Jim,
It was good to see you also. Interesting that you noticed my wife's head
covering. We do believe in a literal interpretation of that passage [1
Corinthians 11] as I feel that is the only way that the passage makes
sense.
Some folks like to compare it to foot washing [John 13:5-7] but the
distinct difference I see is that Head coverings are commanded "I
have no other command for the Churches of God anywhere" and Foot
washings were an object lesson: "You do not understand what I do now
but you will understand later." Also since Paul [in 1 Corinthians 11]
argues from the beginning of creation, that should lay aside any cultural
justification of the passage (verse 14), having to do with the condition
of Corinth.
The men are mentioned first [11:4 - Every man praying or prophesying,
having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.] There would have been
many men coming out of Judaism needing to remove their covering that had
been commanded in the Old Testament (yarmulke or kippah). Here the men’s
head covering is commanded to be removed and so this would have been very
difficult to do for the believers, much more so than the women taking a
covering. And yet, we never hear of people in our culture complaining
about that one. Another nail in the coffin for the cultural justification
that I am sure you have heard before is that Paul wasn't commanding these
women to wear a head covering all the time, but only in the context of
"when you come together in one place (verse 18 KJV)" or in other
words in the church. So when these same women went to the grocery store
there was no covering command. This is specifically a sign for believers
to practice because of the angels watching down in an assembly as I read
it. So if it was due to the culture I think Paul would have commanded the
head covering all the time not just at church and not just when one was
praying or prophesying.
I also take it that it is a sign to the angels not to the outward
world. The text clearly says "because of the Angels" not
"Because of the unbelievers walking by" (besides they have
tongues for that (1Cor 14 "its a sign for believers not
unbelievers") Also the comment "because of the angels" I
take in conjunction with Ephesians 3:10 that says "His intent was
that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made
known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms…"
Basically, a culturalizing of the passage or some other explanation for
the passage causes the scissors effect. What I mean by that is that if
this is a cultural practice only for ancient Corinth then why do I have it
in my Bible and I may as well cut it out with a pair of Scissors. :-). Or
is it relevant to me today? I know no one would consider that... But
with that being said I think that everyone has to do this or not do it
based on their own conviction. If the point of a head covering is to
display the subjection to our head (Jesus Christ) by uncovering our (Men’s)
heads and the Women’s responsibility is to show it by covering her head
then we should make the issue of the heart being subject of more
importance than the physical sign of it without neglecting the latter.
This can only be done voluntarily by the individual practicing it. And if
we, (men) who bear Christ's blood as our covering, because of the
"new and living way" Jesus made for us into heaven, no longer
need to cover our sinful heads when approaching the presence of God, as
the Old Testament priest once did when entering God’s presence in the
temple, really get a grasp of it we should be rejoicing to do it. It’s a
sign of freedom to approach God through his shed blood. We uncover
our head to show the blood covering that freed us from the bondage of sin
to the "authorities in heavenly realms" recognizing our head
Jesus Christ. The Women cover their heads when entering, picturing the
submissive role that Jesus, Our Bridegroom, took for us with respect to
God. They symbolize it with covered head towards their husbands "When
they come together" which is a symbol for the Angels. The
Angels look down and see a perfect sign or picture in the church showing
what Christ did for his bride.
So what about the long hair you may ask... Isn't that a covering? If it
wasn't for the word's "If" in that passage [11:14, 15] I might
look into it more. But since the Spirit uses the long hair in that passage
as an example arguing from creation we know it’s not a literal
substitute for the head covering. If it was then we need to interpret the
rest of the passage consistently along with that and allow men to cover
their heads in a fellowship as long as they have short hair. :-)
I hope this helps as far as showing you where I stand. My biggest beef
with this is not that people practice or don't practice it. It's that a
good passage of scripture gets thrown away every time I have heard it
preached on because people are afraid to take this literal due to the
culture we live in. I think we just need to believe what the Bible clearly
says and not throw this passage away. If I ever preached on this I would
preach it literally but allow plenty of grace for each person to make a
personal decision of obedience to what the Holy Spirit convicts for them
on this issue. Then we would have the best of both worlds: personal
responsibility mixed with truthful handling of the passage. :-) As in
everything ...
Thank You,
Michael
Because of the
Angels - 1 Corinthians 11
On Wearing a Head Covering
