Cheryl Schatz

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The woman’s hair was a part of her attraction. Once she was married no other man was to see her hair lest there be a lust problem. Her head hair was equivalent to her private parts and showing her hair in public at any time was equivalent to her undressing. It was shameful.

John Lightfoot a Hebrew scholar who wrote his commentaries in the mid 1800’s gave a challenge for anyone to show where the head covering was ever a sign of subjection. The fact is that it isn’t a sign of subjection, it is a sign of modesty for women and a sign of personal shame or sorrow for both men and women.

So if a woman uncovered her head in public worship in order not to shame Christ, she could be shaming her husband if he was not a believer and held to the uncovering of the hair as a shame. It was a real dilemma for women.

The fact that women no longer cover their heads shows that the cultural symbol of shame at uncovering the hair is no longer an issue.

It is interesting that complementarians have not been able to answer why the head covering is not required today if the covering symbolizes the woman’s submission. Many will try to say that her attitude of submission is equivalent to the head covering but if this was so, then why would the woman’s attitude not be good enough in 1 Cor. 11? Why were some women still wearing a head covering when they prayed and prophesied? The complementarian argument just doesn’t hold up because they have missed the significance of the spiritual meaning of the head covering. When they miss that meaning that high lights our shame, they also end up missing the meaning of head and glory. It is all tied in together. Some complementarians even go so far as to say that only the man has God’s glory and even some who say that only the man was made in the direct image of God. The attitude that brings out this kind of male pride is actually contradicted by 1 Cor.11:12.

Our attitude is to be Christ-like as a servant not as one who claims to be the only gender who is allowed to show off God’s glory and the only gender who rightfully has the mandate to speak for God. That is a humanistic prideful attitude in opposition to Paul’s words that show the equality we have in Christ. Rather we need to humble ourselves to learn from each other and to treat each other as more valuable than we are.