Head Coverings and submission
In I Corinthians, chapter 11 we encounter what has come to be in Christian circles a very controversial subject; head coverings. Here Paul is teaching about the use of veils, hats or some form of covering for the women during church gatherings. Based upon their interpretation of this passage, some believe that it is essential for women to use a physical covering in public meetings. Others think that long hair on a woman is the "covering" about that Paul is speaking. Still others reason that this admonition is a result of ancient culture and has no place in our society today. These and many other opinions have resulted in no small dispute in the Church of God.
Even though many people hold varying opinions, I believe that most will agree upon one key point. Paul is teaching about the necessity for a woman to have an attitude of submission toward her husband, or lacking a husband, to a father, leader or other man in authority. The physical covering, whether we may believe it to be necessary or not, is only a symbol of an inward heart attitude. Surely all would concur that any covering, whether hair or hat, that is not accompanied by an attitude of submission is simply adornment, or worse, hypocrisy. The primary focus of the teaching then is that a "covering" is an outward evidence of an inward position. It is the sign or symbol of the fact that the woman has decided to submit herself to a man and that this man is her "head." She is covering her own head, whether with hair, veil, or simply with a reverent, submissive attitude to signify that another "head" is recognized as being supreme.
With this in mind, let us examine another part of this passage together. Paul teaches that "the head of every man is Christ" (vs 3). Further, he states that for a man to pray or prophesy with his head covered dishonours his true Head. When a man uses a "covering" he dishonours Jesus Christ (vs 4). While it is not a common thing in the world today to encounter men wearing hats in church meetings, there is I believe a deeper, more serious lesson to be learned from these verses.
We have concluded that the essence of the "head covering" teaching is a heart attitude. It is an inward decision to put oneself in the position of being in submission to a man. Therefore, if a man puts himself in this position, he is acting like a woman. He is behaving in a manner that shows that he has taken another man to be his head. He is choosing to submit himself under a human authority. This position, my dear brothers, is clearly against the scriptures. According to Paul's teaching, this activity dishonours Christ. It is an insult to Him and His headship over each and every man. Although men's hats in church is really a non-issue, the practice of being in submission to a man or group of men, or being under the "covering" of some man or men is a very common indeed. It is, in fact, something that a significantly large portion of the Christian churches insists upon. If you are not "in submission" they say, you are out of the will of God. If you are not "covered" by some other man or ministry, you must be a rebel of the worst variety. Ideas such as "coming under," "umbrella" and "looking to for direction" are all extremely popular in today's church. The thought that somehow there is a kind of safety in adopting this position of submission is quite prevalent.
While all this is currently so popular and has perhaps an aura of being "right," let us stop and think about it critically for a minute. If a woman uses a covering, she is stating publicly that she is in submission to a man. If therefore a man states publicly that he is in submission to another man, he in fact is "using" a head covering. He is taking a position of being in submission to another. Therefore, whether a physical veil is present or not, he is assuming an attitude that is dishonouring to his true Head, Jesus Christ. Surely it is plain that in the case of the woman, the attire is not at the core of the issue but rather the attitude of the heart. So also, in the case of the man, the real crux of Paul's teaching is not about sombreros or baseball caps but the position of the inner man.
Dishonouring Christ
Here the scripture is quite clear. If a man prays or prophesies (meaning that he is functioning in some capacity in church meetings) with his head covered, he is insulting Jesus. He is humbling himself before another man instead of God and relying upon this other person for direction and supervision. This man is indicating that Jesus is not sufficient. His leadership and headship are not adequate and therefore he must look to a human being for covering. Although Jesus may be his head in some kind of mystical, distant way, he is choosing a more "real," tangible human being to whom he can submit himself and whom he can follow. If you were the Lord of the universe and your child acted in this way, would you be dishonoured? Jesus is. The Bible plainly tells us so. Why is this so important? There are several very clear reasons. The first is that God created man to fulfil a marvellous plan. If man is to be God's representative, He must be in intimate daily contact and communication with Him. When another head or "covering" is placed between the Christian and Jesus, this hinders the proper flow of authority. No man can adequately transmit to another all that God would want to say and do. Since all men are finite, so also our comprehension of God's will is circumscribed. Therefore, it is impossible for a man or even a group of men to ever come close to expressing the will of God to another in a complete fashion. For a man to place himself "under" the authority of man severely interrupts the flow of authority from the Head into and through his life.
A second reason that men of God should not place themselves "under" another is that we cannot keep our attention focused in two directions at once. No man can serve two masters. God has designed man so that he can only give his allegiance to one principal at a time. This is an unalterable truth. When we turn to look to man for direction, we automatically divert our attention from Jesus. Doing this, we bring ourselves under a curse from God. He says, "Cursed is the man who trusts in man, who makes the arm of flesh his strength, departing from the living God" (Jer 17:5). You see, trusting in man and departing from God are inexorably linked. There is just no way that we can look to a leader and not look away from our Lord. Could this be the reason that Jesus taught us to call no man "father," "teacher" or "leader" (Mt 23:8-10)?
When we try to divide our attention, the direction that is easiest will usually win out. There is no doubt that a tangible, physical, human leader is simpler to follow than an invisible Lord. The natural tendency of human nature is to want someone to lead it. This is exactly the situation that Samuel encountered with the children of Israel. They came to him wanting a king. Consequently, he became very upset. He tried in vain to explain to them the plan of God. The Most High was already their king. They did not need a human one.
Although their leader was invisible, He was very real. Nevertheless, Israel rejected the counsel of Samuel and demanded a leader to rule over them. God gave them their wish, but it was not His will. In the same way today, God tolerates our earthly systems and even uses them to further His purposes, but it is not His design.
A Futile Exercise
Another reason that placing ourselves "under" another to help our spiritual life is erroneous is that it simply does not work. No one besides our God sees clearly into the depths of our soul. Men can observe our outward actions and words. Sometimes they even have small glimpses into our heart. But only the Spirit of the Lord really searches out what is hidden in our innermost being. Therefore, at best the disciple will have only a superficial dealing with the thoughts and intentions of his heart. It is possible for a person to be very obedient to his overseer's will but have within his heart deeply hidden areas in that he is strongly rebelling against his true Master.
Furthermore, there is a great danger of becoming a Pharisee. Under the guidance of a human being, the outward appearance of a person can perhaps be cleaned up or controlled. By pleasing his elder, this person then imagines that he has made spiritual progress or is growing in the Lord. When he has become very obedient to his "discipler" he could then suppose that he has become mature and ready for spiritual service. But if we are submitted to some man, are we really more submitted to God? Has a great change taken place in our intimacy and relationship with our Lord? If we were not really given to God before we submitted ourselves to a leader how has our true heart attitude really changed?
We must remember that the goal of spiritual authority is to bring people into a state of obedience to God, not to the servant of God or a superficial standard. On the other hand, when and if a believer is truly submitted to God, he will gladly submit to anyone and everyone who is speaking from God. This will be especially true toward those who are known to be channels of God's authority. Therefore, if we can minister to Christians a deep, genuine submission to the Lord, all problems with rebellion in the church can be resolved. Instead of covering the problems with a band-aid of superficial attitudes and actions, spiritual ministry can help expose and eliminate the root of the problem. How the church of God today needs such ministry! How we need to become genuinely submitted to God!
As believers we have the responsibility to rightly divide the word of truth. There is such a thing as true, spiritual submission. There is also the error of submitting to men instead of God. Yes, I do remember the verses about those who are "over" us in the Lord. What a terrible translation of the Greek word "PROISTEMI" that means "to stand before, hence to lead" according to Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. It has nothing to do with domination, control or being "over" in the commonly understood sense. Christians down through the centuries have suffered much because of this mis-translation, that has led to wrong concepts. Also, I know about the Centurion, the "man under authority" (Mt 8:9). He did recognize Jesus' supernatural authority because he himself had earthly authority. However, he was certainly not giving a teaching about church government, nor should we understand it that way.
Of course we should be respectful and submissive. That is what this entire writing is about. However, wrong submission will get us nowhere. Only genuine submission to God will work. May we prayerfully seek God for His will and way in this all-important question.
Abdication of Responsibility
Perhaps the real reason that so many embrace the idea of submitting themselves to another man is that it releases them from much responsibility. This is the same reason the ancient Israelites wanted a king. They wanted someone else to fight their battles, make the important decisions and set the direction. In this way, they were free to go about their own pursuits unhindered by spiritual responsibility. They could just sit back and coast. Now there is a certain fleshly appeal to this idea. To trust a leader whom we respect and be free from responsibility is what many people want. However, to do so is to give up the priesthood and kingship that God created us for. By adopting another "head" we reject the true One. Each of us has a responsibility before God as a priest and king to seek His will, practice daily intercession, maintain a relationship with Him and be involved in leading others into His kingdom. What a temptation it is to let others do the hard work. How easy it is just to trust in the abilities of another. But God is asking more than this. Each man must wear the priestly garments and bear the kingly responsibilities for his own household, friends and brothers in the Lord. Brethren, it is God's will for you to reign with Him. Do not trade this privilege for the broad, easy way. Let no man take your crown (Rev 3:11)!