From Paula:
This Sunday, Bruce will be preaching out of 1 Corinthians 11:1-16. I have found it helpful this week to read this passage in The Message, as well as several other translations. You can do this easily by visiting Biblegateway.com. Here is what it says in The Message:
1-2 It pleases me that you continue to remember and honor me by keeping up the traditions of the faith I taught you. All actual authority stems from Christ. 3-9 In a marriage relationship, there is authority from Christ to husband, and from husband to wife. The authority of Christ is the authority of God. Any man who speaks with God or about God in a way that shows a lack of respect for the authority of Christ, dishonors Christ. In the same way, a wife who speaks with God in a way that shows a lack of respect for the authority of her husband, dishonors her husband. Worse, she dishonors herself—an ugly sight, like a woman with her head shaved. This is basically the origin of these customs we have of women wearing head coverings in worship, while men take their hats off. By these symbolic acts, men and women, who far too often butt heads with each other, submit their "heads" to the Head: God.
10-12 Don't, by the way, read too much into the differences here between men and women. Neither man nor woman can go it alone or claim priority. Man was created first, as a beautiful shining reflection of God—that is true. But the head on a woman's body clearly outshines in beauty the head of her "head," her husband. The first woman came from man, true—but ever since then, every man comes from a woman! And since virtually everything comes from God anyway, let's quit going through these "who's first" routines.
After reading this passage, I thought it would be interesting for us to use this forum to discuss some of the ways in which our culture affects our behavior in worship. For example, I have heard Jim mention our casual culture several times in reference to the way it influences our interactions with God. What are some other cultural things that infuence us as a church? How do you think they affect our worship?
Have a wonderful week!
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4 comments:
First, I want to say how much last Sunday's service touched me. I think it is so important that we build each other up, especially publicly, because that encourages both the reciever and the hearers.
About how our culture affects worship, I think that particularly in the Northwest, people are fiercely independent. We dont want to be told what to do and we don't want to think of anyone else as better than us in any way. This tends to spill into our relationship with God/Jesus and although He is our friend, counselor, comforter and helper we resist seeing Him as our King who has authority over us. This gets in the way of worship because if you don't see someone as above you you have difficulty worshipping Him. I am interested in knowing whether the rest of you have this problem and how you handle it. I hope you are all having a great week.
I think you're right, mom. I also think our independance gets in the way of living the kind of lives Jesus really calls us to live. We don't want to admit that we need help from anyone, which prevents our church family from being able to love us the way they are supposed to. You know that old saying, "It is more blessed to give than to receive?" A wise man once told me that if we refuse to receive, we are denying others the opportunity to give, and therefore standing in the way of their blessings. Something to think about...
Thanks Lynda, for the observation that our cultural setting does create some obstacles to the Jesus as king response... Of course, Jesus is at work in our hearts and minds to transform our "cultural" perspective into a "Jesus-ruled" perspective, but it is often a one step up and two steps back kind of journey. I think that is one of the really important worship aspects, that the glory and wonder of God and the majesty of Jesus overtakes us and opens the door to His working on our hearts and minds so that we can live a "transformed" kind of life.
Hello everyone!
Here is the text of yesterday's (Nov. 4) sermon. There were some very good questions asked in our discussion class afterwards, and perhaps there are more to come?
Dangerous Worship: “Worship that Honors Relationship”
(How and why we all pray in the church)
1 Cor. 11:2-16
November 4
Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.
I. Praise for what is good in the assembly-
A. Holding on to the teachings of the apostles
Paul is praising the church in Corinth for “holding” on to the ‘traditions’ he had taught them and for “remembering” Paul—though the tone of the letter indicates that there is much in which they have forgotten or misused those teachings. Yet at the center of Paul’s praise is the conviction that they have held onto their faith in Christ and their commitment to His Lordship over them. And as the apostle to the gentiles, Paul is thankful that they have held firmly to the central truths of faith in Christ.
B. Praying and prophesying of both men and women
The praise doesn’t last very long in this letter because Paul immediately begins to address a behavior that has become less than beneficial, and has in fact, become a point of disagreement and misunderstanding. Every church experiences the things that cause misunderstanding and disagreement, sometimes strong disagreement leading to conflicts and strained or damaged relationships, and as Paul sees this taking place in Corinth he addresses it quickly by setting out a relational depiction of life in the kingdom of God (that is, life in the body of Christ as it is meant to be). Paul writes
3But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. 4Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. 5But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved. 6For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head. 7For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. 8For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; 9for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake. 10Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
The principle Paul illustrates here is relational in nature—the relationship of God and Christ, of man and woman, of mankind and Christ is depicted not in an organizational model (the pyramid of top to bottom authority flow) but in a circular way: Christ is the head of man, man is the head of woman, God is the head of Christ. By moving in this circle instead of the pyramid, Paul reframes the nature of these relationships from authority and power top to bottom model to the inter-related, inter-twined model of a family. Paul’s apparent reason for this shift of perspective is the confusion and discord being generated by the way in which the prayers of the church (everyone) were being conducted. Unlike the tongue-speakers and prophets Paul will address shortly, these are not interrupting each other, or talking in competition with each other (who can get loudest); neither does it appear that what is being said is unintelligible or inappropriate. The problem was far more basic than that—both men and women were presenting themselves appearance-wise in ways that permitted their actions to be misunderstood. The men were covering their heads to pray (a practice not known in Judaism, and mostly practiced in the pagan mystery cults of the Graeco-Roman world in the first century CE. The women were uncovering their heads, letting their down in public as they prayed, in a culture where an uncovered head was most usually done by women of immoral behavior, or in the Roman culture by women proclaiming their rejection of their husband’s authority over the family. To many people in the church, and to observers outside the church, such behaviors seemed to represent a rebellious, unharmonious relationship with the community (the church, their families), and in some cases would have seemed to be showing open disrespect for God.
Every culture has its own ways by which respect is shown. Those forms and “manners” change from culture to culture and through the years are often subject to change as social customs shift. Paul sets some of these cultural models against the principle of living in submission to Christ as Head, to God as the only true and living God, and to the ideal of living in harmony between husband and wife, men and women. In Paul’s world, only the extent to which a woman was expected to live in submission to the family head differed (Roman women had much more latitude and legal protection than Greek or Jewish women). Paul recognized that the appearance of women proclaiming independence from their family head (as perceived by their dress and uncovered heads) was being understood by many both in and out of the church as an expression of a broken relationship, and as such was thought to also represent rebellion against God’s headship.
II. The need for Relationships to be appropriately expressed
A. The Divine Nature of Relationships-
Christ is the head of every man
Paul lays out then his understanding of God’s desire for relationships to function harmoniously. Everyone is subject to Christ. Jesus, the Christ, God’s anointed is supreme over every human being, male or female, believing or denying, but Paul wants to specifically emphasize that Christ is the head of every man (andros). Why? Because man is not the authority figure in this description! Christ is the head of every man—every man is subordinate to Christ. Man therefore must show in his behavior, in his attitude and in his appearance that Christ indeed is the head, that Christ is Lord.
The man is the head of a woman
In the same way, Paul takes the language of headship and notes that man is the head of woman, since man has first been placed in subordination to Christ, this is not the standard man is the ruler of all he sees rule. Woman lives in a relationship to man just as man lives within a relationship under Christ. What makes this verse more controversial is that Paul sees this relational status as part of God’s creation purpose in creating man (anthropos) in His image, both male and female created in God’s image. Though both are specifically called made in God’s image, God seems to have intended for the complementary (designed to function together) roles of male and female to have put the headship on men. But headship is a crucial understanding, for Christ’s headship over men here is also the headship of responsibility in a relationship that is not based on the authority (even though Christ could claim the right of authority over mankind) but on the submission of those served by the head. Christ’s headship functions not by power imposed from higher to lower, but by the acceptance of those who call Him Lord. Male headship is not rooted in power when God’s will is reigning.
God is the head of Christ
So Paul’s final observation, that God is the ‘head’ (same word every time) of Christ, reiterates the principle of headship because of relationship rather than positional power even when it comes to God and Christ. Paul is making the point here that nothing in the universe exists that is not subject to the will of God in creation, but that God’s will requires a conscious, volitional commitment to living within that will.
B. The Human nature of relationships-
1. How we act demonstrates the nature of the relationship! As Paul sees the behaviors of the church as they prayed and prophesied, Paul concludes that Corinthians were failing to demonstrate the submission to God and Christ (and one another) that should be clearly evident.
The man who is praying and prophesying should not cover his head because in the world of Corinth that signified something not submitted to the headship of Christ, or even worse a direct repudiation of Scripture since the Law of Moses forbid the Jews to cover their heads when praying.
And Uncovered-head praying women? This went against the style of public behavior for women—it represented a women setting herself free of societal restraints (becoming morally loose).
11However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God.
2. In the Lord, man is not independent of woman, nor woman independent of man
Paul objects to this appearance of “independence” and points out that though headship is will of God in creation truth, it also a Divine truth that God never intended for men and women to be independent of each other—every man after Adam is born of a woman. Jesus was born of a woman. The symmetry of Creation—Eve created from Adam and now every man since Adam is conceived and brought to life through a woman is intentional. Male headship cannot change the truth of God’s creation that intends for man and woman to live in a harmonious and mutually beneficial relationship with one another.
3. All things originate from God
And, as Paul insists is true, “all things originate from God.” Adam came from God, so did Eve…in one sense, every baby born also comes from God
13Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14Does not 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 one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God.
III. We have no such practice in the church: what is “natural” in God’s eyes?
Culture always has an interface with how we act appropriately-
In Corinth culture dealt with:
covered and uncovered heads in public speaking
Male female styles expressing sexual mores
The truth that governs these: God is over all, and we are submitted to God (every one of us) and to Jesus as Lord. We carefully show that submission to God through Christ in the way that we interact with each other, especially when we are speaking for God or to God. We do not let the cultural imagery make our relationship’s submission to God unclear, or show disrespect for each other (by our cultural signals).
In Enumclaw culture might deal with:
Punctuality?
Appearance?
Speaking in the church?
Expressing yourself in worship?
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