11:4ff - Every church I have ever been a part of has members who cannot bear for anyone to wear a hat during a prayer. It is possibly just a respect issue for them, but it probably somehow has its roots in this verse, "any man who prays with his head covered dishonors himself." Fair enough, but why do we not instruct the guys who have hats on to give their hats to the women around them since Paul says that women with uncovered heads dishonor themselves in the next verse. Thus we find ourselves as pawns in the dangerous game of applying part of what Paul says and not all of it...or applying things Paul said in a cultural context to 1st century Christians blindly to 21st century America. If we continue to read through the rest of the paragraph we can probably make the point that Paul is talking about hair being the head covering. In the last couple of chapters he has been talking about how important it is not to be a stumbling block for unbelievers, so I believe that he is addressing the issue of what hair length says. On a guy in this time, long hair was considered disgraceful and feminine...why ruin your testimony because you have the right to grow out your hair. Female pagan priestesses shaved their heads to represent phallic symbols in this time...why would a Christian woman ruin her testimony by shaving her head because she can? So today - if weaker brothers are offended when you wear hats during prayer times...why not take it off and show them honor?
11:7ff - You thought I was just gonna pansy out on the man/woman stuff, huh? Sorry to disappoint you. I will be brief...I believe that humility is the key for both the man and the woman. A husband's leadership in the family is a leadership that starts when he offers himself completely to Christ and is willing to give everything - even his life - for his wife and family. Sacrificial love is how a husband should lead...just as Christ leads us. For the wife also, it is about submission. She honors God and her husband by putting them above herself. This passage is not about sexual superiority, but about humility and mutual submission. We are told that in the kingdom of heaven the last shall be first, which tells me that women who serve their families with "others-mindedness" will have a place of honor in the kingdom that few men may be able to match. I say in every wedding I do that the only fight a couple should ever have is a fight over who gets to serve and put the other person first!
11:26ff - Like most controversial issues in the NT, Paul wants us to understand that communion is not about form (How you do it) it is about where your heart is. It is about why you are doing what you are doing. Is the central focus of the way you do communion, honoring Jesus sacrifice and reconnecting yourself with his amazing grace? If it is, it doesn't matter if you do it weekly or daily or quarterly or at a table or in pews...it is about you and God...it is about you plugging yourself in to the mercy of your awesome God.
11:33ff - I have heard people call out the way we do communion at Northside, because we pass the trays and individually take communion so that some people eat theirs before others do...but I believe Paul's emphasis in this chapter is on attitude not style. There were people in the Corinthian church using the communion ceremony as a way to sate their hunger...they would greedily tear into their meals while there were other people watching in jealous hunger. Basically, the point - connecting with God's grace - was completely obliterated by their greed and selfishness. That is what Paul is confronting. A tic-tac sized piece of bread and a tiny sip of juice are not something that I use weekly to satisfy my hunger. I don't purposely sit up on the front row, so I can eat first and mock all the others that have to wait for their communion. I see communion as a time that sets my heart on God and I am built up by the fact that I am practicing the discipline of communion with hundreds of my brothers ad sisters in Christ. Again - Paul is preaching heart not form.
2 comments:
Such great contemporary language that could have only come from our Lord regarding His meal – (Msg) “What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt.”
How true is that. Never, ever just go through the motions with Christ’s meal. It is far too precious to be treated as common.
(Msg27 -28) Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master irreverently is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death. Is that the kind of "remembrance" you want to be part of? Examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy awe.
Holy awe – be blown away at what was given for our lives. Focus on Christ – nothing else should matter at that moment. Too much for any more words.
Peace,
j
Father, I come before you now to ask that you continue to build me up. That you continue to work in me as I grow to be the man and husband my wife deserves. Continue to build my patience and love for her; I want to reflect you and cause her to want you more because of what you are doing through me. Forgive me for the times I have fallen short of who you want me to be, but CONTINUE TO BRING THE RAIN! It is in tough and painful times that I turn to you the most, and if that's what it takes, continue to break me. YOU ARE MY ALL!!
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