1 Corinthians 11 Discussion

A single chapter of Scripture can feel like it’s arguing with the modern world and 1 Corinthians 11 is one of the clearest examples. We sit down with Paul’s words on headship in worship, head coverings, and the “nature” argument about hair, and we ask the question everyone asks: is this a timeless command for the church or a principle expressed through culture-specific symbols?

We take the text seriously enough to follow Paul’s logic all the way down. He doesn’t just say “do this because Corinth does it.” He points to God’s order (God, Christ, man, woman), to creation, to the presence of angels in worship, and to what he calls nature. That leads to a candid back-and-forth: one of us sees head coverings as a continuing visible sign of authority in corporate worship, while the other argues the symbol can change while the meaning stays the same. Along the way we talk church history, modern shifts in the West, and how to keep disagreements from turning into division.

Then the conversation turns to the Lord’s Supper, where the tone gets sobering. Paul rebukes a communion practice that humiliates the poor, fractures church unity, and treats Jesus’ sacrifice like it’s ordinary. We unpack what “unworthy manner” means, why self-examination matters, and how God’s holiness shows up in loving discipline meant to protect the church.

If you care about biblical interpretation, Christian worship, communion, and how the church should live out God’s design for men and women, this is a chapter worth thinking through with us. Subscribe for more, share this with a friend who loves Scripture, and leave a review with your take on head coverings and the Lord’s Supper.

Text us at 737-231-0605 with any questions.

Transcript

Welcome Back And Big Goal

Pastor Plek 0:10

And welcome back to a chapter day. Keeps the devil away. I'm Pastor Pleck. That's Pastor Hong. We're talking 1 Corinthians chapter 11. And boy, is it a doozy. Uh, we're gonna talk, uh, we're gonna outline it, and we're gonna observe it, we're gonna interpret it, and then see how we apply it today. All right. So, verse uh one really through 16 talks about the principles of headship and order in worship. And he first points to himself, says, Imitate me as I imitate Christ, and then he lays out what uh the uh principles of headship and order and worship should be. Then verses 17 through 34, you've got the perversion and proper observance of the Lord's Supper. Uh Paul's gonna rebuke some divisions and instructs on worthy participation. Okay, let's get into what you observe here in what might be a little bit divisive. Um head coverings. Head coverings.

Pastor Holland 1:10

Here they are, right here.

Pastor Plek 1:12

So what an interesting passage. It is an interesting passage. So the big question is head coverings, is that a requirement for today? Yeah. So it seems to me that uh he's he's he's he's ordering something, but I don't know if it's necessarily for specific cloth on heads in worship. Your thoughts. Really?

Pastor Holland 1:35

Okay. So when I read this, he he mentions in verse two, you know, um, them remembering him and everything and maintaining traditions that he delivered to them.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

Yeah.

Pastor Holland 1:46

And he commends them, like you should maintain these traditions. The Greek word for traditions there can also be translated ordinances. So, you know, like we talk about baptism and the Lord's Supper being an ordinance. Um, it's this is the same word, KJV of uh this verse, it says, keep the ordinances. Um so this is not just a the idea is not just a human tradition necessarily, but um an ordinance of God. It is an apostolic tradition that he gave them. Um and then he starts explaining what it is, and he roots, you know, he gets into um uh he the ESV says a wife. Um the Greek word is gune, it could be wife or woman. So again, like um uh KJV is gonna say woman. Um, certain translations say wife, some say woman. Um, it's a word that can mean either one. You have to kind of determine in context. But it talks about a wife or a woman covering her head in worship and a man uncovering his head. And um you go, okay, is this rooted in some kind of cultural practice? Well, look at his reasoning. Um, his reasoning is I want you to understand the head of every man is Christ, and the head of a wife um is her husband, or the head of woman is man, the head of Christ is God. He roots it in God's order of uh of uh uh uh man uh or woman, man, Christ, God. So there's the root, there's the root there. It's not a cultural situation going on. Um and then he also roots it in uh um where is it down here? Uh verse 7. A man ought not to cover his head since he's the image of glory, image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. Right. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. So now not only the order that God has established, but also creation, how God designed us. Then he roots it in um angels, verse 10. Yeah, that's the best part. This is the this is greatness. We've already talked a lot. Paul's like brought up angels a ton. Like a ton. And um, he talks about being a spectacle before angels, you know, a few chapters back. He talks about demons and not participating with them. Here he seems to be saying that angels are participants with us in worship services, that they are there, and that we ought to um uh be considerate or mindful of angelic presence and um and maintain God's order and the way that you know the the symbols of God's order, it says a symbol of authority on her head that we're not despising God's order of headship, male headship or hierarchy, um, but we're actually um honoring it um so as you know to be uh a good witness to the angels. Um and then he goes to nature, fourth argument. Nature itself teaches that if a man has long hair, it's a disgrace for him. Um and uh, you know, is it he says, is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? So he appeals to four things God's order, um, established order for male and female, Christ and God. He appeals to um creation, he appeals to angels, and he appeals to nature. None of those are cultural specific situations to Corinth.

Order, Creation, Angels, And Nature

Pastor Plek 5:03

All right. So make it I like that. I like that. All right. So I look, I look at this, I say the specific form of a cloth cover, of something physically over the head. Uh it wasn't a hat, it wasn't it, but it was something that was like like that would cover all the hair. Uh well, I think it's culturally bound. Because in Corinth, uncovered hair for women in public worship signaled rebellion, immorality, or dishonor. Because it was linked to prostitution or pagan practices. And so today, in most western cultures, an uncovered head doesn't carry the same shefful connotations. In fact, nobody is thinking that. So therefore, I do agree with the um uh all the other things you said, like it goes God, man, woman. Uh that makes sense.

Pastor Holland 6:01

God, Christ, man, woman.

Pastor Plek 6:02

Yeah, yeah, sorry, God, Christ, man, woman. I do agree with um the headship. I do uh agree with um male leadership, I do agree that the angels are watching and that a way uh a woman is um presenting herself is in in a submissive, honoring way is relevant. However, I just don't see this as being like because he's taking a a normal practice of all of um the Roman Empire, essentially, because he said this is all churches, and what he means by all churches, that would be the church in Ephesus, the church in wherever the church was, this is the the practice everywhere. Uh I think that was a practice culturally, and so to not kind of create a rift in the culture where you're kind of going against the grain, don't create uh don't don't make a scene of this continue in with the cultural norms.

Pastor Holland 6:59

Okay. So my the I think the problem with that interpretation is um they they went against the culture in a lot of things that they did. Um like worshiping Jesus instead of the Greco-Roman gods. Fair enough, fair enough. But this was a uh I think culturally they were like they were martyred for going against like all of them, right? They went against the culture for their Christianity. Right. I don't think Paul was worried about that at all. So but I do And he never said it's not one of his reasons. So yeah, yeah.

Pastor Plek 7:31

I'm just saying he's saying he takes a normal culturally seen thing and then he applies a theological premise to it so that they're they're not going outside of like the normal bounds of what don't try and be different, don't make the thing that makes you different a head covering or non-head covering. Make the thing that makes you different Jesus.

Culture Debate And Modern History

Pastor Holland 7:49

Okay, here's my other pushback on it. Because of the angels, yeah. The angels weren't culturally bound by anything. That's true. And he says that that's one of the reasons. Um, and so to me, it seems more like Paul handed down a tradition um that would be a visible symbol of God's order of male headship. That um a husband is ahead of his wife, that um God has appointed men to the role of head in the civil sphere, the home, in the church. You have male elders, you have a husband as a head of the wife. Tully agree with all that. Prophet, priest, and king in the Old Testament, all male. Um, that's God's design, is male headship. Um, Jesus Christ being the supreme of that. We literally have a man who is head over all things right now, Jesus, king of kings, head of the church. And so, what is a way to visually portray this so as to protect from um culture influencing the church and getting male-female mixed up and promoting homosexuality, transgenderism, egalitarianism? Well, you preserve the theological meaning with a visible symbol. And so this was the practice of the church for 2,000 years, basically. Until until um basically like the 1960s in the West, in America, when you had second wave feminism um really going anti-um uh male leadership, anti-biblical, you know, norms, really pushing against um the biblical teaching about men and women. Um this was, and so you had women like uh Betty Freedan, who is a second wave feminist leader, who intentionally said, Hey, on this day, we're all gonna, we're all gonna take our head coverings off. We're gonna throw them on the ground in the middle of church service.

Pastor Plek 9:35

I think they took them to the altar.

Pastor Holland 9:36

Yeah, and and then we're gonna um and we're gonna burn them afterward in protest of biblical teaching about male leadership. And literally until that time, head coverings was the norm in America. It was the norm, it's been the norm in Western civilization. It it is a very recent innovation um to not have women wearing head coverings in worship. We still maintain the male part for the most part. For the most part. It's still very traditional for men to remove their hats in church. And that's based on this passage. But the woman part we've done away with really culturally because of feminism.

Pastor Plek 10:14

Yeah. So it was So you're saying like pretty much every major theologian before 1960, 1960, was like, hey, head coverings are a symbol for the angels, for for God, for for everything. It is a part of what you do. And then after that, even the most conservative guys are like, it was cultural.

Pastor Holland 10:35

Yeah, it's fascinating. If you go back and look, so you know, all the, you know, um, the reformed guys, Calvin and Luther, pro-head coverings, guys like Charles Spurgeon, Prince of Preachers in London, head coverings, all the Puritans and early Americans, head coverings, all the you know, British dudes in the and then you go back previous, you know, medieval times, Thomas Aquinas, head coverings, early church head coverings. Literally, it wasn't until feminism in the 60s that Western civilization started to do away with it.

Pastor Plek 11:02

Yeah, and the argument against them is that Paul's appealing to nature, church custom, and creation, and not a universal law like moral absolutes here. Um, and so therefore, the those of us on this side of the of the uh argument are saying the command is to apply the principle of honoring headship and avoiding cultural dishonor, not the exact cultural symbol in cultures where head coverings still signify modesty, submissions, like so it might apply literally, but in most modern American churches, it doesn't carry the same meaning. So women aren't obligated to wear them.

Pastor Holland 11:38

So those are the two sides.

Communion Done Wrong In Corinth

Pastor Plek 11:40

Yeah, there you go. All right, so um let's get to um uh what but any other observations on the uh on the other side, which is the other the ordinance, which is uh communion.

Pastor Holland 11:54

Yeah, well, that's funny. Um these it's again, both of these are called ordinances. Um, so it's literally the word they're they're called ordinances. I let me challenge that. Challenge it.

Pastor Plek 12:05

I'm challenging. What's look KJV uh so the word is going to be it's I think it's peridosis, paradosis, uh which means you know to give down or to pass down, um delivered. Uh it's a substitute substance of a teaching, uh, a body of precepts, a ritual, which in the opinion of the later Jews was orally delivered by Moses and orally transmitted in unbroken succession to subsequent generations of traditions. Um then which I'll hold on, let's just look at that. So verse 2, the word is uh uh paradosis. Paradosis. Okay, go down to verse. Let's go into the Lord's Supper. Does he call it? A ordinance? I don't think he does. Now I'm giving the following instruction, verse 17. No, uh, it's uh no, it is a different is a command. It's a paraangulon, which is a message. Um uh don't praise you.

Pastor Holland 13:18

I'm saying typically we call baptism and communion ordinances.

Pastor Plek 13:21

Yeah, I'm saying that too, but I'm not saying we call head coverings ordinances.

Pastor Holland 13:23

Right. I'm saying that is the word, the word for ordinance is what it's called there in 1 Corinthians 11 2. No, it's not. That is the Paradosis is ordinance, the handing down over, transfer, transmission of a tradition of doctrine or ordinance. Again, KJV trans literally translates it ordinance. In KJV? Yeah. No, KJV, not NKJV. And that's what um most earlier English translations called it.

Pastor Plek 13:47

Okay, yeah. Uh in in my KJV, it says ordinances or traditions.

Pastor Holland 13:53

Okay. In my KJV. So, okay, so it, you know, whether you whether wherever you stand on that communion, sure, the Lord's Supper here um is an ordin. Even though it's not called one, but that's funny. That's funny. Um, yeah, he uh he gives a really strong instruction on this. He he commends them for wearing head coverings. Um, and then he says, I can't commend you for your Lord's Supper practice because you're doing it wrong. And he he says, People are going hungry, some people are getting drunk. And then I love the first word of verse 22. He just says, What? Shall I commend you in this? What I shall not. Um, he's like, Are you kidding me? Um, you guys are doing this so so wrong. And he later says that this is the reason some of you are weak and ill and have even died. And it's like, so is he saying, you know, is your interpretation of that that the Lord is like striking them down for the way that they're doing this?

Pastor Plek 14:50

Yes.

Pastor Holland 14:51

Kind of like how in the previous chapter, um Oh, wait, go ahead. Well, like how in uh chapter 10 he talks about people being killed by serpents and 23,000 dying in the old testament. The Lord's still uh striking some people down, it seems like.

Pastor Plek 15:03

Yeah, yeah. So and that's in his mercy.

Pastor Holland 15:05

Yeah.

Pastor Plek 15:06

Because he doesn't want you to continue to live out in sin. And so he will take it. And corrupt the purity of the church. Yeah. So that's what happened with you saw that really clearly with Ananias and Sapphire. And so here, and that was what Acts 5. Yes. And and here in 1 Corinthians 11, he's really getting into the heart of that, which is don't corrupt the purity of the church. You've got to make communion what it's really about, not about gorging yourself and and making a mockery while you're eating and the poor people are like sitting there going, like, seriously, what's happening?

Pastor Holland 15:35

Yeah, right. Yep, exactly.

Pastor Plek 15:38

Um, okay. Uh yeah, I like whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Yeah. Which is like, what does that even mean?

What Unworthy Participation Means

Pastor Holland 15:50

Like when you Like, there's a sinful way to take communion.

Pastor Plek 15:52

We'll be but be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. What like explain that in a way that somebody could understand?

Pastor Holland 16:00

Um, that you are irreverently receiving something in a way that mocks the sacrifice of Jesus. Yeah. You're mocking- and that's a sin. You're guilty of it.

Pastor Plek 16:12

If you mock the sacrifice of Jesus, that means I treat it as vanity, treated as worthless, you know. And and so take serious uh the communion. So sometimes I think sometimes this is what what's happened for churches over the millennia is that communion has become so uh ordinary, like regular, that you can forget. That's why a lot of churches they did it once a month and they said it was to make it super unique and special. But then you make it an afterthought. Uh whereas why not just teach on it every week? Yeah. And then you have the ability to engage it appropriately and give it the reverence and um specialness that it deserves. And I think that's important.

Pastor Holland 16:56

Yeah. Amen.

Pastor Plek 16:59

Man. Um what do we Nature of Man? Nature of man.

Pastor Holland 17:06

Nature of man.

God’s Holiness And Self Examination

Pastor Plek 17:07

How about we're prone to disorder and division? Yeah. We can turn uh we can get divided, divisive over uh doctrines. And gratefully, I think you and I agree on most things, and we put this at a tertiary. We're allowed to disagree about it and have a fun argument about we should be wearing it or not, wearing head covers or not. Yeah, yeah. But also, it it is a point of that you need to be convinced in your own mind. I think it's important. Um, but at the same time, don't bring division with it.

Pastor Holland 17:34

Yeah, I think nature, nature of man, I mean, the word nature is used here um to say that it teaches us things. Right. And this is uh this is another one that today is uh does not nature teach you that if a man wears long hair, it's a disgraceful one. Oh, that's right. And so you go, yeah, there aren't there aren't just controversial commands for women here about head coverings. There's controversial commands for men of saying, you know, um, again, we we have different sides on this, but saying I'm I'm of the opinion you shouldn't wear a hat in church. You shouldn't cover your head in church. And there's a theological church service. In a church service, yeah. Yeah, you're wearing one right now while we record this podcast, but we're not in corporate worship. Right, right. Um, and in the same way, you know, long hair, Paul says, uh nature teaches you something. And so, like naturally, biologically, men, because because of even things, hormones, essentially like testosterone and estrogen, men's hair does not grow the same way as women's hair. Women's hair is naturally longer than men's hair. And I I think Paul's saying that this is by design that God has given men this sex hormone, testosterone, that is going to create bigger bones and muscles and a deeper voice and shorter hair. And a lack of, you know, that amount of testosterone and instead having estrogen leads to women having a different kind of body that's not as uh big and strong and has longer hair. This is part of God's good design for men and women. And it's not just random or accidental, it's related to God's design for men and women and the roles that He's given them in the home, in the church, in society.

Pastor Plek 19:12

It's really good.

Pastor Holland 19:13

So I I think there's a lot of what this is saying here is um God has created us different. Male and female are not interchangeable. That's roundabout long way of saying male and female are not interchangeable, yeah, and we shouldn't pretend like they are, which is Yeah, and I think maybe the nature of man is we blur divine distinctions. Yeah.

Pastor Plek 19:33

Um yeah, and uh how about um we resist self-examination. Like when it comes to the Lord's Supper, we take it without thinking, as opposed to really giving ourselves a moment to confess, repent, and take the the Lord's Supper as a remembrance of our forgiveness, as opposed to pop the bread in the mouth and have a slurp of wine.

Pastor Holland 19:57

Yeah. Also, we we are interdependent, male and female. Um, he says, uh, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man nor man of woman. Like we need each other. Um, men and women need each other, we're made for each other to complement one another. Um yeah.

Pastor Plek 20:15

All right, what about uh character of God? Uh God's a God of order. Yes. He he the Trinity reflects order. His people are called to reflect this uh in our worship. Yeah.

Pastor Holland 20:32

Um what what does it say about the character of God that um people are dying from taking communion the wrong way?

Pastor Plek 20:40

God is holy.

Pastor Holland 20:41

God is holy. There you go.

Pastor Plek 20:42

He is very holy, and he is jealous for us. Yeah. And if there is something where you don't understand the cross, and there's a part of like he is gonna, I feel like that is mercy on his part to not incur greater wrath.

Pastor Holland 20:56

Yeah. I mean, it it's a mercy on the church. I mean, it doesn't obviously like that's a weird thing. It doesn't feel like a mercy. You're like, you killed him. Um they died, but it's his mercy that he doesn't just allow the church to become corrupted. He's having to, but he deals with it. Yeah.

Pastor Plek 21:12

The reason why some of these people died is they took communion wrongly. Okay. Uh, how about God values unity and he values remembrance? He instituted the Lord's Supper to proclaim Christ's death and foster fellowship. And he, yeah, to our point, he disciplines for our good, um, that we wouldn't be condemned with the rest of the world. Yeah. All right, how about some spec here? Okay. All right. Sin to avoid or confess, promise to claim, example to follow, command to obey, and knowledge to believe. All right. How about example to follow? Uh, how about Paul's faithful transmission of the Lord's Supper? That we should be one, that we should take it with a heart that is repentant and in the proper order.

Pastor Holland 22:00

Amen. That's good. Um, all right, you know, here's here's my side. Just push back and disagree with me, but knowledge to believe. Um every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head.

Pastor Plek 22:15

Um now, does that dishonor his skull or dishonor Jesus as his head?

Pastor Holland 22:20

Yeah, I I think uh it could be both. I think the meaning there, um uh yeah, I think it could be both. I think both are in view.

Pastor Plek 22:31

Um yeah, like you you're just it's like I don't want to say humili, it's humiliating a little bit in that case to uh to prophesy or pray in a way that makes you look like a woman. Yeah essentially is what I that I took at.

Pastor Holland 22:46

Yeah, that's where I just go. Example to follow of Paul. I'm like, embrace the way God has created men and women and seek to reflect that in even the way that you dress and conduct yourself and do your hair.

Pastor Plek 22:57

And wear head covering.

Pastor Holland 22:59

Do all things for the glory of God.

Pastor Plek 23:02

All right. Uh how about promise to claim God disciplines those he loves as sons or daughters of the king. Uh I I think that was at first, is it 32? Yeah. Yeah. We are disciplined so we may not be condemned. When we are judged by the Lord, when we're disciplined so we don't be may not be condemned along with the world. So that is the difference and distinction that we are child, children of God, not children of the world.

Pastor Holland 23:28

Yeah. Um, he says at the end, if anyone's hungry, let them eat at home. So that, you know, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. The communion is is not about like stuffing your your face. Uh, it's not about getting full physically, it's about a spiritual participation with Christ. Um and so uh he says, yeah, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. The idea of like I don't know, really understanding the blessing of what communion is and wanting to um really experience it together with the body of Christ in a way where everyone is um strengthened in their faith.

Pastor Plek 24:09

That's good. All right, are you challenging everyone to put on head coverings?

Pastor Holland 24:14

Uh well, not everyone. At least wives. Uh, I again, some translations put this as women. That's my my personal position is that women ought to cover their head in work corporate worship, um, and men ought to take off their head coverings or hats. Nice. Um and yeah.

Pastor Plek 24:33

All right.

Pastor Holland 24:34

What's your position? Yeah, my position is do the culturally normal thing. And is there a a contemporary version of this? So, like, what's the culturally normal thing today that would reflect this?

Pastor Plek 24:47

Yeah, I think this comes with the idea of um see the distinctions between men and women and live them out.

Pastor Holland 24:54

Okay.

Pastor Plek 24:55

Yeah. All right. All right. Uh any other things before we land the plane. Uh, knowledge to believe, maybe this is the he designs order and creation and worship to reflect his glory.

Pastor Holland 25:10

Amen.

Pastor Plek 25:10

Yeah.

Pastor Holland 25:13

Um, yeah, I think that kind of wraps it up.

Pastor Plek 25:15

All right. Hey, thanks so much for joining us. We'll see you uh next time on a chapter a day.