1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 2 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. 3 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 11:1-3).
There are some passages in scripture that just flat-out go against our natural understanding and sensibilities. These three verses begin a section of scripture that certainly goes against our 21st century thinking (it went against the 1st century thinking too). Truthfully, the verses that follow verse 3 are very difficult to ‘square’ with our natural understanding and our idea of order and fairness. But scripture is scripture and the Word of God is the Word of God. We cannot impose our natural understanding on the Word, but rather we are to conform our minds through the work of the Holy Spirit. But we should also not read into scripture or apply it in a way that is not appropriate: context and purpose are paramount.
The overall purpose of God’s design in creation including the relationship between His people is to glorify Him and benefit His people. So what 1 Corinthians 11 is really addressing is that we are most complete when we follow God’s way in terms of relationship to Him. These verses are not meant to set up a hierarchy of importance or worth before God. All His people are of infinite importance and worth. There are just simply different functions as they apply to the earthly roles of people in relationship to God. I should say too that if someone is not fulfilling their role in leadership, then clearly the other couldn’t follow. So this is very much about responsibility. These verses also appear only to apply to the earthly worship of God, not to jobs or other human activities or our eternal relationship. We, as a people, have had a long history of confusing this issue. God gives each person gifts, regardless of demographic, that are meant to be used in the world. Each person should have the freedom to use these gifts to the utmost. All we do should be for God’s glory and the benefit of His creation. When we come to God, we are to follow God’s way and God’s order and rely not on human understanding and in doing so the various gifts of people will be utilized for God’s glory.
There are some passages in scripture that just flat-out go against our natural understanding and sensibilities. These three verses begin a section of scripture that certainly goes against our 21st century thinking (it went against the 1st century thinking too). Truthfully, the verses that follow verse 3 are very difficult to ‘square’ with our natural understanding and our idea of order and fairness. But scripture is scripture and the Word of God is the Word of God. We cannot impose our natural understanding on the Word, but rather we are to conform our minds through the work of the Holy Spirit. But we should also not read into scripture or apply it in a way that is not appropriate: context and purpose are paramount.
The overall purpose of God’s design in creation including the relationship between His people is to glorify Him and benefit His people. So what 1 Corinthians 11 is really addressing is that we are most complete when we follow God’s way in terms of relationship to Him. These verses are not meant to set up a hierarchy of importance or worth before God. All His people are of infinite importance and worth. There are just simply different functions as they apply to the earthly roles of people in relationship to God. I should say too that if someone is not fulfilling their role in leadership, then clearly the other couldn’t follow. So this is very much about responsibility. These verses also appear only to apply to the earthly worship of God, not to jobs or other human activities or our eternal relationship. We, as a people, have had a long history of confusing this issue. God gives each person gifts, regardless of demographic, that are meant to be used in the world. Each person should have the freedom to use these gifts to the utmost. All we do should be for God’s glory and the benefit of His creation. When we come to God, we are to follow God’s way and God’s order and rely not on human understanding and in doing so the various gifts of people will be utilized for God’s glory.
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