Equal But Different Roles

INTRO

In chapter 10, Paul told the Corinthian believers of how the Israelites turned their backs upon the Lord and earned God’s displeasure. Sadly, the Corinthians were facing that displeasure as well. In chapter 11, Paul brought their attention to imitating Christ.

TEACHING

1 Corinthians 11:1-12: Paul told the Corinthians they could imitate him because he imitated Jesus (v. 1). Isn’t that what we want our children to do—model their behavior and beliefs after ours? I love this verse so much that I contemplated teaching only on this. Could I tell people to imitate my life because I imitate Jesus so completely? What are the things I need to avoid, or to flee, or resist for my life to be more like Jesus’ life? In verse 1, Paul tied together everything he had been teaching up to this point with one summary statement: Imitate me as I imitate Christ.

In verse 2, Paul began what some people call a reprimand sandwich—start with something good, then reprimand, and finish with something good. He praised them for remembering him and keeping the traditions he taught them. “The traditions (as the other references show) were the central truths of the Christian faith, handed down at this stage (before the emergence of Christian literature) orally from evangelist and teacher to convert.”¹Nelson’s Commentary explains, “The Corinthians had made many mistakes, but they were not totally corrupt. The Corinthians had followed the apostle’s instructions in certain areas.”²

In verse 3, Paul pointed out that Christ is the head of every man, man is the head of every woman, and God is the head of Christ. The word “head” can mean either authority or origin.³ The relationship between a man and a woman is not based on inferiority—Jesus is not inferior to God, and woman is not inferior to man. You cannot negate one of these statements without negating both, and that goes against everything the Bible teaches about God and Jesus.

Nelson’s Commentary states, “Submission does not indicate inferiority, but subordination. Just as Christ and God are equally divine, men and women are equal beings. But just as Jesus and God the Father have different roles in God’s plan of salvation, so men and women are given different roles.”⁴ I think we sometimes don’t like the roles we have been given. But God clearly has a role and structure for each one.

In verse 4, “‘Praying’ involves expressing one’s thoughts and feelings to God and specifically, asking things of God.”⁵ A man who prayed/prophesied with his head covered dishonored God. But a woman who prayed/prophesied with her head uncovered dishonored God (v. 5). Constable suggests three explanations for why a woman’s head should be covered. First, she may have been missing a cloth or shawl to cover her head. Second, her hair may have been cut short and did not cover her head completely. Third, she may have left her hair down rather than putting it up as was customary for women to wear in public⁶ (1 Corinthians 14:34; 1 Timothy 2:12; 1 Timothy 5:16; Titus 2:3–4). Based on these verses, Paul seemed to be saying women could pour teachings into women and children. This is where it gets controversial. According to MacArthur, “In the culture of Corinth, a woman’s covered head, while ministering and worshiping, was a symbol to signify a subordinate relationship to her husband.”⁷ The head covering is a symbol of embracing her role. MacArthur continues, “The apostle is not laying down an absolute law for women to wear veils or coverings in all churches for all time but is declaring that the symbols of the divinely-established male and female roles are to be genuinely honored in every culture.”⁸ If there are no head coverings, then I still think God is saying men and women each have different roles in the church. What’s happening in the church today is we’re seeing these roles being blended into one.

1 Charles Kingsley Barrett, A Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, Harper’s New Testament Commentaries series (New York: Harper & Row, 1968), p. 247; quoted in Thom- as L. Constable, Dr. Constable’s Expository Bible Study Notes, p. 186; available online at https://planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/pdf/1corinthians.pdf.

6 Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, New International Commentary on the New Testament Series (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdman’s Publishing, 1987), pp. 495–97, 509–501; cited in Constable, p. 189.

We need to go back to 1 Corinthians 11:3 and then look at verse 7, which states a man should not cover his head because he is God’s glory and image, while a woman is man’s glory. Verse 8 pulls it all together—the man did not come from woman, but the woman came from man. Paul said, man was not created for woman, but woman was created for man. When we don’t focus only on head covering, we see man and woman were given different roles to fill, different but necessary, and important. This is not saying woman has a role that requires an apron at home, and she has no life, although that’s the image many people have. According to this Scripture, woman was created for man so they could reflect the glory of God together.

Paul continued to explain, the woman should have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels. This means that if angels were really watching, they would only see that there is a woman in submission to a man. The woman is not independent of the man, and the man is not independent of the woman (vv. 10–11). Constable shares four possibilities of what that “symbol of authority on her head” could be:

1. The symbol could be the man who has been given authority over her.
2. The symbol could be a veil over her head.
3. The head covering could show that women had new freedom in Christ.
4. The woman has authority over her head and can do whatever she pleases.⁹

Male and female are equal in the Lord, and they are different. What’s happening in society is that men are leaving their families, and women are having to take on the man’s role as well as their own. Woman came from man, man comes through woman, and everything comes from God (v. 12).

CLOSING

The bottom line is this: Our job is to always reflect Christ. Our personal agendas should be removed, because it’s not about what we want—it’s about what God wants. Our lives should be about having a personal relationship with Christ.