I Corinthians 11:1

First Corinthians 11:1

In First Corinthians 11:1 Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth and said, "Be you followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." It is a characteristic of human nature that humans learn behavior from other humans. A person will see someone do something and then they will get the idea to try and do the same thing themselves. This is one way in which people are like sheep. Human beings are most naturally followers. They look for someone to follow. Beware who you follow. If you follow the wrong person, it will lead to your own pain and even to your own destruction. There is none better to follow than Jesus Christ, and there may have been none better at following the teachings of Jesus than the Apostle Paul.

In First Corinthians 11:2-16 the Bible says "Now I praise you, brothers, that you remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. But I would have you 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. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. But every woman that prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. Judge in yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her as a covering. But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God."

In trying to understand the significance of this passage of scripture, it is especially important to keep in mind a couple of principles of Bible study. It is very important to look at Bible verses in the entire context in which they are found. You can teach almost anything from the Bible if you take things out of context. You can teach things that the Bible does not really teach if you take individual verses from the Bible and emphasize what one verse says without considering what other verses say that are in the same passage of scripture. Therefore, before you make a final decision about what any given verse means, you must have a good understanding of the entire context in which the verse is found.

Another important principle about Bible study is to remember that each book of the Bible was written at a time and in a place where the customs of the people who were being addressed are at issue. Obviously, people who lived two thousand years in an ancient culture had certain characteristics and customs in such a culture that no longer exist today. Sometimes we must look a little deeper than what is said literally and find a Biblical principle that we can then apply to the customs of our day and time. Some of the teachings of the Bible become clarified when we better understand the customs of the people to whom a certain passage of scripture was originally written.

In this passage of scripture the length of the hair of a woman is made an issue. Why was it an issue in the city of Corinth 2,000 years ago? Why did Paul say in First Corinthians 11:6 that "it is a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven?" Perhaps in the city of Corinth 2,000 years ago, the pagan temple prostitutes all had their heads shaved. Also, in some cultures a woman taken in adultery was shaved in order to be a punishment. In the city of Corinth if someone saw a woman with a shaved head, they might think, ‘There is a prostitute,’ or ‘There is an adultertess.” It is therefore no wonder that Paul wrote to the Christian women in the city of Corinth and told them that it would be a shame for them to be identified as being a prostitute, and the way to avoid that happening was to make sure that their hair was longer than that of the average man, and to even put a covering over their head as an additional aide in having an appearance that could not be mistaken for one of the temple prostitutes.

This passage of scripture says that it is good for a woman to have long hair, but that it is a shame for a man to have long hair. The immediate question to ask is: how long is long? There is probably a reason that the Word of God does not say how long is long. It does not say how many inches of hair need to be there in order to be considered long. One reason is probably because it depends upon the culture in which you live. For the Corinthians it probably did not have to be very long to be considered long hair because they were being compared to the temple prostitutes who were shaved bald. In America in the 1960s when the Beatles came on the scene many people thought that the hair the Beatles had was too long for men. But as the years have gone by, and as the customs have changed as to what is acceptable, the Beatle hairstyle no longer seems to be out of place for a man. Be careful about making too narrow of an interpretation of these teachings of the Bible concerning the length of hair or the style of dress. You might end up condemning something that God does not condemn; and if you do, you will not have the Spirit of God guiding you, and you will come across with a condemning and critical spirit.

There are still many mysteries in the world. There are things about which we think we know some things, but we are sure that we still have more to learn. One of these mysteries is the difference between a man and a woman. We know that there are some physical differences and we know that there are some similarities. Some of the teachings of the Bible emphasize an equality between men and women, especially in regards to spiritual things. Both men and women are sinners, both men and women are saved from their sins through faith in Jesus, and both men and women are given spiritual gifts with which to serve the Lord.

This passage of scripture starts out by pointing out that men are in a place of honor because they are men. God designed the male, and God did not make a mistake. God made the male the way He wanted to make him, in His own image. The male was created before the female. Without the male there would be no female, because Eve was created from the rib of Adam. This is similar to the relationship between the church and Christ. Christ came first and then the church. Without Christ there would be no church. This is not a put-down for women. This does not mean that a man has the right to dominate or control a woman; but it does emphasize that a man is deserving to be respected because he is a man.

There are some women in this world who make a great mistake in their attitude towards men. Some women view the faults and failures of some men, and then they categorize the rest; and they become prejudiced against men simply because they are men. Some women hate men, ridicule men, or resist men who are in authority. By so doing, these women do much harm. If only they had learned the importance of the teaching here in First Corinthians 11:3. If only they had learned that "the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God."

What about the woman? Do they deserve to be honored and respected also? Of course they do. That is why the Bible says in First Corinthians 10:12-13, "Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God." The only man who came into the world without a woman was Adam. Every other man’s existence from a human standpoint is totally dependent upon a woman who bore him in her womb and gave birth to him, often through much pain and difficulty. The woman is before the man, and the woman is the head of the man from this standpoint.

The Bible does not teach that men are supposed to control or dominate a woman. Women make good leaders because they have intelligence, because they have gifts from God, and because they value life having so intimately experienced what it takes to bring life into this world. Some of the great leaders in the Bible were women who God raised up and to whom God gave the responsibilities of leadership. There was Queen Esther who played such an important role in saving the people of Israel when they were in Babylon, and she will forever be known for putting her own life on the line and making the great statement, "If I perish, I perish." There was one of the great judges in Israel by the name of Deborah. The judges spoke the Word of God and they led the people, and one of the best of them was a woman, because she was God’s choice. Sometimes God chooses to put women into positions of leadership. You had better make sure that your theology allows for that. If they are prepared by God, women can be good leaders just as men can be, and if they are like Deborah, sometimes they can be even better.

In First Corinthians 11:17-34 Paul changes the subject again and begins addressing another issue concerning things that took place at the church in Corinth. Paul addresses the subject of eating and drinking when the church gathers together. Evidently, the believers in Corinth did something that is commonly done in churches today. Not only did they gather together to hear the Word of God preached, they also gathered together in order to have meals together: kind of like having church dinners or church picnics. For example, the Bible says in Acts 20v7-11, “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.[8] And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together.[9] And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.[10] And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.[11] When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.” They had two meals together on that Sunday when they assembled together. Paul said in First Corinthians 11:17-22, "Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that you come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. When you come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. For in eating everyone takes before another his own supper; and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? Have you not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise you the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not."

There are very few things in the Bible that are more important than Christian unity. Everyone who believes in Jesus and everyone who is rightly related to God through faith in Jesus, is a member of the family of God. Jesus prayed for His followers and He asked that they may be one; and the things that Jesus prayed for always were fulfilled. When you die and go to be with God, you will also be with all of His other children forever and ever. It is the desire of God that the children of God would learn more and more about this unity. Anything that weakens this important concept of Christian unity is not a good thing.

One of the problems with the meals that the believers in Corinth were having, is that certain things were going on in these church dinners that was hurting the unity of the believers. Divisions were being created among those that believed. The believers in Corinth had originally been trying to copy the Last Supper. They would gather together and have meals because the last time that Jesus gathered with His disciples before the crucifixion, it was at a meal, the Passover meal that we call the Last Supper. The Christians in Corinth had forgotten the true meaning and the reason for the Last Supper. They were having these meals that had evidently gotten out of hand; and the meals themselves were causing divisions in the church because those who had much would bring much to feast on and would become alienated from those who had little and would eat separately from them.

Paul gave them two things to help resolve these problems. One thing to do was to stop having the meals at the church gatherings. If the meals were causing the divisions, then they could all eat at home and get rid of a divisive practice. The unity of the believers was more important than them continuing their custom of trying to emulate the Last Supper.

The other thing that Paul did for them, was to remind them of the true meaning of the Last Supper. The Bible says in First Corinthians 11:23-26, "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood: this do you, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord’s death till he come." The believers in Corinth were gathering together to eat and to drink in order to do what Christ did when He gathered with the disciples, but the believers in Corinth failed because they were not recognizing the symbolic meaning behind the food they were eating and the drink they were drinking. Whenever you eat and whenever you drink, you can remember that Jesus gave His body and His blood for you on the cross at Calvary. If you want to live the Christian life, the life of faith in the Savior, then you must remember as often as possible what Jesus did for you on the cross.

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