Head Coverings and Authority
Practical Church (1 Corinthians) • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Announcements
Good morning. Welcome to Southern Hills Baptist Church. Thank you for joining us today.
If you are a first-time guest with us, you will find a Connection Card in the pew rack in front of you. We would appreciate it if you would fill that out and place it in the offering plate. That gives us a record of your visit and allows us the opportunity of reaching out to you this week to answer any questions that you might have.
Online giving is available at our website, southernhillsbc.com. By clicking on GIVE, it will take you to our giving page where you can easily give by electronic check or credit card. You can also give during our offertory time or in the box at the info table. If you are a guest, please know that we do not expect you to give. Our members and regular attenders provide for the ministry of the church.
Today is National Pastors’ Wives Appreciation Day. And no, my wife did not remind me about that fact.
(beat)
It was my daughter. So, thank you Keira.
Pastors’ wives are like Deacons in many ways. They do so much to love and support the church and their husbands. And most of their work will never be seen by the church at large. It is only fitting that they have a day on the calendar to be appreciated.
So, before we come to worship our Awesome and Mighty God this morning, we thank Him for the wives of our pastors. Linda is out of town, but please let her and Veronica and Andrea know how much you love and appreciate their care for the church and their long-suffering endurance in being married to your Elders…
See bulletin for Calendar Updates
If you are a guest with us, know that this is our weekly Family Worship service. Our children will remain with us for the entire service. We do have a nursery available for children under 4 just down the hall if you would like to use it.
Please stand as I read our Call to Worship. This morning, we will be doing a responsive reading. I will read the words in white and we will all read the words in yellow.
Call To Worship
Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
Praise befits the upright.
Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
he puts the deeps in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
Opening Hymn
Scripture & Prayer: Jerry Dage Isaiah 6:1-7
Song #1
Missions Minute: MISSION PARTNER
Today, our Missions Minute is about Chicagoland Community Church, also known as C3…
Offering & Prayer
Song #2 (Cornerstone)
Lord’s Supper
Please be seated.
(beat)
Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith.
The cornerstone is the first stone of a building. It must be laid square and level if the building is to stand straight. But it must also be sufficiently hard, able to bear the weight of the whole structure.
And while the church may be built on the rock of Peter’s confession, Jesus is the cornerstone of the church. He is what keeps it true and faithful. As bricks are added, it is He who makes them strong and He who binds them together with the structure.
And He doesn’t need the best building material, because He is strong enough to bear the weight of all of humanity. He takes weak and crumbling bricks and restores them. He brings dead things back to life.
We’re going to continue our reading about Jesus from the book of John. Today we will continue in chapter 11:
When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”
Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
At this time, I am going to have our ushers come forward. If you are a follower of Jesus, in that you have accepted Him as Savior, bowed to Him as King, and been baptized in obedience to His commandment, we invite you to participate with us. In just a moment, we will pass the plates. Please take a piece of bread and a cup and hold it until we take together.
Pass
Instruction from Jesus: Read Matthew 26:26-29
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Prayer of Blessing on bread and cup
Song #3
Pastoral Prayer
Country- Clancy trial; heart of America toward life (culture of death)
SHBC-
Introduction
If you have your Bibles with you this morning, please turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 11.
We are continuing our series through Paul’s letter as we seek to understand what it is to be a faithful church. He has spent much of the last 10 chapters correcting theological misunderstandings and rebuking the Corinthians for their sinful behavior and how it reflects on Christ and His church.
This week, Paul begins a new section in the letter, where he focuses in on the corporate worship that takes place when the congregation is assembled. You see, God has designed order into creation, and that order extends to how we return His glory back to Him in worship.
And Paul is trying to help the church at Corinth understand that how they worship is as important as who they worship.
Let us meditate on that this morning, church. How we worship is as important as who we worship.
(beat)
If Yahweh is the Almighty Creator God, He not only has a say in who His human creatures should worship, but also in how they provide that worship. As we discussed last year in our Worship Series, if the church is going to be faithful to Christ, it must carefully order its worship of Him in the way that He has prescribed.
Our passage today is notorious for being hard to understand.
Chances are that you have probably never heard a sermon on it because it is one of the most difficult passages to interpret in all of the New Testament. Many Pastors would prefer to skip this passage. And unfortunately, many of them do.
But we don’t skip passages here at Southern Hills. We attempt to faithfully preach every text as we come to it. And so it is this morning.
[TITLE SLIDE]
There is no reason for us to be afraid of the Bible, even when things are difficult to understand. As one of my mentors used to say about scripture, “if it’s weird, it’s probably important.”
(beat)
Let us start by remembering our context: that Paul is writing to a mostly Gentile church in one of the most pagan cities in the Roman empire. While we may find some confusion in the passage, they would have known exactly what he was talking about. Again, the principle applies that “while the Bible was written for us, it was not written to us.”
And so, we will approach the text in this manner of seriousness this morning, working through the confusion in an attempt to extract the truth that Paul is sharing in this passage and to apply it to our modern context.
(beat)
The difficulty in our passage comes from Paul not clearly differentiating that which is culturally relevant from that which is his theological conviction. As we work through the passage and try to pull an appropriate application from it, we are going to be asked to hold a few ideas in tension with one another. And I want you to pay attention to these, because they are important. These are the truth propositions that we are going to make today:
[SLIDE]
First, that God has designed a specific order of authority within creation. And if creation is to be faithfully stewarded by His human imagers, the order must be followed.
Second, that Women are highly valued in God’s economy, way beyond that of other first century Ancient Near East cultures. The roles of women in faithfully stewarding creation are designed by God for a reason; they are not sexist or misogynistic. Women are not qualified or disqualified from roles based on their ability, but rather their calling. Every human imager—both man and woman—are of equal value to God. But He has created an order of authority within creation for a purpose.
And third, that while culture must be reflected upon, it can contribute nothing to this conversation about what God desires for His human imagers.
Ultimately, when we approach worship of God, it is the heart that counts, but we are not isolated individuals in this endeavor.
We are called to be a body—to be in community and, therefore, we must care for each other’s hearts in addition to ur own.
With those thoughts, let us turn to our text. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, starting in verse 2:
[MAIN PASSAGE SLIDE x8]
Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. (/) 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. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, (/) 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. (/) 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. (/) 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. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. (/) That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 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. And all things are from God. Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? (/) 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. If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.
Again, Paul is addressing them in regard to the context of corporate worship. What should happen when the church comes together in assembly? What should it look like? Should it be orderly or chaotic?
Based on the letter thus far, it is clear that individualism in Corinth was beginning to hurt the church, as believers sought to misuse their Christian freedom to express themselves in a variety of ways that did not edify the church body.
Paul is now trying to call them back to order and unity. He starts by commending them on the things that they are doing well, just as he did at the beginning of the letter. Look back with me at verse 2:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.
Paul gives them encouragement, commending them for remembering him in their prayers and keeping the traditions that he has taught to them. So, what are these traditions that he speaks of?
Based on the context of the next few chapters, the traditions he mentions are how to conduct an orderly meeting within corporate worship. Based on early church practice, these traditions would have been passed along to the church orally by the mouth of Paul. And while he gives them kudos for generally doing a good job, the next few chapters are designed to help them adjust and fine-tune their corporate worship to become more in-line with the order that God expects in receiving worship from His holy assembly.
So, to orient the church in the right direction as he starts, he will begin by pointing the church back to its source of everything—to Yahweh God Himself.
[POINT 1 SLIDE]
Pattern of Authority (vv 3-9)
In the beginning, Genesis 1:2 tells us that the earth was formless and empty. The Hebrew phrase there is to’hu ve bo’hu. It has been made to rhyme in Hebrew and has been designed to convey a clear image—that the earth was a wild and empty place.
Think about the Wild West for a moment. Most of us grew up with stories of Wild Bill and Billy the Kid and the James Gang. And, doubtless, many of us have been impressed upon by spaghetti westerns and the many renditions of Wyatt Earp and the story of Tombstone.
What was it that made the old West wild?
It was simply the absence of law and order. Without lawmen to establish order, chaos reigned supreme in the Western territories. Stage coach robbers ran the highways and outlaws abused ranchers and towns, taking what they wanted in the absence of sufficient authority.
In the beginning, the earth sat in this way—wild and empty; a wasteland devoid of anything life-giving. But God…
(beat)
Over the course of 6 days, God continued creating and bringing all things into order. He took the wild and empty and made it ordered and full.
And in those 6 days of ordering creation, God established patterns, or liturgies, for us to follow. The obvious one for most of us is the pattern of the sabbath rest on the 7th day. But, within creation, God has also placed a pattern of authority.
Look back with me at verse 3:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
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.
Paul is clarifying the trajectory of authority for the church members. This is something that all believers were supposed to be able to understand from scripture itself: the pattern is that all authority comes from God the Father and is then shared with creation through Jesus the Son—He who is the physical manifestation of Yahweh God.
Authority then comes to creation through the God-head to both divine and human imagers. Each have been given authority by the Triune God to help Him steward creation well through proper dominion. That is—that both divine and human imagers of God have a task to help God continue the pattern of ordering creation until the end of time. And, in that proper use of authority, they will perform their task in a manner worthy of the King—they will learn to image Him well by sharing in His characteristics and using their authority to accomplish their mission with the character of God Himself.
This is why we must be molded in the image of Jesus. Because we are not continuing to order creation to fulfill our own desires, but His. We are continuing the work that He began. But before we continue on this path of following God’s authority set forth in creation, let us first establish what authority is. What is authority and what will a proper use of authority look like?
(beat)
Authority is power that is used to exercise influence over something else. Those of us here this morning agree that all authority within creation comes from God Himself. Paul says this explicitly in Romans 13, that “there is no authority except from God.” The legitimate dispensation of authority, then, is bestowed by God alone. Authority for parents and pastors and governments and law enforcement all flows from God. And this authority has been set in place for the good of creation—especially for the good of God’s human imagers.
And yet, we see how often legitimate authority is abused. When legitimate authority is abused, it is not just a sin against creation, but rebellion against the Holy Creator God. But I want you to understand that the abuse of God’s pattern of authority does not invalidate the pattern. That—just because a parent is abusive doesn’t mean that the pattern of parenting is bad. It is the rebellion against the pattern that is bad.
The proper use of authority is the implementation of power to influence human imagers and care for creation in a way that honors God. It will be used to promote goodness within creation and will be executed with God’s own character traits of love, patience, mercy, and grace.
That will be our anchor for understanding the proper use of authority this morning. Back to our verse.
Paul says that “the head of every man is Christ.” By this, he means that authority flows from Christ to men. Just as Adam was created first and set forth as a representative for humankind, every man has the responsibility to lead and represent his family. Genesis 2:15 says that God gave Adam dominion even before Eve was created. He was told to work the garden and to care for it.
Then God invited Adam to help in His creative process. Adam was given authority by God to give names to every beast and bird. And Genesis tells us that God desired man to have a helper in his call to dominion—that God wanted him to share his stewarding of creation with another.
At that point, God put Adam to sleep and took a portion of his side to make a woman. Now, I want you to notice that the emphasis at this part of the story is on Eve being made to be his help-mate. The emphasis is not on the fact that woman is made from a medium size bone in the human body. She comes from his side because it is there that she will reside—next to him as his equal partner. Verse 24 strengthens this idea by telling us that “they shall become one flesh” when they are united.
Therefore, the proper initial use of authority for a man is to care for and steward his wife as he would himself. Christ has shared His authority with the man, who is called to care for creation as Jesus Himself would. That authority is then shared from husband to wife, who together image Christ as they implement the power to influence their own children as Jesus Himself would.
Are we catching the pattern here?
(beat)
In discerning what is cultural and what is not in this text, this idea in verse 3 is not one of those concerns we have to parse carefully. Authority is a clearly prescribed pattern for creation that is evident within all of scripture.
God has ordered creation and designed men to lead, especially in the church and in the family. This pattern is so robust in scripture, that even without Paul’s instructions to Timothy and Titus, we should be able to discern God’s calling for men to lead Jesus’ church—for Jesus is their head.
This understanding is strengthened by Paul’s letter to Ephesus:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE]
For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.
The pattern here is that the husband has been called to use his God-given authority to care for his wife in the same way that Jesus cares for his church. She is not his subordinate, but his equal partner to be led unselfishly into the kingdom of God. And this is why one of the qualifiers for Pastors, or Elders, is the ability to “manage his household well,” for if he cannot, “how will he care for God’s church.”
(beat)
Okay, so we have established that all authority comes from God the Father and that He dispenses that authority through Jesus the Son to His human imagers as He wills according to His order within creation. And, it is with that understanding that we must approach the rest of this passage.
Let us move on to verses 4 and 5:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, 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.
Here is the part where we have to wrestle with what is cultural, what is practical, and what is theological.
Is Paul saying that every man who wears a hat in church is dishonoring God? Or that every married woman needs to wear a hat to church services?
(beat)
Let us work through this in turn. In Greek circles, it was the societal elites who wore togas to convey their social status to others. And this included pagan practitioners. In pagan temples, the pagan men would pull their toga over their heads to cover it during worship. Paul’s concern here with men in the Corinthian church seems two-fold, both of which are cultural with theological backing. The point of God’s holy assembly is to be set apart from the world. In the wearing of togas and covering the head, men in the Corinthian church may be flaunting status, but they are definitely borrowing pagan practices. In doing so, they began to look exactly like the world and failed at being holy, or set-apart, from it.
The practical application here would be not that men shouldn’t wear hats in the assembly, but that we should not make the set-apart community look as if it is not set apart.
When the world can’t tell the difference between a church service and a secular rock show, there is a problem.
When the world can’t tell the difference between a sermon and a TED talk, there is a problem.
When local churches assemble as God’s holy people, we should not only be different, but we should look different too. That is what it is to be a light on a hill. It draws the eyes of an unbelieving world by the way that it looks and acts.
(beat)
Now—verse 5—about the wife.
Notice that Paul here is speaking of wives within the context of the gathered assembly. But I also want you to notice that he is specifically speaking of wives who are praying or prophesying in that assembly.
The fact that women are allowed to pray or prophesy in front of the church at all was scandalous in the first century. This was not allowed in Jewish synagogues or in pagan temples. But the Christian church, following the teachings of Jesus, fully understood that women were not property, nor were they lesser beings.
They were purposefully designed and equally valued imagers of God.
And the teachings of Jesus were established in the early church, where women were not only full participants, but even helped in hosting and leading churches all over the ancient world.
So, why is it that these wives should have their heads covered when speaking in the gathered assembly?
To skip ahead quickly, verse 10 gives us the answer: it’s because the head covering was a symbol of authority. We will get more into this idea when we get there, but the veil is the outward visible sign that this woman is married.
In first-century Greek culture, all respectable women wore head coverings in public. The only exceptions of this were high-class mistresses and women of disrepute. The head covering indicated to society that this woman was married, modest, and faithful to her husband. She honored her husband by wearing this sign of authority in public.
As Roman women continued to gain more power through their sexual prowess, many began to remove their veils and show off elaborate hairstyles. This was not only her proclaiming her sexual freedom, but it was a provocative act that drew much attention from the community.
Women with uncovered hair were letting society know that they were either unattached or sexually available. The attention they drew was often desired, whether it was attention for a husband or for an illicit affair. Either way, Paul is pointing out that this worldly practice has no place in the church.
Not that the wife is owned by her husband, but that the wife recognizes God’s design of authority and seeks to honor both her husband and God in adorning her head with a veil.
In stepping into the gathered holy assembly of God’s people, she has stepped into sacred space and into the presence of God. To approach the throne flippantly and address God in prayer without caring for His created order and the way in which He desires to be worshipped is a dangerous thing to do.
It would be like a rebellious teenager doing his chores with attitude in front of his parents.
Does such a woman, who approaches God’s throne carelessly, expect that her prayers will be answered?
(beat)
Paul is making the point that these men and women in Corinth should respect God’s creation order of authority and avoid the traditions of the world. He continues in verse 6:
[PASSAGE SLIDE x2]
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. (/) 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.
Paul’s point here is that for a woman to throw off God’s designed authority is to bring disgrace onto herself. She might as well cut her hair off or shave her head. He then gives his justification for this instruction in verse 7. He says that the husband “is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man.”
Let us be careful here in understanding this statement. As we have been discussing, Paul is not saying that women are not made in the image of God. If we are to apply our disciple metaphor from last week, we will see that if the woman is the image of man and man is the image of God, then it follows that woman is also the image of God.
But Paul’s point here is on the word “glory.” If you remember from last week, glory is the radiance, brilliance, or reflection of another. The Bible says that Jesus is “the radiance of the glory of God.” In the same way, humankind was created to reflect God’s glory to creation.
Paul is connecting this idea of glory with the idea that he has presented in verse 3 of authority. Upholding God’s created order and His design for authority brings Him glory. In this way, man is the “glory of God” and “woman is the glory of man.”
If a husband is imaging God well and using His authority appropriately for the good of his wife and children and those around him, he is glorifying God.
Going back to our question last week, do we give God glory in all that we do? Do we even have the desire to bring Him glory at all?
If so, we should pay attention to His created order and follow the patterns that He has set in place for His human imagers. Eve was created to be Adam’s helper—his equal, but different, partner.
We should not only acknowledge God’s design for authority, but we should hold it up as different to an unbelieving world.
When our world says that men and women can be anything they want to be, the church says no.
God’s holy assembly will not only proclaim the truth of gender and sexuality, but we will challenge their thinking in every avenue of life, including created order.
Just because a man can be a stay-at-home dad, doesn’t mean that he should be. Has he inquired from God what his calling is?
Is he staying home out of laziness or because God has gifted and equipped him for something in that home?
And even if he is called to be home, will he uphold God’s design for authority and lead his family well, or will he shirk his responsibility onto his wife?
(beat)
Just because a woman can be a CEO, doesn’t mean that she should. Has she inquired from God what her calling is?
Is she leaving the home to lead in the workplace out of pride or in order to prove something, or has God called and equipped her for that vocation?
Will she uphold God’s design for authority and let her husband lead in her home or will she usurp his authority?
The world wants to invert God’s created design. This is part of the curse that came in the consequences of the sin in the garden. Will the church stand against the world and proclaim the truth?
(beat)
We’ll come back for more on proper application in a minute, but first, let us get back to the symbol of authority.
[POINT 2 SLIDE]
Symbol of Authority (v 10)
A symbol is a sign. Like the rainbow or circumcision in the Bible, they are visual reminders of a promise or a commitment. In Biblical terms, we would say that symbols often serve as the sign of a covenant—a solemn oath or pledge by one or more parties. In this case, the head covering—or veil—is a sign of the covenant of marriage that a couple has taken.
By taking the veil, the woman has bound herself to her husband. He has promised to care for her, protect and provide for her, to give her a family, and to meet her needs. Therefore, Paul has explained that it is inappropriate for a wife to approach the Living God while not upholding His created order of authority.
A woman cannot be a leader in the church unless she first honors God and her husband.
For failure to do so reveals a condition of her hard-heartedness. Paul continues in verse 10:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
Now, let us quickly deal with the first part of this verse before we approach the second. We now understand why Paul is so insistent on head coverings for women speaking in the gathered assembly.
Basically, he has likened the married woman with the uncovered head to an unrepentant sinner.
Many of you know the general story of the book called The Scarlet Letter. It takes place in the time of Puritan New England. In the story, a young woman has been caught in adultery and is forced to wear a large red letter “A” on her clothing to brand her in the community as an adulterer. She becomes an outcast within her own community, forced to the fringes of society for her sin.
Do you think that the town’s church would let her come and lead the congregation in prayer?
Of course not. And yet, this is what is going on in Corinth. Some of the leading women in the church are taking their fashion tips from the world rather than honoring God and His designed order. They are standing in front of the assembly and their rebellion to God’s design is obvious for the church body and the world to see.
The crossover between the book and Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church stop there, but you get the point. The church has the responsibility to maintain its holiness—to be fully set apart from the world; to look different.
Bringing the world into the church by the members of Christ’s holy body is treason against the King. It is rebellion against God’s instruction for His people. And it must be dealt with by the church.
If a woman comes to service refusing to honor God and her husband by displaying her freedom rather than her commitment to covenant, she should not be allowed to participate fully in the service, for she stands in open rebellion to the God that she claims to worship.
(beat)
Okay, so how do we make this practical today? Should every married woman be wearing a veil or a hat next Sunday?
The answer to that is no. Although this instruction by Paul has been taken literally for many generations, leading many women to wear hats in church, the pattern of the teaching is more important.
So, to help us understand how to apply it today, I offer you two pieces of instruction.
First, are you wearing a sign of your commitment and covenant to your spouse in public? In our culture, that sign—or symbol—is often an engagement ring or a wedding band. If your neighbors and coworkers look at your left hand, will they know that you are committed in covenant to another?
Now this goes for husbands as well as wives. Are you honoring God and your spouse by wearing a symbol of your commitment on your hand for the world to see? I submit to you today that failure to do so is harmful to your relationship with God, your spouse, and your neighbor. And for you purposely to come to church in that fashion is to stand in God’s presence in open rebellion against His designed order.
Secondly, wives must be careful how they adorn themselves. While having your hair styled and braided is normal in our own culture, there are other things that women wear to display their freedom and present themselves as more provocative. In our culture, this would be low cut shirts, short skirts, and the like.
These women in Corinth knew that their uncovered hair would draw attention and maybe even invite lust. And Paul is reminding them that that has no place in the church.
Women who are followers of Christ—especially married women—should dress modestly for the purpose of keeping all eyes on Christ. She is to radiate His glory to the world, not her own. For if she is intent on radiating her own glory and highlighting her own beauty to the world, she has received her reward in full.
Godly women desire modesty for the purpose of bringing God glory. Peter comments on this to the church in his first letter:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE x2]
Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— (/) 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.
The symbol of authority that a wife wears is not ultimately to their husband, but to God. Will they honor Him by publicly proclaiming their covenant to Him and to their husbands?
Application for the church is merely this: do not let anyone who stands in open rebellion to God come before the gathered assembly to speak. They should sit and listen to the Word proclaimed each and every week until they come into full submission to Christ. For if a local church body will not protect its members and fight for its holiness, God will turn them over to wicked leaders who will tickle their ears all the way to hell.
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
Now, let us return to verse 10 and the most difficult part of the passage to understand. Paul says that “a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head,” and then he says, “because of the angels.”
We can’t spend a lot of time here this morning, because I could easily dig into this for an hour. But let us all just get on the same page. To get some clarity, let us ask a couple questions and then we will look at our remaining options of interpretation.
The word angelos in Greek can be translated as angel or messenger. And in this context, it is in plural form. So there are some who would say that when messengers come to the gathering of the church and see women in open rebellion, they will go away believing that this is an unholy church.
However, Paul uses the word 12 other times in his letters and never uses angelos to designate human messengers. So this interpretation is highly doubtful. Paul seems to be speaking of God’s supernatural imagers.
This leaves with 2 options. Either Paul is referring to those angels who are loyal to God, or he is referring to rebellious angels. Let us consider both of these options.
First, if Paul is referring to angels loyal to God, he would be saying that when the church comes together for its gathered assembly to offer corporate worship to Yahweh God, they participate with the unseen loyal angels who also are worshiping. And if these angels were to see this open rebellion, they would be stunned and appalled—that these loyal angels would be shocked at the level of disobedience as these rebellious women lead the church in prayer.
Or, second, if Paul is referring to the disobedient angels, he would be saying that they would delight to see such open rebellion within God’s gathered assembly. And even more to the point, Paul may be referencing the angels who sinned in Genesis chapter 6. Moses records this:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE]
When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.
If these women stand before God in open rebellion, revealing what ought to be covered, they may inflame the lust of the sinful angels. Therefore, not only are these rebellious women placing themselves in spiritual danger of eternal separation from God by leading the church unworthily, but they may be putting themselves in danger of multiplying sin on the earth by unknowingly inviting the attention of rebellious angels.
Based on the context and the fact that both Jude and Peter reference this account of Genesis 6 in their letters, I think that this is probably the best way to understand what Paul is communicating to the church—that, by allowing rebellious women to lead the church with their heads uncovered, they are putting souls in jeopardy.
With that, let us close out our passage.
[POINT 3 SLIDE]
Grounded in Ordered Worship (vv 11-16)
Paul is going to summarize his argument here and challenge the Corinthians to consider the implications of their unfaithful actions. Back to the text in verse 11:
[PASSAGE SLIDE x2]
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. And all things are from God. Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? (/) 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. If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.
Paul now brings the body together. Both men and women believers must focus on bringing glory to God rather than themselves. And they need one another. They are mutually dependent. Husbands need their wives, just as wives need their husbands. And the body of Christ needs every part. It cannot function well without a hand nor without a kidney. Every member is interdependent and each of them must be devoted to Christ and the holiness of His body.
Paul says that all things are from God. From Him flow the wonder of creation. And in His creative design, He has built a liturgy of order. And that order must extend into our time of corporate worship. For God desires to be worshiped in a specific way.
In Corinth, there were married women who refused God’s design of authority so that they could promote their own freedom. And Paul writes to them to say, “this is not the way of the cross. The way of the cross is death to the self for the glory of Christ.”
A woman’s hair was given to her to protect her body, not to rob God of His glory. And in our context, so is the rest of her body.
Each and every part of every human imager was carefully created for a purpose.
Are you unhappy with the body that God gave you? Maybe He is trying to teach you to rely more on Him than what the world thinks.
Or the opposite, maybe the world taught you that your only asset is your beauty, so you should flaunt it for the world to see? Will you cover it and sacrifice your own pride so that God will receive the glory instead of you? Maybe He is trying to teach you to also rely more on Him than what the world thinks.
You were crafted and designed by the Almighty Creator God for a purpose. He has made you beautiful and unique, regardless of what the world says about you. Will you seek to give Him all of the glory and to honor His plan of authority?
(beat)
Paul closes with a challenge to the Corinthians. He basically tells them, “Hey, if you don’t like my instructions, you’re going to have to deal with it, because the church of God has no practice of arguing.”
Application
And I proclaim the same to you today. This is the Word of God. His creative order was set at the beginning of time.
If you don’t like it, your problem is not with me, but with God.
(beat)
We have labored this week to faithfully understand this passage. As always, Paul is pointing to the heart of the worshiper. But he has also begun to share the fact that in God’s design, there is a ordered way in which he wants to be worshipped. We will continue on the trajectory for the next couple of chapters. And, as we do, I want you to ask yourself this question:
When I come to corporate worship, is my focus on what God desires or on what I desire to feel when offering Him worship?
[PREVIEW SLIDE]
God has designed you for worship. Will you worship Him alone?
And, if that is your desire, how will you seek to worship Him?
For proper worship comes with an emphasis on both obedience and mission. This is how we show our love to Him. Will we sacrifice our desires for His?
Will we give up our life to live obedient to His call, wherever that may be?
Invitation
If you are here this morning and you are not following Jesus, He invites you to come to Him today. God has designed you, down to the last detail, for a purpose. If you are not thankful and joyful over how He created you, maybe it is because you don’t understand your calling. Come and see all that He has planned for you. Come and be part of His family.
CLOSE IN PRAYER
CLOSING HYMN
CONGREGATIONAL BLESSING
