City Life Starter

1 Corinthians 11:2-12 (NIV)

On Covering the Head in Worship

2 I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you.

3 But 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.

4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head.

5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved.

6 For 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.

7 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 did not come from woman, but woman from man;

9 neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.

10 It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels.

11 Nevertheless, in the Lord 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.

By Stefan Johnsson

These verses have been greatly abused throughout the generations in the church and it is easy to miss the point or meaning that Paul is trying to get too. Many men in the church will use this as a tool to tell women that they have to cover their head. Though by making this as a law to follow, the point is missed and it contradicts the rest of the letters and teachings of Paul. Paul is looking deeper into this and context is crucial to gain an understanding.

The first historical point that we have to look at is the prostitution of the women in Corinth. Women who did not cover their head were seen as one of the many prostitutes. With the freedom gained in Christ, women did not think it mattered if they covered their head or not, which caused a lot of problems that the church was beginning to experience. The women were seen as prostitutes and it reflected poorly on the church as the common people thought that the Christians there were practicing prostitution when they were not. So, the point that Paul wanted to make is that we are to be respectful of the society we live in, not to dishonor ourselves and God, by making people look at us in a poor way.

The application for this is that we, no matter man or woman, have to be understanding of the culture we live in, even though we are free to wear whatever we want in Christ. Do whatever you can to reach others for Christ. If this means wearing a head covering in a society that demands women to do so, then you should. It is to do what is necessary to associate yourself with Christ, and not dress sexually as people in the society do. We have been set apart in Christ, so do not be dishonorable.

The second point is that men and women are created differently for a reason. We are both equal in Christ, but also unique in how we are made and the purpose we hold. Man and woman complement each other, we are not made to show that we can do everything the other sex can do. Society wants to push certain values on us, but we have to be careful about how we interpret them and compare it to the Bible. If women act like men, then we are missing the role of a woman. If men act like women, then where are the men in our society? We have a purpose and a role and Paul wanted to stress this.

The fight in the Corinthian church was that the women wanted to remove their head covering because men did not have it. Men thought they should wear it to be the same as the women. It caused major conflict on what was appropriate to do.

The application for today is that it is okay to fight for women’s rights to equal pay or for equal ability to get the necessary education. Though, we also cannot fight to be like each other in all regards. Know and understand that God created us for a purpose and role. He created man and woman differently, so let us not look for what society wants to tell us, but look instead for what God is telling us about ourselves.

There is sin in pride and wanting to do or live how we want to. This is what rebellion against God is like. Instead, let us humbly live for our savior and seek instead what plan and purpose He has for us, including how to live as a man or a woman that has been created in His image.