1 Corinthians 11
1 Corinthians 11
[00:00:00] Hey everyone, welcome to God's plan, your part year two, where this year we're reading through and studying the entire New Testament one chapter at a time. Thanks again for joining us in discovering God's plan and your part in it. Today, we are looking at first Corinthians chapter 11, and it seems like we have made it to the controversial section.
Uh, First Corinthians because today we are going to be talking about head coverings. Uh, we're going to be talking about the relationships between husbands and wives. Uh, and we're going to be talking about the Lord's Supper and what it means, which is probably a little bit less controversial, but maybe it should be more controversial than what it is.
So, uh, how do you want to handle this? How do I want to handle this? Well, I don't know that there's necessarily a secret recipe for how I want to handle this, but I think It is no coincidence that we are coming off of chapters where we are talking about things are permissible, but not necessarily beneficial for the believer, for the church, for, um, believers as they interact with one another.
And I [00:01:00] think this issue, Could seem pretty black and white for some, uh, but I think there's a lot of. Context that you have to take into consideration when you're thinking about this issue, as well as that same idea I was just talking about with the whole prior chapters and things that we've been talking about.
I think the context is critical because one, it's still part of this question and answer piece. So most likely somebody had written a question to Paul related to this issue. Obviously it is a contentious issue that Paul feels necessary to wade in on. And he has, he has a fairly authoritative answer as well.
Like it's not just like, well, you can kind of decide. Um, but it is also in the context of everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. So he's already kind of made this case that we want to yield. to honor people who are non believing people and also people who are fairly new believing people.
And I, I'm glad you're pointing that [00:02:00] out because I do think it is important. Uh, to drill down into the details here, uh, it seems like for chapter 11, basically verses 2 through, we'll say 16, um, there is an issue with Just the relationship between men and women, husbands and wives. There is an issue that appears to be with head coverings and are they required or not?
And there appears to be an issue with what kind of hairstyle you are permitted to have. So when I talk about being contentious or controversial, uh, I think we have arrived. Well, there's a couple of different takes on this too. A lot of different takes on this. I read about like four of them, but I think something that's also Like important to realize is there's a lot of discussion about husbands and wives, husbands and wives, husbands and wives, and then towards the, like the middle of this section about head coverings, it does make a shift a little bit.
It seems like, um, for women. And what their hair should look like or [00:03:00] signify. Well, more specifically, it trans it goes from husbands and wives to men and women. Yeah. Like, it, it kind of seamlessly makes that transition. You do want to pay attention to what that ha to what happens there. Well, and I think something that's important for me, even, Is I get this idea, like for me, it goes far beyond just hair, right?
Yes. So it's kind of like when we talked before, at least my understanding and what I'm taking from this, we even talked about the meat sacrifice to idols. Okay. So it seems to me that Paul is saying like meat is meat is meat. And like, if it's going to make someone else stumble. Then you want to be discerning about that, and you want to kind of like, I don't know, meet them where they're at, and maybe just excuse yourself from it as an example.
Now, I don't Are you purposely using two different meats there? No. I don't I think that this is cause for, I should wear a head covering around certain people, or I Oh, interesting. [00:04:00] I don't know that that's necessarily the line I'm trying to make. I know when we were in Israel, we had gone to a specific location, uh, it was the Temple Mount.
Mm hmm. Yeah. And while we were there, out of respect for the, um, that's the nice way of saying it. Um, out of like the, the Muslims control the Al Aqsa mosque, which means they primarily control the temple Mount. Uh, there is like this uneasy peace between the two. That's not what this podcast is about, but you have to, you have to.
For us women specifically, I had to wear like a scarf over my head, which I have no problem doing, whatever, that's fine, it's not going to bother me at all. But that was something like, out of respect for these people, I'm going to go in and I'm going to wear a head coverings, it's not going to bother me, I'm not going to throw a fit, whatever.
And also frankly, if you didn't, it could cause an enormous riot. They would make us leave or worse. I don't know. The incredible amount of stretchers lined up just on the entry walkway makes that very obvious. And that was in 2014. So just keep that in mind. Anyway, that being [00:05:00] said, I think part of that has to be a part of the conversation as well as when I think about Ryan and I.
in our marital relationship, there are, there are parts to our relationship like that complementarian type of, I mean you always go on that thread but I'm serious and I think I resonate there too. There are parts of this where it's like, I'm not going to just like push my weight around as the wife to like show that I have more authority than you do or that I have whatever.
Like, I think this really points to that too. Like, it's like a respect fee piece for my husband. Like, I'm not going to just throw off whatever as a believing family or a believing couple, husband and wife. I'm not just going to be like, well, whatever I can say, whatever I want to. Like, regardless of what my husband thinks, what my husband says, this is like an [00:06:00] outward, I guess, showing of who I am in our marriage.
And I respect that you are the head of our family, that you are, you know what I'm saying? Like, it kind of like takes me down that road too. I would. I think it's important to note just from our own experience. Own personal experiences. And I think we can be pretty open about this. We have actually tried to do life several different ways, always from a faith first kind of perspective.
But I would say like in the first years of our marriage, we were fairly egalitarian. And I would like basically meaning like our roles were shared and we're equal. And I would say now, currently in our marriage, I would say we're like almost extremely traditionally complementarian. Is that fair? Like, yeah, but I think what's.
What's really interesting about it, and this is just coming from our experience. Our experience has been that when I try to do, when I was trying to do those equal task things where it was like, I'm going to work so hard and I'm going to get all my degrees and like getting [00:07:00] my degrees is not a bad thing, I actually really am glad that I do.
But when I'm trying to be a full time educator and also a full time mom and a full time wife There's like not a lot of room for that because a lot of what I care about really fell on me in weird ways. Like, I've just felt like, although they're your children too, I always felt this need of like, Oh, I wish I was just with my kids.
Like I wish that I was the one that was putting them on the bus this morning. I wish I'm the one that was at home making snacks and, and doing whatever. I wish I was the one that was getting to see them get off the bus from school. And those were always the tensions that I had. When I was trying to do equal tasks as you and now that it's completely flipped Because we are able to do that too I'm able to be home and although like I do miss teaching sometimes also we're not like rolling in cash either.
Yeah, [00:08:00] certainly not um, I do miss teaching sometimes but It is not something that I ever think I would rather be doing. Like there's things I miss about it, but it's like, there's no way that that would even be possible or enjoyable right now. So that's why I want this to be known because we actually have done, we have actually like tried to do life both ways very well.
Um, this is definitely the best way for us to do our lives. I do think I see this as a secondary issue. Like if you love Jesus and want to build his kingdom, that's great. Let's do it together. Um, I don't. I don't completely care how you see this, uh, but I do know very confidently in our own lives. This has been an incredible decision for us, um, basically to interpret this chapter as like the husband is the head of the family and the wife does come under the husband and, and, and see it that way.
Now just to do like, this is a Bible podcast, it's not a Ryan and Jenny pod. Oh, Jenny wants to say something. I was just going to say, I felt like also for me. That a lot of striving for [00:09:00] myself personally, striving for accomplishments, all of those strivings actually did cease. I know that's like a saying you hear, striving to cease.
Like that really does happen for me. And it's like a weird thing you have to adjust to because you feel like you're failing, but it's not. Uh, it's actually far better, for us anyway, it has been. To stick to the text here, I just think that context is important because we're speaking from our own experience.
To speak to the text here, um, there's a couple, a couple things that historically have been seen as very difficult with this text. I want to recognize them so that you guys know about them. This is seen as a very difficult text to interpret because of the Greek. So the actual Greek being used, there is a little bit of confusion.
Does it mean husband and wife? Does it mean man and woman? Or does it transition? So I personally would believe that it clearly does transition. Like from first talking about husbands and wives to then eventually talking about men and women in general. The other question is what is meant by the word head?
The Greek word that's used for head can be understood as head as in a [00:10:00] It can also be understood as source as in like beginning like the, the source of a river, the head of a river. Um, there have been compelling cases from both sides, though it should be noted, uh, that the case for this being recognized as source is a fairly new perspective, particularly since feminism has been on the rise.
So explain, flesh those out Mark. Okay. So if you, if you understand it for head to be authority, um, it, it just means that Like basically the traditional understanding, like the, that the, the husband does carry more authority in the marriage, uh, that Christ actually does come under the authority of God, the father.
And that is a, that's a whole problematic thing in its own right. Um, one of the things that is critical to this and, and actually helps with the husband and wife relationship, but also happens with the, the, the son to the father relationship is that having. Authority and being the head does not mean that you have more value.
That is critical, [00:11:00] I think, to wise complementarianism. So like Jenny and I, um, clearly like if there is a situation where like a final decision needs to be made, one. We try to net not ever end up there, but if there is a final decision that's necessary, I make that decision. That is how it works. Um, that doesn't mean that Jenny is less valuable than me.
That means I understand my role clearly and I walk in it. Jenny understands her role clearly and she walks in it. So it, when it comes to the father and the son, they have, they are of equal value, um, but they, they also walk clearly in those roles. So I'm just trying to flesh out those two things.
Obviously we do not have enough time here to like, do that. And incredible, great justice. Um, the people that would say that source is actually what's going on here would say that like, um, man came first. So man is the source of woman because Eve was made with the rib of Adam. And Paul does actually appeal to creation to talk about [00:12:00] this.
And he actually says in verse eight for man was not made from woman. But woman from man. So one of the things about this is there's very well informed decisions and opinions on both sides. And I don't want to do this podcast, making it out. Like one is very smart and one is very dumb. Like there's very smart people on both sides and they have pretty compelling cases to make.
I think the thing that pushes it over the edge for me is that there is an. Overwhelming case to be made from scripture that men seem to have more authority in leadership, uh, and in families and the family codes in the new testament specifically speak to that and the actual family narratives in the old testament.
Seem to speak to that. So I think that is a valuable thing to throw in on this conversation. Um, so I think Paul's initially talking about just authority. Um, then he's also, oh, sorry. And to wrap up that authority conversation, it is important that you look at verse 11. Nevertheless, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man nor man from woman for a woman [00:13:00] was made from man.
So man is now born of woman. So even when Paul establishes that authority, I believe. He also talks about how that equal importance is still necessary. Like he's saying, yeah, there is clear order, but also like you are still equal in value and still necessary to each other. And when, when complimentary immunism gets really hurtful is when you don't actually recognize the equal value and it sort of just starts to get messy.
So then you move into this covering thing. Um, there's a case to be made that the, that there, there was like a. Liberation movement going on where women were just like going crazy in public. That is kind of what I was thinking too, along those lines, because remember, this is Paul sending a letter to the Corinthian church where a lot of things right now are like, they've got like the super base foundational stuff.
But there's like weird things that are still getting thrown in. Like, idol worship is still a problem. Figuring out what kind of foods they're supposed to eat is still a problem. Sexual immorality is still a problem. Now we have like, [00:14:00] quite honestly, what seems to be women not remembering or recognizing They're like, I hate to say it because it's just like, Oh, she said the words, but like their role or their place within the church, within like Christian families, like, what does that look like?
And when you set yourself apart, you don't just throw off the pieces that set you apart. And in this it's saying like, it's helpful that like women show that they are. Like a, a man's wife, just like you would want, like, even just with the hair conversation, you would want women to be noticeably different.
from the men. Like you don't want there to be confusion. I think there was a lot of cultural stuff that was getting mixed in here too because you've got serious, serious customs from the Jewish audience. And then you've also got, um, like a completely different culture altogether from the more like, you know, Roman side of things.
Both cultures would have [00:15:00] had an understanding of an outward sign of being married. And it's very likely that the outward sign of being married was a head covering. And so one of the cultural cases to be made is that women were saying like, Hey, I freedom in Christ. I don't need to wear this anymore because I don't like, I don't need to do that.
And Paul saying, Hey, slow to roll. Because when you do that, you're actually being disrespectful to your husband. Another cultural point was if there was a significant amount of temple prostitution in the city, most likely those temple prostitutes shaved their heads to show their availability as a prostitute.
So women casting off their head coverings, um, actually could have accidentally signaled the culture that they were prostitutes when they in fact were not. So there's, again, this is a very difficult passage to interpret. Great. Because, because there's language difficulties, there's also cultural difficulties, like these are not things that are currently problematic to us, except for there are still cultural [00:16:00] norms for showing you're married, there are still cultural norms for showing respect to your husband or showing respect to your wife, and certainly it seems like Paul would be supporting those, not neglecting those.
So I, I guess what I would come away with is just the idea of, I kept reading in a lot, or in this commentary, the word subordination just kept coming up over and over and over again, and just like, I mean this could go in any direction, but just like Me as an educator and my students that are like learning from me, like this is not a marriage relationship, but I think of it this way.
I would never anticipate my students just being like, well, forget the rules. Whatever a student is supposed to do, forget about it. I'm not doing that. I'm going to just do whatever I want. That like totally. Like, ruins relationship, it completely throws off, like, authority and, um, like, relationship between student and teacher, like, it doesn't work [00:17:00] and, like, the actual goal does not get accomplished.
So I think, in my mind, obviously marriage is very different than, than educating children, but there is this, there's this, I don't know, there's this relationship factor that you can't just throw it off. Right. Yeah. Thank you. Because there's they're just actually our cultural norms, right? And again, we're trying to honor Christ what we're doing so if you imagine that these women were throwing off their coverings and if it wasn't like a Similar thing that prostitutes in this city would do right?
It would be not setting them apart in any way It's not and it would be very confusing to people who were not believing people which Paul is very concerned about because the the non believing People would have been like hey All those Christians are starting to act like prostitutes. What's going on over there?
So just specifically on the covering conversation, there are many very faithful people that do in fact, still wear head coverings and are very passionate about it. There are obviously very passionate, believing people that do not wear head coverings because [00:18:00] they feel like they don't need to. One key verse to make sure, and I just would be remiss if I didn't call this out.
Um, let's see. If you look at verse 15 in this, in this same line of argument, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory for her hair is given to her for a covering. So it's interesting that Paul opens up talking about head coverings and then wraps up by talking about your hair is a head covering. So that's worth noting.
That's obviously important for the conversation. Also, we are clearly spending a lot of time talking about this, but it's, it's just notoriously a difficult passage to interpret. Okay. There are a lot of people with very strong opinions and passions on all sides. And so I think it's important to give it the time that it deserves.
Well, I think too, like for me, especially it does. There are some parts that, excuse me, it does kind of rub me the wrong way. If, if you get it, I mean, if you view it a certain way, it can rub you the wrong way pretty quickly, but at the same time, there are also pieces to it that are like. [00:19:00] Why am I making this exactly like this is supposed to be a reflection of like God's intention for my marriage for how I am reflecting myself to the world and if nothing else for Pete's sake, like I want to look different from the world I want and it's not like a matter of I'm going to go out and get a head covering today.
It's more or less just like that's worth noting my understanding my role. In my marriage and understanding how that reflects my relationship with God and my willingness to trust that this is not about me. This is about me serving, like serving what God wants and like helping other people alongside me, I guess.
Again, Paul's line of argument seems to be like, hey, as a strong believing Christian, make sure you yield in how you act to those who are lesser believing people, either not believing or weak in their belief or new to their belief. And so it seems like it would fit that he would [00:20:00] be saying like, Hey, listen, don't be doing crazy things because you have freedom.
Like be respectful of the people around you. And Jenny does not wear a head covering. And we actually come from a pretty strong Anabaptist background where it would be very common for people to wear head coverings because This gets twisted on both sides. Like one side is like extreme Liberty where you don't care about tradition or culture.
That's not good. And then there's another extreme side where it's like, Hey, if you don't wear a head covering, you're not saved. Like if you don't wear a head covering, you're not a Christian. I don't think that's healthy either. So I think it's good that Jenny is casting it in this light of like, Hey, what's wise.
What is, um, permissible, what's beneficial, those kinds of things. So just to do this chapter justice, I don't know why we got wrapped up. So actually I do know why we got wrapped up so much in the head covering thing. Um, there is another section just about the Lord's supper. And just quickly, I want to call out that what's going on with the Lord's supper is that it is supposed to be honoring to Christ, much like all these other arguments, but it's not.
But when the Corinthians are coming to the Lord's table, it's just chaos. Like people are gorging themselves on food. People are getting drunk and it's not honoring to Christ. [00:21:00] It's dishonoring to Christ because it's disorderly and not unifying. It's actually like tearing them down because they're, They're not celebrating the Lord's table.
They're just having crazy parties. All right, guys. So just to wrap this up, this is a unique episode. It's longer than we like to go. Um, but what I want to do for your part is just make sure you read over these chapter, this chapter for yourself. And actually I would challenge you do a little bit of your own research on what's going on here.
Find a good commentary. If you want to go to logos. That's a great resource, but you don't have to go to logos, go to Google or something and read what's out there. Read some stuff about authority, read some stuff about source, read some stuff about hair and culture and coverings, because it is important to understand what's going on here and it is important to be informed.
Because sometimes we have really strong opinions on things that we don't completely understand. And sometimes it actually causes like strong contention within the body of Christ where there shouldn't be. So the, your part is just make sure you read first Corinthians 11 and not like just quickly, like, like actually give it the time it [00:22:00] deserves and, uh, dig into it.
See what you can find out. Just go to one commentary or go to one other source or go to one article and see. What some other opinions are on this and see how we can, um, honor each other and be unified with each other and ultimately bring honor and glory to Christ. That's the challenge for today. We'll be back again tomorrow with first Corinthians chapter 12.
We're looking forward to it. We'll see you then. Thanks for joining today's episode of God's plan. Your part. As always, please consider partnering with us as we are a listener supported podcast that we hope to continue to grow with support from listeners just like you. We've made it super easy to partner with us and you can support us by following the link in our show notes or our description.
You can support us with as little as 3 a month. Every little bit of this helps so much and we're so thankful for your support. With that in mind, here's today's reading. 1 Corinthians chapter 11 Be imitators of me as I am of Christ. Now, I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the [00:23:00] 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 dishonors his head. But every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors 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. 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. Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor man of woman. For as woman was made from [00:24:00] man, so man is now born of woman, and all things are from God.
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.
But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better, but for worse. Amen. For in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and I believe it in part. For there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.
When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead of his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What? Do you not have houses to eat [00:25:00] and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this?
No, I will not. For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, also he took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many [00:26:00] of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About other things I will give directions when I come. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of God's plan. Your part.
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Thanks again for listening. We'll see you again [00:27:00] tomorrow.
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