1 Corinthians 11:4-5
Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. [KJV]
This has been a debate for the longest time in church; this, and the other one of whether or not a woman should preach in church. Many times, you will hear the one leading prayers asking all men to remove their hats or even automatically when prayer is called upon, you'll see men removing their hats. But rarely will you see women rushing to cover their heads for the same.
Let us deal with the application of cultures first. There are cultures in the world, where removing the hat or head covering was a sign of respect. This also has been carried into the disciplined forces, where they show honour by removing their hats. This I believe is the same that overflows to the church and demands us to remove our hats and caps as honor to God. However, these are just but rules of men and preferences of men.
Just like to the people that Apostle Paul was talking to at Corinth. Before we understand this from a revelation point of view, we need to understand it first from a cultural point of view. The culture of the people in the middle east and also the texture and look of their hair. For example, what an African would call short or long hair may differ from what they would call long or short hair in the middle east. To a middle-eastern, long hair is hair that flows to the back, not hair that barely touches the shoulders. This is because of the texture and looks of their hair. A man may have hair that covers his ears, but to him it will not be long until it is straightened and is flowing to his back.
Long hair did not just entail the length of the hair, but also the grooming. The moment a man grooms himself to look like a woman or to compete with the women in beauty, then, even if that hair is one inch long, it automatically becomes long hair. The moment a woman cuts her hair shorter, not because she looks better that way, but so as to achieve a manly look, or grooms it to compete with men at being manly, no matter how long her hair is, it automatically becomes short or shaven. It is not the act, that makes it sinful, dishonarary but the intention behind the act.
Apart from the cultures, we need also to understand the revelation that Apostle Paul was teaching that is way deeper than culture, human preferences and likings. And it is the revelation of the heads. Apostle Paul starts by introducing four heads: the head of Christ, the head of the church, the head of man and the head of woman.
Reading 1 Corinthians 11:4 & 5, without reading verse three will always throw anybody that seeks to interpret it off. This is because you will be forced to think that Apostle Paul is talking about a physical head of each of these people, the man and the woman. However, Apostle Paul uses their heads as a representation of something bigger.
The head is the controlling institution of the body, this is where decisions are made, this is where plans are made, this is where visions are conceived. The head is actually what the scriptures refer to as the heart of man. The head is actually what gets born again when someone gets born again. In Ephesians 6:17, you wear the helmet of Salvation on the head. That is why it is called, "the helmet of Salvation". Salvation is supposed to affect how you process matter, how you plan, how you envision, your intentions and your decision making mechanism.
Now, when Paul says, "The head of Christ is God", he means that everything that Christ does is what God has decided; it is the will of the Father. While Jesus was preaching, many times He'd say, "I only do what I see my Father do" (John 5:19). He also said that when the Holy Spirit is come, He will not speak of Himself, but He will speak of Him. Therefore, Jesus speaks of God the Father, while the Holy Spirit speaks of Jesus Christ. In the Godhead, nobody does their own bidding, each does the others will. This means that God is one! Because, Jesus does the Will of God, while the Holy Spirit does the will of Christ, who is doing the will of God.
The Paul says that the head of the church is Christ. This means that any decision the body of Christ makes, any thought, any vision, any intention, any investment, is supposed to be what Christ wants. Any move by the church is supposed to be the will of Christ.
When Paul therefore says that man should not cover his head, culturally, he was speaking to people who viewed that as womanly. It was the duty of a woman to at least protect men from falling into temptation by staring at how beautiful and long her hair was and then start imagining other things. Her beauty was only supposed to be seen by her husband in the house. It is the same culture at play in the middle east up to date. Outside, or in public, the ladies are supposed to wear loose coverings that do not show their curvature. Sometimes, they cover everything only leaving a small opening at the eyes. This was supposed to tame lust or at least to withdraw blame from the woman, once it happened. Because men will still lust after a woman whether she's fully covered or not. But once the women are inside with their husbands, they are free to wear as they like to entice their husbands. Any woman that wore otherwise in public, was viewed as one with an intention to lure or trap men and was viewed at least as loose, or immoral and at worst a prostitute.
David asks, "Who is man that you are so mindful of him, that you visit him. You've made him a little lower than God and crowned him with glory? (Ps 8:4)" A man in scripture, is not just a male human being, it is a man who has understood authority and power and moves in them. Now, Paul says, that this man should not cover his head when he prophesies or prays. This does not just mean putting something on your head. It means, trying to conceal where your power , authority, achievements, success, progress, good things, etc, come from.
The moment you preach (prophesy) and all you can tell people is how good you are, how wise you are and that is why you have come so far, then, even if your head is open in the physical, it is covered in the spiritual. A man with his head uncovered is a man who draws all attention of his listeners and viewers to Christ. Saying that, he would be nothing were it not that Christ was his strength. Praying with your head covered is more than wearing a hat, prophesying with your head covered is more than having a cap on. It is possible to pray while wearing a cap, but still have your head uncovered, by making sure that everything you do or say, point people to Christ and not to you.
Now, the woman's head is the man. Paul was a very good writer, and I believe that if he wanted to say that the head of a woman is her husband, he'd have explicitly said so. However, he says the head of a woman, any woman anywhere, is man. He is not talking about a particular woman, he is talking about the institution called woman and the office called man. This means that how women behave in a certain domain is dependant on what the men in that locality have allowed. If men have permitted women to shave and view them as beautiful when shaved clean, then, that is how it is!
In precolonial African culture, women with clean shaved heads were viewed as very beautiful and honourable. Nowadays, many shaved women or short haired women are viewed as rebellious, uncontrollable and hard headed. More so, because of the intent behind their shaving. We have women who've decided to be men and marry fellow women, and one of their signals is shaving and grooming like men; they are called "studs". Recently when president Donald Trump won the US Presidency, we saw some of the LGBTQ die hards more so women, saying they will deny themselves and others sex and shave their heads as protest for the next four years. Their intention is therefore, rebelliousness. The intention is not beauty, or to enhance femininity, but to enhance their false masculinity and be a snare to the gullible and foolish enough to view them as manly.
Now, when women behave this way, Paul says it is a dishonour to the men of that domain. Please remember we are talking about more of intent than of the action. When a woman stands to preach, and her intention is to show how how independent she is from the authority of men, how she is more of a man than many (or all) men, how she can do better than any many, even if her hair is long and flowing on the floor, she is shaved clean in the spiritual realm and it is a sign of how men in that area have failed in their authority. When a woman is clean shaved, everybody may hold their opinion until she says, "my husband loves me this way" or "my husband advised me to shave" or anything that this was her mans idea! If her head is shaved clean, but it is so because her man loves her that way, or believes she's more feminine and more beautiful that way, if that is what men have allowed and term as beauty, then she is covered. Because her head is not her own, it is a borrowed item and it is how it is because the owner loves it that way. If you borrow something and treat it anyhow, disregarding the owners opinion, then that is dishonor. Any hairstyle a woman wears and the husband does not commend it as beautiful, should be changed the very next day.
Apostle Paul finishes by saying that, this should not be a debate and no doctrine should be derived from this, because these are not church rules and regulations cast on stone, but rather, human preferences and their point of view of things (1 Cor 11:16). If the men in a certain denomination feel they'd rather have all their women wearing a head scarf, then, so be it. But they should not force every other believer to do what their congregation does. If another congregation allows their women to shave, and the men are comfortable with their women looking so, so be it. But this should not be a rule across the board and making it look like a mark of righteousness or lack thereof.
There are denominations that have created doctrines and rules and made them look like marks of righteousness from things that are only preferential to them or one of their leaders. Things like plaiting hair, has been banned in some congregation, wearing jewellery and looking beautiful in make up, etc. This is good for a single congregation, but it should not be pushed down the throats of every believer as a biblical law of how all Christians should behave. These are just but laws of men. Paul warned women from adorning jewellery because of how distractive it was. Whether because of jewellery or any other thing, no human being should be the center of attention in the service. All attention should be God's! But imagine being in a neighbourhood where everybody is wearing gold and expensive clothes, then, you come in wearing tatters. You'll be causing the same pandemonium! I want to say that all these are based on where you are, what looks as excess in one place will look like a normal thing in another and what looks like normal here, will look like an excess there.
Just be wise and do not create doctrines out of things that are not permanent, don't create doctrines out of things that neither reduce, nor increase righteous. Don't create doctrines out of things that are just for human pleasure. May God bless you and keep you and may He lift you higher than I am. Shalom and keep the faith.
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