Take a moment to read 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 before reading the devotional below.
Today we wade into some confusing and complicated waters. Before we dive head first into the shallow end of the pool, let’s pause to remember a key principle about reading the Bible. Let’s ask: what is God revealing about himself in these verses? Why would he include this in his inspired Word?
We just established in the last chapter that getting hung up on side issues like whether or not to eat meat sacrificed to idols was a distraction from the Gospel. We need to consider others and not cost anyone their salvation. We need to do everything for God’s glory. And now Paul is saying that men shouldn’t wear head coverings and women should. Men shouldn’t have long hair and women should. How does all this connect? Aren’t we just talking about old customs? It seems from the tone that Paul was trying to end a debate, not start one.
Here’s your freedom for today:
Freedom allows us to sit in the gray.
In a single blog post, I am not going to clarify or solve what has stumped Bible scholars for centuries. I would encourage you to click on the little footnote letters in the passage as they show some of the other translation options. I would encourage you to Google “commentary 1 Corinthians 11” and read the wide variety of opinions that exist. Today I’m going to sit in the gray with you. I’m going to ask, “Why is this in here?” and “What does this tell me about God?” First, I think this passage exists to teach us there is a lot we do not understand about the spiritual realm. Why do head coverings matter in the presence of angels? What aspects of spiritual authority are important there? Is there symbolism or a direct spiritual reason? Is Paul talking about hair or a veil of some kind? I am going to end by zooming in on the end of verse 3: “the head of Christ is God” (also translated: the source of Christ is God). We know that there is a special relationship within God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Christ IS God, there is no inferiority or separation there. In this passage there are also three: man, woman, and God. Paul says that we are not independent of one another. Perhaps one take away from this passage is that we are all to imitate the relationship of the Trinity. Men, women, and God in perfect harmony and unity, each with their own personhood and all spiritually feeding each other as we see within God himself. What else do you see in this passage?