At Mount Sinai God outlined a detailed set of instructions for Israel's worship. As befitted an earthly people, Jewish priests served God in a physical sanctuary, offering physical sacrifices on a physical altar. Sounds, smells, and sights all played an important role in their religious life. That dispensation and that system of worship have alike come to an end. Now, the Father is to be worshipped without geographical or ethnic distinctions, "in spirit and in truth" (Jn 4.23). In this dispensation believers serve as spiritual priests, offering spiritual sacrifices in a spiritual sanctuary.
Notwithstanding this, the Holy Spirit has given three ordinances for the Church Age that give physical expression to spiritual realities. The truth attested by each of these ordinances is intimately related to the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our relationship with Him. In baptism, the physical act eloquently attests that the believer has died with Christ, and has been raised again with Him. Similarly, in the breaking of bread, the physical act of breaking the loaf and drinking from the cup proclaims the Lord's death, and our fellowship with Him.
The third of these ordinances is described in 1 Corinthians 11.1-16. In this passage we learn that the uncovered heads of men and the covered heads of women in the gatherings of the assembly are physical signs that give expression to vital Scriptural – and Christological – truth.
Few passages of God's Word have produced such controversy as these verses. The reason for this does not lie in Scripture. While there are some difficult verses in the passage, the implications of its teaching are very clear. The difficulty lies with society. The teaching of this passage cuts across the beliefs and practices of this feminist age. All too often, in the clash between Scripture and society, it is the strident cry of society that is heard and heeded, and the clear commands of God's Word set aside. If it were not for the fundamental seriousness of seeing Scripture denigrated and disregarded, there would be something risible in the hermeneutical contortions and exegetical gymnastics performed by expositors who will not allow God's Word to mean what it says and refuse to yield to the plain – though unpopular – teaching of these verses.
We must approach this passage, then, in a spirit of submissiveness, prepared to understand and obey. And, as we consider it, we should notice the practical implications, the spiritual import, and the importance of these verses.
In considering the implications of this ordinance, note the context to which it applies. The passage forms part of a section of the epistle that is dealing especially with the gatherings of a local assembly, and is bookended by sections that deal unambiguously with the meetings of the assembly (1 Cor 11.17). Furthermore, v.16 sets the ordinance in the context of the "church of God". The assembly setting is in view. Scripture does not proscribe the use of the head covering in other contexts, but prescribes it only for the gatherings of the local assembly. In other contexts, our practice should be guided by spiritual intelligence, common sense, and good manners. When there is legitimate room for uncertainty – in our own mind, or the minds of others – it is best to err on the side of caution.
Note the clarity of the instructions. There really is no room for confusion as to the practical effects of the two sets of instructions in the passage. First, the main point of this passage is that, in the assembly, men's heads should be uncovered, and women's heads covered. It is regrettable that the translators of the ESV, amongst others, have confused matters by translating "man" as "husband" in v.3 and "woman" as "wife" in verses 3,5,6,13. That this decision is entirely without contextual justification is demonstrated by the fact that the same words are also translated as "man" and "woman" in these verses. Paul's appeal to creatorial order makes it clear that men and women are in view throughout, not just husbands and wives.
Second, while the subject of head covering is Paul's main concern in these verses, his discussion of the importance of maintaining creatorial order, and the distinction between the sexes, leads to another pair of instructions. Men should not wear their hair long, for "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?" (v.14). By the same token, it "is a glory" (v.15) for a woman to have long hair, but it is "a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven" (v.6).
These are practical instructions. To obey them may bring us into conflict with the fluctuating fashions of the world, and there is real reproach and real cost associated with obedience. But "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5.29), assured that the cost of that obedience is assessed and appreciated by our Lord.
Obedience to the Word of God is its own motive. But our obedience to this ordinance should not be blind, for its spiritual import is clearly outlined. Notice that Paul deals with two pairs of symbols. The long hair of the woman and the short hair of the man proclaim a creatorial distinction. When God made Eve, He was not just making another Adam in different packaging. Rather, Eve was "a help meet for" Adam, "a companion for him who corresponds to him" (Gen 2.18, NET). The woman was created "for the man" (1 Cor 11.9), to be his complement, with strengths that would answer his weaknesses, and weaknesses matched by his strengths. In a world where differentiation between the sexes is denied, Christian men and women should give testimony, by their appearance, to divine order and design.
As the assembly gathers, the temporary covering of the women's heads, and the temporary uncovering of the men's gives testimony to Christological, as well as to creatorial truth. This symbol demonstrates the headship of Christ in the assembly. "The head of the woman is the man" (v.3), and she covers her physical head as a symbol that, in the assembly, man's glory is to be hidden. "The head of every man is Christ" (v.3), and the man uncovers his physical head as a symbol that it is Christ's glory that is seen in the assembly, and Christ's authority that is owned. Thus a simple symbol has a profound significance, and our submission to the teaching of this passage allows us to glorify our Lord, and give Him His rightful place.
This helps us to grasp the importance of the symbol, and Paul underscores this throughout the passage. Firstly, he stresses the origins of the message. The teaching of this passage is part of the ordinances (or traditions) that he delivered to the Corinthian believers (v.2). Paul uses the word "delivered" in this way on two other occasions in the epistle – in 11.23 about the order of the Lord's Supper and in 15.3 of the gospel. On each of these occasions he is speaking of the passing on of divinely revealed truth. Thus, we cannot simply dismiss this passage as reflecting Paul's personal preferences. This teaching originated in the ineffable wisdom of the eternal God.
Head covering is important, too, because of the observers. Paul reminds the Corinthians that their gatherings are observed by angels: "For this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels" (v.10, NET). Angels know better than most the fearful consequences that flow from the denial of divine headship. They witnessed those consequences in the rebellion of Satan, and again in the fall of Adam. They have seen, too, perfect submission to divine headship in the life of the Lord Jesus. Now they look on as we gather, and they must surely wonder as something of the submission of Christ is seen in the redeemed sons of Adam's race.
Paul's teaching is important because of the practice of others. He makes it clear that this ordinance is not a personal notion or a practice peculiar to Corinth. "But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God" (v.16). Dissension from, or disobedience to, this teaching was unknown to the apostles ("we" of the verse), or amongst the churches of God. How blessed it must have been to see every assembly united by their obedience to God's Word, proclaiming the headship of Christ, regardless of the contradictory expectations of society, and how blessed it would be in our day to see believers similarly united, walking by the same rule, and minding the same thing (Phil 3.16).
To be continued.
