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.
13 Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, 15 but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. 16 If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God.
-1 Corinthians 11:2-16
One of the most difficult things to figure out in the Bible is if a passage is speaking to a cultural ethos pertinent only to that time period or does it apply universally even for Christians today.
Most Christians interpret the act of a woman covering her head at a church service to be specific to the culture of the time. Not many churches I know have women covering their heads. Even the Apostle Paul admits this is a cultural practice when he writes, “We have no other practice.” Well, two thousands years later, churches look a lot different than during Paul’s time. So by tradition, this part of the passage is interpreted as being time and culturally specific.
But there are some truths in here that many Christian scholars deem universal—that they apply even today.
The first is the equality and mutual submission between genders. Paul writes, “in the Lord the woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.” Both need one another and not one is more important than the other.
If men and women are equal then why does Paul write that “the head of the woman is man.” What’s up with that? That doesn’t sound equal at all.
Pastor Tim Keller in his most famous series of sermons on marriage explains this command as a necessary tie-breaker in marriage. If a married couple are both committed to Jesus, they will agree on the important things 99% of the time. But that 1% when the disagree, they can stuck unless a tie-breaker is appointed. The man is given that responsibility of breaking the tie, but a godly husband uses that right with great restraint and only with what is best in mind for his wife. He sees his headship not as privilege to abuse and lord it over his wife, but as another mechanism in which he can serve her.
Equality and mutual submission is always at the heart of our relationships with the opposite gender.
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