Day 153: God's pattern or modern culture? - 1 Corinthians 11 vs 2 - 16

2-3 I am so glad that you always keep me in your thoughts, and that you are following the teachings I passed on to you. But there is one thing I want you to know: The head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. 4-6 A man dishonours his head if he covers his head while praying or prophesying. But a woman dishonours her head if she prays or prophesies without a covering on her head, for this is the same as shaving her head. Yes, if she refuses to wear a head covering, she should cut off all her hair! But since it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or her head shaved, she should wear a covering. 7 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. 8-9 For the first man didn’t come from woman, but the first woman came from man. 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.

11-12 But among the Lord’s people, women are not independent of men, and men are not independent of women. For although the first woman came from man, every other man was born from a woman, and everything comes from God. 13-15 Judge for yourselves. Is it right for a woman to pray to God in public without covering her head? Isn’t it obvious that it’s disgraceful for a man to have long hair? And isn’t long hair a woman’s pride and joy? For it has been given to her as a covering. 16 But if anyone wants to argue about this, I simply say that we have no other custom than this, and neither do God’s other churches. 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 New Living Translation (English Standard Version link)

Do you read the instructions before using a newly bought product? It may not matter much if it's just a desk lamp – but I'd certainly hope the pilots of a new type of passenger aircraft will have read all the instructions from those who designed it before taking off. In this part of Corinthians Paul gives us some instructions from the One who created men and women. And God doesn't just tell us to 'do what I say' - but to do what God himself does. So what is his pattern for our lives in this world according to vs 2-3?

Those words are not popular in modern Western culture. But when it says that ‘the head’ of Christ is God, it doesn't mean that God the Son is of less worth than God the Father – or that the Father bosses the Son around. It simply shows that God has a pattern for the way things will function best. So for mankind, the word 'head' doesn't mean a tyrant, dictator or bully. On what grounds does Paul say that the man is called to be head of woman? (vs 8-9)

He bases it on the pattern God set at the creation of the first ever male and female to walk the planet entrusted to them. Does that mean men should think that women were created for their use and are dispensable? (vs 11-12)

In those verses, and many other places in the Bible, we learn that men and women are inter-dependent. They need each other and complement each other. The woman's wearing of a head covering was symbolic of accepting God's pattern for society – and that's what the discussion in this chapter was all about. Paul was urging the Christians in Corinth to not follow the culture of their society, but to keep to the pattern God gave from the beginning. Should women still wear head coverings in Western countries today?

It's obvious that the general consensus among Christians today is that it's not something women have to do. Western culture doesn't regard it as shameful for a woman to appear in public without a head covering. But, until quite recently, many Christian women chose to wear a head cover in Church. Perhaps what's most important here is not so much the outward action – but the inward attitude. Do we as men and women seek to live out our relationships according to the pattern God gives in His word – or are we just followers of the world's fashions?