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Main Scripture Text: 1 Corinthians 11:1–16
Introduction
Tonight, I told you I’d be speaking to you on the subject “Women in Ministry.” And,
would you be finding, please, in the Bible, 1 Corinthians chapter 11? If you don’t
have a Bible with you, look in the pew rack. You’ll get, I think, 25 percent more out of any message if you have an open Bible in front of you—that is if the preacher is preaching the Bible. And, get an open Bible.
We’re interested tonight in not opinion but what God has to say. There has been a little flap in our city that, in my estimation, has created far more heat than light, and it deals with the ministry of women in the Church.
Now, I chair a committee. We have a document that we practice—that we operate by—in the Southern Baptist Convention, and it’s called “The Baptist Faith and Message Statement.” It was first written in 1925; it was revised in 1963. A motion was made in last year’s convention to do an update and a revision of “The Baptist Faith and Message Statement.” It’s a very, very critical statement—a very important statement. And, yours truly was given the privilege to be the chairman of that committee.
And so, we’re stating those beliefs that we hold together as Baptists and to give guidance to our professors and our agency heads. And, there was one article in that statement that dealt with the Church, and I’ll read that. There are a number of articles in the statement; this is only one of them. And, the statement deals with the Church, and here’s what it said, and what it says, and will be presented to the convention next week for ratification:
“A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local
congregation”—autonomous means “self-governing”—“autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation, each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men, as qualified by scripture.”
Now, it’s that last phrase that caused a consternation of some—that says, “The
office of pastor is limited to men, as qualified by scripture.” Now, you would think that this is something new or something radical. Of course, it is not. It’s something that we Baptists have believed and practiced historically from our foundation as Southern Baptists—or our beginning as Southern Baptists—in 1845 up until the present time. There are about 42,000 Southern Baptist churches. Less than 100 of them have women pastors—I said less than 100 out of 42,000. If my arithmetic is correct, that’s about one-fourth of one percent. We’re not talking about something that’s radical or different but something that is historic, and practiced, and uniform, by and large, across our convention.
Now, there has been some controversy. And, how’s it going to be settled? Well, it’s
not going to be settled by modern culture. We’re not trying to conform the Church to modern culture. It’s not going to be settled by political correctness. It’s not going to be settled by people who don’t believe the Bible or who don’t accept the Bible—Bible doubters and Bible rejecters. I believe that when we look at the Bible, which is our rule for faith and practice, we’ll see that there’s no quibble and no contradiction. And, it’s pretty plain—black paper on white print.
Now, there are those who don’t accept the Bible. As a matter of fact, I heard of a
man who was called upon to read the Bible in a liberal church. And, he has also been presiding over a business meeting. After he read the scripture, he said, “And now, if there are no additions or corrections, the scriptures stand approved as read.” Well, there are no additions or corrections.
Now, in order to understand all of this, you have to understand a principle that we
would call the principle of spiritual authority. Now, for many people, authority is a dirty word. They don’t like the word authority. As a matter of fact, you’ll see bumper stickers that say, “Resist Authority.” But, let me share with you what the Word of God has to say.
Let’s go back again to 1 Corinthians chapter 11, and I want to read for you the first
16 verses. And, if you have a Bible, follow along with me. I’m reading from the King
James passage of scripture. The Apostle Paul says,
“Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye 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, dishonoureth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even as 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” -
now, we’ll talk about that a little bit more later—
“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”—we’ll talk about that later, also—“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 [are] of God. Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? Doth 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 for a covering. But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God” (1 Corinthians 11:1–16).
Well, I will be the first to admit that that’s a scripture that we need to look at clearly and carefully, because it’s not casually discerned. But, it is easily discerned if we look at it very carefully.
I. The Principle of Spiritual Authority
Now, the very first thing I want to lay on your heart tonight—and this will not be an
alliterated outline—but I want you to see what I call the principle of spiritual authority.
A. Apostolic Authority
And Paul, for example, in this chapter, begins in the first two verses, and he exerts his authority as an apostle. And, he says, “You follow me, as I follow the Lord” (1
Corinthians 11:1). He said, “I am delivering to you the ordinances” (1 Corinthians 11:2). That is, Paul, as an apostle, is speaking to the church at Corinth with authority.
B. Pastoral Authority
Also—and we don’t find it in this particular passage before us—but God has given
churches pastors and pastors are to have spiritual authority in the church. The pastor is not just one more of the boys. Some scripture you might put in your margin—Hebrews chapter 13, verse 7: the Bible says, “Remember them [that] have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation”—“Remember them [that] have the rule over you” (Hebrews 13:7). A pastor is to lead. He is to guide. He is to rule in the church. Hebrews 13, verse 24 says the same thing: “Salute all of them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you” (Hebrews 13:24).
C. Governmental Authority
Now, there is apostolic authority. There is pastoral authority. There is governmental authority. Put this verse down—Romans 13, verses 1 and 2: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers”—and the word powers here literally means “authority.” It’s the higher authorities—“For there is no power but of God: [and] the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation” (Romans 13:1–2). God gave us kings, governors, princes, rulers, sheriffs, councils. These are God’s gift—the
policeman on the street, the authority. And, we could not live in society without
authority—governmental authority.
D. Authority in the Business World
And then, God not only has done that—not only has He given apostolic authority,
pastoral authority, governmental authority—but God even has authority in the business world. Ephesians 6, verses 5–7: “Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men” (Ephesians 6:5–7). When you go to work tomorrow, you work for your employer. Get under the authority of your employer, and serve him as if he were Jesus. And, if you do that, people will start believing what I preach on Sunday.
E. Authority in the Home
And now, not only that, but there’s authority in the home. Children are to be under the authority of their parents. We live in a generation today where everything in the home is run by switches, except the kids. Ephesians 6, verses 1 and 2: “Children, obey our parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise” (Ephesians 6:1–2). Children are to be obedient to their parents.
F. Authority Between Husband and Wife
And then, there’s authority between husband and wife. The husband is the head in the home—God said so. First Corinthians 11, verses 7 (1 Corinthians 11:7–16) and
following—I just read it to you. Let me just come back to that a little bit later and go on down to Ephesians 5. Put this in your margin—Ephesians 5, verses 22–24: “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church”—now, no home should have two heads; no church should have two heads. Anything with two heads is a freak; anything with no head is dead—“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let wives be to their own husbands in every thing” (Ephesians 5:22–24). Now, husbands and wives are equal. “In Christ, there’s neither male nor female, Jew nor Greek, bond or free” (Galatians 3:28). That’s what Paul told us in Galatians 3, verse 28. Husbands and wives are equal, but they’re not the same. And, equality of worth does not mean sameness of function, as we’re going to see. In the home, God has given the husband headship. That doesn’t mean greater privilege for the husband; to
the contrary, it means greater responsibility for the husband. While God requires that the wife submit to the husband, as the Church does to Christ, God requires that the husband love his wife, as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for it (Ephesians 5:28). The husband is to live sacrificially for his wife, even to the point of dying for her.
Now, this is not being taught today, and the failure is that we’ve missed a generation who have not taught this to the younger generation. We had a generation in the ’60s that came up; they’re the boomers of today. And, somehow their watchword was rebellion. But, here’s what God says in Titus chapter 2, verses 3 and following: “The aged women...that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home”—that doesn’t mean can’t go out of the house; it actually means a housekeeper—“good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed” (Titus 2:3–5). When I do a wedding and I say, “Do you promise to obey?” I see heads snap around. You know, people look up like, “Good night! What did he just
ask her to do?” Just what the Bible says—just what the Bible says. The Bible says,
“That the word of God be not blasphemed” (Titus 2:5).
And so, there is authority: there’s apostolic authority; there’s pastoral authority; there is governmental authority; there is business authority; there’s the authority of parents over their children; there is authority in the home, husband and wife, and all of this. Now, let’s think what that has to do with a woman being a pastor in a church, if the office of a pastor is one of spiritual authority. And, I want to remind you again that this is not going to be settled by opinion. It’s not even going to be settled by logic. It’s not going to be settled by observation. It’s not going to be settled by pragmatism. It’s going to be settled for us, here, by the Word of God. Sometimes a woman may say, “But I feel God is calling me to preach. That is my feeling; that is my emotion.” Well, the Bible says in 1
John chapter 4, verse 1: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits”—test the spirits—“whether they are of God: because many false prophets [have] gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Let me tell you this about the Bible: the Bible never contradicts itself. The Bible is given by divine inspiration, and you cannot pit one verse of scripture over against another verse of scripture.
Now, I want you to look to a key passage of Scripture, and all of this will come
together in just a moment. But, I’d like for you to leave 1 Corinthians, and I’d like for you to go to 1 Timothy—that’s further right in your Bible—chapter 2, and I want to read verses 11 through 15 for you: Paul says,
“[But] let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man”— now remember, we’re talking about authority that God has placed in the Church—“But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in
childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety” (1 Timothy
2:11–15).
Now here, God very clearly and plainly says that the woman is “not...to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man” (1 Timothy 2:12). And, he says—he roots this all not to culture, not to political correctness, not to what was happening in Paul’s day that he was accommodating himself to, but he roots this all the way back to creation (that Adam was created first, and then Eve—that Eve went into sin and was deceived by the serpent - 1 Timothy 2:13). Adam was not deceived; he sinned, but he sinned with his eyes wide open, not by deception. That’s the reason that God holds Adam more culpable for the sin than He did Eve. You see, Eve was tempted by Satan, but God had given to Eve Adam to protect her. Adam was in the place of authority. What did God tell Adam to do? He told Adam to dress the garden and to keep the garden (Genesis 2:15).
Provision and protection are the two chief assignments to the man for the home. He is to provide for the home; he’s to be the breadwinner. Somebody said, “He’s going—he’s supposed to go out, and kill something, and drag it back to the cave?” He is the provider, and he’s the protector. He’s supposed to keep the garden. When God put Adam and Eve there in the Garden of Eden, He said, “I have given you dominion over all the beasts of the field” (Genesis 1:26). When the serpent came into the garden, Adam had complete dominion over the serpent. He should have been protecting Eve. He should have told the serpent—taken authority over the serpent, banned the serpent from the garden. He should have protected and provided for Eve. He did not do so. So really, the Bible, even though Eve was deceived, Adam is the one that is held more responsible. So, the Bible says, “In Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made
alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).
Now, Paul’s injunction here is... When he says, “I suffer not a woman to teach, nor
to usurp authority over the man” (1 Timothy 2:12), he’s not saying that a woman cannot teach; he’s saying that a woman cannot teach with authority over men. She is “not...to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man” (1 Timothy 2:12). Women teach. We have a great host of women teachers here in our church, and I thank God for them.
1. Women Can Teach Younger Women
Let me give you some scriptures that show that women can teach. Titus 2, verses 3 and 4—I’ve already given those: “That the aged women are to teach young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children” (Titus 2:3–4). So, women are to teach younger women.
2. Women Can Teach Children
First Timothy...or 2 Timothy 1, verse 5—you remember there that the mother and
grandmother of young Timothy taught him: “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also” (2 Timothy 1:5). How wonderful when women teach children! But, a pastor or a bishop—and the word bishop means “overseer.” I am a bishop as well as a pastor. The words elder, pastor, and bishop are interchangeable—is one that teaches with spiritual authority. And, he is to be to the Church what a father is to a home.
First Timothy chapter 3—you’re in 1 Timothy chapter 2; just go over to 1 Timothy
chapter 3 and look in verse 5: Paul says, “(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the [house] of God?)” (1 Timothy 3:5). Just as the husband is to be the head in his own home, the pastor is to take care of the house of God. If I cannot be a good husband to Joyce, if I cannot lead and guide my children, I’ve disqualified myself from being a pastor. “(For if a man know not to [take care of] his own house, how shall he take care of the [house] of God?)” (1 Timothy 3:5).
It is clear in the Scripture that a pastor is to be to a church what a father—a husband—is to a home. Now remember, God has put headship in the home. The husband is the head of the wife. He is the male figure in the home. Correspondingly, the male is to be the figure in the Church. Now, what, therefore, is the ministry of women? Can women minister if they cannot have spiritual authority or usurp authority over the man? Obviously. We’ve already told you that women can teach. They can teach the younger women. They can
teach the children. As a matter of fact, if women teach women and children, they’re teaching three-fourths of everybody that lives. That’s a pretty big assignment, if you ask me.
What does the New Testament say? Does anybody know a New Testament church where they had a female pastor? Obviously not. Were any of the apostles women? No. Did any woman write any book of the Bible? No. In the Old Testament, were the priests women? No. This is not something new.
Now, in the Bible, you have many wonderful women, as we have in this church, who are gifted, bright, intelligent, committed, trained. Bellevue Baptist Church could not operate without the ministry of women. Thank God for them. You study in the Bible and find out the great women in the Bible. I’ve already mentioned Lois and Eunice who taught young Timothy, and he became a mighty pastor and a man of God. I think my wife has done a great job raising up some children to serve the Lord, also. I think of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Thank God for her. I think of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. I think of Mary, the sister of Lazarus, and Martha, who sat at the feet of Jesus. I think of Phoebe, who, in the Bible, was called a “servant of the church” (Romans 16:1). Romans 16, verses 1 and 2: “I commend unto you Phoebe our sister, [who] is a servant of the church” (Romans 16:1). Actually, the word servant there is the word “deaconess.” She was a deaconess—not with a capital D. The word is a generic word. She was a servant in the church. You can read in the Bible of a woman named Priscilla who was married to a man named Aquila. She and her husband did some
team-teaching. She, under the guidance and egress of her husband, taught one of the most gifted preachers in the Bible, a man named Apollos. Thank God for the ministry of Priscilla.
You can find many gifted women in the Bible, but turn to the New Testament, go
home and study it, and you will not find one woman pastor. You will not find that. You will not find a woman apostle. You will not find women who wrote any of the books of the Bible. Now, someone says, “But Adrian, were there not prophetesses in the Bible?” Yes, there were. I’m going to give you a number of verses. By the way, I’ve already copied these out to save you time and to help me. There’s nothing more embarrassing than trying to preach and can’t find something in the Bible, especially if you’re doing a lot of it. So, I’ve copied these scriptures out. You want to copy them down. Well, let me give you the list of some prophetesses.
For example, Miriam, the sister of Moses, was a prophetess. Exodus 15, verse 20
says, “And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron” (Exodus 14:20) did thus and
such. Deborah was a prophetess. Judges 4:4: “And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.” Huldah was a prophetess. Second Kings 22, verse 14: “Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum” (2 Kings 22:14). So, Huldah was a prophetess. Anna was a prophetess in the New Testament. Luke 2, verse 36: “And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel” (Luke 2:36). There were four daughters of a man named Phillip who were prophetesses. Acts 21, verse 9: “And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy” (Acts 21:9). Now, the
Bible does not say they were preachers; the Bible does not say they were pastors. They were prophetesses. Well, what is a prophetess or a prophet? It’s somebody who has insight and a revelation—a God-given revelation. There was a special need for prophets and prophetesses as the New Testament was being written. If a person spoke as a prophet or a prophetess, they’d better make certain that what they were saying was the Word of God. Deuteronomy 18, verse 22 says, ”When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but [that] prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou [should] not be afraid of him” (Deuteronomy 18:22). That is, don’t give him any reverence. As a matter of fact, in
another passage, it says put him to death.
Now, the gift of a prophet or a prophetess was given both to men and to women.
Acts 2, verses 17–18: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens will I pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy” (Acts 2:17–18).
So, what do you have? You have women who can teach. You can have women who can prophesy. You can have women who can serve. But, never, ever do you find a woman as a pastor, with spiritual authority, leading a church as one who rules of the Church. You just don’t find it. Contrariwise, you find the Apostle Paul saying clearly and plainly, “I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man” (1 Timothy 2:12).
Now, let’s see if we can wrap this up, because we’ve got a ballgame coming up here pretty soon, which, by the way, the staff will win. But, I’m not saying that as a prophet ’cause I don’t want to get stoned.
All right, what do these people say? What are some of these arguments that we
hear? How does this come off? Well, somebody says, “But I know a woman preacher, a godly woman, who’s done much good.” I don’t doubt that. I know some very godly women who purport to be pastors. I think they’re mistaken. I think that, very frankly, that they are out of the will of God, but I don’t doubt their motivation. I’m certainly not here to judge their spirituality. They may do good, but I do not believe for one moment that ultimately we do good by disobeying the Word of God. It’s the bottom line. Some say they’ve been called and, therefore, they must obey. Well, I think we ought to obey the dictates of our heart but never if we clearly and plainly contravene or contradict the Word of God. We must admit that it is possible for both men and women to think they’ve been called when they haven’t. The country preacher said, “Many has went when they
ain’t been sent.” And, I think there are many people who think they have the gift of
preaching—nobody else has the gift of listening. There are people who may think that they are called; they’re not necessarily called. Again, I’m not trying to be smart about it, but we cannot go by subjective emotion. If subjective emotion or feeling and say, “Well, I know in my heart”...contradicts the Word of God.
Somebody wrote me a kind of a nasty letter. I get those every now and then. And,
this person accused me of unfair, hateful discrimination against women. Now, first of all, let me say that I don’t hate women; I love them. And, there’s one I really do love. And, we, around here, don’t hate women; we honor them. We put them on a pedestal. My wife says she doesn’t want to be equal with me—she’s not coming down for anything.
When you talk about unfair discrimination, have you ever heard of anybody accuse God of not being fair or something? Listen, God is not fair—God is not fair. God is righteous; God is just. When a person talks about fairness, they think they’re owed something; and when they get it, therefore, they’re not thankful. They say it was coming to them. And, as a matter of fact, they’re angry if they didn’t get it sooner—and especially if somebody gets more than they got. No, God is not fair. God doesn’t owe us anything. Everything that we have is by grace. Thank God He’s a God of grace! But, it’s not unfair discrimination against women.
God has given women many wonderful privileges that He’s not given men and vice versa. And, somebody says, “Well Adrian, you pick and choose scriptures. You don’t obey all the scriptures. You just pick some that seem to put the women down.” No, that’s not true. For example, someone says, “Well, what about all that scripture you just read about the hair covering, and praying with your head uncovered, and all that?” Well, let’s just revisit that for a few moments, because I know I saw some, some quizzical looks on your face.
Go back to 1 Corinthians 11, where we started, and look at it:
“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” (1 Corinthians 11:3). Let’s look in verse 3. Now, let me just pause there and say parenthetically, are God the Father and God and Son co-equal? Say “yes.” Is there headship in the Trinity? Say “yes.” That does not denigrate God the Son. God says of God the Son—God the Father says of God the Son that He’s “given him a name which is above every name” (Philippians 2:9); and yet, the head of the Son is the Father. And, there is this chain of authority or line of responsibility even in the Trinity. Now, notice verse 4: “Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered,
dishonoureth his head”—have you ever noticed that a man, just by instinct, will take his hat off when he prays? He dishonors his head—“But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she [was] shaven”—now, in this day, the temple prostitutes would shave their head. And so, if a woman prays with her head uncovered, it’s a dishonor to her, a disgrace—
“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”—that is, Eve was made out of Adam’s side. By the way, somebody told me the other day that when God made Eve, He took the very best rib—the one that holds this in—and I have to say “amen” to that. All right, enough of that foolishness. 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” (1 Corinthians 11:4–9).
Now, the Bible teaches that a man is to have mannish hair, a woman is to have
feminine hair. A woman is not to be shorn, shaved like a man. I know I’m walking on thin ice when I’m trying to tell women how to fix their hair, but I want to tell you something—and listen to me very carefully, carefully: the devil is doing all he can do to blur the distinction between the sexes. The Bible is against she-men and he-women. I was in a restroom the other day; and one came in, and I got frightened. I didn’t know who or what... It was a very... I couldn’t tell. I looked for an Adam’s apple. It’s hard to tell whether it’s a she or him. I call them shims. God made them, in the beginning, male and female (Genesis 1:27). And, the Bible says that—even nature teaches you that—it’s a shame for a man if he has long hair.
Now, what is this covering? Some people get the idea that the covering is a hat.
Used to be—women would come to church and they would wear hats to church on Sunday morning. And, you will see women today... Mennonite women, for example—they would not go to church without wearing some covering on their head. We have people come to our church. I’ve seen them even put a handkerchief on their head or a doily on their head so their head would be not uncovered. And, I don’t make fun of that, but that’s not what this verse means, in my estimation. It’s not what he’s talking about here at all. What is the covering that she’s supposed to have on her head? Notice in verse 15:
“But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a
covering” (1 Corinthians 11:15). That’s the covering—the long hair. Now, I’m not going to get into a discussion as to how long is long and how short and short, but I’m going to tell you something: the Bible wants men to look mannish, and the Bible wants women to look feminine. Now, you put that down. The devil is doing all he can do to make men look effeminate and women to look hard.
Listen to 1 Corinthians 6—you’re in 1 Corinthians 11—1 Corinthians 6:9: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers”—now, watch this—“nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9–10). God doesn’t want effeminate men. God does not want masculine women.
Let me just look at another verse with you here while we’re here. It’s kind of...and
people say, “Well Adrian, you don’t preach that and you don’t practice it.” I do preach it, and I do practice it. If you’ve been around here long enough, you’ll know that we do preach that. And, we try to teach our young men to dress and look and take care of themselves so that they will look like a man, and to teach our women to be soft, to be feminine, so that you don’t have to look several times to find out, “Is that a man or is that a woman?”
Now, it is a very interesting verse here, and there’s just so much here. But look, if
you will, in verse 10: “For this cause ought the woman to have [authority] on her head because of the angels” (1 Corinthians 11:10). Now, what on earth does that mean? Well, how did the angels fall? How did Satan, Lucifer, the Son of the Morning, become Satan, the father of the night? He rebelled. He said, “I will be like the most High [God]” (Isaiah 14:14). “I will exalt my throne [over] the stars of God”—“above the stars of God” (Isaiah 14:13). And, he took a third of the angels with him, and it was sheer rebellion. Paul is saying that a woman is to be under authority. See what happened to the angels because of rebellion that is in the universe?
Well, I come—yes, I do come—to a conclusion. Look in verse 16 of this same
chapter: he says here, “But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such
custom, neither the churches of God” (1 Corinthians 11:16). What does that mean?
Does it mean it’s not our custom to teach submission? No. He means we’re not going to argue with you. We have no custom of arguing about these things. This is the Word of God. Now, it’s not anti-woman. You see—look, folks—we did not write the Bible; we’re here to obey it. If it’s not politically correct, I’m sorry. If people think it’s discriminatory, I’m sorry. If it hurts people’s feelings, I’m sorry. But, I tell you, this church is built on the Word of God. And, as long as I have breath in my lungs, whether the people like it or they don’t like it—I hope they’ll like it—but I’m bound by the Word of God, and so are you.
Thank you. And, I know you’re not applauding me; you’re applauding the Word of
God.
Conclusion:
Father God, we pray that You’ll seal all of this to our hearts. And Lord, help us to be
gentle with those who don’t understand; and help us not to be pushy or arrogant, but to be loving. And, I thank You, Lord, for many people who do not agree. We pray, Lord, that You’ll give us a sense of wisdom, a sense of conciliation.