Christian Headship Veiling

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. I invite you to, in the name of Jesus, welcome your presence here with us. I invite you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. I'd like to read the first part of this chapter and I'd like to talk this morning about the headship order of El. [00:00:34] You may follow as I read 1 Corinthians 11. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you. And I was interested in finding that a number of the renderings do not use ordinances, they use traditions. and so I went back and looked at the original and I found out that the two words ordinances and traditions [00:01:05] are used in the Strong's Concordance so I don't think they're doing violence when they say that maybe our understanding of tradition is not what it should be maybe that is where I was wondering about that because when I saw it there I'll admit it raised my eyebrows until I went and discovered that yes, indeed they are correct. They have used the choice that was given. Verse 3, but I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ [00:01:37] and the head of the woman is the man and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying having his head covered dishonoreth his head but every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head for that is even all one as if she were shaven. And maybe I should stop here and just point out that the word uncovered in verse 5 here could also be rendered unveiled. [00:02:08] And by the same token, the two words covered in verse 6, a proper rendering would be veiled. And it would give us perhaps a better understanding of what the word really means. if it would say unveiled in verse 5 and then veiled in verse 6 instead of covered. For if a woman be not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered or veiled. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head for as much as he is the image and glory of God. [00:02:45] But the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. neither was the man created for the woman but the woman for the man for this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels another word for power there that would be I think equally acceptable is authority a woman would have authority in the sight of the angels or power and either I think either choice is as far as I know equally good [00:03:17] nevertheless neither is the man without the woman Neither the woman without the man in the Lord For as the man is of the woman Even so is the man also by the woman But all things of God Judge in yourselves Is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered And here again it could say unveiled And be equally correct Doth not even nature itself teach you That if a man have long hair It is a shame unto him But if a woman have long hair [00:03:48] It is a glory to her for her hair is given her for a covering but if any man seem contentious we have no such custom neither the churches of God. An ordinance is an outward visible, an outward tangible sign and also a it's an inner spiritual truth. What is the outward tangible sign? The woman's veiling [00:04:18] is the outward sign. Could we also say that we men not being veiled in service is also an outward sign, but we do come unveiled by the same token as the sisters come veiled. Now, the inward, the spiritual truth that it symbolizes, the headship, order, veil, that is the spiritual truth. And I say this because I think sometimes we do well to think and to look ourselves, and I trust that you do that on your own. [00:04:56] But the outward is what we see, and in some cases what we don't see. But the inward truth, or the spiritual truth that is shown by the headship order veil is just simply that, it's the headship order. And the headship order is who is at the top. It doesn't give them in this order here in the verse, but it gives all three. It gives three steps there. [00:05:26] And what are the three? Who is at the top? God, Christ, man, woman. And some people carry that on and say child. And I think that is correct. God, Christ, man, and woman. and that is the order that we are given. Now sometimes we think of this as a New Testament doctrine and indeed it is. It is a New Testament doctrine. However, the headship order is that only in the New Testament that we see that. [00:05:57] In Genesis chapter 3, yes, Genesis chapter 3 verse 16, this is what God said to the woman. I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children and, now this is the part that I was looking for and thy desire shall be to thy husband and he shall rule over thee does that talk about headship order? it does, it doesn't extend it to God [00:06:28] but God is the one who gave this And so we can, it's obvious that God is the one that is in charge. He is the head. And he said, because of what happened when man sinned and when woman was deceived and man and woman sinned, this is what I am going to give as the order. This is the headship order. And of course, I read that here in verse 3 in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. [00:07:01] Now, I may say this several times, but I'd rather say it several times than not at all. I would like to stress to us this morning that in the sight of God, there is no difference in value, whether you're sitting over here or over here. We are of equal value in God's sight. So just because there is a difference in headship order does not make any difference in value in God's sight. And I say that for both sides. [00:07:34] I think we need to be aware of that. And I will probably be saying a little bit more about that. But I'd like to read a scripture that Paul wrote in Galatians chapter 3 where it makes this very clear. Galatians chapter 3 beginning to read at verse 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ Now verse 28 [00:08:04] There is neither Jew nor Greek And we could say there is neither Jew nor Gentile Which is what is meant by this There is neither bond nor free There are no slaves, no free people There is neither male nor female For ye are all one come in Christ Jesus. We are all one in Christ. Christ came to liberate man. And, well, we'll probably be talking, if I follow my notes, we'll be talking about that a little bit more. [00:08:36] But one of the things that I think it was, I think in both of these tracts, they pointed I pointed out that there is a sphere that men operate in. There is a sphere that women operate in. And we do best when we stay in our spheres. And I say that, and I know some of you heard me say this the other evening when I think it was Brother Leon asked, how about boys doing girls work? [00:09:09] I asked a question. What is girls' work? And I mean that. I don't see that man's work is just in a, when I talk about operating in the sphere that we're created for, I am not saying that men should not wash dishes or mop floors or hang out the wash or whatever. I am not saying that they have to, but that is not what I am talking about when I say that we operate best I am talking about the headship order, when I say that we do best when we operate in the spheres that we are created for [00:09:47] Sometimes people chafe at the sphere that they are created for and it just simply does not work as well when we move outside of the sphere that we're created for. It just does not. And so I think we should remember that. There is one thing that I would like to say that I think we as men ought to remember. [00:10:22] However, we men ought to take leadership seriously. I am not saying by that that we should be harsh. I am not saying that we should rule with an iron hand, but I am saying that we should take leadership seriously. May I say this morning that when women are tempted to step outside of their spheres, too often it's because men have not taken seriously what they were made to do. [00:10:55] I have seen this happen. I have seen where there was a vacuum where, may I say, a sister felt the need to step in and take over some responsibilities that she felt were left undone, that did not work well. It does something to a home that is unsettling. And let me just leave that there for this time. But may I say, brethren, men, that you and I are responsible for providing leadership in our homes materially. We're to provide for our families materially. That I think we see in Genesis chapter 3 as well, if we would have read just a few verses later. [00:11:38] But not only materially. I don't think we have as much problem with that as we do with some of the other things. Providing emotionally for our families. Providing spiritually for our families. Do we do well at taking the spiritual leadership in our homes? We need to take that seriously. And let me hasten to say that our leadership must be tempered by love and consideration. [00:12:09] And I'm not going to turn to the scriptures that would speak to this, but if you want to write down some references, you're welcome to do that. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 21, says that we are to submit to one another. And it just follows then, talking about the husband-wife relationship, whether or not that is a part of the husband-wife relationship, I'm not sure. I don't really care whether it is or not. We should submit one to another, and that includes the husband-wife relationship. [00:12:44] And then it goes on and says, I think in verse 25, 28, and 33 of Ephesians 5, that we need to love our wives. Our authority needs to be tempered by love. 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 7, we are to recognize our wife as the weaker vessel. And then it gives a consequence if we don't. What is that consequence? That our prayers be not hindered. If we want to have an effective prayer life, we need to consider our wives as the weaker vessel. [00:13:22] Do we do so? Men are not to be tyrants, bosses, or dictators. They are to be in charge, but they are to do so in love. Women are not slaves, nor are they second-rate citizens. And I remember hearing years ago a message on the headship order, and somebody said this. It's a little bit as though women were the first grade men in the second grade. I would say that's probably not the best analogy that we could use. They are not inferior in intelligence. They are not inferior to us, brethren. We need each other, but we operate best when we do so in the way that God has shown us. [00:14:08] Merle Ruth uses an analogy. If you lay up brick or stone and you get up to the middle, what is the shape that you have? At the center, you have a wedge-shaped stone that fits in there. Merle Ruth said this about this ordinance of wearing the headship order veil. he said it is like the keystone to nonconformity he said when the headship order veil goes [00:14:40] the rest of nonconformity will crumble along with that but it gives strength, solidarity that stone in the middle that wedge shaped stone if you take that away the structure will be greatly weakened it will fall and that is what Merle Rue says that the wearing of the headship order veil does to nonconformity. But I'm not sure that it's just nonconformity. [00:15:12] To me maybe that is giving it a little bit less importance than it really should have. He also said this and he was talking about a neglected doctrine, a neglected ordinance And he said, on a piece of equipment, the most important bolt is the one that's loose. So we give attention to that. And then he said, I think in the church at Sardis, when Paul wrote there and Jesus told him what to write, [00:15:46] he said he reminded us of what Jesus said to them, strengthen the things that remain. I am not talking to us as a people who are in imminent danger of losing this. But friends, as time goes by, the cycles that churches go through, and why is it that churches go through that cycle where there seems to be a high time when people are revived and then just about inevitably there is a cooling off. [00:16:22] Uh, we need to pay attention when we have things that we do not lose them. If it's something that we are weak on, we need teaching on this. There is one thing, and that is that sometimes people say, well, I don't understand the wherefore behind something. I am going to find my own way of doing it. [00:16:54] I think Merle Ruth said what would happen if you would see a railroad locomotive say I really don't want to be bound by these tracks, I'm going to head off out across the field. Most of us know what would happen. It wouldn't get very far off the tracks, would it? the kind of weight they have on several little points it would sink down to where it would get stuck inevitably but isn't that what happens when we take our own way [00:17:26] whether it is in the headship order veil whether it is in child training whether it is in men and women abiding in their God-given roles men being the leaders that we ought to be women taking their roles as mothers and I get this uncomfortable feeling sometimes when people quote from scripture and some people have said that women are to be a helpmate. Well, maybe they should be a mate that helps, but that is not what scriptures say. [00:18:02] In one of the translations, it says, well I think it was the Amplified, It says that a woman should be a helper, meet, and then behind meet there is a parenthesis and it's given, three words are given, suitable, adapted, complimentary, and complimentary is spelled C-O-M-P-L-E-M-E-N-T-A-R-Y. It's the helpful kind, the kind that fills in what's missing. You know, if you pay somebody a compliment, you tell them you're well done, you did that well. [00:18:36] That's not the kind of complimentary that's used here. There are two completely different words with completely different meanings. So women should be complimentary to their husbands. They should supply that which is lacking. One of the things that we take for granted sometimes is the fact that the woman should be veiled, But she should also have long hair is what we see in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. [00:19:09] And so we say that women should not cut their hair. They talked to the girls there about cut hair. And if I am not mistaken, they had a stuffed animal there that had long hair. And the matron, I believe it was, took a scissors and snipped just a little bit off of the hair of that stuffed toy. And she asked the girls, does this bear have cut hair? [00:19:41] And they agreed that it does. Now we teach against cut hair, right? When is hair cut? Isn't it when you take that scissors to it the first time? I think we need to be aware of that. If that is something that we want to pass on to our children, I think we want to be sure to have us, have them understand what it is to have cut hair. [00:20:15] Turning back to the scripture that we read, I did point out, and I'd like to just simply do so again. In verses 5 and 6, the importance of the word that is translated unveiled or veiled. The Greek word as I understand, and I have it here somewhere if I can find it, katakalupto, it's K-A-T-A-K-A-L-U-P-T-O. That is the word that is translated in some places veiled. [00:20:49] and that is what we need to be, we need to understand that. Now there are some places, if you move down just a little bit further, there are places where it uses covered and I'd like to, in verse 13, again it's katakalupto, and now in verse 15, For her hair is given her for a covering. Is that also katakalupto or is it not? [00:21:22] And it was interesting, I did not, I am not a Greek scholar, I did not look at this myself. I am taking Merle Rousse's word for it, but he says it is not. And he says the word, and it's spelled, I'm not good at pronouncing this, it's P-E-R-I-B-O-L-A-I-O-N I'm not sure how that last part is pronounced. Peribolion? I'm not sure. But that is the word for the hair as a natural covering. [00:21:53] So we talk about the hair as a natural covering and then we talk about an artificial covering or the one that we see. Some people say, but verse 15 says, her hair is given her for a covering. But why would Paul turn around and say something that would completely undo what he just said in the verses prior to this? It never made sense to me and I just thought it was helpful to see what the word is that is used here. [00:22:27] And as I said, if you would like to have one of these, I would be willing to see if I could get them for you. There is another reason why I am certain that the words here, that there is no confusion, that it is consistent, that Paul is consistent in what he writes. And that is that in verse 6, if indeed her hair is a covering, is the covering that it's talking about, [00:23:03] he would actually be talking about two removals of the hair. How could that be? I don't think so. You know, if she is uncovered, let her be shorn or shaven. I think the first one is talking about katakalupto, the second one is talking about the cutting of the hair. And I don't think that we have any argument with that. Another thing that Ruth writes is, in the ancient world the status of womanhood was very low. [00:23:40] In fact, he said, in the time of Jesus, many of the Jewish men included in their morning prayers This statement, thank you God that I am not a Gentile, that I am not a slave, and that I am not a woman. Now, does that make what Christ did for the status of women more significant? You know, we look at that and it takes us aback. But that, I understand, and again here, I am quoting Merle Ruth here. [00:24:13] But Christ elevated the stature of womanhood equal to that of manhood. We are equal, it's just that our work is different. Some people say that the veiling is, it was just a local thing here, it was a local custom. and if you study your history you will know that that is not so. [00:24:44] It was a universal custom, in fact it was a universal custom to within, I don't know, several centuries ago even the Catholic people in El Salvador would cover themselves when they went to services and the Catholic church there was a little different from ours here but we observed that and I'm not saying that they were doing it in the right spirit But I am saying that, I'm just saying that is the universality of a woman covering her hair. [00:25:16] I would say rather, and I'm quoting Ruth when I say this, that Paul was saying that the Corinthians were departing from what was normally practiced when they were not strong on the headship order veil. And I believe that he is correct when he says that. I would like to just simply stress, I said that we men need to take our leadership role seriously. When the practice falters over here, I'm not going to say that it doesn't show that there is weakness here. [00:25:52] But I am going to say that this is where we need to look. This is where the leadership needs to come from. and I am not saying that we don't need to work with our children but the respect issue does not begin with our children. It begins here and with you brethren and sisters who are the heads of homes. And so if I struggle at knowing what to do, maybe we need to pray that [00:26:25] Lord, help me to see what it is that I should do. The responsibility rests with us who are leaders. One of the things that the Bible is not very clear on is exactly what form should the headship order veil take. It doesn't say a great deal to us. However the fact that it's a veil does indicate something and maybe we as Mennonites have not done so well in that because we don't use [00:26:59] I don't suppose they would be called hats if we would wear a veiling And I am not trying to say now we need to go to the veiling That's not my point at all But I am saying that perhaps there is at least some, maybe the scriptures do give that, say that the veil is a way to do. Now in Genesis, if you would look, I think it's Genesis chapter, is it 24, where Rebecca was being brought back by Eliezer to meet Isaac. [00:27:40] Remember what she did? She looked out and she said, who's that man coming to meet us? She asked Eliezer, and she said, that's my master. And she understood that it was her husband-to-be. What did she do? She veiled herself. And I'm not sure how significant that is, but you see it in the Old Testament is why I say that. I do think, though, that it is important, the way we have chosen is important. I think it is important that we do what we do uniformly. [00:28:14] I'm not saying that everything has to be exactly alike but I think within certain parameters I think it is good if we do it alike now I am familiar with a church that says you may wear a certain kind of veiling or you may wear the traditional headship order veil which is what we wear here I think there are several ways that this can be but I do think a unified expression Being together on our expression can be helpful. [00:28:47] Merle Ruth says this about the headship order veil. When he talks about this aspect, he said we do not put a headship order veil that God has commanded on a devilish hairdo. And I think we understand what he is saying there. I don't know how many of you have seen a headship order veil on a sister where it looked incongruous. I have. And when I say that, I want to be careful that I'm not casting reflections on the person that I saw wearing the veil. [00:29:22] But I saw, and I'll explain to you what looked incongruous to me. The woman was wearing a veil and she was also wearing earrings. And I don't recall what the situation was, but as I recall, it was a woman who was seeking and she had convictions to wear the headship order veil and evidently had not received convictions concerning jewelry and had not removed her earrings and I trust that by now she has done so, although I don't know. I didn't even know the woman, I think it was at a school meeting that I saw that. [00:29:56] But our walk of life, what I am saying is that our walk of life, our dress, the rest of our life should be consistent with the headship order veil that I wear, that my wife wears, that my sisters wear, depending where you sit here. The headship order veil does not sit well on a head of a proud person. It's not consistent. [00:30:29] A person who is taking, who is rebellious and not taking the Lord's way is taking his or her, taking her own way I guess in this case. The headship order veil doesn't look, doesn't look good there. And some people have, and this happened more in El Salvador, when women were not at peace, perhaps with their fellow men or with gods. One of the first things to happen was they took off their veiling. [00:31:04] Not a good solution to the problem, we say, but at least there's one thing that it helped. It helped us as leaders in the church to understand that there's a problem here that we need to work at. Sometimes we just paste on a smile, we leave our covering intact on our head, and we go on as though nothing were wrong. Maybe removing it is more honest, and I'm not advocating that we remove it. I am advocating, though, that we get to the bottom of the problem. [00:31:37] That is the thing that I would like to just simply share with us this morning. As I said, sometimes men and women are not happy in the sphere where God has created them. And so sometimes men and women step outside of that sphere. You know, it can be child training. It can be husband-wife relationship. It can be many things. But when we step outside of what God has given as his order, we do so at our own risk. [00:32:14] Not only do we do so at our own risk, but we are going to face problems. It's a given that we are. Sometimes we look at other people and we shake our heads at their way of training their children. We may think they're too strict. We may think they're too lenient. I have learned to try to be careful what I say because I'm a little bit at the place where James Dobson was when he said that I had four theories on raising children and no children [00:32:46] now I have four children and no theories and I'm not quite there but I am a little less judgmental but taking God's way in these things is something that there is no substitute that will bring peace and rest and growth spiritually the way taking God's way will. May we choose God's way is my desire for myself and for each one of you.