Head Coverings & Praying

Transcript

GR 1337
10-29-06
Head Coverings & Praying
1 Corinthians 11:4-6
Gil Rugh

We've been studying 1 Corinthians 11 together and we're talking about the role of men and women and particularly in a focused area of praying and prophesying that was going on in the church at Corinth. Let me just say something generally about this whole subject. Any time we get into an area like this there are a lot of practical implications and matters that have to be considered. We limit ourselves pretty much to what is in the text before us, I have made some comments on the roles established are established by God at creation is a reflection of the relationship within the trinity, according to 1 Corinthians 11:3. And even though we're focusing on what Paul says about a ministry that takes place in the church, we need to be careful that we don't think that this instruction is just for the church, because it will be grounded in the order of creation that God has established. Now that always opens up questions that we don't address because we've expressed that it has broad ramifications, but we only talk about the narrow point that is talked about in the passage. I think our goal is to come to understand what the Scripture says in this area and other areas, on this subject or other subjects. But there will always be areas that you have to sort through for yourself personally on how is this to be applied in my life, in my home, in my conduct. An area that would be similar would be the disciplining of children. We can examine what the Bible says on discipline, on the conducting of our home and the order in our home and so on, and we should be well aware of that. Then in the actual implementation of that in specific incidences. I can tell you how I disciplined my children when they did something, but that doesn't mean that is the discipline you ought to exercise on your child.

So we have to have a solid biblical foundation, but then there are matters that become personal responsibility. And in this I would just say two things, and then we move to our subject. 1) We want to be careful that we are being biblical. My personal freedom is not a freedom to do other than the Bible directs me to do. 2) Secondly, we need to be careful that we don't try to impose our personal convictions on someone else. I may be convinced that disciplining my children in this way or this particular action was the best thing to do, but that does not mean that you are not being biblical if you don't do it exactly the way I did it. So we want to be careful in all of these areas and that would be true in the realm of roles as well, that we are not the ones divinely appointed to run around and point out where we think others might do differently. Some things you just have to sort through. Lord, here's what your Word says, what would you have us do? How should I change to be more in line with your Word? If there is no change then I continue as I am. In that sometimes you do seek biblical counsel, the wisdom of other believers, get their input. But in some of these areas it comes down to I have to make a decision, what am I going to do.

All right, we're in 1 Corinthians 11, and we're looking at verses 2-16, and moving through some of the foundational pieces concerning this passage. One commentator has written, this passage is probably the most complex, controversial and opaque of any text of comparable length in the New Testament. A survey of the history of interpretation reveals how many different exegetical options there are for a myriad of questions, and should inspire a fair measure of tentativeness on the part of the interpreter. I believe he is correct when he says that there has been a myriad of interpretations offered. I do not believe that there are many different exegetical options. I believe if we are careful in our principles of hermeneutics, interpreting the Scripture, following historical, grammatical method of interpreting, that limits the exegetical options. And I don't think the passage is as complicated and complex as it is sometimes made out to be.

Now we've been working through the details and I want to say something here about the conclusions we've come to. It's important that we not only come to right conclusions, but we come to the right conclusions for the right reasons. Some of you remember back to when you were learning mathematics or perhaps your children studying mathematics. And they get the kind of problems that are structured so that they have to think through how to come to the right answer. And sometimes the children come and they have the right answer, then you say, how did you get that? Well they don't have any idea, they just “lucked out.” Or if they begin and the problem was simple enough, they could jump to the end and get the right answer. But what happens when they turn that in? Well their teacher marks if they haven't used the right process. Why? If you don't use the right process, once in a while you may come up with the right answer, but you won't have the knowledge to enable you to work through any situation and come to the correct conclusion. That's the way we have to be biblical. Sometimes we see people come to the same conclusion on a passage, but sometimes they haven't used proper hermeneutics in coming to it. So I would disagree with the statement that there are many different exegetical options here. I believe literal historical, grammatical hermeneutics don't leave you with many exegetical options. In other words, we'd be saying God spoke and it's so opaque, so confused, so complex that there must be tentativeness on the part of the interpreter. In other words, we can never be sure what God said here. That's more of a reflection on God than on the interpreter. The interpreter just needs to follow procedures.

The two issues under consideration are praying and prophesying. And I could have brought you numerous quotes from commentaries. One I was reading last night who has a very fine commentary, but he was saying without any evidence, prophesying is basically the same as teaching. I would see that as an area where we haven't followed careful exegetical principles. We haven't interpreted carefully. We've looked at the fact, prophecy is not the same as teaching, prophecy involves receiving direct revelation. Teachers don't receive direct revelation, they simply explain the revelation that has been given through the apostles and prophets.

I want to say a word about praying because if we pick up with verse 4 and let me read verses 4-5 for you. Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head, but every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head. And Paul will carry this to what we might say extremes, but it is not extremes. It shows the importance of what he is saying.

Now we've identified what prophecy is. I want to talk a little bit just about what he is talking about when he talks about praying in the context of prophesying. _______, what does this mean? Should women wear headcoverings all the time, should they wear a covering anytime they pray? Should they wear headcoverings when they pray with other women as well as men? Are women allowed to pray as long as they wear a headcovering? And that would mean they could pray at any time in any place as long as they have a headcovering. What are we dealing with here? Let me just give you two basic positions on this and I'll tell you the one I prefer. But I'll give you the first one first.

This could simply mean that a woman is free to pray at any time in any situation as long as she has her head covered. Now the issue in the context is when men are present, and we will focus on that. The context is the relationship of a man and a woman, that was the point in verse 3, the head of the woman is the man, the head of the man is Christ, the head of Christ is God the Father. So I think the context here, and we'll look at another similar context in a moment, and the context will be the same, the relationship between men and women. And the issue of doing these things in the context of men is the issue, and that will be the issue here in praying. The man is the leader. If a woman prays audibly when men are present, she is doing what? Leading others in prayer. When I prayed today, what was I doing? I was leading you in prayer. Some of you are praying where you are. While you're sitting there the Lord brings something to your mind, or you think of someone or something and you briefly express it to the Lord in prayer. That doesn't mean the woman has to whip out something and cover her head. Those personal private times don't bring in the issue of authority and leadership. Nor, as I would understand, does it when a woman is with another woman, or with children. They do have authority over children along with men as the Scripture is clear, and when a woman is with another woman there is not an authority issue there. So I would understand the context of 1 Corinthians 11 clearly dealing with the relationship of men and women, of what a woman must do in the presence of men. So some would say that this is indicating that a woman must cover her head if she prays audibly when men are present.

That is a possibility. If that would be so, and if that is the correct interpretation, that would mean right down to today, that any time a woman would pray with a man present she should cover her head. Now I don't know that that is the only interpretation here, but let me give an aside on this. One person, and some hold this view, has written promoting the idea that women ought to cover their heads all the time, because 1 Thessalonians 5:17 gives the command, pray without ceasing. And since it's not fitting for a woman to pray without her head covered and she is to pray without ceasing, therefore a woman ought to always have her head covered. And the other side of that would be verse 4, every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head, a man should never wear a headcovering. And of course we can understand this culturally because in the Middle East where this was written, they didn't have cold winters like we do so they didn't have to cover their heads. But that's not what the Scripture says. You know Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Let me read you what this particular individual said. The very fact that a Christian is called to a continual ministry of prayer, 1 Thessalonians 5:17, then argues very strongly for a continual wearing of the veiling. Well Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians 5:17 under the inspiration of Scripture. If that's the meaning, Paul could have said, men, never cover your heads, because you are to be always praying. Women, always cover your heads because you are always to be praying. Or let's just cut it right to the point. Men, never cover your heads; women, always cover your heads. That's not what he said, so obviously the context is clear.

If this view is correct it means any time a woman prays where men are present, she should have her head covered. The kind of covering is not the point. He doesn't say, it's this kind of covering versus this kind of covering, he doesn't say it is cultural. I'll read you some stuff on culture in a little bit, not interpreting these things culturally. He gives the significance of the headcovering in the passage. So it's not a cultural thing. Paul says he writes that you use the headcovering because it is representative of submission to the authority of the man. We don't have to wonder, was it cultural. Paul tells us in the context what the purpose of the headcovering is. Well headcoverings don't imply submissiveness in our culture. Well who said they implied it in that culture? It's amazing how little the evidence is to support such an idea, that we want to read the culture into it.

But there is a second view, then I'll say something about the matter generally. The second view would say that prayer here is connected to prophesying. So rather than seeing these as two distinct entities, really those who would have the gift of prophecy would also be involved in praying audibly before the group, which would include men and women. Praying and prophesying are connected, verse 4, while praying or prophesying in verse 5, and then you come down to verse 13, is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered. I think in the context here he may be connecting the ministry of prayer to prophesying. And the reason I would say that is that you consider the Old Testament prophets, their prayers become a major part of their ministry, and they are often in the realm of divinely inspired, and that's evident because we have many of the prayers of the prophets recorded in the Scripture. We recently studied Moses in our Sunday evening, and Moses is the great intercessor on behalf of Israel, and he is called a prophet. God would raise up a prophet like him, ultimately, in the Messiah. But the prayers of Moses, you can't study the prayers in the Bible without studying the prayers of Moses. He was a great prophet. Daniel, can you study the book of Daniel and not be struck by the prayers of the prophet Daniel. That would be true of the other prophets of the Old Testament.

I want to use just an example from the New Testament. Go to Luke 2. In Luke 2:22-38, you have an account of Jesus being presented at the temple as a young Jewish child. Remember God passed through Egypt and destroyed all the firstborn but He spared the firstborn of the Jews who had the blood on the doorpost. And then the Jews were required to present their firstborn to the Lord, the reminder that the firstborn child, the firstborn male, belongs to the Lord and then they redeemed him with the appropriate sacrifice. So that's the context going on beginning in verse 22, where according to the Law of Moses they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord. And they offered the appropriate sacrifice, which in this case is the sacrifice of people who were too poor to offer the generally required major sacrifice. Then verse 25 we meet the first of two prophets that come into this picture. There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. The man was righteous, devout, looking for the consolation of Israel. He was anticipating the coming of the Messiah. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. Verse 26, it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. You see here is a man who is a prophet, the Holy Spirit has spoken directly to him, giving him revelation. And he was told that he would not see death until he saw the Lord's Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah of Israel. He came in the Spirit into the temple. You see as a prophet he received direct revelation, he received direct directions. He just doesn't happen to be coming into the temple that day, he is directed by the Spirit supernaturally to come into the temple. When Mary and Joseph bring Jesus in to present Him and carry out the requirements of the law, Simeon takes Him into his arms and blessed God and say, now Lord. Now you note what's happened here. The prophet Simeon does what? Enters into prayer, inspired prayer, if you will. How did Simeon know all the babies brought to the temple, the male children that have to be presented to the Lord, and he comes and takes this little one into his arms and begins to pray. Now, Lord, you are releasing your bondservant to depart in peace according to your Word. For my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all people, the light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people, Israel. But he sees Him as the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises, the One in whom salvation for Gentile and Jew alike will be provided. And this is expressed in prayer. He is addressing the Lord.

Verse 28, he took Him in his arms and blessed God and said, now Lord. This is prayer, this is addressed to the Lord. And then in verse 34 he speaks as a prophet. Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, behold this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed, and a sword will pierce, even to your own soul, to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. He unfolds the painful destiny of the baby that is in his arms, the Savior of Israel, the salvation for Gentiles. And yet he prophesies the tragedy that will come, and the sovereign plan of God. He is a prophet. I wanted you to see the connection here—the prophesying and the praying just flow as part of his role, one divinely appointed by God. Even his prayer carried revelation from God and inspiration.

Then we meet a prophetess, verse 36, in the temple also. There was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel. Incidentally, we saw this, I don't remember if I drew it to your attention, but when you meet these kinds of people and the prophetesses in the Old Testament, they are always identified in connection with their husband or their father. You don't find that with Simeon, he's the husband of so-and-so, but here you have Anna and her husband is mentioned and who her father is, the line she is in. She is called a prophetess. She had been married for seven years and then her husband died. And now she is 84 years old and lived as a widow for that entire time. We assume she would have been quite young when her husband died, would have been natural for her to be married young and then her husband only lived seven years and now she has lived as a widow. Verse 37, and then as a widow to the age of 84. She never left the temple, serving day and night with fastings and prayers. You see she's the prophetess, Anna, she spends her life in the temple fasting and praying. It is joined together with her role as a prophetess, and she carries it out here.

Verse 38, at that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God. What is she doing? She is praying, and she continued to speak of Him, Christ, to all those who were looking for the redemption of Israel. She prays to God, she speaks to the people. Just wanted you to see the connection here. We don't have time to go back and look at other prophetesses through the Old Testament. But their ministry of prayer inseparably joined together to the unique role they have as instruments of revelation from God.

So in 1 Corinthians 11 I think there is good possibility that the prayer here is connected with the role of a prophet or a prophetess, and that's why he connects these particular two activities that a prophetess would carry out. Being a prophet or prophetess would involve direct revelation and would involve a special, unique ministry of prayer that was offered on the level of revelation also as we just saw in the examples in Luke 2 and the examples that are recorded a part of our Scripture as the prayers of prophets in the Old Testament.

If that's the case, I think there is one other reason that would indicate that he's not telling women that they should pray when men are present on any occasion or any woman. Turn over to 1 Timothy 2. We studied this passage in some detail a little while back. Pick up with verse 8, and remember in chapter 3 verse 15 Paul says he has written this letter so you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth, how God's family must function. 1 Timothy 2:8, therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath and dissension. Now the word man here, there are different words for men in Greek—andra, we get the English word androgenes and those kinds of words. Means a man in contrast to a woman. He has used a generic term for man, anthropos, we have it in anthropology, earlier in this section. Here he talks about, verse 4, he desires all men to be saved. There he uses the word anthropos, he's talking about mankind, not just men as male, but men as including male and female. Here in verse 8 he talks about I want the men, man in contrast to woman. He'll talk about the woman in verse 9, likewise women, gunay, we have words like gynecologist, the woman here in contrast to the man. I want the men in every place to pray. And when we looked at this expression, in every place in our study of 1 Timothy, used in several other places by Paul, it would seem to encompass all places. We talked, does this just imply when the church meets together as the church. Some want to distinguish between formal meetings and informal meetings. So women had to have their head covered in formal meetings, but not informal meetings. But the Bible doesn't know those distinctions we have that have just developed. This is not what the church at Corinth would have looked like on Sunday morning. They would have been meeting in someone's home, probably more like some of our home Bible studies. We have the reference a number of times in the New Testament, the church that meets in your home, or the church that meets in so-and-so's home. Because they didn't have buildings, didn't come together for this kind of assembly. So they got together, but it would have been not a formal church service like we have, although it would have been the church meeting, would have been meeting in a home. So the distinction is not whether they come to this building or you meet in someone's home.

He says in every place, I want the men in every place to pray, in contrast to the women. Now it isn't God's intention that the men pray, and I take it in the context here again, it's the difference between a man and a woman. Because he's going to come down and develop this. Look down in verse 12, I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man but to remain quiet. Then he talks about how man was created, Adam, and how the woman was created, Eve. So the issue here again is the relationship between a man and a woman. He's not saying, I don't want women to pray anywhere, because they are under that general command to pray without ceasing. In the context where men are present and someone is going to pray aloud, the men are to do that, because they lead in prayer. The expression we use, I could ask one of the elders if they would come up and lead us in prayer. Meaning what? They will pray audibly. All of us may be praying silently, but there is one person praying audibly who is leading in prayer. So I take it the context is the same here, the relationship of men and women, and when men and women are present together, men are to do the audible praying. I want the men to pray in every place, and the women to do this.
Now if that's the case, how does this go together with 1 Corinthians 11? Well the women can pray in every place as long as they cover their head. No, Paul says this is the principle in every place. So it seems to me that there is reason to say that the praying in 1 Corinthians 11 is connected to the ministry of being a prophet or prophetess. And there an exception is given. A prophet or prophetess, and here a prophetess because he's been talking about the role of women particularly, she has the liberty to prophesy and to pray, that's connected to her ministry, but she has to have her head covered because even though this is a unique case delegated by God, she still has to carefully reflect the role God has given her as a woman. And she is recognizing and honoring the authority of the men present, even though she is exercising leadership or authority in this particular ream in this particular time. That still does not put her above the man or on the man's level as far as authority and leadership is concerned, so the covering.

My preference in light of the comparing of the context and these two passages, seems to me to be good support for the prophesying that's connected to the praying, and the praying is part of the role of the prophet or prophetess. Some will say, well, you can't prove that definitively. I would say, the normal pattern is that the men will pray, but there are exceptions to that. The woman would pray on a given occasion with men present, she would have to have her head covered. What would that headcovering have to be? That's not the point, the headcovering is and what it symbolizes. Okay, don't close the door tightly on one or the other, my preference is in light of the reasons I've given that probably the praying in 1 Corinthians 11 is related to the prophetess' ministry and that's why 1 Timothy 2 gives the general statement that would encompass all other situations.

All right, come back to 1 Corinthians 11:4, every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. He begins with the men. Not saying this is a problem, men were praying with something on their heads, their heads covered. But he's drawing a contrast between the role of a man and the role of a woman and so there is to be a distinction carried out here. And it is an important distinction and must be recognized. If a man prays with something on his head, he disgraces his head. Now what is he talking about with his head? Well, if we read verse 3 and don't stop, and remember there weren't any verses when Paul wrote this, I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man. Verse 4, every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. Now he uses his own physical head here as well as disgraces his head. It seems in the context of the authority being discussed, the head that is disgraced here is Christ. Because what is he saying? I refuse to acknowledge the authority of Christ. Putting something on his head indicates that he is submitting to another human being, where the order is the Father has authority over Christ, Christ has authority over the man, the man has authority over the woman. When we get into that human realm, then the woman recognizes the other physical authority between her and Christ and has a covering on her head. For a man to put a covering on his head would be denying the authority of Christ over him, refusing to acknowledge that authority. So it would be a disgrace. I think generally that is still recognized today. What happens when you have prayer? Maybe you're at an outside event and there is going to be prayer, the men take their hats off, and that's just a general thing that continues. We have to be careful of that because in some places it gets reversed. A man who prays with something on his head disgraces Christ.

That doesn't mean I'm walking down the street and it's 10 below and I have a hat on and I say, Lord, thank you for this beautiful day, so I have to take my hat off. Because there it's not an issue in those kinds of situations. We're talking about in the context of the relationship of men and women. If I'm at a home Bible study and I'm sitting there with a ball cap on, it seems like we commonly wear everywhere, I get ready to pray, if I'm a man, I have to take it off. I can't pray with a hat on. That would be to disgrace Christ. There is a symbolism in the covered head that has to be maintained. I don't see anything here that would limit it to a certain kind of culture. And nothing that we can decide, what is the headcovering. You can read this for your entertainment and knowledge. They describe what kind of headcovering was here as far as we can tell, and that kind of headcovering. One person who has done a good study on this has a conclusion, the precise kind of headcovering Paul had in mind is no longer clear. So just cut right through it. We just don't know what kind of headcovering. But the point is not what kind of headcovering, the point is the headcovering and what God says it symbolizes. And the distinction between a man and a woman and what is being represented here. So a man is not have his head covered when he leads the group in prayer.

Every woman who has her head uncovered, just the opposite, while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as a woman whose head is shaved. The woman has to have her head covered when she prays. If she doesn't, she disgraces her head. She is saying she rejects the authority of the man, that God has established. She disgraces and shames him. Some would say each person brings disgrace on himself, and that may be so, but the point here is the response to the authority that God has established. The woman who leads the group in prayer with men present and her head wasn't covered, she is rejecting the authority of the men, declaring that she does not acknowledge that authority and does not submit to it. So she doesn't cover her head, let her have her hair cut off, verse 6, or be shaved, following it through. She disgraces her head, she's one and the same with a woman whose head is shaved.

Let me read you what one person has written. It's a little longer quote, but it's a good quote on this whole issue of being careful with the culture here. Because some say, let me read you another quote. It was commonly suggested that short hair or a shaved head was the mark of the Corinthian prostitutes. And you get respected commentators who promote this. This writer goes on to say, but there is no contemporary evidence to support this view. And then he has a good point here, it seems to be a case of one scholar's guess becoming a second scholar's footnote and a third scholar's assumption. One scholar says I think it probably meant this; the next scholar puts it in a footnote and says, this scholar said; and then by the time you get to the third writer, he just assumes it's true because two other scholars have referenced it. Some of us here were chasing down another subject on a meaning of a word, and they were giving a word to support a theological view, a meaning that it never had before. They could reference it to these people and you go back, and it comes back to one article written in a theological journal almost 28 years ago, four pages long, suggesting a possibility. And someone picked it up in his commentary and said, well if he's right, and I tend to think he is, this would be the meaning. Then I go to another, and these are Greek commentaries, quotes not only the journal man but the other commentator who said, if he's right, and I think he is, and he writes it with that support. Then I get to the fourth commentary and he just lists it as a view. And somehow it gets into the general mainstream, this is now a view. So we want to be careful.

Here is what one person wrote. It is one thing to seek a more lucid understanding of the biblical content by investigating the cultural situation of the first century. It is quite another to interpret the New Testament as if it were merely an echo of the first century culture. Some very subtle means of relativizing the text occur when we read into the text cultural considerations that ought not to be there. For example, with respect to the headcovering issue in Corinth, numerous commentators on the epistle point out that the local sign of the prostitute in Corinth was the uncovered head. Therefore, the argument runs, the reason why Paul wanted women to cover their heads was to avoid a scandalous appearance of Christian women in the external guise of a prostitute. What is wrong with this kind of speculation? The basic problem here is that our reconstructed knowledge of first century Corinth has led us to supply Paul with a rationale that is foreign to the one he gives himself. In a word, we are not only putting words into the Apostle's mouth, but we are ignoring words that are there. If Paul merely told women in Corinth to cover their heads and gave no rationale for such instruction, we would be strongly inclined to supply it via our cultural knowledge. In this case, however, Paul provides a rationale which is based on an appeal to creation, not to the custom of Corinthian harlots. We must be careful not to let our zeal for knowledge of the culture obscure what is actually said. To subordinate Paul's stated reason to our speculatively conceived reason is to slander the Apostle and turn exegesis into isegesis. Exegesis is taking something out of the text, isegesis is reading something into the text. Okay.

All of that to say, let her head be shaved, I don't know what Corinthian prostitutes did to their hair. Paul makes it a point here of the order established in creation. He's going to get down to this in verses 8-9 on connecting this to creation and the order that is established in the order that God created a man and then a woman. The point is for a woman to shave her head, she is going to declare herself to be like a man. I can do what I want with my hair. Hair becomes an issue in this chapter, and I'm not going to get into it today because the Lord may come this week, so I'm going to save it until next week. But verses 14-15 bring up the whole subject of hair, so we'll deal with it there. And what nature teaches. And this has to do with something outside what is culturally practiced. It's what God has built into us as male and female. So if she won't cover her head when she prays or prophesies, now here you have to be careful because you can have someone who is a prophetess who is rejecting the authority structure that God set down. And that doesn't surprise us because I can be a pastor and teacher of this church and yet in an area of my life I could reject what God says I ought to do and be in rebellion against Him. And that's true of all of us. We're gifted and can serve God with our gift, if we are not careful we can rebel against God. So here you have prophetesses at Corinth, Paul doesn't say they're not gifted prophetesses, but they're not functioning as they should with their prophesying and praying. Paul said, if you're not going to cover your head and declare and make clear the authority that God has established over you, in the man, then you ought to shave your head. Go all the way to make yourself look like a man, is the point that he is saying. Have her head shaved. We have that today. Generally we still recognize the distinction. I realize in some very limited focus women want to make a statement, I remember seeing a woman who sang in a rock kind of setting who had her head shaved. The statement. Generally we have a lot more men running around who shave their heads, than women. We're not talking about physical things that might happen as a result of chemotherapy, we're talking about an action here of a person with a general pattern that is established.

Verse 6, if a woman does not cover her head, in the context here, when she prays or prophesies, let her also have her hair cut off. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then let her cover her head. You see for Paul, this is a big issue. Well, look, as long as they have some way that they acknowledge authority, that's acceptable. It's not acceptable. For a prophetess to pray or prophesy without her head covered, then she ought to go all the way and be a man, act like a man, cut off your hair, shave your head. I mean, you're really rejecting the authority of the man that God has established. You can see how this would easily come. Here you have a woman who is a prophetess, gets revelation. You have men present who are not gifted on that level, their gift may be a lot lower kind of gift, lot less important and significant as Paul will develop them in 1 Corinthians 12-14. I mean, she has an authority in that sense to say he doesn't have............., she gets direct revelation. His gift is something else that is not nearly as important. I mean, this is one of the top three gifts—apostles, prophets, teachers. Now she has to do something to physically show that even though she is giving revelation from God and praying as part of her role as a spokesman, she has to physically show she is submissive. That's what Paul says. Because the roles that God established are not nullified by the gifts that God has given. And even a great gift like prophesying does not nullify the creation order that God has established. In this case where she does take a role of leadership, she must acknowledge I am taking this under the authority of them and recognizing my role and relationship has not changed by the exercising of this gift. We'll talk more about the hair, the cutting of the hair and the short hair and the long hair and the no hair when we get down to verses 14-15 in our next study. But it does become an issue. We need to be careful. We become culturized. In our day we think it becomes okay because the culture of our day says it's okay. But we have to come to and see what is okay.

And there is a principle established here. I want you to come back to Romans 1 and we will end here. On this whole area, this is not just dealing with headcoverings, but we want to recognize and we'll just come to the point, back into it. You know Romans 1:18, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Fallen men, wherever they are, and men here is mankind, they know the basic truths about God. Verse 32, although they know the ordinance of God that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but give hearty approval to those who practice them. Argument here as it is developed through these first three chapters is there is no one without excuse, no one who has an excuse. We are all without excuse. General creation which includes, when we get into chapter 2, what God has made us to be in His image, so that we know by nature certain things. Verse 26, the middle of the verse, for their women exchange the natural function to that which is unnatural, that which is against nature. We're going to talk about this when we get further in 1 Corinthians 11 because Paul uses this word in the context with the hair and what nature teaches us.

There is no one who is ignorant of what God has established in these basic areas. For example, the relationship of the sexes and how we are to sexually express ourselves—male and female, not male and male or female and female. That's why homosexuality is a rebellion and a rejection of what God has established. It's not because people are ignorant and haven't heard the Bible yet, because they know by what God created them to be what is right. They, verse 18, suppress the truth, they won't acknowledge it. Verse 32, they know the ordinance of God, they have that sense built into them that this is wrong. Now they may be parading around and trying to get legislation passed that declares the marriage of a man and a man or a woman and a woman should be just as legal, but they know in their hearts it is wrong, it is sin. So they know from the creative acts of God that certain things are wrong.

We came to this for the general principle that then in verse 28 we are told, because of their refusal to acknowledge God. Let me say about this before I get on and you get confused, there is enough revelation in creation to condemn us, but not to save us. General revelation reveals God and shows us to be in rebellion against Him, refusing to submit to Him, but you need special revelation for salvation. That is the revelation of the written Word of God. So that distinction is important. Because they will not acknowledge God, verse 28, any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper. He didn't cause them to do it, He just turned them loose to do what they desire to do. And you'll note all these kinds of sins listed here as a sampling of what the unregenerate man does. And you come down to the end of verse 30, disobedient to parents. I mean, the verse as we have it, slanderers, haters of God, verse 30, and it ends up disobedient to parents. I mean, you see they are in rebellion in every area. So the children are refusing to acknowledge the authority structure that God has established in creation, and they refuse to be obedient to their parents. That's in a context of the homosexual activity where they reject what God has created in them as natural, according to their nature, the man and the woman created by God. They are in rebellion against Him.

And so we come over to the roles of men and women, and that's why the church feels the pressure because the world wants to conform us, and we are told, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Now we are to think biblically, we are to use our minds according to the will of God as His mind has been revealed. And we feel the pressure, well, we're always going upstream. Exactly, because here is where unregenerate man is going. Read it. There are certain things that God has established that permeates the creation. But man refuses to acknowledge that, they suppress the truth, they practice these things and they not only practice them, but the end of verse 32, they give hearty approval to those who do practice them. So the battle goes on, the “battle of the sexes.” And even we as believers have to be careful because we have been redeemed by God's grace, but we have not yet been perfected and our sin nature has not yet been removed. I have to be careful that I am submitting myself to the Word of God and to His authority in my life as His child so that I function according to His will for me. And that will put me out of step with the world, that's a good thing. Doesn't mean that we're going to try to do things just to make ourselves different, but we are going to do whatever God says and those differences are required. So we manifest His work in our lives as not only His creation, but as His redeemed creation, honoring Him with the way we live.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for Your Word. Thank You for its simplicity, its clarity, its challenges to us. Lord, our desire is that we would understand Your Word correctly and then willingly with glad hearts submit ourselves to Your truth. Lord, as we examine our lives personally, may our desire be to make any adjustments that need to be made to bring us more into conformity with Your truth. Our desire is not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed, be molded and shaped and brought into conformity to the image of the One who is our Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank You, Lord, that the greatest blessing and the greatest joy comes as we walk in obedience to You. May that characterize us personally and characterize us as a church. We pray in Christ's name, amen.