, that Corinthian fellow would have probably attracted absolutely no attention, except for complements about how nice, clean and colorful his garments looked.  Men and women alike wore what we would describe as “dresses” then. It is not so now.

Context matters. 

What is the Cultural/Historical Context of 1 Corinthians 11?

Remember, Corinth was the “sin city” of the first century Roman Empire. Temple prostitution and all sorts of pagan worship rituals were common. In many religious ceremonies, the rules and decorum of daily life would be jettisoned so that some perverse practice could be adopted in the name of religion, or so that some tendency to sin could actually be encouraged.

1 Cor. 10:32  Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33  just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

1Cor. 11:1   Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.