And today he's going to talk to all of us about
order in the church. Order in the church. Some
of us have at least seen court programs on television
when there's been disruption in the court and
the judge grabs the gavel and says order in the
court. That's not always necessary, but occasionally
because of the disarray, some disagreement or
dispute within the courtroom, the judge has to
say, order. And that's what Paul is saying to
the church in Corinth in this chapter. He is
calling for order in their church. This letter
was written to them because of the lack of order
in their fellowship. their worldly self -centered
attitudes had created division, distrust, disputes,
and even doctrinal aberrations. It was a congregation
that was in chaos. And amazingly all of that
after Paul himself had been their pastor for
a year and a half. Among the issues that created
tension in the Fellowship of Corinth was the
abuse of Christian liberty. Christian liberty
is a blessed truth. It says that we are no longer
under the condemnation of law keeping. It says
that we are no longer under the bondage that
comes from man -made rules. It says that we are
no longer blinded by the deceptive teachings
of false religion that lead us away from the
true God. We are free from those things. The
Christian is liberated in Jesus Christ to walk
in the truth and do fellowship with God. It's
a wonderful, blessed truth. And yet I repeat
that this particular congregation was destroying
itself with abuse of Christian liberty. Because
you see there is a true idea of Christian liberty
and there's a false idea. The false notion is
that a Christian is free to do whatever he wants
to do. That is not Christian liberty as defined
in the Bible. The true idea of Christian liberty
is that the Christian is free to do whatever
he should. Not whatever he wants, but whatever
he should under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
Now in the context of 1 Corinthians 11, the problem
arose out of the culture of that city. We have
talked before about this church being a worldly
church. No church is in trouble because it's
in the world, but when the world gets in the
church, it's in deep trouble. And that was the
case with Corinth. Now the culture of that day
treated women basically as property, as slaves.
And as a response, in the culture of the city,
there was a movement for women's freedom and
women's rights. It was right. they had been suppressed
and oppressed. However, the difficulty for this
church lay in understanding how believing women,
Christian women, ought to conduct themselves
in the context of that culture and in the context
of their public worship. Apparently, some of
them had gone too far being influenced by the
liberation movement of their day. and had sought
to discard some of the appropriate modest apparel
and behavior that would glorify God and advance
his reputation in the midst of their pagan city.
Now as we come to this chapter we have to acknowledge
that the text is complicated and that there is
room in it for disagreement in certain respects.
The attempt has to be made to differentiate between
the principles of God and the customs of the
first century Corinthian culture. The principles
we want to lift out of here as God will help
us do that so that we can apply them to our own
culture which is obviously quite different than
first century Corinth. Paul views the root issue
here as one of disorder in the church. He sees
the essential problem as one of insubordination
to God's revealed pattern of authority. And in
that sense it is a serious breach of their theology.
It is a breach of their theology that showed
itself in the way that they conducted themselves
in the church. What I want to say to you this
morning basically is this, that order comes from
God. And so to glorify God as we have been commanded
to do at the end of chapter 10, we must value
God's order and follow it gladly. Disorder, confusion,
chaos, and disarray all come from either the
flesh or the devil. It is the result of sin at
work. Order comes from God. We have been commanded
to glorify God in everything that we do and so
therefore we must value God's order and follow
it gladly. our text today by commending the Corinthians.
He says, I praise you because you remember me
and everything and hold firmly to the traditions
just as I delivered them to you. These are the
oral teachings, the ordinances of the church.
Paul begins by praising and commending them as,
in fact, he does this whole book. You remember
in chapter 1, he begins by reminding them that
they have everything they need and God has enriched
them and he commends them in certain respects
and then he launches into this correction of
the problems that they were experiencing. Now
he does a similar thing here. He begins in verse
1 by patting them on the back and while they're
enjoying that he grabs them by the necktie. He
says I have some things I want to talk to you
about to correct you. The first thing that he
does is to outline for them God's plan. God's
plan for order, God's plan for authority. And
it's summarized in three sentences, really in
verse three, when he says, Christ is the head
of every man, and the man is the head of a woman.
and God is the head of Christ. He says, here
is God's plan. Now you notice there are three
occasions that he uses the word head. There is
great debate today about what the meaning of
this word, kephale, is in the original language.
I am convinced from my own study of it that is
referring to the idea of authority over. Now
you will find those who try to tell us that it
means the source of. They have the name within
the evangelical world today of egalitarians.
And in reading their books and hearing their
talks, They sound very convincing that in fact
the word Kephalae can be properly interpreted
the source of. But if you look at the extra biblical
literature and weigh the evidence, if you examine
the Septuagint, that is the Greek translation
of the Old Testament, which had the most powerful
influence upon apostolic thinking and New Testament
doctrine. And then if you look at how Paul uses
the words in the contexts where he does, it seems
to me that the stronger argument by far is that
when Paul uses the word head, he's talking about
authority over. Now I mention this today because
within another week we're going to have a conference
up the road from here of the Christians for Biblical
Equality, which as much as I know is a very fine,
sincere organization of egalitarians. those who
believe other than we do. When you hear people
like Gilbert Belozikian, who is lifted up by
Bill Hybels, who agrees with him, or you hear
or read Gordon Fee or Catherine Clark Kroger,
or more germane to our own area, Alvira Michelson,
who along with her late husband Berkeley advocated
this view. You will know where they're coming
from. They're a part of the Christians for biblical
equality, which is headquartered here in the
Twin Cities. They take an opposite view of what
I'm presenting to you this morning. But I'm convinced
that when he says God is the head of Christ,
the Apostle Paul is saying that God is the authority
over Christ. that is Christ placed himself under
the authority of the Father. Although we know
in every respect he is equal to the Father, in
every essence he is deity as is the Father. But
for the purpose of order, for the purpose of
function, for the purpose of carrying out the
plan of redemption, the Son subordinated himself
to the Father, though equal with him. And he
says Christ is the head of every man. In other
words, every believing man is his idea. The believing
man submits himself to Christ's lordship and
depends upon Christ for his grace and direction
so that he might be the man of God and the leader
of his home that he ought to be. A servant leader.
Christ is the head, the authority over every
man. And he says the man is the head of a woman.
He is speaking here in the context of marriage.
It is not that a man is the head over every woman,
but a husband is the head of his wife. That is,
he is the authority over her. And the wife? places
herself under the authority of her husband. She
is not in the least inferior to her husband,
and in some respects is superior to him, just
by the way that she's made and wired. But for
the purpose of the functioning of the home, she
places herself subordinate to her husband, as
Christ did the same to the Father. And as man
does, to Christ. And so each of these couplings
represents an equality of relationship and yet
there is an authority over in each case as well.
Now Paul says that is God's plan. That is God's
order. And what he wants us to do is to value
his order. not to try to get out of it because
of the pressures of our culture too, because
in a certain respect our culture and the Corinthian
culture have a lot in common. But he says in
the midst of the pressure in the opposite direction
we are to value God's order and follow it gladly.
And so, beginning with verse 4, the apostle begins
to delve into the Corinthian problem. And to
put it succinctly, it seems to be that some believing
women were not giving evidence of submission
to the authority that God had given, that is
to their husbands, and perhaps even to male leadership
within the church. Now you say, well what's the
big deal about this? Why is this so important?
I'll tell you why. It is that the testimony of
God's orderly arrangement in the church is at
stake. That's what's the big deal. God's testimony,
God's plan, God's orderly arrangement of things
is jeopardized when we don't value it and follow
it. Now, the problem in Corinth was rooted in
the customs of that culture, as we will see in
the language. It seems that the prostitutes of
the temples shaved their heads, or they had shorn
hair, that is, hair that was cut short, and they
walked around blatantly with unveiled heads.
There was no modesty in them. Paul is here saying
that the Corinthian women dare not identify with
that kind of woman. The Corinthian believing
women seem to have understood their liberation
in Christ, their identity in Christ, that there
is neither male nor female any longer. And then
in light of that little statement that we've
looked at before that was popular, all things
are lawful. They disregarded the customs about
head coverings and in doing so gave the fellowship
a bad reputation. They were ruining its testimony
by their reaction, their abuse of Christian liberty.
And so Paul's answer to them is that women should
continue to show modesty and submission in church
by covering their heads. And he gives six reasons
why women should take this action. The first
is for the reason of propriety, verses five and
six. Let's back up to catch verse four, where
he says, every man who has something on his head
while praying or prophesying disgraces his head.
But every woman who has her head uncovered while
praying or prophesying disgraces her head. For
she is one and the same with her whose head is
shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head,
let her also have her hair cut off." He's speaking
ironically here. But if it is disgraceful for
a woman to have her hair cut off or her head
shaved, let her cover her head. Paul is saying,
for reason of propriety. A woman needs to be
modest and cover her head in church. To participate
in public worship immodestly disgraces her head.
And that word head here could be referring to
she herself or it could be referring to her husband.
But in either respect, Paul sees a certain disgrace
for the women to so act within the church as
they are participating in worship. Secondly,
he says, for reason of creation, women are to
show their submission in this respect. For 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 the man. Now Paul is not saying
here that a woman is not created in the image
of God, but his thrust here, his emphasis is
on the word glory. That's his point. And he's
saying that a man is created in the glory of
God. A woman is the glory of the man. And he
explains what he means. For a man does not originate
from woman, but woman from man. He is going back
to creation. And he is saying that man was created
by God out of dust. A woman was created out of
man from his rib. Verse 9, for indeed man was
not created for the woman's sake, but the woman
for the man's sake. That is Eve was created because
Adam was incomplete. Adam needed a helper. And
so God created Eve to be his helper. to help
him with his tasks, to compliment him. And so
Paul is going back to the order of creation and
to the reason of creation. And he says, for this
reason a woman needs to take her role in the
church very seriously by covering her head. and
showing outwardly her subordination to God's
order of things which was evident even in the
creation. Now those who take the opposite view
from me will say, yes, but you know all of that
has to do with the fall. Friends, what he talks
about in verses 8 and 9 was before the fall into
sin. It's unrelated to that. It has to do with
God's order of creation when everything was good.
He says the woman is from man, therefore she
is his glory and she should honor him as such.
In verse 10 he gives another reason. Therefore
the woman ought to have a symbol of authority
on her head because of the angels. I call this
the reason of example and frankly I do not fully
understand it. see what Paul says here. He says
there is some respect in which angels are present
as we worship God together. And a woman who is
modest and is submissive and gives evidence of
that by her head covering in that culture is
a woman who is an example to the angels of the
beauty of subordination. The beauty of God's
order. The angels are watching, and for that
reason she should conduct herself in this way.
Number four, verses 11 and 12, for reason of
theology. Now Paul kind of takes the other side
for a moment because he says, however in the
Lord neither is the woman independent of the
man, nor is man independent of woman. In other
words, there is an interdependence. For as the
woman originates from the man, Adam's rib, so
also the man has his birth through the woman.
That is the case from every generation since
Adam. And so we are dependent upon each other.
He points toward an interdependence and yet he
says all things originate from God. The interdependence
as well as the difference of role. The difference
of function. All things originate from God. And
so he points toward theology here. He says God
is the one who has established not only the need
for each other and the equality that exists,
but he is the one who has set the difference.
I must hasten on to verses 13 -15 where he gives
the reason of nature. He says, Judge for yourselves,
is it proper, is it fitting for a woman to pray
to God with head uncovered? Does not even nature
itself teach you that if a man has long hair
it is a dishonor to him, but if a woman has long
hair it is a glory to her? For her hair is given
to her for a covering that is a natural covering.
It doesn't negate what he said before about this
shawl covering that he is asking for, that he
says it is a natural covering. Now notice here
the argument or the reason from nature. Now what
does he mean by this? There are those who say,
well it's the culture of that day that was saying
it, nothing beyond that. But I think the better
argument is that Paul is talking about the very
nature of things the way that we think it is
inbred in us That this is the case It may be
reflected in culture and reinforced and it may
not be But it's the nature of things. It's the
same idea that he used in Romans chapter 1 when
he talks about Men with men and women with women
doing that which is against nature The very same
word. He's talking about that which we innately
know as right or wrong. And he says even nature
tells us that. And then in verse 16 he gives
his final reason. He says if one is inclined
to be contentious, to fight about this, we have
no other practice. nor have the churches of God.
Here is the reason of uniformity. Paul says,
I want you in Corinth to do the same that is
done in the other churches that have been founded.
There is no other practice than the one that
I'm telling you now. And so adhere to it. And
so Paul brings before us the problem in Corinth.
and then lays out the reasons why he is correcting
their practice or their mispractice, their malpractice.
Now what is the application to us today? It's
not to be found, in my opinion, in the wearing
of shawls or hats or veils by women. I believe
that aspect of the chapter is indeed cultural.
But he is talking about an attitude that needs
to be displayed. That is the spirit of humility
and modesty and submission. That spirit is at
the very heart of godliness and of true femininity.
And whatever the cultural means that appropriately
shows that is, that's what the woman in a culture
should adopt. And it will be different here in
the United States than it will be in a tribal
group in the middle of India. And so we need
to understand that how it's shown is not as important
as the spirit, the heart attitude that values
God's order. Now in closing I want to look at
our principles. What are the principles that
come out of this text that we need to alert ourselves
to in the midst of a culture like ours. Okay?
As I talk about our principles, I want to begin
by telling you what this text does not teach.
It does not teach that women must wear hats to
church. What if they do? Wonderful. It's a good
thing. But it's not required. If it's fashionable,
fine. Secondly, it does not teach that women
have no ministry in the church when it's gathered
together. Indeed, there is suggestion here that
the women of Corinth were praying and prophesying
in the church. And Paul, acknowledging that,
does not correct it. Now when we get to chapter
14, we're going to argue this a little bit, because
there he seems to correct it. But in this context
he acknowledges that the women were in their
public services participating by leading in prayer
and by prophesying. Only there to do it now,
he says, showing proper subordination. And then
it does not teach that women can never be an
authority over men in any context including ministry.
There are times when it is quite appropriate
for women to be over men. I was just reading,
in fact, an article written several years ago
now by a professor in a seminary where there
was a debate regarding whether a woman should
be put on the faculty of that seminary in a particular
area. And his argument I thought was very powerful,
that a seminary is not the same thing as a church,
first of all. It's not a local church. It's a
seminary. And so we can't bring the rules of
the church directly into the seminary and say
these have to apply there. But he went on to
show, I thought persuasively, that in fact it
was appropriate for her to be appointed to the
faculty of that seminary in that particular area,
even though she would have male students answering
to her. Paul is not saying here that women can
never be an authority over men. That is not what
he's saying. But in the context of the church
and particularly of the public worship, that's
what he is calling for. Now there are principles
to guide our conduct also. I think that these
are supra -cultural ideals that we need to apply
in our own lives, our own church. The first is
the principle of modesty. Modesty. Modesty is
always appropriate in any culture for Christian
women and men. Our attire, especially the attire
that we wear to church, ought to be decent. Now
it may not be the latest fashion. It doesn't
have to be the most expensive. I'm not saying
that at all, but it ought to be decent. It ought
to be appropriate for a time when we come into
the presence of God. We have to be careful what
we wear to church and give some thought to it.
Our dress reflects our heart. Sometimes the informality
of our dress alarms me when we come to church.
And I wonder if we really understand that we're
not just going to a picnic, we are coming into
the presence of the holy and awesome God of the
universe. If we've really thought about that
as we've gotten dressed to go to church. I call
it the principle of modesty. I think under this
heading also I want to say this, that there should
be a distinction between men and women in appearance
and in fashion. We still have within our culture
this thread of unisex. Trying to design clothing
that makes no distinction. I had never heard
of Versace before this week. I'm sorry, that's
my ignorance. I acknowledge that. I'm way out
of touch in the world of fashion. And I'm very
sorry about the man's death. Truly, I am sorry
about that. But just look at the people who are
designing clothing in the fashion world today
and their lifestyle. And it should alarm any
thinking person who is aware of the distinction
between sexes about the influence that these
people have as they try to force immodest, disgraceful,
unisex, and my wife would join me by saying ugly
fashions that do not enhance femininity often,
but degrade it. Well, I'm in deep enough on that
one. Let me move on to principle number two,
the principle of testimony. Every church member
should consider the effect of his or her choices
in his life upon the church's witness in the
community. Paul is telling these women, look,
how you conduct yourself is affecting the witness
of your church. That ought to be a concern to
all of us, men and women. It's a concern is that
we live our lives conduct ourselves out there
in the offices in the business world and on the
streets and and in driving and in everything
that we do So that nothing would detract from
the witness of our church and from the glory
of God Principle number three the principle of
respect While we are equally members of one body
all of us We have differing functions due to
gender, due to gifts, due to calling. And God,
God has arranged it that way. We are to uphold
God's order. We are to value God's order and
one another. We are to respect one another for
whom God has called us to be. the principle of
respect. And before, the principle of observation.
I don't understand this, but gathered here today,
we are the objects of intense curiosity in the
spirit world. God is using us as examples of
His grace and His wisdom to these creatures that
we cannot see. but who every day intersect with
our lives and our world. The principle of observation
and how that ought to affect all of us every
day. And one final principle, and that's the
principle of authority. God has established proper
lines of authority. He has done that in the home
and in the church and in the state. We are called
upon to serve God within those lines. He is a
God of order. He is a God of peace. And His order
and peace should be reflected in our worship
and in our conduct. It is God who has ordained
that husbands should lead the home. It is God
who has ordained that Qualified, godly, called
men should lead the church. We need to value
God's order and gladly follow it. Understand
that when God establishes order, He does it not
to hurt us, not to hinder us, but to help us,
to protect us, all of us. I believe that we prove
that we value God's order when we put into practice
these five principles that we just looked at.
It's one thing to say, yes, I value God's order.
It's another to live it. And when we practice
these five principles we've just talked about
in the context of our culture today, we're showing
that we truly value God's arrangement. Can I
ask you the question, do you value God's orderly
arrangement? Are you following God's order gladly
in the church? Are you following God's order
gladly in your home? If so, then that honors
God, and He is pleased by that. If so, then you
are doing what Paul tells us to do when he says
whether you eat or drink or whatever you do,
do it all to the glory of God. And then he immediately
tells us what God's order is. Glorify Him in
the order that He has given. How can we know
when we're not valuing God's order? How do we
know when we're not truly valuing the authority
that God has placed in our lives? Chuck Swindoll
in a message regarding Saul's life, King Saul
of the Old Testament, shares four characteristics
of those who are not valuing God's order and
God's authority. He says number one, there's
defiance against authority to accomplish one's
own desire. Defiance. Number two, there is rationalization
and cover up to excuse sinful action. There's
rationalization, there's argument to cover up.
Number three, there's defensiveness when confronted
with the truth. And number four, there's resistance
to accountability when wrong has been committed.
To the extent that those kinds of things are
in our lives, we really need to examine whether
we're valuing and following God's order. When
we follow God's order, when we value what God
has ordained for our good, it brings blessing
to our lives. And that's what Paul longed for
in the church in Corinth. Oh, that they would
get themselves in order. Order in the church,
he says, so that they as a body could be blessed
and could experience the fullness of joy that
comes from obedience to God. Let's all be living
there. Let's all value what God has said to us,
even if sometimes we don't fully understand it.
Even if sometimes it doesn't allow us to do all
that we want to do. And we may even chafe a bit
inside. Let's ask God to teach us why His order
is right, and value it, and follow it gladly.
Gladly. Let's pray. To whatever extent, Lord,
that our lives are not following Your order.
I pray that you will, in your loving and gracious
way, show us that and give us hearts that are
sorry, which are moved to genuine repentance.
Lord, remind us that your order is given for
our good. And today, if some of us are really
resisting and chafing inside against the order
that you have put into our lives, turn us around
for our own good, for the good of our families,
for the good of our marriages, for the good of
our church fellowship, for the good of our own
health. Turn us around and humble us. and help
us to truly, truly value the authorities that
you have placed in our lives. And we begin that
process by submitting ourselves to you, Lord
Jesus. Subordinating ourselves to you. Have your
way in us. Let's sing together that little chorus
that calls him Lord. As you subordinate yourself
to the Father, so we subordinate ourselves to
the authorities that you placed in our lives,
first to you and then to others. And we choose
to follow it gladly. Amen. I thought that thunder
was very effective, didn't you, to the background
of his prayer. So that being the case, I would
imagine we need to vacate this auditorium so
that others can get in here for their next worship
service. God bless you and have a wonderful week
walking with the Lord. I hope to see you tonight
at a quarter till six for ice cream.