Covered and Uncovered Heads
Please first read an introduction to doctrinal statements here: Some things we believe and practice in the assembly at Apsley
A RELEVANT 1ST CENTURY PRACTICE
Sometimes we might think symbols don’t matter. ‘It’s just a symbol,’ we say. But the Bible uses symbols to teach truths all the time. We only need to look at the books of Exodus or Revelation to see that. In 1st Corinthians chapter 11 we can see that the first generation of the church used the symbol of bread and wine to symbolise his body and blood as they remembered the death of the Lord Jesus. This is still widely practised but they also practised two other symbols in the church: men wouldn’t cover their heads, and women would.
In 1 Corinthians 11–14, Paul teaches about the right way to display right order in the church. In chapter 11, he begins by saying he approves of how these Christians were doing what he had taught them, but he adds that he wants them to have a better understanding of what they’re doing.
Now I praise you that you remember me in all things, and hold fast the traditions, even 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, dishonours his head. But every woman praying or prophesying with her head unveiled dishonours her head. (11:2–5 RV)
Paul wants the believers to understand that these symbols are wrapped up in three big ideas: redemption, creation and nature.
Redemption – Who God gave to save us (11:2–6)
The Holy Spirit’s emphasis, through Paul, is that ‘the head of Christ is God’ (v. 3). The focus is on God the Son after he came into our world as Saviour, as the Christ, so the focus here is on redemption. To honour Jesus as Christ means proclaiming that he is God’s promised Messiah, the anointed King who submitted to the death of the cross so that he could bring us rebellious sinners back into loving submission to God. He has now been raised from the dead and is seated on the throne of the universe.
God has given this symbol to the church as a way to honour the Lord Jesus as the Christ. It is one way that we declare that Jesus is the promised Messiah. Paul had passed on the Christian practice that men should not wear anything on their heads whenever Christians meet for the purpose of exercising their spiritual gifts. By not covering their heads, men are declaring that Christ is their head.
For women, the symbol is the opposite, and the meaning is different. By covering their heads, women are saying something very counter-cultural. They are saying that the order God has given for the church is that, while Christ is physically absent, men are his direct representatives on earth and will be held responsible for the leadership of his church. When a woman covers her head she is using that symbol to say that she agrees with this order that God has given for the church.
Many are shocked by that teaching. Why shouldn’t women be equal with men in their responsibilities in the church? To answer that, we should ask two more questions. First, can it be a bad thing to submit to someone else if Christ asks us to do it? And second, is it not likely that great good will come from submitting to a head, since Christ has also submitted himself to a head for the purpose of redemption? David Gooding puts this well when he says, ‘Christ always was and has never ceased to be equal with God. But where would any of us be if he had demanded to remain equal in position and role with God? Instead, he humbled himself and obediently submitted himself to God as his head.’*
Creation – How God has made us (11:7–12)
The issue is not culture or custom in the 1st century but what God has created. As RC Sproul argues about these verses, ‘We must be careful not to let our zeal for knowledge of the culture obscure what is actually said.’* Verse 7 tells us the two symbols of uncovered and covered heads are designed to say that God’s glory should be seen and man’s glory should not. The very language of these verses points us to the Bible’s account of creation.
According to Genesis, God designed creation to be headed up by his human creatures. Both male and female humans are equally created in God’s image, but the order of their creation was a choice God made, and it had lasting significance. The creation order was that man was made first, directly from God, with ultimate responsibility for carrying out God’s will, and that woman was made from man. Together, they had dominion over the rest of creation, including the animals. But the creation order was upended when the devil, an angelic creature, used an animal to tempt the woman to sin and, through her, the man. That sin resulted in the chaos we now know in this world.
Something much bigger is going on here. God is asking us to display the restored order that he originally designed for the world that he called good. Why does that matter? Because Christ the man is in the process of regaining the place that the first man was given, and lost. And the significance of that loss goes beyond our human realm. Verse 10 says that one of the reasons women should wear a covering on their heads is ‘because of the angels’. As Paul says in Ephesians, through the church, angels are being taught God’s multi-faceted wisdom (3:10).
So, through the symbols of the uncovered head and the covered head, we are saying that God was right. We are saying this to one another, to the world at large and to powerful forces in heavenly places. God’s design was good and right originally, and everything is now being set right by Christ the man, the one who succeeded where the first man and woman failed (see 1 Cor 15:22–27).
Nature – What reactions God has built into us (11:13–15)
Paul says that we should expect certain reactions within ourselves to what is acceptable and what isn’t. He asks if our own judgment indicates that it’s proper for a woman pray to God ‘unveiled’. The way he asks the question, the expected answer is ‘no’ (v. 13). He then asks about our natural instincts about what is fitting for men and women. He assumes that it is obvious that if a woman has long, beautiful hair then we will see that as something glorious. And our proper instinct is to cover our glory when we come to the Lord, so that his glory receives all of the attention.
WHEN THESE SYMBOLS SHOULD BE USED
Our practise is that men should not cover their heads, and women should, anytime we are together to carry out the functions of a church as the local church. Practically, that means for the public teaching of the Word of God, the Lord’s Supper, and meetings for corporate church prayer. Those are the times we say this definitely applies. We ask all members to follow this practice; however, we don’t ask visitors to observe these symbols.
A difficulty of interpretation arises if we compare 1 Corinthians 11 (where women pray and prophesy with heads covered) and 1 Corinthians 14 (where women are to be silent in the churches). We hold that Paul is accepting that there are times when women would pray and prophesy outside of the normal gatherings of believers (just as we see in the Old Testament and in Acts), but that there is a clear distinction that must be made between times when Christians are gathered together to carry out the functions of the church and other times when we get together for specifically Christian activities (praying, Bible study, etc.). We encourage everyone to engage in other times of prayer, Bible study and proclamation of God’s word (in public and in private). And in those settings, we think there is room for difference in practise among believers with regard to this symbol.
Where differences remain, our advice is that believers should obey their own conscience before the Lord. If a woman is in doubt about whether to cover her head in a given situation when praying or speaking about God’s word, or her conscience is not clear about it, then she probably should. If a man is in doubt about whether to remove his hat in a given situation when he is going to pray or speak about God’s word, or his conscience is not clear about it, he should go ahead and take it off. If married, we encourage couples to agree their position together before the Lord, keeping in mind that the Lord will ultimately hold the husband responsible.
AREN’T THERE BIGGER ISSUES?
It is always worth thinking through the specifics of any issue Scripture teaches.The best reason for holding to a particular position, even if it is unpopular or divisive, is if it is in fact the correct interpretation of Scripture. If we weren’t convinced that this is, we would be crazy to go so visibly against contemporary culture, and against the general practise of churches in this part of the world. Since we believe it is the correct interpretation, we’d be disobedient not to practise it here. So we do.
We owe Christ everything, and we should use every means we have to point people to his perfect obedience and to the glory he has now. And one way that God has given the church to do that is to take these visible symbols and use them to declare that we accept and trust his way of doing things, even if they go against the flow of opinions around us. And that, we hold, is not a small matter.
FOR FURTHER READING:
DAVID GOODING, SYMBOLS OF HEADSHIP AND GLORY. (ON 1 COR 11:1–16)
RC SPROUL, CH. 5 – ‘CULTURE AND THE BIBLE’ IN KNOWING SCRIPTURE. (ON THE QUESTION OF CULTURAL NORMS IN 1 COR 11)
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