The Bible is a book written from the heart of the language and culture of its authors. It spans some 2000 years, penned by some 40 people in different languages and from the background of a variety of Middle-Eastern cultures.
We would expect, then, that there were many practices in those days that no longer apply now. Does that make the Bible irrelevant to us? Not at all! We can draw principles from their culture that are timeless, and apply equally to us now as they did to them then.
We have already examined some of the ways in which people in Jesus’ day were both to submit to unjust treatment as well as to preserve their own dignity by, for example, turning the left cheek to insult, going the second mile to carry a Roman soldier’s pack, or surrendering one’s tunic when one’s cloak is demanded as surety for an unpaid debt.
Any of these actions would make no sense now but spoke volumes to someone who intended to insult or bully a person of less social standing in Jesus’ day.
Another of these “cultural” riddles is found on Paul’s instruction to women in his letter to the Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 11:4-6 NLT
[4] “A man dishonors his head if he covers his head while praying or prophesying. [5] But a woman dishonors her head if she prays or prophesies without a covering on her head, for this is the same as shaving her head. [6] Yes, if she refuses to wear a head covering, she should cut off all her hair! But since it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or her head shaved, she should wear a covering.”
What does cutting hair or wearing a head covering have to do with women today? Is this an instruction for women to obey in 21st century Western culture? Is there a timeless principle in Paul’s instructions for women today?
Some cultures have a law that women must cover themselves from head to toe, even to covering their faces. As a result, nothing of them may be visible except their eyes. Apparently, the reasoning behind this extreme practice is that the sight of any part of a woman’s body is a temptation to a man. Hence, women are treated as inferior to men and must be subjugated to men. Temptation is blamed on what men can see when they look at a woman, not on men’s wicked hearts.
As always, the Bible will explain itself if we listen to the Holy Spirit.
Apparently, cutting of hair or appearing in public without a head covering was the sign of a prostitute. Any man seeking a prostitute’s services would easily find her. Therefore, any attempt by a Christian woman to throw off this cultural norm would be out of line.
Paul said, “Don’t do it because of God’s creation order. He has ordained that the husband is the authority in a marriage. His wife signifies her submission to God in this order and in this culture, by covering her head.
Our Christian faith has introduced another valuable principle into whatever practice reflects a wife’s submission to God’s order. If wearing a head covering means nothing to us now, the Bible turns our attention to the attitude of the heart.
Two complementary passages of Scripture show us how wives, in particular, are to treat their husbands as a witness to their obedience to God’s order in marriage.
Ephesians 5:21-23 NLT
[21]”And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. [22] For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. [23] For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church.”
This instruction elevates the marriage relationship onto God’s level for marriage…to be an earthly reflection of a heavenly reality. The church is betrothed to Christ. He loves the church, died for her, and tenderly cares for her until He returns to “marry” her for eternity. The wife is therefore to submit to her husband’s love as the Church submits to her Lord in whatever way her culture dictates. In this interactive way, the two become one.
Peter echoes Paul’s sentiments.
1 Peter 3:1-6 NLT
[1] “In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over [2] by observing your pure and reverent lives. [3] Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. [4] You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of A GENTLE AND QUIET SPIRIT, which is so precious to God. [5] This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God and accepted the authority of their husbands. [6] For instance, Sarah obeyed her husband, Abraham, and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do.”
Peter draws the wife’s attention to the heart of the matter. How she adorns her body is not as important as the way she adorns her attitude. He refers to her attitude to her husband as “the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit” that pleases God and that will keep her husband close to her always because, unlike external looks, inner beauty never fades.
So, when we put these Scriptures together, God’s ways emerge. If we rely on whether women cut their hair or cover their heads in obedience to a cultural norm, as a sign of their submission to God’s order, we are tresspassing into legalism.
Paul strongly resisted the teaching of some false teachers, that people must use an outward sign, like circumcision for example, as a way to being right with God.
Galatians 5:2-4 NLT
[2] “Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. [3] I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses.”
No one is right with God by trying to obey the law. Even worse…
[4]”For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.”
Therefore, to think that having long hair or wearing a head covering means that a wife is being submissive to her husband, is equally false.
It does not matter how a woman adorns her body. If her heart is not willingly obedient to God’s Word, she is being disobedient.
If this principle applies to married women, what about single girls and women?
I believe that the attitude girls and single women have towards all men, beginning with their fathers, is a good indication of how they will treat their husbands. Therefore, part of the role of a submissive wife is to teach her children to be submissive to their fathers. This attitude will lay a solid foundation for the future for both girls and boys.
God has instituted a pecking order in the family that works. When the family adheres to the principle, it filters into society, and peace reigns.
To conclude, then, if we look for principles in the cultural norms in Scripture, we will often find God’s ways embedded in them as a guide to godly living.