Dignity and Differences (1 Corinthians 11:2-16)

Big Idea: Hold on to dignity, but don’t lose the differences between men and women.

There are passages that you love to preach. And then there are passages that are easy to preach. If you didn’t guess already, this is a passage that is difficult to preach. It’s written to a different culture at a very different time, and it’s difficult for us to read. There are so many exegetical issues to untangle. And yet I believe it has an important message for us today.

The Situation

Here’s the problem that this church faced.

The church had been gripped by a radical, counter-cultural elevation of women. That is a good thing, and it is something that I hope we experience in our church today.

First-century Greco-Roman culture was very patriarchal. Women were primarily expected to manage the household and bear children. Women had little education, limited legal rights, and were viewed as inferior to men both intellectually and morally. In synagogues, women were not considered full members and had to sit behind a veil.

Then comes this new movement called the church. They believed the Scriptural teaching that men and women are equal in personhood and value, having both been created in the image of God. They had Hebrew Scriptures that are “full of heroic women influencing history, exercising personal agency, and displaying a range of godly virtues” (Kevin DeYoung). For example:

• The daughters of Zelophehad, who stood up for their families’ land inheritance (Numbers 27; 36)
• Deborah, a leader of Israel who, along with the military commander Barak, led the Israelites to victory over the Canaanite army (Judges 4-5)
• Jael, who drove a spike through an enemy’s skull (Judges 4:17–23; 5:24–30)
• Ruth, who showed remarkable loyalty and devotion to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and to the God of Israel, and has a whole book named after her (Ruth)
• Hannah, who proved herself to be more faithful than the high priest of Israel (1 Samuel 1-2)
• Abigail, whose wisdom and diplomacy diffused a dangerous situation (1 Samuel 25)
• The Shunamite woman , who appealed to the king for her house and her land (2 Kings 8:3)
• Esther, who risked her live to save Israel from genocide, and who has a whole book named after her

Then there’s the ultra-intimidating Proverbs 31 women.

As Kevin DeYoung notes, “These are not wallflower women, just hanging about in the background. They are examples of strength, courage, and resourcefulness.”

So picture these women, as new Christians, discovering their dignity. Picture them learning about how Jesus treated women. Jesus saw them. One author studied how Jesus treated women in first century culture and noticed how often Jesus restored dignity and honor to women. That’s what Jesus does.

You get glimpses of how women were valued in the early church in some of Paul’s letters as he lists people who are his partners in ministry. You also see this in verse 5. Women were actually encouraged to pray and prophesy in public worship.

In his book The Rise of Christianity, Rodney Stark argues that women were treated with a higher level of dignity and respect in the early Christian church compared to the broader Greco-Roman society. They participated in Christian worship. They served as coworkers in the mission. The church taught men to love their wives and to protect the sanctity of marriage. The early church condemned practices like infanticide and abortion, which were often used to control the female population. The church provided support for widows and orphans. All of this improved the social standing of women.

Stark concludes, “Christian women enjoyed substantially higher status within the Christian subcultures than pagan women did in the world at large.”

That seems to be the background behind this text. Women in Corinth had discovered they are not second-class in the Bible or in the church.

One of my goals in this series is that we discover this too. We need women who have the courage of Rahab. We need women like Priscilla in our congregation who can disciple others with good theology. We need partners in ministry like Phoebe, Euodia, and Syntyche.

Women are sisters in Christ, co-heirs of the grace of life, and valuable partners in gospel ministry.

The Problem

All of this is the background to the text that we’re about to study.

The problem is that some women had grabbed on to the biblical teaching about their dignity but had lost the biblical teaching about the differences between men and women.

Look at verses 4 to 6.

Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head.

In that culture — as in every culture — there were cultural markers of masculinity and femininity. They were beginning to dress in ways that downplayed the gender differences. Paul wrote to help them realize that God gave us gender differences for his glory. Gender is a gift from God, and when we downplay our differences, we diminish ourselves and we dishonor God.

The same danger presents itself to us today. We live in a very egalitarian age. Few people would question whether men and women are equal in personhood and value. We get that. But we’re in danger of losing the same thing the Corinthian church lost. We can lose sight of the glorious differences between men and women, and when we do, we lose something important, something we desperately need.

Your gender exists for the glory of God, and is needed in your life and in the church.

Craig Blomberg puts it well: “Yes, it is true that men and women are equal in Christ before God, but that does not mean that all differences between the sexes may be blurred.”

Hold on to dignity, but don’t lose the differences between men and women.

Two Important Warnings

In fact, Paul gives two warnings as we think about this.

First: Don’t lose headship (3-10)

What Paul writes in verse 3 is both difficult to understand and difficult to hear in our egalitarian society. And there’s debate about whether it is referring to men and women in general, or to husbands and wives in particular. But let’s read the verse, and then let’s try to understand what it means.

Verse 3 says: “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.” There word head here means authority. Paul is saying that, as much as we recognize the similarities and value of men and women, we should be careful that we don’t lose the important truth of the headship and authority of man.

There are three thoughts contained here:

• God has authority over Christ
• Christ has authority over man
• Man has authority over women

Her’s what he’s saying. Even though Christ is equal to the Father, in his humanity he subjected himself to the Father. Although he was equal, the Son joyfully chose to submit himself to the Father as a sign of humility and strength, not weakness. God has authority over Christ even though he is equal to Christ.

Christ has authority over man. Man is not equal to Christ, so of course Christ has authority over man.

Here’s the third statement that Paul makes that is important for us to hear in our egalitarian society: Man — at least in marriage — has authority over woman. Although men and women are equal, there is a difference in how they function. “In terms of what people are, men and women are equal; but in terms of what people do, there are distinct roles” (James Hamilton).

God has created men and women as equal, but ordered them differently. Just as the Father and Son are equal but the Son in his humanity submitted to the Father, so men and women are equal, but God is glorified when men exercise their authority and women recognize not only their dignity but their differences.

In verses 8 and 9, Paul roots his argument in God’s original design. In other words, this isn’t a bug; this is a feature. “For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.” There’s something in God’s original design that means that men and women have unique roles. This isn’t a result of sin. It predates sin. It’s part of God’s original design. Both are made in the image of God. Both are equal in personhood. But God created us to function differently.

This is so important that, in verse 10, Paul says that the angels take some interest in this. When we gather for worship, angels are present, and they want to see that the divinely given order is reflected in how we relate as men and women.

This is so different from how we normally think.

And so here is the crux of Paul’s argument here:

How does a husband reflect the glory of God? Through loving leadership as the head of his wife. How does a wife reflect the glory of God? Through glad submission as the helper to her husband. In marriage and then in church, Paul says, men and women have equal value, but they have unique roles, roles that complement one another. (David Platt)

In other words, submission and equality can coexist. At least within marriage and within the church, God has created men and women to be equal, but for men to play a different role in loving, sacrificial, godly leadership.

Sidebar: One of the keys to understanding this properly is to understand what it means when we talk about head or authority. We tend to see authority as a bad thing. But authority, properly used, is a very good thing.

Our kids went to a lot of schools. In each of these schools, the principal of the school was given a lot of authority. Here’s what I noticed: how the principal used that authority changed the whole atmosphere of the school. Good principals used their authority to serve and create a healthy culture within the school in which teachers and students thrived. Bad principals used their authority poorly, not to serve but to seize control for their own purposes. The issue was never that the principal had authority; it’s how they used that authority. When used property, it was life-giving and good for everyone.

It’s the same in marriage and the church. The kind of authority that God gives is within the limits of God’s ultimate authority. It’s a God-given thing and it’s a gift. Its goal is to serve. As Jonathan Leeman writes, it doesn’t steal life but creates it. It isn’t unteachable, but seeks wisdom. It isn’t self-protective, but bears the costs. Good authority is sacrificial, truthful, just, merciful, and compassionate. Godly authority, as Leeman writes, protects the vulnerable, strengthens communities, and promotes human flourishing.

So, in marriage, Leeman says, the husband’s authority means cultivating “oneness by leading and loving his wife in the shared work of earthly dominion, relying on her help, competence, and wisdom.” In the church, the authority of male elders is to “teach and exemplify … Christ’s new creation and kingdom life, giving oversight to an entire body and shepherding its members.”

Godly authority is life-giving authority. It’s meant to give life. It’s meant as a gift.

Paul wants the women to hold on to their dignity. He wants to them to use their gifts to publicly pray and prophesy. But he wants them to lose the God-given gift of the differences between men and women. As women joyfully submit to godly men in marriage and the church, they are acting in exactly the same way that Jesus acted in submitting himself to the Father. It does not diminish them; it is their glory.

Hold on to the dignity of woman, but as you do so, don’t lose the unique roles that both men and women play. “God calls men to humble leadership and women to glad affirmation of that leadership” (John Piper).

Here’s the second warning that he makes in this passage:

Second: don’t lose interdependence (11-12).

This is not a put-down of women. Paul goes on to say in verses 11-12:

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.

We need each other! Paul makes three supporting arguments here:

• God made us to be interdependent and to work together.
• Men, you wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for women! All babies come into this world through women.
• Thirdly and perhaps most importantly, both genders are a gift from God. Gender is a gift, so embrace it and enjoy it for the glory of God and for your own good.

Paul’s affirmed the differences between men and women, and now he comes back and underlines again that “with every difference, there is a kind of counterpoint of indispensability” (Piper).

God has made both genders to work together. We need each other!

We need to be a church that celebrates the dignity of both men and women, and that empowers men to humble, sacrificial leadership so that others can thrive, and that deeply honors women. When we lose this, we lose something important and life-giving. “The Bible’s teaching on manhood and womanhood is meant to be liberating and satisfying, not troubling” (Piper).

Applying This Today

Here’s how I would summarize what I’ve just said in one sentence: Hold on to dignity, but don’t lose the differences between men and women.

Let me make three applications as we close.

First: Women, we need you.

We need you to see your value in Christ. We need you to use your gifts. We need your courage, your biblical ministry, your wisdom. We need you as valued co-workers in the mission that God has given us. This is not lip service. A sign of a healthy church is that women thrive.

Second: Men, use your authority to serve.

Authority isn’t bad. The issue isn’t whether you have authority. It’s how you’re using it. Men, please step up and exercise godly authority to serve, to sacrifice, to create life. Exercise sacrificial, truthful, just, merciful, and compassionate authority that allows others to thrive. And women, please encourage men as they do this.

Third, see the bigger picture.

All of this requires God’s help. We need our hearts transformed.

Men, if you come to Jesus, you will learn from him what it means to serve the way that he did — to lay down your lives in humble service to seek the good of others, not yourself.

Women, if you come to Jesus, you will learn the beautiful way of Jesus who submitted to his Father out of love and was not diminished at all. In fact, his submission became our salvation and the most powerful expression of love that the world has ever seen.

In other words, “The relationships of Christian men and women become the mystery that displays the gospel to a watching world” (Stephen Um). With God’s help, let’s pray that we see this happen.

Father, help us to be a church that holds on to both dignity and differences. Help us to value women and allow them to use their gifts. At the same time, help us to not downplay the differences. Help men to lead in sacrificial, life-giving ways. Thank you for Jesus, who taught us how to do this. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.