Corporate Worship That Reflects God's Design

1 Corinthians 11:2-16 - Riley Boggs

This morning we come to a text that is very difficult. It’s difficult to understand and it’s difficult to apply. If you were here on Wednesday evening, you’ll know that I asked for your prayers as I prepared to preach this text. And because God is good and gracious, I think He has given me clarity and confidence in preaching. At the same, I don’t want you to think that I have this text totally ironed out and it all makes perfect sense to me, because that simply wouldn’t be true. I do, however, trust that what God has said of His Word is true. That is, it will accomplish all the purposes for which He intends it to, and that it never returns void. And so with all that in mind, I would ask that you continue to pray for me as we dive into this text and that you would carefully follow along as we seek to understand and apply this text for the glory of God.

If you’ve visited multiple churches in your life, or maybe watched a livestream or 2, then you’ll know that not all churches do “corporate worship” the same way. And yes, there are good ways and bad ways to hold a worship service, but even in the good category, there are differences. This is especially true when you start to cross cultures. There are necessities in each church service, such as preaching of the Word, prayer, singing, the ordinances, and so on. But the way that these are done can vary and still remain in a good place.

This is important to remember as we approach this text, really the next couple texts. After finishing his argument in chapter 10, Paul is now going to spend some time instructing the Corinthians in what their corporate worship should or shouldn’t look like, what they should or shouldn’t do, and tell them why. Some of what he tells them translates to our context is a direct way, such as the Lord’s Supper. We can take the truths of that text and simply apply them as we read them. Other texts, like the one we are in this morning, takes a bit more thought and prayer as to how we obey and apply it. The reason for this is because this text gives us truths that are not culturally bound, but are being applied in a cultural way. And this is one of the things that makes this text so tricky.

Many people have disagreed how cultural this really is. We read that women ought to wear head coverings when they pray or prophesy, then we look up, and in a room full of women who love the Lord, there are no head coverings. Are we ignoring this text? Some would say yes. Some would say no, that isn’t how you apply this text is our culture.

There are a few other things that make this text tricky as well, that I want to point out, before we get too far. You might have noticed as we read through this passage that the word “head” is mentioned several times. And if you read carefully, you likely noticed that the meaning of that word flips back and forth, even in the same sentence, several times. For example, look at verse 5. “…but every wife who prays or prophesies with her (physical) head uncovered dishonors her (not physical) head, since it is the same as if her (physical) head were shaven.” So on one hand he mentions her physical head and on the other hand he mentions her familial head, her husband.

There’s also debate as to whether or not the head covering mentioned here is a cloth covering, a veil of sorts, or if Paul is simply referring to hair as a covering. Without going into all the details here, I think there is a good reason to believe that Paul is referring to a cloth covering, not just hair.

And so, with all of that in mind, we should approach this text with confidence that the Lord will show us and teach us what we need, and at the same time, we approach it humility. Knowing that God is God, and we are not, and so we must trust and hope, even when everything does make perfect sense to us.

The way I am going to approach this text this morning is by giving us 2 categories of truths to look at, and then walk through how we are to apply it all. The 2 categories are, “how men and women are equal” and “how men and women are different”. Notice that those are not contradicting things. I did not say how men and women are equal and not equal, or the same and different, but rather how they are equal and how they are different. So let’s look at the first category here.

1.) Men and women are equal in that…

A.) They are both made in the image of God, valuable, and worthy of respect

One thing you’ll notice throughout this text is that Paul is rooting a lot of his argument in creation, specifically the creation of man and woman. And he tells us that if we look at how God brought about man and women, we can gather certain truths. So I think it would be helpful, since we have the word of God in our hands, to turn there this morning. Turn with me to Genesis 1. Starting in verse 26, we read, “26 Then God 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.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Now jump over to chapter 2, starting in verse 18. Here we get another telling of the same creation of man and woman. We read, “18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”

So with all of this in mind, Paul says, in verses 7-12, “7 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. 8 For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman;12 for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God.” 

In this we see that there is certainly an order in creation, and we will look at what the means for us in a minute, but for now I want you to see that order does not dictate value. Woman was made from man and for man, as a helper. We see that clearly in Genesis. And at the same time, we see that both man and woman are made in the image of God. Woman was made from man, man is born of woman, and all things (that is, both man and woman) are from God.

And here is what I want you to hear on the authority of Scripture. All of your value, man or woman, is a result of you being made in the image of your God. All of the respect and honor you are due, is a result of being made in the image of your God. There is nothing you can do to have more value and there is nothing you can do to have less of that value. Sure, we can live as if this is true or live as if this is not true, but regardless, it is.

Culture will tell you otherwise. Culture says your value is in what you do, how much you’ve done, how much you have, or so on. Consider how this understanding of value stands directly opposed to the whole idea of abortion. There is something about being created by God and in His image that immediately gives you value and makes you worthy of respect. In that very first moment of creation, when God first begins to knit together a new person in their mother’s womb, they have value. Not because they are strong or because we can see them or any of that, but because they have been created in the image of God. Both male and female, created in the image of God.

From this text, we ought to say this with confidence and we should live as if it is true. This truth is not culturally bound, it is universally true. For the men here, you have value because you have been made in the image of our Holy God. For the women here, you have value because you have been made in the image of our Holy God. This is one of the ways in which we are all same.

Another way this text teaches that men and women are equal is that…

B.) They are both dependent on the other

I love the simplistic way that Paul says this. It’s so straight forward and clear. Look at verses 11-12. He writes, “11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman;12 for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God.” In other words, man and woman need one other to exist and to survive. Woman was made from man in the beginning, and every man is born of a woman. It takes a man and woman to make a man or woman. Sproul says that this truth, “demands humility and appreciation of our profound interdependence.” 

                   Every time, place, and culture have blind spots, and ours is no exception. When you look specifically at how our culture views women, there are definitely good aspects. Seeing women not as simply servants to men is obviously a good thing, and we should be thankful that God has brought us to that. At the same time, I think one of our blind spots has come as a result pushing this idea to the extreme. Here’s what I mean. In a New York Times article title, “Men, Who Needs Them?” written by Greg Hampikian, a man, writes about how women don’t need men anymore. He writes about how if a woman wants a baby, she can go down to the sperm bank and get pregnant. No need for a man to be involved any more than that.

You all know what I’m talking about. We’ve flown right past equality and landed in total independence. Men don’t need women; women don’t need men. And we can see that people really believe this if we look at how marriage rates and birth rates continue to steadily decrease.

But from this text, what I want you to hear, is that we are not independent, but incredibly dependent on one another. A society without men or women can’t exist for long, and it will be a terrible place while it does exist. So we have to uphold both men and women as valuable and as needed. And they are each needed for some reasons that are the same, but many reasons that are different and unique to each. That is where we are going to look next…

2.) Men and women are different in that…

A.) They have unique roles and responsibilities

In the same way that from creation we can draw that men and women are both valuable and needed, we can also draw that they are not the same. Rather they have been created differently, for unique roles and responsibilities. Look at verse 3 with me. Paul writes, “3 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.” Now jump to verses 8-9, “8 For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.”

In this we do see that there is an order. The head of every man is Christ, the head of every wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Obviously, Paul isn’t talking about physical head here, rather he is talking about a relational authoritative head. Now, there is a temptation to cringe when we hear that, that a husband is the authoritative head of his wife. But I think that’s because we have a poor understanding of authority that has been largely influenced by the culture rather than the Bible. When we think of authority, our minds might jump to someone telling us what we can or cannot do, regardless of whether or not we want to, or how it makes us feel. But that isn’t what is in mind here.

This phrase, “the head of a wife is her husband” is sandwiched between 2 other truths that we have to understand to really get this. That is, that the husband’s head is Christ, and the head of Christ is God. Now consider how all of this works out. There is a submission, a trusting, in all of this. Just as Christ submitted to God, a man submits to Christ, and a woman submits to her husband. But see, if this is being done well, like this text is demanding, it means that it is for the greatest good of both man and woman.

Let me say it like this. A husband should lead his family in such a way that there is no greater joy than for his wife and his family to follow him, because He is leading them to Christ and He is leading them like Christ. He desires what is best for them, he protects them, and he gently cares for them. He speaks and he listens, he prays for and with, and so on and so forth.

We heard this in our middle Scripture reading this morning, but Paul writes about this same reality in his letter to the Ephesians. He says, “24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”

There are roles and responsibilities that are unique to men and women, and each has been equipped accordingly. A father cannot be a mother, and a mother cannot be a father. And so, we need to embrace this truth, the whole truth. Don’t be tempted to let culture make you feel like this is wrong.

I could genuinely preach a whole sermon on these roles and responsibilities, but for now I just want you to see that there is a uniqueness in roles and responsibilities. And more specifically, that Paul says that is clear in creation and in whom the head of a marriage is, and it is the husband. Next, I want us to see that men and women are different in that…

B.) They have been uniquely designed

Look at verses 14-15 with me. We read, “14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.” You might be thinking, how does nature teach that a man shouldn’t have long hair? I mean, if he let it grow naturally, then it would certainly be long. The reason that doesn’t make sense, is because that is not what Paul means here by “nature itself teaching”. And so if someone points to this text as a reason for men not having long hair or women not having short hair, that’s a bit of a flawed argument.

So, if that’s not what is meant, what is he saying? Wayne Grudem and John Piper say it like this, “The teaching of nature is the natural inclination of men and women to feel shame when they abandon the culturally established symbols of masculinity or femininity. Nature does not teach what the symbols should be.” In other words, if a man does something that is incredibly feminine in a culture, it should feel weird. And if a woman does something that is very masculine in a culture, it should feel weird. In our culture, men don’t wear dresses. And so, if a man throws on a sundress and heels, he should naturally feel weird. Nature should indicate that in our culture, this is seen as a very feminine thing, and since I’m a man, this isn’t right. In Corinth, the way a man or woman wore their hair came across the same way. For a man to have long hair, was like a man wearing a sundress. And for a woman to have short hair, the opposite.

What I am trying to get us to see here is that man and woman have been designed differently, each in a unique way, where they naturally desire a different end. Men desire masculinity, and we tell our sons that we want them to grow up to be big and strong like their father. Women desire femininity, and we tell our daughters we want them to grow up and be beautiful like their mother. And of course there is overlap here and this doesn’t mean that we have to embrace the exaggerated view of this. Men don’t have to wear steel-boots and wield an axe to be manly, and women don’t have to wear ball gowns to be womanly. Of course both are free to do that, but that isn’t the point. The point is that we are to uphold and embrace the differences here.

Again, there is so much that I could say about how our culture struggles to esteem manhood and womanhood in the right ways. But I’ll just simply say, a man seeking manhood and a woman seeking womanhood is a great thing, and they are of equal value. A woman does not have to be like a man and a man does not have to be like a woman to be seen as valuable. God created manhood and womanhood, and they are both good, regardless of how a culture might see otherwise.

Okay, so we have reasons why men and women are the equal and reasons why men and women are different. Now, let’s apply this. Here is how I think we are to do it…

3.) Our corporate worship should reflect all of this

Remember, Paul is giving instructions specifically for corporate worship. His point at large is about much more than that, but specifically when it comes to his application, he has in mind of the corporate worship setting. And it seems that what he is saying to Corinthians, and to us, is that our corporate worship should reflect all of the truths we have looked at this morning. It should reflect how we are all made in God’s image and valuable, how we are dependent on one other, how we have different roles and responsibilities, and how we have been uniquely designed.

And so, let’s answer the question that I have purposely avoided until now. Should women, in our church, wear head coverings? My answer is no, they should not. The reason for this is that Paul is prescribing a cultural example that they ought to practice all and in so doing, obey all the truths that has been laid out this morning. And in our culture, head coverings simply do not communicate in this same way.

Look at the bookends to this passage. In verse 2 Paul says, “Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.” And then down in verse 16, “If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.” Here is what he saying, I am thankful for how you all have sought to keep tradition in how you do worship, and I am asking that you continue to do this with head coverings. And, if this is a point of contention, you should know that all the churches function this way and are not bickering about it, and neither should you. See, he is appealing to a tradition and culture that sees head coverings as the means by which they proclaim these truths.

We see the cultural significance of this in verse 6. Paul says, “6 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.” In this time, if a husband was with a woman who had her head uncovered, people would have likely thought that she was a prostitute, which was unfortunately all too common. And then in the same vein, if a woman had her head shaved, that communicated that she was either a prostitute, was caught in adultery, or was pursuing a homosexual lifestyle. And so Paul says, if a woman doesn’t wear a head covering, it is going to seem like she is participating in all of these other bad things. It is as if she is bald. It’s going to appear very immodest and immoral, and so, she should wear a head covering.

And if she does this, then she will not only be bringing dishonor on herself, but look at verse 5. She will be bringing dishonor on her head, that is her husband. And Paul tells us in verse 7 that while both man and woman are made in the image of God, there is a sense in which a wife brings glory to her husband in a unique way. In a way that will be very much disregarded if she were to not wear a head covering. 

You might have noticed that I have yet to address verse 10. The reason I’ve left it out so far is because the meaning of the phrase, “because of the angels” is not an easy one to understand. And so, I wanted to show that the truths of this text do not depend on the right understanding of this phrase. At the same time, I want to tell you what I think this phrase means and why it really drives home the larger point.

There are 2 general options about what this means. First, that the word angels should be better translated or understood as “messengers”. In which case, Paul would be saying that women should wear a head covering, because there are messengers in your culture who are looking at you to see how you live, and so you should display truth and not immorality. The second option, and the one that I prefer, is that the angels are to be understood as the angels that are present among us. We often don’t talk about angels, but the Bible does. And there is a realm of spiritual beings, of angels, who see what we do. And so I think Paul is saying that when you gather as a corporate body, to worship the living God, take note that the angels are among you. They see how you act and how you worship, and so do what is right. Proclaim what is true how God made humans, especially when you join together as the body of Christ to worship. Maybe the former option is right, or maybe these are both wrong, I don’t know.

What I do know is that there is a path of obedience for us here. There is an expectation that when we gather, both men and women are present, praying and prophesying, which we will discuss more in the next couple weeks. But we are worshipping together. All made in the image of God, all valuable, and all so very dependent on the other. Let our worship reflect this.

Not only that, but let our worship reflect our differences. In whatever way our culture sees is correctly, let us show that a husband is the head of his household. One example of this is wedding rings. If either spouse shows up without a wedding ring they typically wear, we might wonder why that is the case? We obey the Scriptures in that the office of pastor is only for qualified men, while at the same time not diminishing the important role that every person in the body of Christ plays. We uphold manhood and womanhood, and we dress and act the part. We joyfully celebrate how are uniquely made and seek glorify God in that.

Though the application of this text for the Corinthians was specific, the truths of this text certainly extend to us. And it is a difficult text, but I trust that God will use it help us grow in Him. My encouragement and call to you is to seek to proclaim all of these truths in your life and in our corporate worship specifically. And of course, this isn’t easy to do alone. We will need to be corrected and encouraged by those who we worship with. This morning, as we come to the table, we will be saying publicly that we are committed to Christ and to one another in our pursuit of obedience.