How to Restore Proper Order (Part 1 of 2)

Context of 1 Corinthians 11: Restoring Order in a Disorderly Church

As we examine 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, one of the more challenging and controversial passages in Scripture, we see the apostle Paul giving instruction to restore order in the church. The overall context of 1 Corinthians addresses a group of immature Christians at Corinth who lack unity in theology and practice. Their use of spiritual gifts causes disorder and disruption. Even their Christian behavior offends consciences and fosters sexual immorality. Gender roles within the church exacerbate this chaos.

Paul safeguards the proper order of the church, tying it directly to the gospel. This passage addresses the relationships between husbands and wives, and men and women in the church. Paul begins positively, commending them for remembering him and maintaining the traditions he delivered—traditions rooted in Scripture. Yet they miss the ultimate reality these traditions point to: men uncovering their heads and women covering theirs symbolizes deeper truths about gender roles.

For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman, for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God.

Does nature itself not teach you that if a man wears long hair, it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.

The purpose of this passage is to instill proper order in relationships within the church, enabling the church to function as God intends. In our time, assaults on male and female identity cause disorder when genders are confused. This disrupts the body of Christ.

Proper Function Through Hierarchy

Paul restores order by demonstrating that proper function in the church requires proper hierarchy: Christ is the head of the church and of man; man is the head of woman; God is the head of Christ.

But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.

This structure relates to God's glory. When hierarchy is disrupted—whether by women in male leadership roles or men failing to lead—God's reputation suffers. Men and women both bear responsibility. Christ's life models perfect submission to the Father, accomplishing redemption for God's glory. Creation establishes this order: God created man first, then woman from man.

Men are called to leadership, work, dominion, provision, protection, and spiritual guidance. Consider Adam and Eve in Genesis. God commanded Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil before Eve existed, yet she knew the command—likely because Adam taught her as her head.

Yet Adam failed. Romans 5 attributes humanity's fall to Adam, not Eve. He stood silent as Satan tempted her, failing to lead, protect, or defend. This reversal of order plunged humanity into sin, death, and ruin. The primary human unit broke down, affecting all.

In the church, men must rise to lead under Christ's headship. Women functioning outside their roles leads to chaos, undermining the church's mission to conform members to Christ's image and spread the gospel. Salvation restores proper function: men as men, women as women, glorifying God through the hierarchy.

Woman as Helper and Glory

Genesis reveals woman was created not merely to assist man's work but as his helper, meeting needs no other creation could. Man alone was "not good" before sin. God paraded animals before Adam, who named them, recognizing none met his need for companionship.

Woman bolsters manhood as man's glory. She meets deep needs—beyond the physical—for intimacy and encouragement, especially under the curse where man's labor becomes toil. She strengthens, energizes, and revitalizes him. Reciprocally, men can support women in childbirth pains and their cursed desire to usurp leadership by modeling Christlike headship.

This hierarchy predates the church, covenants, and sin. It is not suppression but freedom. Submission aligns under biblical order, enabling women to fulfill God-given roles, express gifts, and contribute to marriage and church without crushing dreams. Sanctification redirects desires toward holiness: living as gospel-transformed men and women pleases God.

Proper Application: Substance Over Shadow

Proper function requires proper application. Must women cover their heads and men uncover while praying or prophesying? Paul emphasizes understanding the hierarchy the tradition represents, not legalism.

Head coverings in first-century Corinth visibly demonstrated submission to authority. Yet shadows point to substance, like Sabbaths shadowing Christ (Colossians 2). Pursuing the shadow without the reality—like sacrifices without faith—is pointless.

Cultural symbols vary: long hair as glory for women, short for men; coverings signaling submission. Today, prioritize the reality—men leading, women submitting. If head coverings clearly demonstrate this order in your culture, use them. Otherwise, live the hierarchy the tradition signifies for God's glory.

Avoiding Contentious People for Proper Church Function

If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice—nor do the churches of God.

Proper function within the church happens by avoiding contentious people. We don't practice contention. It's amazing the irony of how many people would argue with you over this passage of scripture that you need to wear a head covering, yet the apostle Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, puts one line in there to settle the issue. You don't need to argue with them. We don't do that. We don't practice those kinds of contentious arguments within the church.

I'm all for arguing. I love debate. But that's not the kind of contention here. This is somebody who wants to argue with you about this, and their only motivation is not the reality of what head coverings represent, but the very fact that you should do it. They continue to argue for the sake of arguing. That's not what we practice in churches. We don't argue about a tradition. We don't argue about how something is taking place within a church that is a traditional understanding. It's not a doctrine. It's not a preaching of the Word of God.

We should be arguing over the theology and coming together on the theology, doctrine, and teachings of Scripture itself. But whether a woman should put a covering over her head when she's praying is not something we're contentious about. It's not something we argue about.

John Calvin said: "By this he teaches us that those that are obstinate and fond of quarreling should rather be restrained by authority than confused by length and disputations. For you will never have an end of contentions if you are disposed to contend with a combative person until you have vanquished him. For though vanquished a hundred times he would argue still."

Let us therefore carefully mark this passage that we may not allow ourselves to be carried away with needless disputations, provided at the same time we know how to distinguish contentious persons. We must not always reckon as contentious the man who does not acquiesce in our decisions or who ventures to contradict us, but when temper and obstinacy show themselves, let us then say with Paul that contentions are at variance with the custom of the church.

Pursuing Godly Manhood and Womanhood

To summarize what is really intended by this passage of scripture—what is really important and that you should spend more time learning—is how to be a godly woman, how to be a godly man. Really then the issue of how that is displayed, you will find that out in the process of discipleship, where older women in the faith, where older men in the faith can teach you how to display your godly womanhood and your godly manhood.

Because as far as I'm concerned, I don't even have to study this passage to look at a woman with a head covering and know that she understands that man is her head.

Just a brief mention, because of the angels. There are many different interpretations on why a woman would cover her head because of the angels. Some say angels don't know gender, so guys need to pray with heads uncovered so angels don't think they're women, and women need to pray with heads covered so angels don't think they're men—as if angels are that dumb. Others say women should cover their head because angels will look at your hair and get turned on. Some weird things.

For whatever reason, the term is angelos, messengers, so it doesn't have to be angelic beings—because John writes to the angel of a particular church and it's not a divine being; it's a person, a messenger. Somebody who delivers messages. The idea is that onlookers—if angelic beings, they're looking on to the congregation and seeing it—or people sent in to see and report what's going on within a church. They see that it's not properly functioning, not properly behaving.

The reality is what we should be spending our time doing, rather than picking out the latest trend of head covers. It doesn't even say all the time, but praying or prophesying—during particular aspects of worship. If through the manner in which I am worshiping I am demonstrating an unordered congregation, then I need to change my behavior.

If a part of that change is to cover your head and messengers or people come in and see that you understand the significance of your womanhood in Christ or your manhood in Christ, then that's fine. But the Apostle Paul says, I want you to understand the order within a church: every man has Christ as his head, every woman—the wife, specifically her husband. Outside of that we could understand fathers as heads of daughters, but it's more general. Men within the church need to act as men. Women within the church need to act as women.

This is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head. If you understand and live out and demonstrate in your practices godliness in your gender, then the Apostle Paul says that's exactly what I wanted you to understand. Anybody that argues with you endlessly about why you need to put something on your head is somebody practicing something within the church that we don't practice—nor do the churches of God anywhere else, nor should they.

With that in mind, the encouragement is to pursue biblical manhood and biblical womanhood, to glorify God through the proper channels of hierarchy and order within the church.