Doug Van Meter - 10 December 2023
What to Wear When You Come to Church (1 Corinthians 11:2–16)
Dressing “for church” used to be a major concern for those in Christendom. Perhaps not so much in our day. Nevertheless, 1 Corinthians 11:2–16 addresses this very issue, though in a perhaps surprising way. Our text offers five principles to help us think about what to wear to church. 1. Genesis Tells Us What to Wear (vv. 2–3, 7–9) 2. Our Gender Tells Us What to Wear (vv. 4–6) 3. God’s Glory Tells Us What to Wear (vv. 7–10) 4. The Gospel Tells Us What to Wear (vv. 11–12) 6. God Tells Us What to Wear (vv. 13–16)
Scripture References: 1 Corinthians 11:2-16
From Series: "1 Corinthians Exposition"
An exposition of 1 Corinthians by Doug Van Meter.
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The local church congregation gathers each Lord’s Day for what we might call “story time.” We gather to hear the story of the gospel of God, which is the story of God’s grace in saving sinners from his judgement, the story of God reconciling rebels to himself through the sinless sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who was vindicated by his resurrection. Each week, we sing this story, we pray informed by this story, sometimes we use an object lesson to illustrate this story (baptism, Lord’s Supper), and we read and preach this story.
“I Love to Tell the Story” is a hymn we should sing again despite chronological snobbery relegating it as merely an old hymn with a quaint tune. Another hymn says it equally well: “Tell me the old, old story of Jesus and his love.”
Corporate worship is about being reminded of this story. But it is more. Corporate worship should remind us that as Christians we are a part of this story. And each of us should appropriately play our part. Each of us should do so in such a way that we do not distract others from paying attention to this story. Each of us should do so in an orderly way. This is the theme which Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians 11–14.
He begins by explaining what we should wear when we come to church. In 11:2–16 Paul is concerned that the church is missing out on appropriate “story time” by unnecessary distractions and inordinate disorder. In a sense, Paul is saying, “When you gather for corporate worship,” to quote an older saying, “wear your Sunday best.”
Paul addresses “Sunday best” not in the way that we traditionally think. Rather our “Sunday best” is more about disposition than whether or not we are wearing a tie or a hat. In short, when we gather for corporate worship, we should prepare ourselves so that we will get the most out of our “story time” together. We will begin to learn how in this passage before us under four broad headings:
- Genesis Tells Us What to Wear (vv. 2–3, 7–9)
- Our Gender Tells Us What to Wear (vv. 4–6)
- God’s Glory Tells Us What to Wear (vv. 7–10)
- The Gospel Tells Us What to Wear (vv. 11–12)
- God Tells Us What to Wear (vv. 13–16)
The Genesis of Gender Tells Us What to Wear
Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonours his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head.
(1 Corinthians 11:2–6)
Commendation
Because the church is composed of saved sinners, it will usually include some who are constantly critical and contentiously cynical as they seek to push against the program. It would seem this was the case when it came to the matter of gender-distinctive attire in the church at Corinth. Paul could commend most of the congregation for their appropriate practice while needing to pen this authoritative response to the arrogant troublemakers in the congregation (v. 16). Schreiner correctly catches the tone of this passage when he writes, “Probably there was a minority which contested what Paul said, and their dissent raised questions for everyone. Therefore, Paul had to make his case afresh to shore up dissent.”
There are always those who have a better idea (or so they think) than that what God has revealed. There are always those who try to “improve” on or “correct” the Bible. Paul would have none of it. Neither should we. What God has ordered, we must not disorder. Regardless of changes in culture, the church must remain grounded in what God has revealed to his people “in the beginning.” Paul will make this point as he points the church to the early chapters of Genesis to establish their dress code for when they come to church.
When Paul speaks of “traditions,” he is referring to truth inspired by God and handed down from generation to generation. Gender distinctiveness, as revealed in Genesis, is one such inspired tradition.
Confirmation
The adversative “but” makes way for Paul to further ground them in this tradition. He knows they know this, but he wants to encourage them not to waiver. And how we need this in our day and age.
Paul reminds the church that there is a cultural, temporal, transcendent order established by God. That is, Messiah is the head of every husband, the husband is the head of his wife, and God the Father is head over God the Son. But what does this mean?
The word “head” can refer to the physical body part that sits on the neck, or it can refer to the source of something, or it can refer to authority. Context determines meaning.
Paul is clearly not speaking about the appendage at the end of the neck, nor can he be referring to sourcebecause Jesus is coequal in essence with the Father (i.e. Jesus was not created). Therefore, authority must be Paul’s meaning. “Woman” and “man” refer to husband and wife. The same Greek terms are translated as either. Again, context is king.
The passage does not teach that all men have authority over all women. It teaches, rather, that the husband lives under submission to Jesus Christ, which is why he can be trusted as the authority over his wife. Paul is merely stating the obvious. But, as George Orwell once quipped, sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is to restate the obvious. That was true in the first century and, twenty centuries later, it remains true.
We should note that Paul assumes that both men and women would pray and prophesy when the church gathered. He did not object to this. The problem was not women (wives) praying or prophesying but that God’s created order for marriage, established in Genesis, was not being honoured in the corporate gathering. This brings us to the matter of head coverings.
History of the Veil
In the ancient world, women of elite status wore veils. It was, in fact, illegal in ancient Mesopotamia and elsewhere for either slaves or prostitutes to wear a veil. Under Roman influence, when attending pagan worship, both men and women were required to wear head-coverings.
But particularly, married women in the Roman world wore head coverings in public, like one might wear a wedding ring today. Thus, she was to be treated as married and not pursued as if she were single. This would be particularly important when the church gathered for worship. It would point to God’s created order while also guarding against distraction.
With respect to this genesis/gender order, Paul says that, if a wife refuses to wear a head covering, she should either cut her hair short (manlike) or shave it (again, manlike). In other words, Paul is sarcastically making the point that, if a wife rejects God’s creation order for marriage, if she wants to exert that she is “just as equal as a man in God’s hierarchy,” then she should do away with all female distinctiveness. She might as well look the part of the man (see vv. 6; 13–15). In short, the divine order, as revealed in Genesis, is to be respected in the church.
The opening chapters of Genesis informed worship in the garden; they continue to inform worship in God’s new garden (1 Corinthians 3:5–9). The opening chapters of Genesis established God’s design for marriage; they continue to establish God’s design for marriage. The opening chapters of Genesis point to God’s ultimate marriage (cf. 2:24 with Ephesians 5:29–33); they continue to point us to that marriage we now enjoy.
The opening chapters of Genesis make clear both gender equality and gender differentiation and continue to make this clear. Therefore the church must be committed to make this clear.
The Glory of God Tells Us What to Wear
For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
(1 Corinthians 11:7–10)
Complementary Worship
“Glory” permeates this passage, both positively (vv. 7, 15) and negatively (vv. 4, 5, 6, 15—“dishonour” “disgrace”). But it began in 10:31, where Paul, thinking of the context of worship, exhorted the Corinthians to do everything to the glory of God.
Paul wanted the Corinthian church to corporately gather for the good of each other to the glory of God. But he knew this would not happen if they rejected God’s order as revealed in Genesis (and in the gospel). Yes, in the Lord there is equality (v. 11; Galatians 3:28) but the new creation in Christ does not do away with God’s order in the original creation. In other words, as husbands and wives—men and women—fulfil their Genesis roles, God is glorified, including in corporate worship.
What does Paul mean that a man is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man? Again, this refers to the creation order and mandate.
You will remember that, when God declared his intention to create man and woman, he said, “‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:26–27).
Keep in mind that this is a summary statement, but, in Genesis 2, we are given the creation details. God formed Adam (man) first. Adam was created first to rule for God, to exercise dominion under God. When God next created Eve (woman) from Adam’s rib, Adam named her (2:23; 3:20). This is an action of dominion, an action of rule. Adam glorified God and reflected God by being in submission to him and thereby having the authority to rule under him.
When Eve (woman) was created, she too had authority (1:26–27), but authority to the degree she reflected Adam’s authority and rule. By submitting to him, she reflected his honour. As Mare puts it, “Man was to prior to woman and is the image and glory of God—that is, he is to be subject to and represent God in authority. The woman, however, is the glory of the man—i.e., she is to be subject to man and to represent him in authority.”
Paul was deeply concerned that husbands and wives glorify God in congregational worship. There is to be no rival to God receiving his glory. But if husbands and wives—and men and women in general—fail in their corporate worship to conform to God’s creation order and purpose, they not only dishonour themselves but, worse, they dishonour God. By diminishing their own God-given glory, they diminish God’s glory. As Ciampa and Rosner put it, “Paul’s concern is ultimately with the need for an exclusive focus on God’s glory (which would certainly be diminished by any apparent disrespect for gender distinctions in worship).”
Prior helpfully comments, “If God alone is to be glorified in the worship of the church, then it is the joint responsibility of both the man and the woman to do all within their ability to make this happen” and this means that “the fullness of Christian worship can be experienced only as each man and each woman, created for God and redeemed by God, allows his or her humanness to be expressed according to God’s pattern.” And this is why head coverings mattered! As Thiselton explains, “What is worn or not worn serves as a mark of respect to one’s husband or wife and to other members of the Christian congregation at worship.”
This same principle holds today. When we diminish or dismiss gender distinctions, we dishonour one another, thereby dishonouring God. As Jackman notes, “there is a distinction between the sexes that should be exemplified in public worship.”
This has everything to do with how, culturally, we express the two genders. Both in dress and even in disposition.
It is quite possible for a godly woman to dishonour her believing husband by the way she deports herself. Is she always pushing ahead, taking the lead, speaking out, and perhaps making her husband look like a spiritual ignoramus?
Dishonourable Distractions
Consider that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that women’s hair was understood to be an object of intense sexual attraction and so a move toward the abandonment of the female head covering would have struck many at the time as a move toward a more licentious, a more sexually provocative, way of appearing in public. Paul wished to curb the erotic potential of the uncovered female head in the context of worship.
For God to be glorified in corporate worship, both men and women are to conform to God’s creation order. In doing so, each is honourable and honoured while God receives the greatest of honour. The practice of biblical complementarianism results in God receiving the most glorious of complement!
Confusion
By a wife not wearing a veil, or some kind of culturally appropriate head covering, the lines were being blurred between the husband and the wife with reference to authority. This is what he means by “symbol of authority on her head” (v. 10). Submission yields authority. As a wife demonstrates submission to her husband, she is granted the authority to pray and prophesy. Apart from this submission, confusion—even anarchy—might gain a foothold.
When we meet as a congregation, we are worshipping in full view of a whole host of unseen observers. Including angels. And because of their presence, we are to remember and reflect Genesis. What does this mean?
Some think that “angels” refer to human messengers from other churches, who had come to observe worship at Corinth. Others suggest that angels might be present in worship who had taken human form (see Hebrews 13:1–2). Still other think that Paul is referring to angels observing from the invisible, heavenly realm (see Hebrews 12:22–24). Still others suggest that Paul is speaking anachronistically of the fallen angels who, in Genesis 6, violated God’s created order by procreating with human women. Those angels were guilty of sensuality that led to forbidden sex. Was Paul concerned that wives not wearing a head covering might tempt others to illicit thoughts and even actions?
I suspect that he has in mind a combination of the last two. Paul knew that, when the church gathered for worship, she was being observed by heavenly beings, who respected God’s order. Whatever he meant, he for sure meant for the church to take seriously how they behaved when they gathered. They were to worship in accordance with God receiving glory due to him. He was to be the centre of attention. We are neither to offend nor tempt them.
The Gospel of God Tells Us What to Wear
Third, the gospel of God tells us what to wear: “Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God” (vv. 11–12).
David Jackman wisely observes, with reference to this passage, that “what at first sight might appear to be a peripheral social issue is actually regarded by Paul as a foundational gospel principle.” We see this, I think clearly, in these two verses.
Having established that Genesis is to be respected in corporate worship, with reference to honouring gender distinctiveness and marital order, Paul then guards against any potential sinful chauvinism by emphasising mutuality as a by-product of the gospel.
I suspect Paul is playing on words here. In the Genesis account, the first woman came from man. But since that time, all men have come from women. Hence, no man can claim independent existence. No man would exist apart from a woman. However, Paul was thinking particularly of believing men and women, and we know this by his phrase, “in the Lord.” This is distinctly Pauline terminology, defining a Christian. A Christian is “in the Lord.” The Christian is united to Christ Jesus by the miracle of the new birth, which required a woman to give birth to Jesus the Messiah. I think that Paul therefore is saying more than merely that woman in general give birth to other human beings. Rather, he is saying that there would be no Christian men (or Christian women for that matter) were it not for a woman named Mary who gave birth to the incarnate Son of God in fulfilment of God’s gospel promise after the fall (Genesis 3:15). This is why Paul concludes, “And all things are from God.”
Generally, Paul is arguing that, since God is the Creator, it is both silly and superfluous to practice any kind of one-upmanship. Rather, both “covered” and “uncovered” heads are to raise their heads to the Head who is over all. Yet the use of “in the Lord” gives this phrase more of a gospel tone. It is God who has put us in the Lord, both men and women, and therefore beware of minimising the equal value and dignity of your sister or brother in Christ. This leads to a glorious conclusion.
The Goodness of God Tells Us What to Wear
Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.
(1 Corinthians 11:13–16)
What’s Nature Got to Do With It?
Having pointed to both Genesis and to the gospel to affirm their order of worship, Paul concludes by simply pointing to nature. His argument is that, in accordance with the way things are, we all know that women are to look like women and men are to look like men. Why? Because women are women and men are men! Respect God’s establishment of gender. Respect it both in the world at large and in the church.
Paul affirms that long hair on a woman is her glory. That is, it distinguishes her as a woman. That was true culturally, just as, culturally, homosexual male prostitutes wore their hair long. In other words, God has given to humanity the innate sense of what is masculine and what is feminine. “Nature functions as an instructor that teaches human beings about distinctions between men and women. The distinctions are echoed in culture” (Schreiner). And since God created nature, God has told us how to display those distinctions. God tells us how to dress when we come to church. Men should look like men and women like women.
The question debated today—“What is a woman?”—is only complicated to those who have a reprobate mind (Romans 1).
Single Women?
Though this passage leans heavily on the husband/wife relationship, single men and women are in view also, as indicated by v. 14,; “Does not nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory.” This generic statement reinforces how, in God’s goodness, he “made them [distinctively, honourably] male and female” (Genesis 1:27). This distinctiveness is indicated by hairstyle.
Paul is using the analogy that, just as in the wider society hairstyles differentiated male and female; just as in the wider society a woman was honoured to be of the female gender (partly distinguished to be so by her unique hairstyle); so in the church she is to be differentiated as a woman, co-equal with her husband, yet distinctively different indicated by wearing a head covering. This is the way it is; this is the way it is to be. But we should not miss a larger point that single women are to display their gender distinctiveness as God’s good gift, just as married women are. Both married and single are to wear submission to God, by submission to God-appointed authority, and they are to wear this submission well. Just married and single men are as well.
Paul has said his last word about the matter. Having grounded his instructions in Scripture, and now having allowed nature—the “intuitive sense of what is fitting” (Thiselton)—to have the last commonsense word. If there are those who wish to debate this, they will do so without Paul. He will not post any more YouTube videos or release any more podcasts. If someone chooses to be obstinately contentious, so be it. He is moving on to other important matters.
There is a lesson for us here. There comes a time when all debate should cease. The combination of both the clarity of Scripture and common sense settles most matters. It is to a sign that society has lost its mind when it cannot (will not) accept things as they were created to be and that are manifestly what they are. Let us not answer fools according to their folly. This is not rocket science. It is simple cosmology and basic biology.
Considerations
As we draw our time in this text to a close, let me do so by highlighting four basic considerations that arise from the text.
First, “while the cultural symbols may change, the principles do not” (Jackman). The church is obligated to order itself in accordance with God’s creation order. Men and women distinctively different, but mutually serving one another.
Second, and in light of the above, when the church gathers there should be no confusion about any of this. In fact, corporate worship should enhance our distinctive humanity. Wright observes, “Being grasped by the gospel as Paul has expounded it … means worshipping the true God, and so reflecting this God by becoming a more complete human being. Genuine humanness resulting from true worship: that is Paul’s vision.” This passage commences Paul’s instructions for the church in corporate worship to reflect “God’s renewed humanity.” This is at the heart of the story.
Third, the honour that men show to women in corporate worship, and vice versa, is also to be the ruling principle and practice in the home.
Fourth, and finally, the gathered church tells a story. It tells the story of the gospel of God. It tells the story that God sent his Son to save his Bride. The Son did this by submitting to the Father’s will to live a perfect life, to die a sacrificial and justifying death in the place of sinners, and to rise from the dead to intercede for those sinners who are now his bride. What is the proof that we are his bride? We submit to our glorious Groom. Therefore, what should we wear when we come to church? Submission to our sovereign Saviour in the ways he has designed for us. In other words, let us be sure that, when we come to church, we are committed to God receiving all the attention. That, my friend, is what we wear when we come to church.
AMEN