2022_06_08 Insight Post- Rusty Coram
This week’s reading- 1 Corinthians 11-12
A lot of our readings in the Bible are fairly straightforward – not always easy to apply, but seldom are they too hard to understand. This week we hit one of the harder passages in 1 Corinthians 11. In discussing protocol for worship, Paul says that women should wear head coverings and men should not. He goes on to say that disregarding this dishonors God. He says, “A man should not wear anything on his head when worshiping, for man is made in God’s image and reflects God’s glory. And woman reflects man’s glory. 8 For the first man didn’t come from woman, but the first woman came from man. 9 And man was not made for woman, but woman was made for man. 10 For this reason, and because the angels are watching, a woman should wear a covering on her head to show she is under authority.” 1 Corinthians 11:7–10 (NLT)
So, what is going on here? Well, whenever we encounter a difficult passage, we should always approach it respectfully and armed with what we see in the rest of the Bible. The idea is to approach the unknown, with what is known. What we know is that in Corinth the church was in some disarray. The surrounding culture had a big influence. For example, in Corinth there was worshiping of other Gods that involved ritual prostitution. There were all sorts of sexual arrangements that did not conform with God’s created intentions (1 Corinthians 6). The new believers came from this environment and Paul wanted them to see things from God’s perspective. From what we see in the rest of the Bible, we know that God sees, and values, men and women as equals – both being created in His image (Genesis 1:27). There are differences for sure, but God sees men and women as different yet equal.. In this passage, Paul refers to “head” both physically and figuratively. The specific word in Greek for head can mean “leader”, but more often means “source”. In the case of men and women, the first man was created by God from the dirt, and the first woman formed from the man’s rib. In this sense, Paul is appealing to his readers to remember how they were created, and that they all ultimately come from the Creator God in an orderly fashion. In my opinion, the issue for Paul was to get the Corinthians to keep this in mind as they relate and worship. In that city, a woman with an uncovered head would appear to be a prostitute, or morally loose. To avoid creating controversy or misunderstanding, Paul appeals to the men and women to recognize the cultural message, and for them to send a healthy one by saying women should wear head coverings.
So where does this leave us? I believe that the timeless principle here is to conduct ourselves in a way that honors God, so that others see it. We recognize He created us, and that He wants us to honor Him in all we do. We are to live in such a way to show our allegiance to Christ in everything we do. The specific application may vary from culture to culture, but the principle remains the same. In this section Paul summarizes what he means with this, “But among the Lord’s people, women are not independent of men, and men are not independent of women. 12 For although the first woman came from man, every other man was born from a woman, and everything comes from God.” 1 Corinthians 11:11–12 (NLT)
Rusty Coram
Senior Pastor