1 Corinthians Chapter 11, Part 1

Transcription

1 1 Corinthians Chapter 11, Part 1 I. Introduction a. We are in the midst of a wonderful study of the great book of 1 Corinthians i. Today s lesson will certainly be interesting and exciting ii. This lesson on the head covering has been a point of much contention and often division among churches 1. I have been on both sides of the common arguments a. However, this issue has never been a subject worthy of breaking fellowship i. This church has had disagreement over this subject and, yet, has remained united together 2. Two common arguments a. This chapter teaches that a woman ought to have long hair and that s it i. To the casual observer, this argument simply cannot be correct as an artificial veil is obviously discussed b. This chapter teaches that a woman ought to wear an artificial veil during church services but not any other time i. Many flee to this position once they realize the first position is not viable 1. However, the context up to this point has nothing to do with church services 2. Nothing in this passage mentions a church service 3. Several things in this passage seemingly speak of things outside the church services 3. The contextual position a. In my two favorite pro-veil books, both only deal with the passage before us today and do not consider the context leading into this passage i. In my opinion, this is not proper exegesis b. The vast majority of this book has dealt with things outside the church moral issues c. Since Chapter 7, Paul has been answering questions about things outside the church i. Marriage, singleness, divorce, meats offered to idols, Christian liberty d. In the previous paragraph, he says, Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also

2 please all men in all things, no seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved i. Paul is dealing with adapting to customs of those around us 1. The natural progression leading into this passage is that he is doing the same in the passage before us today a. And again, nothing even hints to this speaking of a church service II. Commentary a. Verse 1 i. This verse serves as a link between the previous passage and the one before us today 1. Paul was adapting to the customs of those around him as long as it didn t violate Scriptural commandments a. Clearly, he commands them to do the same thing i. He is about to give an example of that b. Verses 2-3 i. Most of the things we have deal with in this book have been moral 1. Apparently, they had kept some doctrinal things a. Paul uses a similar approach as Jesus in the Book of Revelation i. He praises them just before he instructs them ii. The Bible has ordained headship 1. God is the Head over all, even Christ a. This is another of the things that we cannot wrap our heads around because the Son is plainly said to be equal with the Father on more than one occasions (Philippians 2:6) 2. Christ is the Head of man 3. Man is the head over the woman 4. This is not just an Old Testament truth 5. This is not just a Jewish truth 6. This is a creation truth a. It seems improper at this point to make this be talking about a church service as this is obviously talking about a truth both in and out of church c. Verse 4 i. Men in Corinth were not to cover their heads 1. We know there were Jewish men in Corinth (Acts 18:1-4) a. This restriction would have been difficult for them since their custom was to wear prayer shawls

3 i. Aaron and his sons covered their head (Leviticus 10:6) ii. David and his companions covered their heads (2 Samuel 15:30) iii. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego covered their heads (Daniel 3:21) iv. Ezekiel covered his head (Ezekiel 24:17) b. We can see that Jewish men for centuries were in the habit of covering their heads i. According to history, they were doing this in the times of Jesus 1. Interestingly, we never see the Jews accuse Jesus of violating this custom ii. They still do this today, by the way 2. So, why would Paul instruct men to uncover their head in Corinth? a. He has already given us to the answer to this i. They were to adapt to the customs of the surrounding society 1. In Corinth, the only men that covered their head were homosexuals and cross dressers a. We know these existed (1 Corinthians 6:9) b. For the Jewish men to cover their heads would be confusing and would detract from the spread of the Gospel c. A man would dishonor himself (and thus Christ) if he veiled in Corinth d. Verses 5-6 i. The opposite instruction is given to the women here 1. Jewish and Gentile custom required women to veil themselves a. Religiously, these women were free to take the covering off i. However, it was not helpful in spreading the Gospel (1 Corinthians 10:23) 1. Therefore, Paul tells them to continue to wear them so that those outside wouldn t misunderstand ii. In Corinth, only temple prostitutes went into public unveiled 1. It isn t difficult to comprehend the confusion that the Christian women would cause if they went around sharing the Gospel with unveiled heads

4 iii. This verse seems to obviously be speaking of something outside the church 1. Women are restricted from leading the church in prayer (1 Timothy 2:8) 2. Women are restricted from preaching and teaching (prophesying) in a mixed congregation (1 Corinthians 14:34; 1 Timothy 2:12) 3. Philip had four daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:9) a. This obviously took place outside of the church i. As Scripture interprets Scripture, we must conclude that this passage is speaking of the same type thing iv. In Corinthian society, a woman brought dishonor to herself by going into public unveiled 1. If these Christian women did this, they might as well go ahead and shave their heads like the prostitutes did e. Verses 7-12 i. Again, this distinction between the sexes is not merely a Christian thing 1. It was instituted at Creation ii. The Corinthians needed to continue to keep the sexes distinct as their society called for 1. This meant that the men were to be uncovered and the women were to be veiled iii. Even angels are offended when we don t keep the sexes distinct 1. Certainly, they were present when man and woman were created and they fully understand that God created headship a. As they are watching over us as God directs them, let us keep in mind that we are to properly represent the headship which God has ordained iv. Certainly, there is a place for both men and women in the Lord s churches 1. In fact, both are to serve the Lord together 2. Both are saved in the same way (Galatians 3:28) 3. Yet, in this, we are still to retain the headship that God ordained a. This is done in various ways in different societies i. We are to adapt to these various customs as long as they do not violate the Scripture (1 Corinthians 10:32) 1. How would our society to react to a man and wife knocking on their door to share the Gospel if the woman was veiled? f. Verses i. Paul urges for them to examine their present circumstances and see what was in keeping with the customs

5 1. He basically asks, What will those around think if your men are veiled like a homosexual and your women are unveiled like a prostitute? a. Obviously, the he knew there was a simple answer to this question i. This would have hindered the furtherance of the Gospel which should be our first priority ii. Nature itself teaches that there is a distinction between the sexes 1. This passage is speaking about hair a. In most every society, the men have had shorter hair than the women i. The men may have had shoulder length hair 1. However, in these areas the women s hair would generally have been down her back 2. If nature (which God created) gives us a distinction, certainly we ought to keep the customs of each society in order to keep the distinction g. Verse 16 i. Paul here speaks against division over this issue 1. There should be no contention a. It was nature (common sense) that men were ordained as head over women and this should be retained as customs required ii. Paul maintains that this is a custom issue 1. This lines up perfectly with the passages leading up to this a. Paul had continued to maintained that we are to adapt to local customs in order to open doors for the Gospel iii. This is not a church issue 1. Hardcore covering supporters must look at this passage in reverse a. In other words, they say this says, we have no such custom as not wearing the veil i. But, that seems to be a stretch in both the natural rendering as well as the context 2. Simply, Paul is saying that other churches aren t facing the same circumstances as Corinth a. The temple of Aphrodite produced these circumstances i. This is why we only see this subject addressed here 1. It is never mentioned elsewhere in the NT b. Every other major doctrine the Bible is mentioned numerous times in the Bible i. This alone should show us this is a passage about liberty and not NT church practice