1Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.
2Now I praise you, brothers, that you remember me in all things, and hold firm the traditions, even as I delivered them to you. 3But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. 4Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. 5But every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered dishonors her head. For it is one and the same thing as if she were shaved. 6For if a woman is not covered, let her hair also be cut off. But if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off or be shaved, let her be covered. 7For a man indeed ought not to have his head covered, because he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man. 8For man is not from woman, but woman from man; 9for man wasn’t created for the woman, but woman for the man. 10For this cause the woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels.
11Nevertheless, neither is the woman independent of the man, nor the man independent of the woman, in the Lord. 12For as woman came from man, so a man also comes through a woman; but all things are from God. 13Judge for yourselves. Is it appropriate that a woman pray to God unveiled? 14Doesn’t even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? 15But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given to her for a covering. 16But if any man seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither do God’s assemblies.
17But in giving you this command I don’t praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18For first of all, when you come together in the assembly, I hear that divisions exist among you, and I partly believe it. 19For there also must be factions among you, that those who are approved may be revealed among you. 20When therefore you assemble yourselves together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21For in your eating each one takes his own supper first. One is hungry, and another is drunken. 22What, don’t you have houses to eat and to drink in? Or do you despise God’s assembly and put them to shame who don’t have enough? What shall I tell you? Shall I praise you? In this I don’t praise you.
23For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread. 24When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.” 25In the same way he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.” 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself if he doesn’t discern the Lord’s body. 30For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep. 31For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged. 32But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. 33Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest your coming together be for judgment. The rest I will set in order whenever I come.
Men & Women
11 Nevertheless, neither is the woman independent of the man, nor the man independent of the woman, in the Lord. 12 For as woman came from man, so a man also comes through a woman; but all things are from God.
I’ve heard women complain about the writings of Paul, especially when they read of Paul’s instructions concerning the authority of women and their speaking in the church. For example, in 1 Timothy 3:11, Paul instructs Timothy that women should not speak out in the church. He elaborates, saying that they do not have the authority to be the spiritual teachers over men. Paul wrote these things because God indeed has an ideal hierarchy for authority, both in our family lives and in the church. Sadly, many men today fail to be the kind of men that either a woman or a church congregation should follow.
Furthermore, in the passage in 1 Timothy and others, Paul was addressing women who had practices and habits that they had brought into the church from their pagan worship services, such as those in the Cult of Artemis. Paul addresses that. The early church was patterned after worship in the synagogue, and those Gentile women converts did not understand the dress and habits of Jewish women within a worship setting. They dressed modestly, and they reserved their questions about what the rabbis had discussed for their husbands in the privacy of their own homes. Without a correct understanding, the modern woman might feel like scripture relegates her to being a second-class citizen.
Nothing could be further from the truth. God made men and women differently, but he made them equal in value and worth. Interestingly, even today, a Shabbat service cannot begin without the prayers of a woman (or a mother) and without her lighting the candles, which invite God’s presence and participation into the Shabbat meal. In the subject passage today, Paul states very clearly that “neither is the woman independent of the man, nor the man independent of the woman, IN THE LORD”. He goes on to explain that the woman was indeed made from the rib of a man coming out of his body, but all men are born from, and come out of, a woman’s body. All things are from God. He is the great equalizer.
I think what we should take from this passage is that if you are a man, don’t ever get the idea that you are better than or have the upper hand on a woman. You have a different role and perform other functions, but you are not superior to a woman. In a way, you cannot do your duties independently of her. I will add that you need to seek God’s help to be the kind of man that God desires for you to be. And, if you are a woman, understand that you are not inferior to a man, nor do you function independently of a man. You, too, have your God-given role and directives on how to function and operate within His design and will. You are not inferior to a man, but in God’s design, you are not the final authority in the home nor the church assembly. Someone must have the final word, and God has an order for things. When we men fail to be the kind of men that God intends for us to be, we create dysfunction. When we are women and we fail to be the kind of women that God intends for us to be, we too create dysfunction. God has a way for us to work together and get along in a way that gives Him glory and honor. Things run best when we do things as He directed.