To Cover Or Not Cover Your Head?

I Corinthians 11: 4-16

Paul now comes to an issue they had a problem with in that day. Covering the head was a very visual and important way the people of that culture expressed who was in authority and who submitted to authority. 

Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. 

Because he was putting himself in submission to authority, instead of assuming the authority of his position.  

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. 

The woman was under the authority of the man in charge in the home or in the church, but if she uncovered her head she was rebelling against her husband or her pastor's authority over her. 

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. 

Here is an "if." If it is disgraceful. In our society today there is no connection between covering the head and authority. Except for certain cults, we cover our heads for warmth in cold weather, or to keep the sun off of our head and out of our eyes. And there are godly women who prefer their hair cut short, and also godly men who wear pony tails.

Our question today is do we have an attitude supporting proper authority? 

For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. 

They attached great importance to the signs of authority. So if a man covered his head, he was disrespecting God, whose image he was to portray. And the woman was to show that she accepted that her husband and/or pastor taught her, and took care of her, and didn't assert her own opinions over theirs.  

For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; 
for indeed man was not created for the woman's sake, but woman for the man's sake. 

Here he goes back to Adam and Eve. Adam was made first of the dust of the ground, then God made Eve from Adam's body. Eve was made to be Adam's wife, his companion. For Adam's benefit.  

Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the Angels. 

In that culture, the head covering signified submission. And God's Angels are watching us, curious as to what kind of beings we are, that God would love us so much.

However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 

This does not mean that the husband is worth more, or is more important than the woman. We are equal in value to God, just as God the Father and God the Son are both God.  

For as woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God. 

So both the man and the woman have come from one another, so neither is more important that the other. We are both important to God.  

Judge for yourselves: 

Paul is not giving any hard-and-fast rules here, he says we are to evaluate the situation for ourselves to decide what would be right. Our culture does not have the same outward evidences as the Corinthian culture in Paul's day. 

is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 

He is asking a question which we are free to answer.  

Does not even nature itself teach you that if a  man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him, 

Like I said before, hair length has no cultural significance to us today, whether we cut it short or let it grow long.  

but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her for a covering. 

He says here that a woman's hair is her head covering, if she chooses to grow it long. And long hair is still admired on a woman today in some circles.

But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God. 

But if anyone wants to argue about it, Paul says that it's an individual choice, that there is no general practice that is to be enforced. 


The issue Paul is really addressing here is authority. Are we assuming the responsibility of the authority God has given us as teachers and pastors? And are we submitting to the leadership of our husbands and pastors? 

God has never been as concerned for outward appearances as He is for the condition of our hearts. Today we have very few outward conventions related to head coverings and length of hair, but we still need to have the right heart attitudes concerning the order God has among Himself in His three Persons, and that He has put into His Creation and our Earth for us. Order is always better than chaos, in every situation. 

And our understanding of the order of authority is the linchpin of our faith in God. And our love for Him and for one another. For our submitting to one another in love, considering the other one before ourselves. This is the foundation under all the Law--the rules and precepts and regulations, and the sacrifices, too. 

O my Father, You are so good to us, every day. Thank You for teaching us how orderly we can live our lives, just paying attention to what authority we have and are to submit to, to value others as You value us, and to realize how much You value each of us so highly. 

The banishment of the chaos in our lives brings peacefulness and calm even in the midst of the storms of life, knowing how You have the ultimate authority over all and we are in Your hand. 

Father, thank You that You have taught us that Your Love is the order You placed in what You made, so that it will all function as a well-oiled machine. And Your Holy Spirit is the oil that keeps it all running smoothly. 

Help our pastors and teachers and others who You have put over us take the responsibility of their authority seriously; to lead us humbly, recognizing that their authority is under Yours, and to exercise it gently and compassionately. And help us who are under their leadership to follow them wisely with discernment and respect. 

And to remember that we each are an important part of Your Plan of the Ages, one thread in Your great Tapestry of Time. Weave us skillfully into the beautiful patterns that will shine out Your glory forever, Father.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!