1 Corinthians 11:2-16
More and more today the custom of ladies wearing a head covering
when they come to public worship is fading away. About thirty
years ago it was a very common thing in this country that very
few women would have thought of going to Church without a headcovering.
Then among the unsaved and especially in the more middle class
congregations of the ecumenical churches it became acceptable
to come without a head covering. But with the advance of the years
more and more evangelical congregations have accepted ladies coming
to Church without a head covering until it has become a rarity
to see women with hats in Church. And it has become so common
to see people without hats that even some who have held on to
the custom of the head covering are now questioning and wondering
if it is really necessary at all. Sometimes you get people asking
whether they should wear a hat at this meeting or that meeting
and it betrays the fact that they have never really understood
the principle behind the head covering. They have never really
understood what the Bible has to say about this subject and so
they are confused about when the head covering should be worn.
But we should not only do what the Bible says but we should understand
why we do what it says so that if we were to be in a situation
where we were attending a Church whose practice is for ladies
not to wear hats we would not be tempted to fit in with their
custom. The Westminster Confession of Faith which is the adopted
sub-standard of the Free Presbyterian Church says " the acceptable
way of worshipping the true God is instituted by Himself, and
so limited by His own revealed will that he may not be worshipped
according to the imaginations and devices of men" So the
worship of Lord is to be conducted according to the divinely revealed
guidelines. In this chapter we are told about two essential aspects
of public worship- head covering for women and the observance
of the Lord's supper. Unfortunately the regulations concerning
head covering have either been misinterpreted or through expediency
have been relegated to a local Corinthian custom. But the changing
customs of today do not make any difference to the Word of God.
The Word of God does not change and its authority over us does
not change. So I want to take a few minutes today to show you
what the word of God does say about this matter so that we might
be clear why it is that in this Church that ladies wear hats.
I The Outline of the doctrine
First of I want us to do an outline of what the chapter itself
says. Notice first of all what it says in verses 4 and 5 Every
man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth
his head.
But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered
dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were
shaven. Paul starts off here by commending these Corinthians
for keeping the ordinances that have been delivered to them. These
were ordinances that had been given to them and then he makes
the contrast between men and women when they are worshipping the
Lord. Indeed the Word of God tells us that there should always
be a difference between the way that men and women appear. This
day of unisex clothing is not in accordance with the Bibles standard
for dress and appearance. But we want to keep with the subject
of head covering and we see how that Women when they worship are
to have their heads covered and men are not to have their heads
covered. Men do not wear hats the way that they once did. Once
nearly every man had a cap but the man should not wear his cap
when he comes to worship the Lord. Maybe you wondered where that
custom came out of where a man would take off his cap when he
comes into Church Well here is the reason-it is the command of
Scripture. But it is equally the command of Scripture that a lady
does wear a hat or a veil or a head covering of some kind. There
is no doubt about that. A lady who comes to worship the Lord should
come with a head covering and that is the word of God But then
the word of God goes on to give us the reasons why the lady should
wear a head covering. There are a number of reasons the word of
God gives
The first thing is the argument of authority. The third verse
of this chapter is the very heart of the apostles argument here.
He is speaking about God's order and he says three things here/
He says the head of Christ is God, then he says that the head
of the man is Christ and then he says that the head of the woman
is the man. Now as far as Christ being the head of man I don't
think you will argue with. There are some of you who are not saved
and you don't want Him as your head but I don't think even you
would say he has no right to be your head. But then it says the
head of Christ is God. You say but surely Christ and God are equal.
How then is God the head of Christ? Well they are equal in one
sense. But one time the Lord Jesus once said " My Father
is greater than I The Father was greater than Christ in regard
to function. God the Father speaks of Christ as My servant.
The Lord said he came to do the will of His Father. They are
equal is essence but Christ was subordinate in function. And you
think of that when it comes to the relationship of the man and
the woman. They are equal. The Bible is the great liberator of
women. In the days of the Bible women were second class citizens
but Paul was saying they are equal with men but the man has been
given a prominence in function. He is the one who holds the authority
and the responsibility. Now that is what Paul is saying but then
I want you to see how Paul says that should be reflected in public
worship. Verse 4 uses the terms praying and prophesying and the
indication there is that he is speaking of public worship. And
what Paul says here is that if a man appears in the meeting with
his head covered he has abandoned the place of authority God has
given him and if the woman doesn't wear a head covering it is
because she is fighting against the divinely ordered place that
God has given her. And that has been the agenda. That is why the
wearing of head covering has been abandoned in these days of women's
lib. The woman doesn't see why she has to be different from the
man. Well the Bible makes a difference. It is not a difference
in status. There is neither male nor female, bond or free in the
eyes of God in that sense but there is a difference in the function
God has given each sex and that is to be reflected in worship
and Paul drives this home very strongly here. Sometimes we loose
the impact because we are not just familiar with the conditions
when these things were written but Paul is indicating that it
was a disgrace for a woman to worship without a covering. Paul
says in verse 5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth
with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even
all one as if she were shaven. He says it is as if she had
her head shaven. The image of having the hair shorn or cut with
a razor is a very significant one here. The cutting of a woman's
hair in this way at this time was often the mark of adultery or
prostitution. It was used not only among the people of Israel
but among other people as well to identify a woman who had been
involved in some kind of fornication. Now Paul is saying that
a woman who comes to Church with her head uncovered is like carrying
the mark of a fornicator. Now that is strong but that is what
he is saying here. There is no greater shame than that. And to
avoid shame a woman should have her head covered.
But not only is there the argument of authority but the second
argument of glory. This argument is based on two premises. The
first is that man was the image and glory of God and the second
is that the woman is the glory of man. Now what Paul is saying
is that since woman is the glory of man then her head must be
covered because when you are worshipping God the glory of God
is what is to be seen. Now Paul is not talking here about marriage
but about creation. Taking the first argument where the man has
an authority in a marriage somebody might say well then it is
all right for a single woman to have her head uncovered because
she is not subordinate to a man in a marriage. But Paul now closes
the loophole. He is saying that because she was taken from a man
she is the glory of the man so that glory has to be covered in
worship. So this is not only for married women but for single
women too.
Then Paul uses a third argument. It is in verse 10 where he says
that the woman should have her head covered because of the angels.
Notice the phrase For this cause ought the woman to have power
on her head because of the angels. The word "ought"
there speaks of obligation. and the word power in the Greek is
used in a way which indicates a symbol of authority. The head
covering is the symbolic recognition of authority . The verse
says that the woman must have it. But then he goes on to say that
she ought to have it because of the angels Now that is a hard
phrase and there have been all sorts of explanations. the angels
could be the ministers because the word angel in G reek just means
messenger but if we take them as supernatural angels perhaps it
means that the woman who is obedient and wears a head covering
is an example to the angels. Or we know that angels are very reverent
beings and it may be because it offends the angels to see irreverent
worship.
But at the conclusion of it all Paul asks the question Judge
in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?
The answer to that question is no! And I think that is quite
plain from the Scriptures.
II The Objections to the doctrine
But having outlined the doctrine let us come now to the objections
to the doctrine. When you face people with what the word of God
plainly says they come up with all sorts of excuses. Some Christians
have just come to the point where they think it is ridiculous
to require it. In America what otherwise the most sound of Christian
women would not dream of wearing a head covering. How has it come
about. How do they explain the Scripture here
Well the most common explanation that I have come across is that
the woman's hair is her covering. Indeed it says that in verse
15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for
her hair is given her for a covering.. Well the hair of a
woman is a covering but is obvious from the passage that Paul
is arguing for another covering over the hair. To argue that the
hair is all the covering a woman needs is a classic example of
not taking the whole passage. If you take the whole passage and
take hair as a covering and write that in it becomes ridiculous
because a man is not to have a covering when he worships the Lord.
But if the hair is a covering that would mean that a man needs
to shave all his hair off to be able to worship God. Now there
has been no instance in the history of the Church when anybody
has ever suggested that men need to be bald to worship God. Then
look at verse 6 . If you say that hair is the only covering a
woman needs this verse becomes non-sensical.- it would say "
If a woman did not have any hair on her head then her hair was
to be cut off." It makes a nonsense of the thing. How can
you cut off hair that somebody hasn't got. But you would have
to say that if you say that hair is the only covering a woman
needs. Actually when Paul says her hair is given her for a
covering. The word covering there is a different word in the
Greek from the one used before in the passage. Paul is not talking
about the same thing when he speaks of that hair being a covering.
This word here simply means that which is thrown around. So her
hair is simply that which is thrown around her head and that is
a description of what hair is. But it is not the covering that
the woman needs for worship. That is different and it would do
some of God's people good if they would actually look at God's
word rather than pick something out to make an excuse. They do
not look at the passage and they do not apply what they say and
serious scholars do not use that reason to justify not wearing
hats at all. Most of them know it won't hold water
But then there is a second argument that is used and that is that
head coverings are certainly commanded in the Bible but that was
for Paul's day and it was to do with the customs in Corinth but
it is not for today. They say that prostitutes in Corinth went
about with uncovered heads so Paul was telling the Christians
in Corinth to make sure they were not like them. But they say
this was only to do with Corinth and not with us. Well once you
start arguing along those lines you are on very dangerous ground
indeed. That is the reason that people give when they say that
homosexuality is all right. They can't deny that the Bible is
against it. They can't deny that Paul and the New Testament is
against it but what they say is that Paul was a product of the
age in which he lived and so what he says doesn't apply today.
But what is to stop you saying that the ten commandments were
a product of their age. What is to stop you saying . Moses had
particular problems to deal with among the children of Israel
there at Sinai and God gave him these commands but they don't
apply today. but I want you to notice what Paul said when he wrote
his letter. It wasn't just to the Christians at Corinth. He says
in chapter 1:2 who he was writing to and he says Unto the church
of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ
Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call
upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, . So this isn't just
t do with the Church at Corinth- this is to do with all who in
every place call upon the name of the Lord. Paul never says it
is just for women at Corinth. He was writing here under inspiration
of the Spirit of God to every place and to every age.
Some people say well God does not look on the outward appearance
but God looks on the heart. Of course that is right. But outward
appearance should convey inward condition and if you want to maintain
a defiance of god's word on this then your outward appearance
is betraying your heart. And the verse does not say that God does
not look on the outward appearance. It says that man only looks
on the outward appearance but God looks on the inward and the
outward. Many people are just making an excuse because of the
fashion . There are many Churches which are so concerned to be
trendy and relevant that they don't want anything that makes them
different from the world. They go along with the fashions of the
day but when God's people start to conduct themselves by what
is fashionable rather than by what the word of God says we are
in deep trouble indeed. There can be no reasonable doubt to anyone
who looks at this with unprejudiced eyes that the word of God
commands head covering for ladies at worship. We see the objections
to this doctrine
III The Ordering of our practice from the doctrine
Because this is where a lot of people get confused. For example
there were ladies who would not question that they should wear
a head covering in the Church building but then there are other
worship services and they are not in the church building and they
wonder should I wear a hat? Should I wear a hat at the field service
or the open-air? Should I wear a hat at the children's meetings
in the local hall. Well as we have looked at what the word of
God says I think we have seen that the thing that God is thinking
of is not the building where the meeting takes place but the purpose
of the meeting. Paul was writing at a time when purpose built
Church buildings did not exist- he is speaking here of public
worship wherever it takes place. If a woman is in a meeting where
prayer and prophesying or the teaching of God's word is taking
place then she should have a hat. Now that might be a gospel concert
but if it is opened with prayer and closed with a little word
then the ladies should have their head covering on. Now it might
be a Church hall or a school or a recreation hall or in an open-air
meeting. Some people would even say that head covering should
be maintained even in private worship and that is a debatable
one but what we can say is that wherever public worship is maintained
there should be the use of the head covering.
Then there are people that say well these hats are just style
items. these people with hats make a display of themselves and
the one who has the biggest brim and the most feathers and the
fashionable colour and then somebody comes in as a stranger and
they are put off by that. Well unfortunately there is a degree
of truth in that. Sometimes the head covering is used as a fashion
statement. And then sometimes there are hats that would hardly
qualify as a head covering at all. I have seen girls put a bow
in their head and claim that was their hat. Well there are certainly
fashion considerations and I think it is wrong that a hat should
become a thing of display. When it gets to the place where there
is a rivalry over the fashion of hats that is wrong but when you
way up what the Bible says it is not as wrong as coming to Church
with no head covering at all. And we should remember too that
the word used in 1 Corinthians 11 speaks of an ample covering.
It is to cover the woman's glory and not to enhance it. But let
us not be proud because the head covering is worn. Is it worn
because of convention or because of obedience to the word of God.
There was once a verse that was written which said,
They of the Church and they of the world
Journeyed closely hand and heart
Till none but the Master who knoweth all,
Could tell the two apart.
How true that is and how often is it that the fashions of the
world tend to spill over into the Church. Sometimes people use
the freedom and liberty of Christians as an excuse but it is only
when we are submitted to the rule of the Lord that we have true
liberty. The Lord said Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever
I command you Now Paul asks this question and I want you to
put it to yourself in the light of what we have seen in the Scripture
Judge in yourselves: Is it comely that a woman pray unto God
uncovered You know the answer to that. What must we do.? We
must act and I think we should do something else we should influence
other Christians with what we have learned. There are multitudes
of Christian women today and they may be ignorantly disobeying
the word of God. We need to reverse this trend. We need to see
God's people dictated to not by the fashions of the world but
by the precious Word of God.