Headship and Submission

people would please take their
Bibles and turn to First Corinthians chapter 11. I know that this is a long awaited
study and I do thank you for bearing with me in much patience
There are numerous reasons for the delayed handling of this
passage. One of them was not fear. It is a complicated passage.
It is a passage over which there is much controversy. And it is a passage that is fraught
with much difficulty. I had one dear brother speak
of it as the Rubik’s Cube of all passages in Scripture. And
I looked for some comfort in agreement with men that I love
and admire. And so when John MacArthur and
R.C. Sproul disagree about this passage,
you know we’re in deep trouble. There are a number of reasons
that I delayed jumping into First Corinthians 11 when we left off
our study of First Corinthians in June. I knew already that
I would have the entire month of July in order to accommodate
a young guest preacher. There were others who, for various
reasons, my own travel to begin with, also preached this summer. And I very much wanted to avoid
a stop and start approach as we considered this very complicated
chapter. And frankly, I desired extra
time to study the subjects found here. The other day I was pondering
for about the last six or eight weeks, almost regularly on the
minute I wake up at four o’clock in the morning. and I usually
don’t go back to sleep. If I do, it’s several hours later. There’s no doubt that this study,
this study of First Corinthians 11 has contributed to that. God wanted me awake at four o’clock
in the morning, it seems. All this to say the delay ultimately
was by design. And so ready or not, Here we
are in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. I should remind you that
we are still in the midst of Paul’s interaction with a lengthy
host of concerns about his little church plant in Corinth. I’ve
titled or referred to this section, which began back in chapter 7
verse 1, I’ve referred to it as problems in the church. And it’s problems in the Corinthian
church. And there was a lengthy list
of problems there in that church. There were marital issues. There
was confusion regarding idolatry. There were misunderstandings
about stewardship, just to name a few. The Corinthians themselves,
as we have seen, posed many of these questions to Paul in a
letter that they wrote to him. Paul frequently introduces these
issues with that little phrase, now concerning. But here in chapter
11, even though Paul does transition to a new subject, he does not
use that familiar introduction. Instead, he takes an even more
surprising approach. Here in the heart of a section
where he’s addressing bad behavior, bad behavior in the Corinthian
church, and sometimes he’s addressing it quite aggressively. Here in
verse two, he opens with a positive statement, a declaration of praise
of the Corinthians. Neither we nor the Corinthians
certainly saw this coming, and it’s quite unexpected. And I would even add that it’s
short-lived, one verse. Because Paul immediately brushes
past the platitudes and niceties of verse two, and contrasts that
with a major concern that he introduces in verse three. And
there, Paul begins to counter the first of two very significant
concerns. In verses three through 16, he
addresses insubordination in the church. And in verses 17
through 34, the bulk of the chapter, he addresses the abuse of the
Lord’s table in the church. If you would read along with
me, beginning in verse two. Now I praise you because you
remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions
just as I delivered them to you. But 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. 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 in the same as the woman whose head is shaved. For 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. 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 man. For man does not
originate from woman, but woman from man. For indeed, man was
not created for the woman’s sake, but the woman for the man’s sake.
Therefore, the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on
her head because of the angels. However, in the Lord, neither
is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as the woman originates from
the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman. And all things originate from
God. Judge for yourselves. Is it proper
for a woman to pray to God with her 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. But if one is inclined to be
contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches
of God. And we will eagerly take up the
second concern, that of the Lord’s table in weeks to come. For this morning, we want to
begin to look at the first problem that Paul addresses in this chapter,
what I have characterized as insubordination in the church. And there are, as you well know
and have just heard, there are other significant things addressed
in this initial section. But the overall thrust is insubordination. Throughout our study of this
section, we cannot lose sight of that theme. That is the problem
that Paul is addressing in this church, insubordination. This section, verses 2 through
16, it breaks up very cleanly into five subsections. Verse
two is what I would call a pastoral affirmation. Those are Paul’s
positive words there in verse two. The verse three, Paul articulates
the principle of headship. In verses four through nine,
the most lengthy section, Paul gives the protocol for prayer. In verses 10 through 12, he outlines
the practice or commends the practice Verse 13 through 16,
he makes accommodation for the preference. And we’ll move deliberately
through these various sub points in this section, some more quickly
than others. This morning I want to begin
in verse two. Let’s begin where Paul does with
his affirmation of the Corinthian church. Verse two, I praise you
because you remember me in everything. and hold firmly to the traditions,
just as I delivered them to you.” Now this we saw comes as a surprise. It almost doesn’t seem to fit
in a letter where Paul has rebuked and corrected this errant church
again and again. But I don’t think that Paul is
merely trying to be diplomatic here, as if to butter up these
people with niceties. People always see the insincerity
in that type of thing, and that’s why we encourage, shoot straight
with people. Let your yes be yes and your
no be no, as James says. Speak the truth in love, as Paul
himself would say. Paul is not being a phony here. He finds something for which
he can commend his church. And before he launches into some
weighty concerns, he acknowledges what they are doing right. There’s nothing wrong with that.
We all need that kind of thing, right? It can’t always be negative,
negative, negative, negative. I remember early as a coach,
I was taught the coaching sandwich. It’s not food. The coaching sandwich
is positive, negative, positive. Most coaches, it turns out, they
lean toward providing only the negative. And that would go something
like this. Johnny, you struck out again. What are we going to do with
you? Coaching Sandwich doesn’t ignore the negative. It addresses
the behavior that the coach seeks to correct, but it’s sandwiched
between two positive statements. And that would go something like
this. Johnny, I loved how confident and courageous you looked as
you approached the plate. You saw some really good pitches
just now. You just didn’t swing at them.
Now, next time you’re up to bat, I don’t want you to just look
at those beautiful pitches that the pitcher’s throwing. Let’s
put that bat in motion, and let’s see if we can connect on one,
okay? Let’s go get them next time. The coaching sandwich. Positive, negative, positive.
That’s what Paul’s doing here. And he uses some really affirming
language here, doesn’t he? I praise you. That almost makes
us uncomfortable, doesn’t it? Language that we think should
be reserved only for God himself. We all know that in Ephesians
chapter one, three times in a row this word is used with reference
to God Himself. Verse six, to the praise of the
glory of His grace. Verse 12, to the praise of His
glory. Verse 14, to the praise of His
glory. So it is a word that is rightfully
directed toward God and in gratitude, but it simply means to commend
someone, whether it’s God or anyone else. And Paul is using
the verb here in 1st Corinthians 11, but he uses the noun in Romans
2 29. He uses the noun there in Romans 2 29, of those who
one day will receive praise. that is commendation or approbation
from God himself. That’s remarkable. He says the same thing in this
letter, chapter four, verse five, that each man’s praise will come
to him from God. Can you imagine that one day?
That you just may hear the voice of God uttering praise to you? Romans 13, Paul exclaims that
those who do good will receive praise from the civil authority.
Now, the next time that you see the red and blue lights in your
rear view mirror, it’s probably not the state patrol pulling
you over to give you commendation. Maybe. Peter, in 1 Peter 1 7,
speaks of a hope for the proof of our faith that may be found
to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of
Jesus Christ. When Paul is going to use the
verb form of this word, three times in this chapter, by the
way, once here in verse two of something which he can praise
the Corinthians, And then in twice in verse 17 and verse 22,
something for which he cannot praise the Corinthians. Let’s start with a positive.
Paul says, now I praise you because you remember me in everything
and hold firm to the traditions just as I delivered them to you. Whatever else the Corinthians
were doing that was upside down and backwards, divorcing one
another, suing one another, tempting one another to sin, permitting
gross sin in their midst. Even with all of that, there
was something that they were doing right. Doctrine. That’s right. Doctrine. They believed the right things.
Paul uses the word here, tradition, and we should say a few things
about this little word tradition. The verb form here can be used
in a very negative way in Scripture. Its basic sense means to hand
over, to hand down to someone or to deliver someone over. And
in that sense, it’s used in the Gospels to speak of Christ being
handed over to the authorities, to betray someone, That’s not
how Paul is using it here, but it can also much more blandly
be used to refer to passing along some report or idea or teaching,
handing over in that sense. And it’s used that way here.
And Paul uses the noun form of the word to speak about what
he handed down, the traditions. as with the verb, sometimes it’s
used in a pejorative way in Scripture, this noun, tradition. In Mark
chapter seven, five times it’s used to speak in this negative
sense about mere traditions, man made rules and those kinds
of things, used in a very negative sense. put it in context, Jesus
replies sharply to the challenge of the Pharisees and says, neglecting
the commandment of God, you hold to the traditions of men. Paul himself acknowledges this
kind of thing in Galatians 1 when he gives testimony. I was advancing
in Judaism far beyond many of my contemporaries, being more
extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. Prior to his conversion,
even Paul put too much stock in man-made rules. And to this
end, he warns the Colossians, see to it that no one takes you
captive through empty philosophy and empty deception, according
to the tradition of men. And it would seem that this is
an easy, open and shut argument against the idea of subjection
and head coverings advanced in this passage. Because it was
all based on man-made tradition. And I don’t think that that’s
fair or accurate. It’s not what Paul’s talking
about here. Because even Paul uses this word
tradition in a positive sense. Twice in 2 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians
2 15, you hold to the traditions you were taught. Chapter 3, verse
6, keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and
not according to the tradition which you received from us. In
both of those places, tradition is used in a positive sense to
speak of a doctrinal standard that had been communicated to
them. And I would say that exactly,
that’s exactly how Paul is using this word here. It’s positive. It’s just referring to teachings. The tradition of which he speaks
is not a bad man-made thing, but solid, sound, biblical doctrine. The Corinthians believed it,
and they held to it. They believed the right things.
These were those teachings that either Christ himself or Paul’s
fellow apostles had handed down to him, and likewise, he had
handed them down to the Corinthians. Remember, at this juncture, there
was no New Testament. Other than that which was gleaned
from the Old Testament scriptures, instruction was by word of mouth,
orally. And so the other, the Corinthian
church, rather, despite all of their shortcomings, they held
firmly to the traditions. They held firmly to Paul’s teachings,
to sound doctrine. They had doctrine right, even
if their lives, morally speaking, sometimes lapsed. They believed
the right things. They held fast to Paul’s teachings. Well, Paul notes that they remembered
him in everything. And he isn’t speaking here of
ardent memories of his time with them, or that they had remembered to
send him a birthday card, those kinds of things. No, when he
says they remembered him in everything, Everything he taught them is
what he’s pointing to. They were keeping and observing
the doctrinal instructions that he had set forth. And that’s clarified in the next
verse. Glance at it if you would, or
then the next clause rather. That they held firmly to the
traditions. And please remember or bear with
me as I remind you that Paul served here in Corinth for 18
months as this church was being planted. And so much of this
tradition, so much of the doctrine that he communicated was communicated
orally. We know at least of one other
letter that Paul likely wrote to them. But that letter is long
lost, as I’ve explained previously. Either way, whether in person
or by letter, Paul communicated these truths to them, and they
were holding them fast. The problem is, throughout the
centuries, doctrine has been vilified, and it is today. Doctrine, the core elements of
the faith, what we believe about spiritual things. I have listened
for the last 30 years about how doctrine divides. And therefore
doctrine should be held loosely, if at all. The truth is doctrine does divide.
And it must because it identifies truth and it exposes error. And therefore scripture puts
a premium on doctrine, sound doctrine, as it’s referred to
numerous times. That is our spiritual foundation
as believers. And so Paul says that the Corinthian
church at least had built on a solid footing of spiritual
instruction. But as Paul transitions to verse
three, He establishes a contrast, even if it’s mild. A contrast
with the dutiful attitude that the Corinthians had to so much
of what Paul had taught them. To the other hand, about which
he had a growing concern. There was an area in which their
practice did not measure up. It didn’t measure up to the doctrine
that they claimed to hold. And he verbalizes that in verse
three, in what constitutes the second sub point of this section,
where here Paul begins to address the subject of headship. As I
indicated, In contrast to Paul’s commendation in verse two, Paul
opens up verse three with, but, a mild adversative. But I want
you to understand. You built on a solid foundation. You hold fast to the traditions. You’re doing well in one area,
but, and he’s obviously setting up to remind them of something
significant. something that he had previously
taught, but a doctrine that practically speaking they were not upholding. This is the main point of the
entire passage, all the way down through verse 16. Even if they
understood the doctrine of proper subordination, they were not
living it out in their daily lives. They had knowledge, they
just weren’t applying that knowledge. And Paul employs here three illustrations
or examples of headship. Three examples of headship. That
of every man to Christ, that of the woman to the man, and
that of Christ himself to God the Father. There are countless
countless other illustrations that could be drawn upon to speak
of headship and subordination. But Paul sums up his argument
with these three, and the common thread running through them is
the word head. Christ is the head of every man. Man is the head of woman, and
God is the head of Christ. Paul uses the word head illustratively,
figuratively, of the governing portion of each body. Now in Corinth, in the Corinthian
church, the principle of headship was being undermined in a very
public way. Specifically, the basic tenet
of female subordination to male leadership in the church was
being challenged, contested, compromised, and that was undermining
the very testimony of the church. But the paired principles of
headship and submission are woven into the very fabric of our lives. We do not exist in some kind
of utopic isolation, as if we’re independent from all other people. Children say it this way from
time to time, you’re not the boss of me, right? God has worked order into all
of life, and He calls us either to a humble headship, or a peaceable
submission in many different spheres, and sometimes many different
spheres at once. Let me be clear. Headship involves
submission. The word submit in Scripture
is a military term, and it means basically to get in line, to
arrange oneself under one in authority. whether military or
civilian, home or work. And as believers, we are to honor
God’s created order by aligning ourselves under those placed
in authority over us. There’s a consistent pattern
of headship and submission presented to us in Scripture. 1 Peter 2, 13 through 17. You can
jot these down if you want and review them later. First Peter
2, 13-17, Titus 3, Romans 13, 1-7. Christians are to submit
to every human institution, to rulers and authorities, governing
authorities. And that is unless government
forbids what God commands, like our worship, during COVID, or
it commands what God forbids, abortion, we are called to obey
and submit to our governing authorities. As believers, Ephesians 5 21
tells us that we are to submit to one another, be subject to
one another in the fear of Christ. That’s what our humility toward
one another is supposed to look like. Bond slaves, not surprisingly,
are to submit to their earthly masters. That shouldn’t surprise
us. Young men are to submit to elders. First Peter 5.5, be subject to
your elders. Jesus Himself was in submission,
not only to His Heavenly Father, which we’ll examine in just a
few moments, but He was also submitted to His earthly parents. Astounding! Luke 2, 251 says,
He continued in subjection to them. Wives, Ephesians 5, 22,
24, Colossians 3, 18, Titus 2, 5, 1 Peter 3, 1 through 5, wives
are called to submit to their husbands. In the church, women
are called to defer to male church leadership. And the church, to
round out these illustrations, the church is subject to Christ,
Ephesians 5 24. In each of those relationships
that Paul mentions here, Christ and man, man and woman, Christ
and God, in each of those relationships there is leadership, there is
headship, there is direction, and in each case there is necessarily
subordination, yieldedness, That word refers to dominion or supremacy,
and it suggests divine order. Headship provides divine order. The head directs the body, right? Tells us where we’re going to
go, and when, and how. And the body, therefore, is dependent,
that is subordinate to its head. It’s a simple and common illustration
of scripture. From the perspective of the head,
direction is provided to the church from Christ, to the wife
and family from the husband, and to all creation from God
himself. Subordination or subjection is
a biblical concept. It occurs at every relationship.
And so Paul seeks foremost to establish the principle of headship
and subordination in his church. And we begin to see the proud
confidence of the Corinthians that was leading them little
by little into error. At least some of them were beginning
to throw off the idea of headship and submission. And Paul seeks
to restore a proper perspective of these things by reminding
them of three relationships. May we consider each one of them
briefly? First, Christ is the head of every man. This cannot
possibly refer to all men everywhere. Even though it’s true that Christ
as God is sovereign over all, and it’s true that every day
or every one day, every knee shall bow to His sovereign Lordship. But only the Christian man has
willingly subjected himself to Christ by faith. This is the relationship that
Paul has in mind. Christ is the Christian man’s
head. Paul said it succinctly, as succinctly
as this to the Ephesians in chapter five, Christ is the head of the
church. To the Colossians, he is head
of the body, the church. And every Christian man is therefore
subject to him, just as in the physical world, Our heads give
direction to every portion of our body. The Christian man is
to be guided by Christ, his Savior. There’s a second exemplary relationship
that Paul lays down. The man is the head of the woman. This principle plays itself out
in two primary spheres, the home and the church. does not mean
that a woman can never be in a position of leadership or authority, whether she’s a teacher or prime
minister. If your boss at work is a woman,
I would strongly advise you to treat her with respect and to
yield to her leadership. On the way home, if the police
officer that stops you happens to be a woman, I would strongly
advise you to comply with her legal requests. But there are
spheres where a woman may not usurp the God-ordained design
of male leadership, the home and the church. Let’s look at
the first. In the home, by virtue of the
marriage relationship, man stands as head of his wife and family.
The wife is subject to him and to his leadership. As Paul admonished
the Ephesian believers in chapter five, wives, be subject to your
own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of
the wife as Christ is also the head of the church. And women,
Paul tells Titus, left on the island of Crete to lead this
church, Encourage the young women to love their husbands, being
subject to their own husbands, so that the Word of God will
not be dishonored. The Apostle Peter effectively
says the same thing in First Peter chapter three. You wives,
be submissive to your own husbands, so that even if any of them are
disobedient to the Word, They may be won without a word by
the behavior of their wives as they observe your chaste and
respectful behavior. There is, by God’s design and
command, there is supposed to be order in the home. But not only is the husband the
head of the wife in the home, the principle of headship and
submission is also to be found in the church. where male leadership
predominates, and that by way of male elders. As Paul directed
young Timothy overseeing the church of Ephesus, in his first
two epistles, first of two epistles, 1st Timothy 2 verses 11 and 12,
a woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness,
but I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over
a man. but to remain quiet. And even in this same epistle,
chapter 14 of Corinthians, verse 34, Paul exhorts that the women
are to keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to
speak, but they are to subject themselves, just as also the
law says. In other words, women are to
take a subordinate role in the church. But Paul provides a third example
of subordination. If any of the rest of that has
been painful, Paul has a third example. The third example is
that God is the head of Christ. Here, headship and submission
are again in view, this time with the Heavenly Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ. And the importance of this third
and final example of subordination cannot be exaggerated. That God
is the head of Christ. Jesus came according to the testimony
of his own mouth, not to do his own will, but the will of him
who sent him. The entire universe we see is comprised of a running
series of subordinations. Jesus himself, the co-creator
of the universe, is even presented as an example of submission. And it is important to note that
God did not subject Christ to himself. Christ willingly subjected
himself to his father. It was an act of love. And if Christ did not subject
himself to his father’s will, there would be no redemption.
There would be no salvation. Paul explains the relationship
of these terms at the very end of this epistle. Since you have
it in your lap, if you would just turn over to chapter 15
briefly. First Corinthians 15 and look,
scroll down to verse 27, if you would. Verse 27, For he, that is God,
has put all things in subjection under his, that is Christ’s feet. But when he says all things are
put in subjection, it is evident that he, that is God, is accepted,
who puts all things in subjection to him, that is Christ. Do you
hear what he’s saying? God has subjected everything
to Christ, but himself. Verse 28, when all things are
subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also will be subjected
to the one who subjected all things to Himself. Christ is
submitted to the Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ willingly subjected
Himself to His Father and to His will. And we notice something. may have overlooked it, but we
notice something else about this pattern of relationships. Look
at the, look at the last one, the one that we just looked at.
God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son, they have communion
by the fact that they are one in essence. Jesus Christ is not
inferior to the Heavenly Father. And yet Jesus, as God, submits
Himself to His Father, who is God. Christ submits Himself to
His Father as the incarnate Son of God, who came into the world,
to the world He created, to accomplish God’s plan of redemption. It
was with purpose. Back up one to the top principle,
Christ is the head of every man, by faith. Men come into saving
relationship with Christ, both men and women, by the way. They
have communion with their Savior by faith. And yet, men submit
themselves to Christ as one who took on human flesh. who took
upon him the same nature as their own, who knows their frame, their
weaknesses, their temptations all so well. The third relationship,
the men and the women. Women have communion, that is
oneness with their husbands through marriage. By means of the marriage
bond, women and men are joined, and yet the wife submits herself
to male headship. Women also come into a similar
relationship in the church. We mentioned this when they join
a local body of believers. They submit themselves to the
ordinances, to the leadership, to the doctrine of the church,
and yet They likewise submit themselves to their husbands, those of like nature. Men are no better than women,
qualitatively or spiritually. In each of those cases, there
is communion, there is oneness, there is headship, and there
is submission. That’s by God’s design. Now, We know, we know that Christ’s
submission, His obedience to His Heavenly Father, to His Father’s
will was perfect. Or else none of us would be saved.
But may I ask, Christ’s obedience, His submission, His subordination
was perfect. How is yours? We are all called to be subjected
to someone, to whomever you are called and positioned by God
to be subordinate to. How are you doing? Children, it’s never too early to begin
to practice obedience. God can help you with that. Likewise,
with your teachers, your coaches, whether they use the coaching
sandwich or not, if they give you things to do, you are respectfully
to obey. If you’re in the military, I
wouldn’t advise disregarding a superior’s command. All of us as citizens, citizens
of a city, a state, a nation, As such, we have many civil authorities
to whom we are to render subjection and obedience. What about your
work? Do you merely tolerate your boss,
your superior, or do you respond to him as one who has been placed
over you by God himself? or are you known as the office
grumbler? Men and women, you’ve named Christ
as your Lord. Do you submit yourself to him
as you pursue righteous obedience? Do you study his word and seek
to grow in Christ-likeness? What about church? Men and women,
the very first mark of submission is church membership. And after
that, are you prayerful of the church? Are you supportive of
the church? Are you cooperative? Do you seek
to relieve the burdens of the church or strain the meager resources
of the church? Women at church, are you compliant
about the differing roles that women are to assume within the
church? Are you part of the solution?
Do you push boundaries in areas in which you disagree? Men at
church, are you yielded to the constitution of the church, the
leadership of the church? Are you part of the solution
or are you part of the problem? A couple more questions to pose
to you, husbands. Is your leadership in your home
so guided by Christ that it is objectively easier to support than if your home were led by
you alone? And finally, wives, are you submitted
to your husband’s leadership? Are you supportive of his decisions,
even if you quietly disagree with him? Do you carefully avoid
ever saying, I told you so? Well, it’s clear by now that
we all need the grace of God in order to be more conformed
to the humble image of our Savior in both headship and submission.
Would you humble yourself before Him?