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February 6, 2005 HEADSHIP and GLORY 1 Corinthians 1:11-16
"Be ye followers of me..." whereupon Paul praised the obedient for imitating and remembering him "in all things" (1 Cor. 11:1-2). The section closes, however, with his rejection of the contentious. Later in the chapter Paul wrote two times, "I praise you not" (11:17 & 22). He began by revealing that, "the head of every man is Christ; the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God" (11:3). Resulting from and based upon these truths, a man praying or prophesying with his head covered, "dishonors his head" (i.e. Christ). "But every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered, dishonors her head" (i.e., the man), "for that is all one as if she were shaven," which would be a shame or dishonor to her! Why is the man's head to be uncovered when the in very same situation the opposite was required for the woman? It is a matter of glory: "For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, for as much as he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man" (11:7). It is a matter of origins: "For the man is not of the woman; but the woman is out of the man" (11:8). It is God's purpose in creation: "Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman [was created] for the man. For this cause, ought the woman to have a [a sign of] power on her head because of the angels" (11:9-10). "Nevertheless neither does the man exist apart from the woman, neither does the woman exist apart from the man, [for they are mutually dependant] in the Lord" (11:11). "For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by [thru] the woman, but [in their mutual relationships] all things are of God." Does nature confirm this? "Judge in yourselves, is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? Does not even nature...teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame to him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory for her, for her hair is given [by the Creator] for a [natural] covering" (11:12-14). To the contentious neither Paul nor the churches had any other custom.
Ivan L. Burgener |
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