Podcast Introduction

Today our reading is 1 Corinthians 11-12.  I’m calling the episode “Vive la Différence.”

Comments on 1 Corinthians 11-12

Thoughts on 1 Corinthians 11

I think it’s most beneficial before we get into this discussion that we look at what Paul said near the end of his talk on the subject of men and women. In verse 11 he said, “…woman isn’t independent from man, and man isn’t independent from woman in the Lord. 12As woman came from man so also man comes from woman. But everything comes from God.”

It looks to me as if Paul is giving equal respect to both sexes in this. Wouldn’t you agree? There are other places in his letters where that attitude comes through, as well. Some have made the charge that Paul didn’t like or respect women, but I don’t see that when I take the totality of his writings. 

The difficulty lies in cultural bias. Today, the women’s equality movement that began in earnest in the 60s tries to make the assertion that there are no differences between men and women. Of course that is not true. God made us different. He didn’t make one better than the other, He just made them different. 

And this is what Paul is saying in chapter 11. Men and women have different roles. One is not better than the other, but they are different. And that’s a good thing. 

Remember back in Genesis when God said that it was not good for man to be alone. So he made a woman for the man. Men and women compliment each other. They complete one another. And then, after God looked at what He had made, he said something that He did not say when He completed the previous elements of creation. At those times, He looked at what He had made and said, “It is good.” But when He had finished creating Man and Woman, he said, “It is very good.” 

It is good to remember that neither men nor women are to abuse their positions, just as Jesus did not abuse His position. Jesus, as God, has the right to do as He wishes with His creation. What He chooses to do is to love us. And this is how we should treat each other. 

So Paul laid out the different roles of the sexes in the Corinthian church. Men had a role, women had a role. There should be order in church, not chaos. But what was happening in Corinth was not order, and Paul’s answer was that if the sexes adhered to their proper roles, there would be order. And if they treated each other as Jesus treats us, there would be love. 

So what’s the deal about the covering of the head and the hair length? This whole discussion seems pretty foreign to us, doesn’t it? 

In today’s American culture, especially among Protestants, we don’t make a big deal out of head coverings in church or hair length for either male or female, do we? Based on 1 Corinthians 11, are we mistaken? Is it really important to God? Let’s take a look.

As is usually the case when studying Scripture, the first thing we should consider is context. What’s happening in the scene? The recurring theme in verse 3-16 is order, or the hierarchy of authority. Paul says in verse 3: Now I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. 

Now, in the Corinthian culture, a woman who wore a head covering was showing her submission to the authority of her husband, and consequently her submission to God.

Now lest we take umbrage at this concept, understand that submission does not mean that we are implying that the one who submits is “less than” the one who is being submitted to. Do you doubt that?

Well, consider this. God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit are equal parts of the One, united Triune God, are they not? Yet the Son submits to the Father, and the Spirit to the Son. They are equal, yet there is an order.

The relationship of the husband and wife is a picture of this relationship. In the Corinthian culture, a woman’s long hair and the covering of her head was an outward show of her agreement with the God established order. A man’s short hair and lack of head covering was the same.

Now, we know that what God considers important is the condition of our heart. He looks much less at the things we do than what goes on in our heart. Yes, what we do is important, because our actions often flow from our heart. But in our culture, where head covering and hair length has little or nothing to do with our marital status, God does not care about hair and covers. But He most certainly cares about our submission to His authority, and the order He has set out for husbands and wives. 

Christ is in submission to the Father, the husband is in submission to Christ, the wife is in submission to the husband. No one has his or her thumb on the other. This is a love relationship, with respect and reverence. 

I love the lovely Lady LeeAnn and would give my life for her, just as Christ gave Himself for me. I do not lord it over her. Her well-being is my most important priority, other than serving and loving God. She responds to that love by respecting and loving me in the same way. We are equal partners, and at the same time there is the order that God laid out. And not surprisingly, it seems to be working. We truly love each other more today than we did the day we married nearly 27 years ago. Every year our bond is stronger in every way. If she were here to talk to you, she would say the same thing.

So no, God doesn’t care today in our culture what is on your head. He cares about your submission to Him. That’s it.

Thoughts on 1 Corinthians 12

In chapter 12, Paul is addressing another issue that is bringing this argumentative Corinthian church another cause for divisions. And unfortunately, the division of a church over disagreements about spiritual gifts didn’t end with them. 

When I was a teenager, I gave my heart to the Lord when I was attending a very traditional Southern Baptist church. I loved the people there, and I loved the pastor. But I don’t remember ever hearing a word about spiritual gifts. When I first got married and moved away from home, I began attending a little community church in the city of Mammoth Lakes. This church had just undergone a split over disagreements about spiritual gifts. I had no idea what they were even talking about. But the new pastor, who had been brought in to replace the pastor who left, preached a series of sermons about the various gifts of the Spirit. He did such a great job, backed up by scriptures like 1 Corinthians 12, that my own theology on the subject was shaped then and hasn’t changed a lot over the ensuing years. In a nutshell, Paul taught the Corinthians that the Holy Spirit gives gifts to different people as He chooses. They all have value, just as each part of the body has value. He taught them that it is silly to argue about what part of the body is better, and it’s silly to fight over what gift is better.

Paul’s analogy of the church being like a human body is a good one. Each body part has a purpose. When one part hurts, the whole body hurts. The foot is as much a part of the body as the ear. When you separate a part of the body from the body, it cannot continue to live, and the body suffers.

So we should not value one gift over the other. We should ask God to give us whatever gift He wants us to have, and then celebrate that gift.

Today’s Christmas Music

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode:

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