- Dec 20, 2019
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What I am pointing out is the importance of context and something apply specifically to a particular group of people in a particular time frame and we just cannot assume it applies to us in our time. The same may be true of women wearing head covers.
As a female, I do believe it is important to have your own conviction when it comes to 1 Corinthians 11 and the topic of ‘head coverings.’ To disregard it with the simple notion that it is from a different “cultural” time would be unwise and a disservice to the Word of God – as Senior Pastor has aptly pointed out.
As followers of Christ, we are beckoned and urged to delve deeper into the Word and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, seek out the truth of the Scriptures.
The first question I have to ask is why would the topic of head coverings cause such a stir and have such a sting to it that people would rather justify not wearing head coverings than “just do it” out of obedience? There must be more at play than merely putting a cloth over my head and feeling a bit awkward about it at first. Why does it stir such a vehement reaction?
It must be inspired.
Whenever we are confronted with the truth, our response will either be “for” or “against”. There is never a “middle road” when it comes to the Word of God – it divides, cuts, and shines. (Heb. 4:12,13).
Look at Stephen’s address to the Jewish Council: despite him being a man “full of faith and power” where they “were not able to resist the wisdom and Spirit by which he spoke,” (Acts 6) when he spoke the truth of Christ to them, they gnashed at him with their teeth as they were cut to the heart. (Acts 7:54)
The Word says that “Christ is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” (1 Pet, 2:8). And from John 1, we can also safely say that Christ is the very Word of God. So we are to be very careful when going about the Word that we do not use it as a source of debate or treat it as information to be discussed rather than the very oracles of God. (1 Tim. 1:6-7)
So back to head coverings… What if it’s more than an obscure passage of Scripture? What if it is a key to unlocking the correct order of the Church of Jesus Christ? I sincerely believe that it very much is the case. How can I say that? Because in essence, 1 Corinthians 11 is not discussing the issue of head coverings as much as the issue of GLORY.
Let’s read it again:
But I want you to know that the HEAD of every MAN is CHRIST,
and the HEAD of WOMAN is MAN,
and the HEAD of CHRIST is GOD.
Every MAN praying or prophesying, having his head covered dishonors his HEAD. [who is his head but Christ?]
But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head [man]…
For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and GLORY of GOD; but woman is the GLORY of MAN.
If you ask me, this is the real bone of contention and, as a female, the bitter pill to swallow. In immaturity, some women may be offended by this verse. To them, it might imply that as a female we are inferior to a man and I am sure they hate that. It might bring out the ‘gnashing of teeth’ reaction inside of them! I've been told by some women that letting my fiance make the final decisions was letting him treat me as a "floor mat," how ridiculous!
As I’ve grown up in the Lord, I’ve come to understand that it is not about superiority/inferiority, but the correct order of things, as Paul clearly goes on to say: that man is not from woman, but woman from man… and for this reason the woman ought to have a SYMBOL of authority on her head, because of the angels.
I don’t pretend to understand what Paul means by “because of the angels.” It still remains a mystery to me.
The picture that I want to paint you is very visual. If the woman is the glory of man, and you cover her head, are you covering her, or are you covering her glory, which is the glory of MAN?... And with the man’s head uncovered, he is the glory of CHRIST… so when a woman covers her head in an assembly, she’s covering, not herself, but the glory of MAN so that the men with their HEAD [Christ!] UNCOVERED, display the GLORY OF CHRIST! WOW!
So if the angels have visited the assembly as 1 Corinthians 11 and 1 Peter 2 suggest, as spiritual beings, whose glory do they see? The glory of man looming bright, or the glory of CHRIST pervading the sanctuary? Perhaps that’s what it means by “for the sake of the angels?” When we take it into consideration, we are catapulted from the natural to the spiritual realm; we’re no longer talking about what it looks and feels like in the natural, but what the implications are in the spiritual realm, which is where the angels reside. I guess when you look at it like that, it very much so affects the angels! Whose glory are we emanating in the spiritual realm?
Is it a shameful thing that as I woman, I am the glory of man? Absolutely not!!
If the Glory of man is Christ, how can I be ashamed of being someone’s glory, whose very own glory is Christ?! Christ, being the glory of God, is called in Hebrews 1, the “the BRIGHTNESS of His GLORY and the EXPRESS IMAGE of His PERSON. As a woman, according to 1 Corinthians 11, I am the very expression of man – his helpmeet, like I was created to be. It’s not about covering my head; it’s about whose glory I want to be revealed when I’m in God’s presence – Man’s glory or Christ’s?
It’s my conviction to start wearing head coverings now and I think it will release me to be free in prayer and in worship; I will wear it as a symbol of authority to remind myself that as a woman, I am submitted to man, who is submitted to Christ, and I am safe. For all intents and purposes, I am covered… what freedom I think I will find under that covering!!
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