Making Sense of 1st Corinthians CH11
Sometimes, when we’re reading through the Bible, if we’re honest, there are passages that don’t seem to make any sense. When that happens, we look to the rest of the Bible for help. We let Scripture interpret Scripture. We don’t take one strange passage and use it to establish foundational beliefs and practices at the expense of everything else. At the same time, we believe this is the Word of God. Inspired, inerrant, and infallible. So, whatever text is in front of us, we let it mess with us—we take it seriously.
Today’s passage is one of those. It’s going to raise some questions about gender, hairstyles, culture, hats, hippies, angels, tomboys and girly men. Seriously, this is an interesting chunk of text. Read four commentaries and you’ll come away with five opinions.
Verse one is very important to keep in mind as we go through this chapter. Paul says,
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” 1st Corinthians 11:1
This really is the theme of the whole book. Paul is giving instructions on what it looks like to follow Jesus. To live out the Gospel. To submit ourselves to each other the way Jesus submitted Himself to the Father. Completely. All the way to death on a cross. To love each other the way Christ loved us.
That might mean we have to actually die for the people we love. We might have to be willing to die for our faith. Many Christians have. If that day comes, it will be the last thing you are asked to do in this life.
Until then, we are supposed to live every day as a sacrifice for others. And if you think it would be hard to die for your faith, that ain’t nothin’ compared to living for it.
We are all so proud. So stubborn. So selfish. We want what we want, and we want it now. We want things to be the way we want them for our own reasons of comfort or preference. We’re just sure that we’re right about the way we see things and we’re usually more than willing to sacrifice other people’s opinions and preferences to get our way.
Paul says to follow him as he follows Christ. It’s always going to involve a cross. You will have to take up that cross and die to yourself daily. It will never be comfortable following Jesus.
Verse two:
“I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you.” 1st Corinthians 11:2
Wow. He gives them a compliment! At least in some ways, they were following Paul.
Verse three: “But.” So much for compliment time.
“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.” 1st Corinthians 11:3
Focus. Remember what we’re talking about. Submission. Laying down our lives for the people we love. Paul is going to bring up some very practical ways that Christians are to show love to each other. They must have been getting this wrong. If they were like us, they all probably thought they were the most important person in the room. So first, he wants to set up a kind of org chart. When it comes to everyday humble submission to each other, this is how it’s supposed to flow.
Let me point something out before we get into this—something Jesus said about how even when we have authority, we’re not supposed to lord it over people. This is part of that “letting Scripture interpret Scripture” thing. In Matthew 20:24 Jesus said to His disciples,
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:24
In Christianity, authority and headship is not to be taken, they’re to be given. Jesus had all authority in heaven and on earth and He allowed the religious leaders and Pilate to execute Him. He could have forced them to submit. When it comes to “lording His authority,” He is actually the Lord. But He didn’t. That’s not the way of the kingdom of God for us, either. It’s not top-down. The way of the followers of Jesus is to submit to those in authority over us.
So, as always, apply these words to yourself. Not anyone else. This is for you.
Here’s the org chart: God is at the top. That should come as no surprise to anyone. Jesus spent His entire life submitting to the will of the Father. Anything we ever say about submission has to keep this in mind: to humbly submit as joyfully and obediently as Jesus submitted to the Father—Jesus wanted to make the Father look good in everything He said and did. The head of Christ is God.
Men are to submit to Christ—which includes submitting to God the Father. The head of every man is Christ.
But now we come to a phrase that sounds really strange to our modern ears, “the head of woman is man.” What the backwoods, old-fashioned heck is going on here? Suddenly we’re in an episode of The Handmaid’s Tale.
We need to realize a couple of things before we start thinking we’re more enlightened and sophisticated than God. First of all, He’s God. We’re not. If He tells us something about the way things are, we might want to pay attention. He’s the One who created this thing, He probably knows a thing or two about how it works.
Second, Christianity was the most radical, progressive, liberating thing that has ever happened for women. Women had hardly any status or authority in the Roman world—especially in the 1st century. Christianity was all about treating them as equals, with dignity and honor. Involving them in worship and leadership and community in ways that were unheard of outside the church. So, it would be wrong to think what Paul is saying is demeaning to women.
Paul’s answering questions and addressing problems in the church of Corinth. It seems like he needed to address something about how the men and women in the church were ignoring cultural standards of what it looks like to be male and female.
Gender confusion. Imagine that. Did you think it was a modern invention?
We’ll get to his answer and his reasons. He’s basically going to say that men should present themselves in worship in such a way that they don’t dishonor God. And women should present themselves in worship in such a way that they don’t dishonor their husbands, or their fathers, or at the very least, their pastors.
Verse 4:
“Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved. 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.” 1st Corinthians 11:4
“Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head.” Who is the man’s “head?” Christ. This is pretty much the same as how men today are expected to take off their hats in church, or to pray, or when saying the pledge of allegiance or singing the national anthem. It’s a cultural sign of respect and honor for us—it was back then, too. Paul says it’s disrespectful to Jesus for a man to cover his head in worship—which for me is kind of a drag. As a bald man, I’d really like to wear a cool hat when I preach—but it’s not culturally appropriate.
This whole section of Scripture has always been understood by the church to be talking about cultural standards, not hard rules. For men our culture is pretty much the same—we’re expected to remove our hats in church as a sign of respect.
But what about all this stuff about women covering their heads? Are we Muslims now? No, it’s not the same. First of all, he’s not talking about covering their face, and second, it wasn’t just Christians and Jews in worship situations who thought this was a big deal.
In AD 43, a woman named Hedea was the first female to ever win the war-chariot race in the Olympics. She dressed like a man and wore her hair short. All the hipster girls cut their hair and left their scarves at home. It was a scandal.
Why was it a scandal? Because in Rome, if a woman went around in public with her hair uncovered it meant she was open for business. She was a prostitute. So, a head covering was a sign of dignity and modesty. But uncovered short hair was even worse. If a woman was found guilty of adultery, they would cut her hair short, and parade her down the street with her head uncovered like a whore so that everyone would know what she had done. That was the pagans!
Jewish women also kept their heads covered in public, if they didn’t it would be like a woman walking around topless today. The cultural standard for decent women was to wear their hair in a scarf in public. Jew or gentile.
It seems that some of the women in the church in Corinth were feeling free to let their hair down when they got together to worship. Paul is concerned about how that looked to the unbelievers when Christian women showed up for worship looking like temple prostitutes or wives who have been caught in adultery. It was confusing. It was getting in the way of people hearing the Gospel.
Was it wrong? Was it a sin? No.
But it made it look like the men in the church were doing things that they weren’t doing. You see that? It made it look like the church had temple prostitutes and the Christians were having orgies. Not cool. It dishonored the men even as it dishonored the women.
Verse 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.” 1st Corinthians 11:7
Here’s a modern application of this idea: Men who refuse to take off their hats when they pray look like they don’t respect God. And a wife who walks around dressed like a whore looks like she has daddy issues and doesn’t respect her husband. I know all this talk about women’s head covering sounds strange but the basic principles haven’t changed in two thousand years.
Verse 9:
“For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels.” 1st Corinthians 11:9
Paul’s talking about the order of creation. God created man in His own image, He started with mud and ended up with the first man. I suppose some ladies might get offended because God made Adam first, but come on—men were made from mud. It sounds like an insult. “You act like you were made out of mud, too!” But Eve was made from the side of Adam—that’s nowhere near as bad. It’s kind of romantic. “God made you from my heart! Flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone!”
Also, that “man wasn’t created FOR woman” almost sounds like a problem. “Look, babe. I don’t know what you expect from me. Sometimes I don’t feel like I can be everything you need me to be.” And we can’t. All those jokes about the mysteries of what women want. We can’t do it all. You’re going to need God for that.
But woman was created FOR man. Not in some weird caveman possession kind of way. God created Eve to be the perfect complement to Adam. It’s built into the design. His joy. His glory. His helper. She was also made in the image of God, but Paul is talking about her relationship to man in the created order.
I’m going to say something that seems like it should go without saying but we all know these days it doesn’t. God created humans male and female. It’s kind of obvious but people are easily confused.
I saw an ad for a T-shirt that said “There are more than two genders.” At the bottom, you could choose to order either a male or female version of the shirt.
Von is studying psychology at Concordia University in Austin. It’s an LCMS Lutheran college. I thought, times being what they are, I don’t want her learning psychology and getting indoctrinated into all that weirdness by a bunch of confused pagans at a state school. Since a lot of her classes were online last year due to COVID, I overheard some of her lectures when she was home. One day her sociology professor was talking about how there are multiple genders. Von spoke up and said, “Okay, I can understand that people might feel all kinds of ways about their gender, but are you saying that you think there are more than two biological sexes?” His answer sounded ridiculous to me—and to Von—he said, “Well, it’s more complicated than that.”
No, it’s not.
“God created mankind in His image. Male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:27.
Reality 101. Men, women, boys, girls. Who doesn’t know this?
All over the country, people are losing their jobs for saying what everyone has known since they were children. We could probably get kicked out of this elementary school—which is complete with restrooms labeled “boys” and “girls,” for even talking about this.
And I understand that people are trying to be kind. Trying to be understanding. I don’t want to be a jerk about this, either. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. But Christians are supposed to speak the truth in love. It’s not love to remain silent. Jesus said in Mark 10:6 and Matthew 19:4,
“But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.” Mark 10:6
That’s Jesus. We’re Christians, we believe what Jesus told us. God created human beings. God created us in His image, and He created us male and female. Pagans can think whatever they want but to be Christian is to take Jesus’ word over the opinions of our culture.
Back to verse 10, it sounds so random:
“It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels.” 1st Corinthians 11:10
I’m tempted to just say “AMEN” and be done. Ha.
“Because of the angels.” What the heck.
There are a few theories for what this might be talking about.
Some think this is a reference to Genesis chapter 6 when the “sons of heaven” looked at the “daughters of men” and were tempted to have sex with them. So, it could be a reference to fallen angels.
Or it could be talking about holy angels.
Most Jews believed that worship took place in the presence of angels, so people should be careful not to offend them. Visions into the heavenly throne room have angels surrounding God—Isaiah, Ezekiel, even Revelation.
A lot of Christian worship services talk about this in their liturgies. The Catholics, the Anglicans, Orthodox, Methodists, and yes, even Lutherans. “Therefore with Angels, and Archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious Name...”
I guess Paul is saying, “ladies, if you don’t care about how the way you dress for church affects the men, at least show a little respect for the angels.”
I don’t know. That’s the best I got.
Verse 11,
“Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.” 1st Corinthians 11:11
Don’t get too hung up on the man’s headship and woman’s submission thing. Paul wants to make it perfectly clear that he’s not talking about any kind of inferior status for women. He says a similar thing in Galatians,
"There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28
While the order of creation has led to men and women having distinctive roles, there is also a profound interdependence and mutuality present in the male-female relationship—Neither can exist without the other. There is full equality “in the Lord.”
Again, Scripture interprets Scripture. Galatians says men and women are equal, at the same time, 1st Corinthians says we have different roles to play in the Christian org chart.
We’re definitely all in this together. We can’t do it without each other. The first woman might have come from a man but every man since has come from a woman. Just keep in mind that all of us come from God.
Then Paul says, “look, you have to use a little wisdom here. We’re trying to share the Gospel with the unbelieving world—stop making it harder than it needs to be.”
Verse 13,
“Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?” 1st Corinthians 11:13
Judge for yourselves. Hmm. My honest answer to that question would be, “Sure. I don’t care.” Whether women cover their heads in church or not doesn’t matter a bit to me. It’s not part of our culture. But if he would have said, “Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to come to church wearing just a thong bikini?” That’s more like the rhetorical question he was asking. He was looking for a “no.”
Paul’s on a roll here with his rhetorical questions.
Verse 14,
“Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him? but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering.” 1st Corinthians 11:14
At last, we come to the hippies.
Doesn’t nature itself show us that long hair on a man is disgraceful? Again, my answer? No. No, Paul, it doesn’t. I’m not tracking with you here, buddy.
Nature. The male lion has long hair and the female, short.
Oh, you mean people, and the nature of right and wrong.
Well, if a man wants to fully dedicate himself to the LORD and take the Nazarite vow—like Sampson and John the Baptist—then he would grow his hair long…
Am I missing something here?
I am. But some people aren’t going to like it.
Because what he’s talking about is men who deliberately try to look feminine—how the hair is styled. It was a big thing in Greco-Roman culture. The philosopher Epictetus railed against men who plucked their beards and chest hairs, grew their hair long, wore makeup, and acted like women. He said, “a man who wishes to be a woman rather than a man is a dreadful spectacle!…” That was a Roman pagan.
The law of Moses says the same thing.
“A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this.” Deuteronomy 22:5
Paul seems to be following both the Jewish and the pagan cultural norms: let men look like men and women like women. That’s the lesson of this passage.
He wraps up this section by saying, “If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God.”
In other words, “I have spoken. I’m not going to argue about this.”
This is a timely message for us today. Both because there is such confusion about gender and because people are so ugly and hateful about it. Paul’s final word is a good one. I’m not going to argue about this.
But any Christian who wants to defy Biblical practice and obscure the distinctions between the sexes is actually arguing with God. Gender-bending is not godly. If the church is going to be healthy, it needs men and women together, not a group of androgynous people striving for sexless neutrality.
Today is the 4th of July. Independence Day. Our country is confused about these things. America is not the Promised Land. Americans are not God’s chosen people. The people of God in Christ ARE. The church is. Christians have inherited the promise that was given to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12,
“I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.” Genesis 12:3
Galatians 6:16 calls the mostly gentile church the “Israel of God.”
So, as Christians in America, we are like Joseph who was a blessing to Egypt—Or Daniel in Babylon and Esther in Persia. We will be a blessing to our nation as long as we bring the Word of God with truth and love to our country. And as long as our nation blesses us and does not curse us—God will not be mocked. What you do to His people, you do to Christ.
We must not bow down to the confusion of our increasingly pagan culture. We must not deny our faith. We need to be salt and light.
Every week we pray for our nation, for our leaders and for the hope of the Gospel to be a light for all nations. The church needs to shine. You need to shine as the men and the women of God. Your true freedom on this Independence Day is from Christ, and it’s His light that you have been given to share with the world. You are no longer in darkness. Jesus is your light. AMEN.
Father in heaven, help us to not be so proud. Help us to not be so stubborn. So selfish. Soften our hearts so that we can begin to want what You want. To want things to be the way You desire them to be. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Help us to be humble. To love each other. The people in our church. The Christians in other churches that drive us crazy. And the people who do not yet believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Help us to be their light. AMEN