Wearing Hats in Church

1 Corinthians 11 is on of the most challenging passages to interpret in all of the New Testament. Paul is going to spend a considerable amount of time discussing wearing "hats" in church. He's going to say that a woman must wear a hat and a man should never wear a hat. But how are we to interpret this in 21st-century America?

1 Corinthians 11:4–5 (ESV) Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, 5 but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven.

As always context matters. What was happening in Corinth at the time of this writing that helps us to understand the practical application for worship in the corporate setting?

Corinth was made of large Greek and Roman segments of society. The Christians there came from the influence of Greek mythology and the paganism of Rome. According to the custom of the Romans, whenever a woman committed adultery her head was to be shaved. And the male Greek gods were known for having long hair. Already this begins to clear things up. But there's more.

The main object of lust for a man towards woman at this time was her hair. That is why Paul says if a woman insists on uncovering her head she might as well shave it because it seems she doesn't care to be associated with her husband a marital faithfulness.

So there were some women showing up without head coverings and there were some men growing their hair long all in the name of their 'Christian freedom'. Of course, wearing a hat does not save us or condemn us. But it's about what edifies and builds up the body, not what we can do in freedom (1 Cor. 8:1).

This chapter is another appeal for Christians to willfully limit their freedom in Christ for the sake of their brothers and sisters. Ladies, if the way you dress brings sexual desire to men, then for the sake of their purity and to save you from being a sex object in a sacred space, wear something else!  Men, if your appearance brings more attention to you than to Christ, stop! 

WORSHIP is NEVER about US! That means the worship experience is not the place to "express ourselves" or "feel good about us" but rather to make much of God!

Again, being in community - that which we were made for from the beginning (Genesis 2:18) - inevitably limits freedom. We have to accept this or choose to live solitary lives. Independence is not God's intention, interdependence is closer, but ultimately sacrifice for the sake of others is the heart of the Triune God in whose image we are made.

Let us consider today what ways we sometimes make worship or church about us and our personal freedom in Christ. Is there something we need God to correct? Are we allowing the Word to search our hearts and set us right so that Christ may be all in all?

I pray that we will.

PRAYER:

Father, hallowed be Your Name! May Your Son be glorified in our midst. Help Your church to bring glory ONLY to that NAME by which we are called. Search my heart and know me. Let my life be a transparent lens through which Christ is visibly seen. Amen.