Text: 1Corinthians 11:1-19
In the first ten chapters, Paul, who loves the church with God’s own love, has reprimanded, beseeched and instructed the troubled church in Corinth. All of what he wrote, and all that they said and did, reflected their lack of understanding that Christianity is not about outward works, but an inward work in their hearts. He has written one final time regarding their interaction with the idolatrous culture in which they live. Now, he addresses issues regarding their relationships.
If I were to give this a title, it would be, “We Have No Such Practice.”
Verses 1-2
Perhaps this first verse should have been included at the end of Chapter 10. But it is a strong reinforcement of his role as an example of a Christian who has died to his selfishness and self-centeredness. Indeed, Paul is crucified with Christ, and he no longer lives (Galatians 2:20), but Christ lives in him!
The meaning of “imitate me” is not to imitate Paul by outward actions. May it never be! But it is an exhortation to the believers at Corinth, to ask God to do the same inward work in their hearts that He has done in Paul’s! Amen! Then they will be like Christ, as Paul is like Christ!
In Verse 2, he encourages the Corinthians, praising them because they remember (are mindful of) Paul in everything. They have not forgotten his teaching regarding the traditions established for the church — rules of conduct and of conducting worship. They have been faithful to follow them, just as he taught them.
Verse 3
But they are unclear on some things. So Paul specifies that
— Christ is the head (Greek kephale, source) of every man
— Man is the head (source) of a woman
— God is the head (source) of Christ
Many would say “head” refers to authority. But if that were true, the Greek word exousia would be far better here. Why do I say head means, “source?” It is from Gordon Fee’s commentary on First Corinthians in The New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT). He researched the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek kephale, and it means “source.”
Fee writes that if commentators say that kephale means “authority,” they are misinterpreting it. If Paul meant, “authority,” in Verse 3, he would have used exousia. And he does, in Verse 10, when he refers to a false teaching regarding the symbol of authority on a woman’s own head. I will speak to that verse later.
So, God the Son is the Source of every man. The Father gave the Son the plans, and His Son created it (John 1:3, Hebrews 1:2). So, God the Son created Adam, who is the father of the human race. Therefore, Christ is the Source of Adam, and of every man.
And man is the source of every woman, in that the first woman came from the first man, Adam. God the Son made Eve from Adam’s rib (Genesis 2:21-22). Indeed, male and female, He created them (Genesis 1:27). So, in this way, man is the source of Eve, because she was created by Christ from the first man’s rib.
And God is the Head (Source) of Christ. Jesus Christ is eternally existent (John 1:1-2), and not a created being. But it was the Father who sent the Son. So, in that way, the Father is the Source of the Son. Jesus is not God the co-Father, but God the Son.
Verses 4-6
Now Paul launches into some false teaching/lack of understanding that the believers at Corinth are exhibiting. I will show you why it is false, when I take apart Verse 16 for you.
Men praying or prophesying while they have something on their head? That being an affront to God? What on earth is Paul talking about? He speaks of a tradition created by the believers at Corinth, the source of which may have been false teaching.
Jewish men always have a prayer shawl over their heads when they pray, so this has nothing to do with Judaism. He is mocking the practice the church at Corinth is following.
Again, in Verse 5, women are supposed to have their heads covered when they pray or prophesy? Why? The believers at Corinth say that if women pray and prophesy with uncovered heads, they disgrace their head, because a woman with a shaved head is a disgrace. Huh? Again, this is something the believers at Corinth have adopted that is NOT part of Paul’s teaching.
I must note here that women in the church at Corinth are not expected to be silent in church. They both pray (audibly and inaudibly) and prophesy (which is always audible).
And in Verse 6, Paul writes of the woman having her hair cut off, but if it is disgraceful to have her hair cut off or to shave her head, she must wear a covering on her head. Again, this is a practice the church at Corinth has adopted, but Paul does not teach this!
Verses 7-10
He concludes by repeating what he wrote in the first few verses. What the church at Corinth is doing is not according to Paul’s teaching.
Man is being portrayed as the image and glory (praise) of God, but woman is portrayed as the glory (praise) of man, and not created in God’s image. But according to Genesis 1:26-27, both man and woman were created in God’s image. Regarding woman being the glory of man, Gordon Fee says that means that man is not complete without woman, beloved!
And man does not originate from woman, but woman from man. True. And man was not created for woman, but woman for man. Also true.
But what has that got to do with head coverings? These are outward practices and traditions that the believers at Corinth have created. They are not what Paul teaches. Such things are nowhere in his letters to the churches.
It is true that, in his first letter to Timothy, he does not allow the women in Ephesus to teach, because they have come from Artemis/Diana worship, in which women are priestesses. Paul’s intent was that they be thoroughly weaned from that practice, and that WILL happen if they are kept from teaching until they are filled with God’s Holy Spirit.
Remember that Paul considered many women to be co-workers — Priscilla and her husband, Aquila (church planters), Junia (a female fellow prisoner for the sake of the gospel), Phoebe (identified as a Christian teacher and pastor who the believers in Rome should assist in her work), and others.
Paul concludes his reiteration of these newly minted traditions in the church at Corinth by repeating the final, strange statement that a woman should have a symbol of authority (exousia) on her head, because of the angels. There is nothing in God’s Word to suggest this be practiced, but again, the believers at Corinth have established some of their own rules of worship, or have been taught by false teachers.
Verses 11-12
Now, Paul says, “But, however, IN THE LORD . . . ” The traditions which he has just repeated, the traditions the believers at Corinth have established, are not IN THE LORD. Verses 11-12 explicitly qualify that the word “head” is not to be understood as “authority over.”
So what does the LORD say? Neither is woman without man, or man without woman. They are not independent of each other. Why?
Because the woman originates from (her source is) the man, because the first woman came from Adam’s rib. But also, men are born of women. And the Source of all things is God!
Paul seeks to bring them back to reality, and reiterates what the Word of God says, and what has been established from the beginning.
Certainly, we all are to submit to one another —
Ephesians 5:21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ (in reverential awe of Him).
Ephesians 5:22 Wives, be subject to (a voluntary action of cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden) to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head (again, source — kephale) of the wife, as Christ also is the head (again, source — kephale) of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything (that is, they are co-laborers, carrying burdens, sharing responsibility).
So wives are subject to (they cooperate with and are co-laborers with) their husbands, in the same way wives are subject to Christ (as co-laborers with Him). Jeff and I can attest to the fact that, if husband and wife are filled with the Spirit, they are very effective in their co-ministry!
Verses 13-15
Paul returns to the traditions established by the church at Corinth. They HAVE judged for themselves — it is IMPROPER for a woman to pray with her head uncovered!
They have judged for themselves — Nature itself teaches them that if a man has long hair, it is disgraceful!
But for a woman, her hair is like a crown, they have judged. Therefore, if it is long, it can serve as a covering for her head!
Verse 16
Now Paul writes, in one simple statement, that the things the church at Corinth have established are NOT to be practiced. Why?
The original Greek -to-English reads like this —
But if one is inclined to be (thinks to be) contentious (fond of strife and disputes), we have no (the absolute negative, never) such practice, nor have (again, absolute negative) the churches of God!
For those who want to be contentious, who are fond of strife and disputes, and have established such practices out of their own imaginations, Paul has this very stern word —
These things have never, ever been part of Paul’s practice, or that of the church of God. What they have established as church practice has not been practiced anywhere else, but those who have created these practices have done so in order to create strife. God is not pleased with such ones! If you are in that category, repent!
Verses 17-19
Again, Paul corrects them strongly. He should not have to give the instruction he has just given. So he does not praise them! They come together not for the better (to encourage each other) but for the worse (to stir up strife)!
Paul has heard that there are divisions (splits, gaps, tears in the fabric) among them, when they come together as a church. In part, he believes it, because he knows that many are still infants in Christ.
Paul goes on to write that there MUST be factions (heretical teachings) within the church. Those who stir up strife and disputes by teaching or following heresy are known by their actions. And those who are approved (who are proven acceptable) by God are known by their actions.
Those who are fond of strife and disputes are NOT approved by God. May this serve as a warning to teachers of heresy, gossipers and tale-bearers in today’s church!
Next time, we will look at the rest of 1Corinthians 11, because I need to spend quite a bit of time reviewing the manner in which the church at Corinth takes the Lord’s Supper. Their lack of understanding of the purpose of His Supper is downright deadly!
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