Glory, Headship, and Hair Text: 1 Corinthians 11:2-16
Introduction: The War on Creation's Grammar
We live in an age that is profoundly confused about what it means to be a man or a woman. This is not an accident, nor is it a recent development. The confusion is the deliberate and necessary fruit of a long rebellion against the Creator. When you reject the Author, you cannot hope to keep the story straight. Our culture wants to tear out the first few pages of the book and then wonders why none of the characters make any sense. They are trying to play chess after having thrown the rulebook into the fire. The result is not freedom; it is chaos. It is a return to the tohu wa-bohu, the formless and the void, that God first brought order to.
Into this confusion, the apostle Paul speaks with a bracing and unwelcome clarity. This passage in 1 Corinthians 11 is one of those places in Scripture that modern evangelicals often wish would just quietly go away. They treat it like an embarrassing relative at a dinner party, hoping no one brings him up. We either explain it away as a curious cultural artifact relevant only to the Corinthians, or we mumble something about hairstyles and move on. But Paul does not allow us this luxury. He grounds his argument not in the shifting sands of Corinthian fashion, but in the bedrock of creation, the nature of glory, and the observation of angels.
This is not about hats, primarily. It is about headship. It is not about fashion, but about glory. Paul is teaching the Corinthians, and us, that corporate worship is a dramatic reenactment of cosmic realities. When we gather to pray and prophesy, we are not just expressing our private feelings to God. We are stepping onto a stage, with angels as the audience, and we are telling the truth about who God is, who Christ is, who man is, and who woman is. Our appearance, our posture, our comportment in worship matters because it is a sermon. The question is whether we will preach the sermon God wrote, or one we have scribbled in the margins ourselves.
To reject this passage is to do more than reject a dress code. It is to reject the created order. It is to say that the distinctions God wove into the fabric of humanity are meaningless. And when you do that, you unravel everything. So let us approach this text not with embarrassment, but with the confidence that God's Word is good, wise, and true, and that His instructions are for our glory and His.
The Text
Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying, shames his head. But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying, shames her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut short. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut short or her head shaved, let her cover her head. For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of man. For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man. For indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake. Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman, but all things originate from God. Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her for a covering. But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God.
(1 Corinthians 11:2-16 LSB)
Tradition and Headship (vv. 2-3)
Paul begins with praise, which is always a good place to start. But notice what he praises them for.
"Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you." (1 Corinthians 11:2)
The evangelicals who are allergic to the word "tradition" need to sit with this for a moment. Paul is not praising them for their spontaneous, free-wheeling spirituality. He is praising them for their faithful adherence to the apostolic ordinances he passed down. The Christian faith is a received faith. We do not invent it as we go. There are patterns, forms, and traditions delivered by the apostles, and our duty is to hold them fast. What follows is one of those traditions.
"But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:3)
Here is the foundational principle. This is the cosmic hierarchy of authority. It is not a chain of command in a bossy, corporate sense. This is a covenantal reality. Headship here means source, origin, and loving authority. The Son proceeds from the Father. The man was the source from which the woman came. And Christ is the head, the source of life, for every man. This is not degrading to women any more than it is degrading to Christ to be under the headship of the Father. They are one in essence and glory, yet there is an order in their relationship. So it is with man and woman. This is a dance, not a dictatorship. And the order of the dance is essential for the beauty of it.
Glory Displayed and Covered (vv. 4-7)
From this principle of headship, Paul draws a direct application for conduct in corporate worship.
"Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying, shames his head. But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying, shames her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved." (1 Corinthians 11:4-5)
The issue is shame and honor, directed at one's "head." A man praying with his head covered shames his head, who is Christ. A woman praying with her head uncovered shames her head, who is her husband. Why? Paul will explain, but first he drives the point home. An uncovered woman in worship is functionally the same as a shorn woman. It is a sign of disgrace.
"For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut short. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut short or her head shaved, let her cover her head." (1 Corinthians 11:6)
This is a classic Pauline argument. If you are going to abandon the principle, then go all the way with the logic of your rebellion. If you want to throw off the sign of your glory, then get rid of the glory itself. If a woman insists on an uncovered head, she might as well shear it all off. But, Paul says, everyone recognizes that would be disgraceful. Therefore, she should be covered. The logic is inescapable. The covering here is what stands between her and public disgrace.
"For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of man." (1 Corinthians 11:7)
Here is the theological core of the argument. Man is to be uncovered because he is the glory of God. In worship, God's glory is to be unveiled. But the woman is the glory of man. And in worship, man's glory must be veiled. Only God's glory is to be on display. Notice Paul does not say woman is the image of man. She is the image of God, just as man is (Gen 1:27). But she is the glory of man. This is not a demotion. She is the glory of the glory. She is the capstone of creation, the superlative. Think of the Holy of Holies. It was the most glorious part of the temple, and it was veiled. The woman's covering is not a sign of inferiority, but of a different, derivative, and superlative glory that must be rightly ordered in God's presence.
Creation, Angels, and Nature (vv. 8-15)
Paul now grounds this entire argument in three non-negotiable realities: the order of creation, the audience of angels, and the testimony of nature.
"For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man. For indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake." (1 Corinthians 11:8-9)
This is a direct appeal to Genesis 2. Adam was formed first, then Eve. Eve was created from Adam's side, for him, as his helper. This is the created order. It is not a cultural suggestion. To rebel against this is to rebel against the way the world was made. The feminist project is, at its root, a war against Genesis.
"Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels." (1 Corinthians 11:10)
This is a dense and crucial verse. The woman is to have authority on her head. This is not the authority of her husband over her, but her own authority, her glory, which she rightly veils. And she does this "because of the angels." The angels are watching our worship. They are intensely interested in the drama of redemption (1 Peter 1:12). They behold the manifold wisdom of God being put on display in the church (Ephesians 3:10). When they see a church where men and women are rightly ordered, they see a picture of God's cosmic wisdom. When they see confusion, they see rebellion. Our worship services are lessons for the angelic realm.
"Nevertheless, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman, but all things originate from God." (1 Corinthians 11:11-12)
Paul anticipates the objection that he is making women inferior. He immediately balances his argument with the doctrine of mutual dependence. The first woman came from man. Every man since has come from a woman. There is no room for pride on either side. Both are utterly dependent on each other and ultimately dependent on God, who is the source of all.
"Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her for a covering." (1 Corinthians 11:13-15)
Paul's final appeal is to our own God-given common sense, what he calls "nature." Nature itself teaches a distinction. Long hair on a man is shameful, a sign of effeminacy. But long hair on a woman is her glory. And then he says it plainly: "For her hair is given to her for a covering." The primary covering Paul has in view is the one that nature provides. A woman's long hair is her glory, and that glory is itself her covering. This does not mean an artificial covering is irrelevant. A man has short hair by nature, so he is uncovered. If he then puts on a hat in worship, he artificially covers what should be uncovered. Likewise, a woman's glory is her long hair, her natural covering. This natural covering is the basis for the principle.
The Uncontentious Conclusion (v. 16)
Paul ends with a pastoral smackdown for those who want to argue.
"But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God." (1 Corinthians 11:16)
After grounding his argument in the Trinity, creation, the angels, and nature, he adds one final reason: this is simply what we Christians do. There is a universal custom in the churches of God. If you want to be a spiritual maverick and argue about it, understand that you are setting yourself against the uniform practice of the apostolic church. For Paul, that settles the matter.
Conclusion: Wearing the Gospel
So what do we do with this? We must first see that this is not a trivial issue. It is about whether we will honor the created order in our worship. It is about whether we will preach the truth about headship and glory with our bodies.
The principle is that man, as the glory of God, is to be uncovered in worship, and woman, as the glory of man, is to be covered. The primary, natural application of this is found in hair. Men should look like men, with short hair. Women should look like women, with long hair, which is their glory and covering. This is the teaching of nature, and it is the foundation.
When we honor these distinctions, we are not just following an arbitrary rule. We are wearing the gospel. The relationship between man and woman is a picture of the relationship between Christ and the Church. Christ is the head, the uncovered glory of God. The Church is His body, His glory. And she is a covered glory, arrayed in the righteousness He provides, submitted to His loving headship.
Our egalitarian age despises these distinctions. It wants unisex everything. It wants to blur the lines, erase the boundaries, and tear down the created order. But the church must be a city on a hill, a counter-cultural outpost of creation's logic. And it begins right here, in the simple, bodily obedience of how we present ourselves when we come together to worship the living God. We are telling a story with our lives, and in our worship, that story should be clear for all, even the angels, to see.