1 Corinthians chapter 11, and we are going to be back where we left off. I will admit this is a difficult place to start in the text. So if you are with us for the first time, I know we have some first-time guests or actually, and some second-time guests, and some folks that haven't been with us for a while, we have been working through the book of 1 Corinthians for 2025. And our theme for the year has been thriving in Christ, striving for Christ. And when we are in Christ and we thrive because of that, we'd have new life, a new nature, new disposition, new direction. We have love and forgiveness. We then want to serve him by striving for him. It is an outflow of our love for God that we love others and we love one another. And we found that the book of 1 Corinthians is full of very practical illustrations and practical decisions and directions for those who are in Christ. The church itself was a beleaguered little church in a difficult place. The city of Corinth was an extremely wealthy place. It rests on the Isthmus of Macedonia or modern Greece. It was a very valuable location as a main city. It had a port on both the Aegean seaside and the opposite sea toward Italy. And as a result, the Corinthians became extremely wealthy. by offering a quick, short, and safe means of transporting goods from one side of Macedonia, modern Greece, to the other side without having to sail all the way around the island and the treacherous waters, the depths, and many islands and coral reefs that were found at the base of Macedonia. And so as a result, ships would often port in on the east side of Macedonia, pay extremely high taxes or tariffs to either have their goods taken off of their ship, transported by human across the port, just a little ways, and put onto another ship. Or, believe it or not, they would often transport the entire ship. So they would lift the ship and roll the ship from one side of Macedonia to the other side of Macedonia and put it into the water. And so as you can see, the Corinthians made a fortune in transporting goods. As a wealthy city, we in America can relate. With wealth comes the freedom of opportunity to entertain, to be entertained, to do things that you wouldn't have to do otherwise, right? You know, in a society where food was often in the ancient world scarce or difficult to come by, In a wealthy city like Corinth, it was at your fingertips. Just like in a New York City or downtown Phoenix, there were food trucks and food vendors. They didn't have trucks, but food carts and food carriages, right? If you wanted anything, anything exotic, it was probably there. You could eat it anytime, day or night, 24 hours a day. What we also learned about the city of Corinth is that the city of Corinth itself was full of idol worship. not just the ancient pantheon of Greece that was then conscripted and renamed by Rome, but emperor worship as well. And in the pantheon of worship came the sensuality and the sexuality that came connected to that type of fierce idol worship. Pleasure, self-indulgence, greed, avarice, wealth, all of these were problems in the city of Corinth. And yet, friends, The good news of Jesus Christ, that he conquers sin and death for everyone, for all time, forever, for those who will come to God through him, was a message that radically transformed believers in the city of Corinth. Those that came to faith in Christ found now they had a new identity. They had a new connectivity. They had a new union. No longer were they related to each other through idolatrous worship. through pagan practices, through sexual immorality, through wealth and the accrual of things, but now all walks of life, all ethnicities, all genders were connected to each other by Christ. You see, the gospel permeated the culture of Corinth and flipped it on its head. And so the gospel, the good news of Christ's sacrificial atoning death for sinners, to become saints, the gospel can transform our culture in 2025. And so as we've looked at the text and we understand where we've been, to set this in context, we know that several issues that Paul was dealing with in the Church of Corinth after having planted it, after spending two years here, after leaving Timothy to pastor this church, he would then leave and write as many as four letters back and forth corresponding to the church. Two of which are inerrant and infallible and inspired by the Holy Spirit and in our New Testaments today. 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians. We believe that Paul was answering many questions that the believers in Corinth had about, hey, now that I'm a believer in Jesus, now that I'm united with Christ, how do I deal with some of the practices of my society, some of the cultural things that I grew up with? And Paul tackles those questions. And in fact, when we get to chapter 11, we find him tackling another cultural tradition, a cultural question that has great theological implication when it relates to worship. I'm going to explain that a little bit more as we understand the broader context. If we were to look back at chapter 10, briefly, we would find that verses 14 to the end of chapter 10, actually to chapter 11, verse 1, is a clear challenge that the Corinthian believers flee idolatry. Now, when I preached this passage multiple times, and Pastor Stephen chimed in on this one as well, we talked about the context of what idolatry looks like in 2025. We don't have like a giant pagan temple in downtown Phoenix that we drive by every day, unless you want to call where the Phoenix Suns play a pagan temple, which I suppose you probably could. You know, a lot of people worship sports and they're sports heroes today, right? But that's not the same idea, okay? So a lot of times when we look at this passage, we think, well, how do we understand in the context what idolatry looks like in 2025 and how do we flee from it in 2025? Well, for the answer to that question, go back and watch my sermon on that online. But here we find that ultimately we flee idolatry because we love someone and something more than stuff, things, or pleasure. We flee idolatry because we love Jesus. We love the God who set us free from sin. And so Paul's challenge here then is that we make our lives as transformed believers all about something else, not our self-worth, not our self-promotion, but rather his glory. And in fact, he closes chapter 10 with that famous verse that probably you all learned as children, verse 31, therefore, Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Now, if we read that in the full context, he's literally talking about how our actions and our attitudes should point people to Jesus, not away from Jesus. That everything that we think, say, or do should bring God glory, not our self-gratification. He goes on to say that if we're doing that within the context of our church and our outside culture, then we're not going to give offense to people, Jews or Greeks or the Church of God. Now, it's interesting he sets those two, Jews, Greeks, and Church, as distinct because the Jews were a religious group of people out of which Jesus came, out of which flows the new covenant, right? but that those religious practices were now fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and now it's not Jewish religion that points people to God, but it is Jesus the Son who points people to God. And so it doesn't matter their religious background or their ethnicity. Greeks, a compilation of all nations at this point, all the ethnos, he wasn't just talking about the people of Greece. Because under Alexander the Great, some three and a half centuries prior to this writing, Alexander conquered the whole known world. And he took Grecian culture to the ends of the globe. And so he's not just talking about the people group of Greece, but he's talking about every nation. It's often used in the New Testament to refer to anybody who's not Jewish. Okay? And so then he goes on to say, nor to the church of God. Now he gets back to his point. And his point is, when you come to faith in Christ, you have a new nature, you have new desires, and a new direction. My new nature, my new desires, my new direction points me to the glory of God, and the glory of God allows me to serve and fellowship together with the church, the people of God. And so my goal then in serving the church is not to be offensive, not to have a practice that steps on somebody else, right? Now, he's dealt with the weak conscience and the strong conscience in chapter 9. Pastor Stephen preached a great message on that. You can go back and listen to that passage. And he literally says, the strong should not be stepping on the weak. And we imply also that the weak should not be holding the strong to their views either. The point there is we're all one in Christ and our conscience should not dictate what we do in Christ. Our conscience should free us to live to God's glory in whatever we eat, drink, or whatever we do, giving no offense, intentional offense, to anybody religious, anybody of any ethnicity, and certainly no offense among God's people of the church. Do you see the context? And he goes on to say, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. Paul goes back to this basic principle, as a follower of Jesus Christ, my goal in living to the glory of God, and especially not being offensive to the church and God's people, is so that other people might be saved. Because God's people are supposed to be a beacon of God's hope and light to a dark world. And how is it that God's people fail in that responsibility? We fail when we make what our preferences are the thing that people see. You tracking? Are you seeing that? That is the context that leads in here. And so Paul is basically saying, look, and by the way, what is Paul's testimony? We don't have to rehash this, but he gives his testimony multiple times, and he's gonna allude to it later in this passage. His testimony is that he was a, not only was he a Jew, He was of the tribe of Benjamin, like the first king was Saul, the Benjamite, okay? So he has a rich heritage, but he wasn't just a Benjamite of the tribe of the first king of Israel, he was a Pharisee. Pharisees were part of the Sanhedrin, and in Christ's day, Pharisees were essentially the leading part, the most zealous part. And among Pharisees, he wasn't just a Pharisee, he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He was trained by the Pharisee of the day, his name was Gamaliel, and he was going to replace Gamaliel, who was the teacher of Israel. We see Gamaliel show up, by the way, in Acts chapter 2, giving secular, good wisdom to the Sanhedrin council about this, the followers of the way, who would later be called Christians at Antioch, under James and John. Now, I don't have time to go back there, but you can see Gamaliel's conversation in Acts chapter five and six, which leads to Stephen's martyrdom, by the way. And so Paul was a zealous Pharisee of the Pharisees. But when he gives his testimony in Philippians, he basically says, look, I wasn't relying on that. All of that I count as a pile of refuse so that I might obtain Jesus. That is what informs this statement in chapter 11, verse 1. Imitate me just as I imitate Christ. Everything I was, apart from Christ, outside of Christ, my identity outside of Christ, it's a pile of trash compared to my relationship with God through Jesus Christ. So imitate me, Paul says. Be willing to take on the mind of Christ, the mind of humility, Philippians chapter two. Jesus, who didn't think it robbery to be equal with God, made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, Jesus humbled himself to the obedience of death on a cross. Paul says imitate me. like I imitate Christ. And by the way, Paul put his money where his mouth is. While this book was written in the early 50s AD, some 14 to 16 years later, Paul would literally lay his head down on a chopping block and he would be poured out like a drink offering as he was beheaded for the cause of Jesus Christ. Paul, like Jesus, humbled himself and was obedient unto death. Now this morning, when we get to chapter 11, I want you to know the context of what Paul is saying. He's saying there's nothing more important on planet Earth or universe here, this universe, than Jesus Christ. And as believers, There's nothing more important than imitating Jesus Christ. That's literally what he's saying. So, with that context in mind, let's talk about probably the hardest chapter in the New Testament. It is. It is, by far, the most difficult passage in the book of 1 Corinthians and one of the most challenging passages in the New Testament. I am content where I've come and the position that I'm going to present to you today. And I'm going to tell you, good men and women and theologians disagree on this text and how to apply it. And we can agree to disagree because we have a challenge here that we are to make no offense to the church of God. And we are to give deference to the application among God's people within the church as well. All right, so I'm gonna ask you to take your preconception of 1 Corinthians 11, verses 2 to 16, whatever that preconception is, and set it on the side table, and take with me the opportunity to look at the word of God fresh and new. and let the Spirit of God speak through the Word of God, not my words, but God's words today, okay? And let us see what the Spirit of God is saying to His church, Crossroad Baptist Church today, based on this text. Now, I hope that at the end of this message, I will have answered most, if not all of your questions about the challenges to this passage. I hope I have. you may still disagree with me at the end of this message. But guess what? Because we're trying to imitate Christ, who humbled himself to the glory of God the Father, so I want to humbly tell you what I think this passage says by the grace of God, and I am willing to stand correctable in the future, all right? And I hope that you'll also take that approach as well. So let's set aside our preconceptions And I might say some things that are surprising to you. I'm going to do my best not to say what might be considered controversial upfront because I know if I do, all you're going to think about is that the rest of the message. So I'm going to do my best to inductively work through this passage and give you some major application at the end. All right. Which requires you to stay with me. Okay. I'm also gonna tell you that I've broken the text down the way it's broken down by Paul, and there are three points in this text, and the first one is by far the longest. Paul's idea, not mine, all right? The first point is verses two to 10, okay? The second point, verses 11 to 13. The last point, verses 14 to 16. Okay, so when we spend the majority of our discussion in verses one to 10, don't freak out, look at your watch and think, is he done yet? Because I'm getting hungry. They did just show a picture, a bunch of food, you know, before church started and it made me my mouth water. All right, don't freak out. Don't worry about it. We'll get to food. But the spiritual food of God's word is where we're at. And verses one to 10 gives us the first point. And before we do, let me tell you what the message is. This is following our series. This is the third installment of the requirement that we worship responsibly. Okay? Worship responsibly. We're going to see principled worship that reflects its object. So worshiping responsibly means that we worship the proper object. And who is the proper object, whether if we eat or drink, do all to the glory of? God, Jesus, the Spirit, the triune God, God the Father, Son, and Spirit, okay? God, either Sunday school answer would be fine. God, Jesus, they all work, right? So good job, everybody air five, excellent, good job, you got that. All right, God, Jesus, we worship responsibly, do all to the glory of God. Our object of worship is God. The object of the church is to be unified over one thought in one direction with one goal and one mind. Now, Paul recognizes that the culture of Corinth is extremely diverse. Now, Crossroads culture is very diverse. But most of us come from a similar, if you've been in the United States for any length of time, you come from a similar culture. So I want you to know that as we look at this text, I'm gonna speak to this text in its context and then explain where we should be for us at Crossroad Baptist Church in 2025, okay? How do we apply this to us? That's a great question. You ask the questions of the text, so what? In other words, so what does it mean for me? And that's the question we're gonna ask and answer as we walk through this. So when we look through principled worship that reflects its object, we understand that this section, actually chapter 11 all the way to chapter 14, is actually dealing with the topic of public worship. Public worship. Now, if you've got a hard copy of your Bible, or a digital copy, either one will probably have headings. So go ahead and open it up and look at it really quickly, and you see in chapter 11 The first discussion about public worship deals with the idea of head coverings. And some of you are like, ah, what is a head covering? All right, good question, we're gonna talk about that. Then you can see in verse 17 and following, it talks about how we are to conduct ourselves in the Lord's Supper. Okay, now chapter 11, its context goes together. So I want you to note, look at verse 17. How do I know that chapter 11 through chapter 14 is discussing public worship for individual church members? Well, look at chapter 11, verse 17. What does he say? He says in verse 17, since you come together, coming together, what's he talking about? Gathering for public worship. Look at verse 18. When you come together as a church, what's he talking about? Gathering together for public worship. Look at verse 20. Therefore, when you come together in one place, what's he talking about? Gathering together in public worship. Look at verse 33, when he says, therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, what's he talking about? Gathering together for public worship and the Lord's Supper. Let's look at verse 34. Lest you come together for judgment. What's he talking about? Properly partaking of the Lord's table in public worship. Does that make sense? Okay, so chapter 11 verses 2 to 16 is in the context of gathering together as a church for public worship. We've already been told that there is a principle when we gather together that we're to give deference to the weak conscience and give deference to the strong conscience, and neither weak nor strong is going to impose their opinion on either one. We're going to give deference to one another. We're going to, verse 32 of chapter 10, we are going to give no offense to the Church of God. Why? All to the glory of God. We are going to imitate Paul as he imitated Christ, who set aside his personal feelings and desires to submit in obedience to the Father, to suffer a cruel death at the hands of his own creation, to die as a substitute for our sins, so that we can have eternal life with him. Okay, that mindset has got to be what we're talking about in chapter 11 or else we're toast. We're gonna get completely lost in the nitty gritty of opinions and practices and what should our church look like and should we do this or should we do that, right? We've got to look at this in this context. Every church has a culture and every culture has practices that would be deemed acceptable, proper, or offensive. Okay? So as we launch into this, what we need to know is that Paul is now talking about corporate worship and what is proper etiquette. Now, I am going to tell you exactly what it meant, as best as I can, to the Corinthian church. And hopefully, as we walk through that, we're gonna be able to step back and say, what does it mean to Crossroad Baptist Church in 2025? Where are our cultures similar? Where are our cultures different? Does this apply in this exact same way to Crossroad Baptist Church in 2025? Why or why not? So I hope those questions are kind of at the forefront of your mind as we walk through this, all right? So the question we're asking then is what actions must we take to ensure we are worshiping the Lord responsibly by promoting God's glory and others' good and by following God's headship? Now, I just introduced the word headship. I will say this, two messages on the concept of headship, one on verses one to four, or one to three, and then one where I introduced this passage and just didn't get to preach on it, all right? Both of those are recorded online, and I'm not gonna spend a ton of time other than to introduce this idea. But this idea of headship is what Paul is dealing with in this passage, and that's what this is about. So, as we frame this, our society has things that we would consider proper etiquette or proper decorum, right? Let me just throw a couple out there. If we were at a ball game, Prior to the ball game, you would hear the playing of a important American song called the National Anthem. Now until Colin Kaepernick changed the culture of the NFL, everybody in the United States understood that the proper etiquette for the playing of the National Anthem was to do what? Stand up, put your hand over your heart, sing if you'd like, but give reverence and respect as we pledge allegiance to the United States, right, as citizens of the United States of America, proper etiquette. There was a time in the United States, historically speaking, especially in the 20th century, some of you weren't born then, but especially in the 20th century, where it was improper etiquette to walk in a building as a gentleman wearing a hat, where you would walk into a building and you would take your hat off. All right? That was a cultural etiquette thing. Actually, it still is in many places, depending on where you are, a cultural etiquette thing. Some in the West, some not so much in the West. You might see some cowboy hats that stay on. You might see them come off. Some cowboy hats are actually very formal, and they're meant to stay on as formal wear. They're talking about culture, OK? So we understand etiquette and decorum. If you go to a concert, there's a proper decorum, right? Don't crush the people at the front there, right? You don't want them to die as they're dancing and listening to the concert, right? Proper decorum, that's pretty obvious. How about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington, D.C.? If you've ever watched that, I would encourage you, do not antagonize the soldiers that are marching vigilantly for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, out of respect to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. If you do, you will get your arm broken off. or shot, and I'm not kidding, right? There is a proper etiquette and a respect for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, right? What about golfing? For those of you who like to golf, you know, the poshy ones of us. I love golf, by the way, so I'm putting me in that category. You cannot go to a golf course without wearing proper etiquette. If you're wearing jeans, they're going to tell you to go buy some shorts in the clubhouse or some golf gear, right? You have to wear a collar, believe it or not, and they'll be happy to sell you their merchandise in the golf store at 70 bucks for a shirt, if you really want, okay? There's proper attire that you have to wear when you go golfing, whether you like it or not. How about recreational activities, right? You're gonna go to the beach, you better wear a swimsuit, right? You don't wanna drown in your evening wear at the beach, right? You're gonna go to a wedding, hopefully you're showing some respect and wearing appropriate attire. Unless the bride and groom say it's casual, you're gonna dress up for your wedding, right? Proper decorum, our culture understands this, okay? Paul is actually going to speak of this idea of proper decorum throughout the text. He's going to use different words, like in verses 4, 5, and 15, he's going to use the word dishonor, shameful, or proper. In verse 13, he's going to talk about glory, the glory of God, and in verse 15 as well. All of this should reflect something about the decorum in public worship. The culture of Corinth was an honor-shame culture. It was much more honor-shame than ours is today. But there are still major principles that I think still apply as timeless, or else it wouldn't be in the Bible, right? We can't just dismiss a whole chapter or a section of scripture because we don't understand it or don't like it. We have to accept God's word for what it is, God's word for us today, and we've got to apply the truths for God's word today. So the proper foundation of decorum is found in verse 3. We must honor our head. Whatever Paul means by head, he does imply that you can either honor it or dishonor it. The word is used 11 times in this passage and can be used in the literal or figurative sense. In verse three, Paul's discussing the figurative use. We use this figuratively like a figurehead or first, the head of the line or being superior like a valedictorian is the head of the class. For this passage, there are two main possibilities Head means authority and head means source of the body, like Jesus is the source of life of the body. So thinking through these two options, the most common denominator in all of these relationships are authority, not source. So he's talking about, when he's talking about headship, he's talking about authority primarily, okay? There is an order in various relationships of the Trinity, of creation, of man and woman, et cetera. This passage should really refer, I think, this is me personally believing, but I think theologians would agree in many instances to a husband-wife and not necessarily a man and woman. So this is a husband-wife passage. And I can tell you that because we know culturally In Corinth and in that historical culture, a woman who was married, the outward identifier was that she wore a head covering. An unmarried woman did not wear a head covering. We don't really have that now except that we do have wedding rings. Mine does not have a diamond. Some dudes do have diamonds on their wedding ring. Generally speaking, all women have diamonds. but they definitely have precious stones one way or the other, right? Either way, we have a ring that is a symbol of our eternal union or our commitment until death do us part to one woman, one man for one life, right? In Corinth, an easy public identifier of a married woman was head covering, all right? There's a couple other things that I'm gonna mention too that might be shocking to you. As we get through the text, a public identifier, this is historically speaking, of a prostitute was a woman with her head shaved, okay? Either all the way down to the skin or very, very, very closely cropped, historically speaking, okay? That's in that cultural context, all right? As we look then at this passage, I want us to go ahead then and read the passage. I'm going to read it from verse 2 to verse 16 without stopping and without commenting. Now, as I read it, let's ask the Holy Spirit to help us understand what's being said. Shall we? Let's do that first. Father, we ask that you'd help us understand the truths of your word. Give us grace and strength to understand it in Jesus' name. Amen. 1 Corinthians 11 verse 2, Paul speaking. Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you. But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying having his head covered dishonors his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head. For that is one and the same as if her head were shaved. For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God. But woman is the glory of man. For man is not from woman, but woman is from man. Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. For this reason, the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels. Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man in the Lord. For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman. But all things are from God. Judge among yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given to her for a covering. But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God. The end. And all of you have more questions. Okay, so let me at least ease the tension in the room by telling you what verse two and verse 16 bookend. Notice Paul uses the word here, he uses the word tradition, and then in verse 16, he uses the word custom, all right? Before that, as we've already asked this question, what actions must we take to ensure we're worshiping the Lord responsibly? Let me tell you the first point, because that's what we're going to be discussing now, and that is this. The first action we must take is glorify God by honoring His headship in proper worship. So I'm going to explain this to the best of my ability. And I think the scripture makes it clear as well. We honor His headship in proper worship. So let's just skim back here. Verse 2, the word traditions. He's already closed the last section of the dangers of idolatry. Traditions are truths that accord with Scripture. So the right view of traditions here are truths that accord with Scripture, not like Roman Catholicism teaches as equal to Scripture. So what we find here, this is likely Paul's way of softly reprimanding them while also thanking them for keeping his instructions in other areas. And so I'm going to make a point here in just a moment. And that's this, spiritual leaders must not elevate themselves to seek to build their own empire, but rather to elevate Jesus. We know that's the context, okay? So spiritual leaders, that implies the leaders of every local church, elders and deacons, that implies leaders of every home, husbands, right? and wives who are their equals, granted authority under that God-given structure, because men were created first, but men also come through women, so there's an interdependence there. You see that? That's an argument from creation and nature that Paul's already made in this text, so that we don't think that the position God has placed us in automatically makes us superior. No, no, no, no, no. This is not about superiority. This is about authority. That's God given and God declared, okay? So let me, I'm going to make another point in a minute, but let me go back to the main point. Glorifying God by honoring his headship in proper worship, okay? So the context of the passage implies that Paul is talking about public worship. We've already made that clear, okay? We're gonna talk about the angel thing in verse 10 in a minute, because that's like, what? Where in the world did that come from? I promise I'll bring that up. The head covering here, well, let me back up and say, okay, what is this practical symbol that we're told a woman should wear? Is it her hair? Because it says down in the text, later, but if a woman has long hair, it is glory for her, for her hair is given to her for a covering. I'm gonna tell you that the word covering there is a different word that's used in the passage earlier. It's actually a word that is used in Hebrews 1.12, don't go there yet, we'll go there later. If you were to take the word hair and you were to put it into where he says head covering, the text will not make sense. It won't. So if this means For this specific symbol, the text is confusing. Now God does not want to be confusing. He wants to be clear. All right? That might be the first controversial thing that I've said, because some of you are looking at me stunned. Okay? But remember, how is this framed? Tradition, custom. Right? So I need to go back to explain what he means. Paul has actually used the word tradition, and it's been used in the New Testament as primarily negative. All right? In fact, Jesus uses the word as only negative in Matthew 15, two and three, Mark seven, five, nine, and 13, when he's talking about the traditions of the Pharisees. Only negative, not positive. Furthermore, Paul uses the word tradition as negative in Colossians 2.8, And Galatians 1.14, and in Galatians 1.14, it's self-incriminating. He's saying, these are the traditions that I followed and believed in Judaism, and now I realize that they were anathema maranatha. And he had just said in the very context of Galatians chapter one, if any man preaches another gospel than that which I've already delivered to you, let him be accursed. And if a man or an angel preach another gospel, let him be accursed. So Paul is saying my traditions as a Pharisee outside of Christ, bad. So he can't mean that here, can he? If he's saying, hey, I'm so happy you're following the traditions that I gave you. He can't mean bad traditions, right? Because Jesus said they were bad, he said they were bad, so he obviously isn't meaning bad traditions. Are you tracking with me? Please nod your head. Okay, thank you. He is not meaning bad. He must then mean something different. And I think here's what he means. I think he's talking about acceptable cultural traditions. He uses this concept and this idea in two other places. One in 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 6, and one in 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 15. So if you want to be a Berean and you want to turn there really quickly, I told you this first point is a doozy. But we're moving steadily along, I promise. So let's look at 2 Thessalonians. Chapter 3 and verse 6. He says, but we command you brothers or brethren in the name of our Lord Jesus that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you, nor did we eat anyone's bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil, night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we have not authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us." He literally says, hey, there's people in the city of Thessalonica that are refusing to work, and they're begging, they're bumming food off of people. And he's saying, look, I didn't do that. I worked so that you didn't have to support me. And he'll say in the context, he's already said in the context, if you don't work, you shouldn't eat. Don't be lazy. And he's specifically saying, so that was what he said in first Thessalonians, the first letter. So now he's saying in the second letter, look, if there's people that are still being lazy in the church and refusing to work, then you should, they're being disorderly. You see that? They're not following the tradition I laid down. What is the tradition? That every man should labor for his own food, looking for the expected hope of Jesus' return. And until Jesus comes, we still work, we still labor, we still serve, we still help one another. Now that doesn't mean that if you've fallen on hard times, the church can't help you benevolently. Right? That's not what he's talking about. He's talking about someone who has an attitude that refuses to work and wants everybody else to feed off. They're like parasites, you know, the societal leeches, you know. Give me your stuff, you know. There's proverbially leeching off of someone. No, no. He says, look, this is a tradition I've given you. If you don't work, you don't eat. Right? Now, let's look at chapter 2, verse 15, same passage. Chapter 2, verse 15. That word. 2 Thessalonians 2, 15. He says, therefore, brothers, stand fast and hold to traditions which you were taught, whether by word or epistle. What were those traditions? Well, look at verse 13. But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Holy Spirit and belief in the truth to which he called you by our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, based on the glorious gospel that you've received, that you are living in, stand fast and hold these traditions. The tradition of the glorious gospel and your connection to salvation. Okay? So I think that's what Paul is saying here. He's saying, I'm giving you, I've given you these traditions. What traditions has he given the Corinthian church thus far? He's told them, Stop fighting about whether you're of Paul, of Peter, or of Jesus. You're all one in Christ, right? He's told him, don't give yourself to worthless idols. You should give yourself to Jesus only. He's told him, stop taking your weak conscience and placating or twisting the strong conscience person to live your way. Stop taking your strong conscience and beating down the weak conscience person to tell them to live your way. He's told them, don't obey and practice idolatry. Don't practice sex outside of marriage. If you need to be married, get married. If you're engaged to be married, it's okay to be married, right? Chapter 7 to Chapter 9. If you're divorced or you're married to an unsafe person and they want to stay with you, let them stay with you. If they want to leave, you can let them leave, but wait and try to reconcile with them. He said all of these things. These are practices that he has built in this passage. Tradition. So, he says custom. Now, how does he end this section? And now we're going to dive into the meat. Look at verse 16 of chapter 11. Go back to 1 Corinthians 11, verse 16. But if anyone seems to be contentious, did he not just tell the Thessalonian believers, don't be contentious? By the way, 1 and 2 Thessalonians were written before 1 Corinthians. It's the first writings of Paul. Galatians might have sneaked in between 1 and 2 Thessalonians, just FYI, but either way. He says, but if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no custom. We have no custom, nor do the churches of God." Now, what is he talking about? Godly traditions that apply in every culture are not supposed to be contentious. If they're contentious, they're not godly. Does that make sense? Right? So, what is he now telling us that's sandwiched between these traditions he's saying are good and the lack of contention or not wanting contention in the church. He's going to tell us a cultural practice of wearing head coverings in the city of Corinth for the church of Corinth. And he's going to give us reasons why, based on proper headship. I'm going to give you these main points because we're going to zip through them. Through created independence, so proper headship. that gives God glory. Secondly, through created independence, we'll see this in verses 11 and 12. And then finally, verses 13 to 16, through natural created order. Now, again, this is a custom or a tradition that fits the cultural context of the Church of Corinth. And it's obvious and clear that it does or else it wouldn't be in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Paul wouldn't have to deal with it. Just like he addressed meat offered to idols in chapter 9, right? Do we offer meat to idols in the United States of America? Not unless you're from Taiwan. I have some dear friends that are serving in Taiwan and they deal with that all the time. There are idols on every street corner. and there are folks that are offering, they're buying, vending food, and they're offering to their dead relatives via an idol worship. We don't have that in the United States of America, right? So that was a cultural practice that Paul was dealing with. We understand that. We're okay with that, but this head covering thing, we get all mixed up about, all right? So I've already told you that this could not be hair. It must be a physical symbol covering the head. So that's what it was. And I'm going to tell you why, according to the text. Then I'm going to tell you where I am and what I think is applicable for Crossroad in 2025. So as we look at this passage, we now understand that the first point that I'm making, back to it, glorifying God by honoring his headship and proper worship. Look back again, verse three, but I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ. The authority over a man is Jesus Christ. And I'm thinking the context here is husband and wife primarily, not generalized man and woman, but it can be generally applied to that. What's the second one? The head of every woman is man. Again, we're talking about God's headship, and the head of Christ is God." Now, is this talking about equality? Somehow the woman is inferior to the man? No. How do you know, preacher? Because Christ is not inferior to God. If you believe that, you're not a Christian. Done. Mic drop. Okay? Jesus Christ is God. He is equal with the God the Father. He is a co-heir together and ruler of this universe. He is equal in nature, character, and authority. Jesus Christ has different responsibilities. So this cannot mean that a woman is not equal to her husband. It just means that God in his created order made headship and a proper order of worship. Period. So any Christian that uses this as an excuse for abusive male domination should be judged by Jesus. That's the nicest thing I can say. And will be, by the way. That is not at all male domineering, you know, chauvinistic pig-ism is not what the Bible teaches. The end. We are co-equal joint heirs together of the grace of life. Peter says in 1 Peter 3, And as a husband, you are to honor your wife as the physically weaker vessel. And the word he uses is a word of knowing her like God knows us. Intimately, lovingly, carefully, concerned for her. Okay? So that's not what this is talking about. It's not talking about equality. It's talking about authority. Even in Philippians chapter 2, the quintessential hypostatic union passage, if you want to get all theological terms on us, right? Even in Philippians chapter 2, wherefore, based on the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, God has also, God the Father, has also exalted Him, Jesus, that at His name every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, of things in earth, and of things under the earth. So comprehensively all creation will bow at the name of Jesus to the glory of God the Father. Even in that, God the Father has set Jesus as the responsible one to direct glory to God the Father. Is Jesus less than God? No, no, no, no, no. He is equal with God. Does Jesus deserve our worship? Yes. At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and tongue shall confess. He's Lord, right? So this glorifying God by honoring his proper headship and proper worship, this is clear in the scripture. So what does he then say? Why did they practice cultural head covering? Why were married women in the church clearly seen as, oh, she's wearing a head covering, she's married, for sure. And this was, in my opinion, distinctly for the married women. Unmarried women were not required to wear a head covering. Only married women, and again, I have Scriptural reasons for that based on this text, okay? In that context. Now, it may not have been applied that way over the centuries, but that's the context of this. Husband-wife relationship. Wife wears a head covering. Why? So that she doesn't dishonor her head. Let's look at verse four. Every man praying or prophesying, having his covered, dishonors his head. What head is he talking about? Jesus. He's not talking about his physical head. He's talking about Jesus. Does that make sense? So then he says, but every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head. Who's her head? Her husband, the one she's responsible and accountable to. How do I know that? Verse three told me, okay? Then it says, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved. For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. He's using a little sarcasm, but it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered. Hey, look, if you wouldn't let your wife shave her head and stand outside and be a prostitute, that's what he's saying. I hate to say that. We don't have that. That is not the context of our culture. Women walk around with shaved heads, buzzed heads, shorn heads all the time. That's not our context. We don't immediately be like, oh, prostitute. I mean, how judgmental would that be? That'd be horrible, right? We're not there in our culture. But in the Corinthian culture, that was the culture. A shaved-headed woman was a prostitute. That's what it was, okay? Sorry to say, it's the way it was. That's not the context of 2025, all right? But he's using that argument as saying, hey dude, husband, you would not want your wife to have a shaved head, so she should have her head covered in worship. Does that make sense? Do you see what he's saying, this argument? Now, for a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is in the image and glory of God, but woman is in the glory of man." What is he saying here? Eve was created out of Adam. Obviously, women are the more beautiful of the genders, okay? It's pretty clear, okay? They just are. And woman is the glory of man. In other words, you want to see, if there were such things as aliens, and they came down to Earth, and we wanted to showcase the most beautiful humans on planet Earth, we would put before them women. We'd be like, look at this. Pretty hot stuff. That's pretty amazing, right? This is the human race. This is the most beautiful humans that we have on planet Earth right here. We're showcasing. That's the argument. And I don't mean in a chauvinistic way. Please don't be offended at me. Please understand I'm not being a pig and being gross. I'm literally saying what the text says. The glory of man is woman. She is beautiful. I mean, my goodness, when Adam woke up from his first anesthesia, the first surgery God performs, he literally speaks Hebrew poetry. He literally is like, whoa, bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called Eve, because she is the woman of, she is the, you know, the mother of all, the living. He is actually poetically saying, this is a beautiful gift that God has given me. After he's seen all the creatures of earth having male and female, male and female, male and female, and there's nobody comparable to him, and God says, all right, I'm gonna make one, and he does, and he's like, woo, yeah, that's good right there. And God says it is good, because it wasn't good for man to be alone. Are you tracking with me? Do you understand where I'm coming? You love me, I love you, please don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to be a chauvinist, just saying that's the way it is. Now, let's look at the text again. For man is not from woman, but woman from man, nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. Again, out of Genesis, right? Pretty obvious stuff. Woman was created for the man. We were missing something really, really important, our best half, okay? For this reason, the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels. Oh my goodness, here we go. What on earth do we do with the angels, all right? Well, I got a long section about that, okay? But before I do, let me say this, this last thing I wanna make about point one is this, headship requires our submission to Jesus' lordship. This is the main principle of this section, okay? Now, let me tell you what he means about the angels. Scripture, and I would encourage you, this is not an endorsement, you don't endorse every author, but there's a book that Billy Graham wrote, and I realize for those of you who may not know who Billy Graham is, because you were born in the 21st century. Billy Graham wrote a book on angels, Theology of Angels, one of the best books I've ever read on angelology. Now, you can like or dislike Billy Graham, that's not the point I'm making, but the point is, It's one of the best modern books written on the theology of angels. And we don't have time to go through the whole theology of angels, but scripture clearly tells us, both in Matthew and in Hebrews chapter one, that angels were made as ministering spirits to us. But they are more powerful and more authoritative than us. Yet in their authority and power, God has subjected them to serve us. Peter tells us that they look in on God's creation. They look in on us while they minister to us in God's command and will, and they look with awe at how God saves us from sin. Angels are higher than us, yet they are made to minister to us. And so he says in this argument, for this reason, the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels. I also think he's saying, hey, you know those beautiful creatures that are connected to you, that are your equals, joint heirs together, the grace of life that came out of you? They're beautiful ones, like angels who are way more beautiful than you. They're superior in their looks, and they live to submit. to the will of the Father and to serve you? So a woman was created as a helper, well-suited to meet your needs? Just like the powerful angels in glory, God has made this beautiful woman for you to be a helper for you. And therefore, if you're married to her, she should have a symbol of submission to authority, a symbol of headship covering her head. That's Paul's argument to the Corinthian church. That's literally what he's saying, okay? Headship then requires our submission to Jesus's Lordship. Now I'm gonna take a little bit of a side here. What is the whole point that he's making? We as a church ought not to be contentious together, right? We should love one another. We should imitate Paul as he imitated Christ, so thus we should be following Jesus in humility, loving one another, giving deference to one another. When you trust Christ as Savior, you are submitting to His Lordship, right? When you say, God, I am a sinner, I cannot save myself, I need Jesus to save me from my sins, you are coming to God and bowing and saying, Jesus is Lord, God raised Him from the dead, and I'm submitting my life to Him. I place my full faith in Christ and Christ alone. You're submitting to his Lordship. Scripture tells us then when that happens, you get placed into the universal church. That means the invisible body of believers from all time, people who have placed their faith in Jesus from Pentecost to the present. But just like the church of Corinth, there is a visible body of the church. It's called your local church. And God intends, because this letter was sent to the local church of Corinth, with instructions specific to the local church of Corinth, specific about this issue. He's saying, look, when you submit to the Lordship of Jesus, you also ought to be submitting to your local church. You can't practice the one another's in the New Testament outside of this command to be a part of a local church. You're part of God's church. You need to be a part of God's local church. That means, by the way, at Crossroad Baptist Church, we believe in congregational government. We believe that we all submit to one another. We all govern one another. We submit to the two offices of elder or elders and deacon, pastors, we just call them pastors, pastor and deacon, pastors who lead and deacons who serve by leadership or lead by service, I should say, right, two offices. And so you submit to the local church, you're submitting to one another in membership. And that membership is also underneath the service of deacons and the leaders of pastors who are also members themselves submitting to one another. Do you see how that beautiful connection, intricate connection works? So to say that I belong to Christ but I won't belong to a local church is an oxymoron. It doesn't connect with the New Testament teaching at all. So, and please understand, I literally am not, I was not thinking of anybody specifically when I wrote this. I just want you to know that. I really wasn't. I can say that as God is my witness, okay? So I'm not picking on anybody. But if you aren't a member of a local church, this one would love to have you. We would. We would love you. We would love you to plug in and to be a part of a local church. If you submitted to the Lordship of Christ, are you willing to submit to the connection of his people. He's placed you in his universal body, but it's a visible local body where you serve and you love and you do the 42 one in others. Does that make sense? Okay, thank you for the rabbit trail. Let's get back to the context. It's an important one though. The second one, glorify God by honoring his headship through created independence. This will be quick, verses 11 and 12. Nevertheless, Neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man in the Lord." So this angel thing, beautiful, powerful, supernatural spirits that aren't sinners, that are looking down and ministering to us in the submission of God, and because of that imagery, a married woman should have a symbol of submission to authority in the church. Now verse 11, now he says, because of created interdependence. And he says, look, man is not independent of woman, nor woman independent of man. For as woman came from man, when did that happen? At creation, the first woman came out of the man, okay? And I don't mean to be controversial here, but God breathed into Adam the breath of life. It does not say God breathed into Eve the breath of life, okay? That's God's created order on purpose. It doesn't mean she didn't have life. She's the mother of all living. It means that Adam was responsible and accountable to God. And when he sinned, he is the one that was responsible. Eve was deceived. Shame on Adam. And that means we men, we have the utmost responsibility to lead our homes well. We are accountable to God for it. And so we are, Adam was guilty. That's why Jesus came, not as Josephine, but as Jesus, because he had to be the second Adam, not the second Eve. Are you tracking? The second Adam, because Adam was responsible and accountable and he failed. So Jesus became responsible and accountable. So, Who did God, the Holy Spirit, supernaturally come upon? Eve, an Eve, Mary, right? Bypassing the seminal transference of the sin nature so that Jesus would become the second Adam. He was like Adam the first time, Jesus was sinless. Adam was sinless when he was created, chose to sin. Jesus was born sinless. born of a woman, born under the law, born to save those who are under the law. Jesus never sinned. Therefore, that qualified him as the second Adam who was able to take our sin punishment on himself so that we could be saved. So Eve was created out of Adam. But guess what? Where did Abel and Cain and Seth come from? Eve. And without Eve, there is no human race. None, right? So what God is saying here is this is not about equality. This is not saying that somehow women are lesser than men. No, there's an interdependence. We need each other. So there's a symbol of authority based on headship that honors God. And in the Corinthian church, this was for married women to wear some kind of head covering, okay? So subjecting ourselves to God's created order shows submission to God and highlights our ultimate faith in God's provision for eternal life and salvation through Jesus. Right? A woman is the glory of man. And the woman's glory is her hair. So Paul is stating that in this cultural context in Corinth, the woman must cover her glory, then defer glory to God. You see what he's saying? He's saying that a woman's glory is her hair. It says, verse 13, judge among yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not even, I should go on to the third point, because this really fits under that third point, I apologize. Does not even nature itself, so there's a natural created order that he's gonna speak to. Does not even nature itself teach that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him. Now listen, I myself miss my, my hair back here that got cut a couple weeks ago. Thank God for my mother-in-law who did that. The context of this long hair is actually a context of in the style of a woman. I think culture, this is really hard for us to contextualize in modern era. And I guess a rule of thumb is if you walk up on somebody, and I'm not gonna, I'm not trying, help me. Help me by loving me when I explain this. I'm in a, between a rock and a hard place. If you see a dude from behind and you think it's a girl, that's probably the style of a woman, hair wise. Okay? Are you tracking with me? Does that make sense? Okay. That's all he's saying. And he's saying, if you're trying to look like a woman, it's shameful. God's words, not mine, because God made you to look a certain way and to be a certain way. Now, what is our responsibility as Christians? To love everybody, no matter what they look like, right? This is instruction for God's saved people. We should expect unsaved people to be confused about everything, because the world confuses them about everything. The world lies to them and thinks that their identity has to be in something new every week, right? The 72 genders out there, by the way, there's only two, but there are 72 according to the United States and world initiatives, right? Why? Because the world thinks that the best way to find identity is to re-identify themselves all the time. The Bible says, look, if you just own who you are, you're gonna find identity in Christ. Come to faith in Christ. So I don't care what somebody looks like, I'm gonna love them for Jesus' sake. I'm gonna give them the gospel no matter what they look like. I don't care if they look like a woman and they're a man, or if they look like a man and they're a woman, or if they're confused. They look like both. I don't care. They still need Jesus. God still loved them. God still sent his son to die for them. Amen? Are you tracking with me? Though God says for believers in a local church, these are his stipulations, he's not saying we don't love people like that. He's not even saying we judge them. In fact, we're not the judge. Jesus is the judge. We're just the messenger. to give them hope. And please, my friends, please, please, please, please, when you give somebody the gospel of Jesus Christ, don't talk about the way they look. Please don't do that. Just give them the gospel of Jesus Christ. God will radically transform his believers by supernatural rebirth. You don't need to do anything. Just give him the word. Right? We should not care about what somebody's outward appearance is. Now, if within the church someone is struggling with their identity and they're still believing the lies of the enemy, we should come alongside them as brothers and sisters and help them see what God has told them, that he's created them in his image and he has an incredible plan for them. And it's a good plan, right? We should come alongside them and help them. They might struggle for the rest of their life with attraction that doesn't please God, or with desires that don't please God. But all of us have desires that don't please God. It's called a sin nature, right? So we're not talking about changing the outside. We're asking God to change the inside, and we're coming up alongside them to help. Does that make sense? That's what scripture teaches. That's what this passage is teaching. Because literally, what does verse 13 say? Judge among yourselves inside the church. All right, so he says, doesn't even nature itself tell, you know, if a woman has long hair, it's glory, for her glory is given to her for a covering. Now this word covering means a cloak. It's used in Hebrews 1, 12, about wrapping yourself in a cloak. So in other words, a woman's glory is her hair, It's attractive, it's beautiful. So who do you want to get glory when you come to church? The women in your church, right? No, you want God to get glory. So in Corinth, Paul was saying to married women, cover your glory because you want God to have the glory. That's what he was saying in Corinth, okay? headship linked with natural hair as a general truism, men have historically kept their hair shorter than women, right? And so there's headship linked with natural hair here. So does the text today apply universally to every culture in every time period or only to the Corinthians or something in between? I think the main idea is headship and decorum during times of public worship. That complementarian view is timeless, but I would argue that the symbol of a head covering is not a timeless principle to be universally applied for every church in every culture. Therefore, Paul's instructions to the Corinthians seemed to be counter-cultural to the Corinthians. They were like, what? What are you talking about, Paul? This is just weird. Our society doesn't do this at all. A woman wearing a head covering was honorable. Since we don't believe the instructions to Jewish men in the Old Testament worship are universal, then it's safe to say that these instructions are not intended to be universal, but rather an application for a specific culture for a specific time. In the Corinthian culture, a head covering for a woman symbolized marriage. It was only married women who wore a head covering. For a married woman to remove her head covering in public communicated something about her marriage. Perhaps an appropriate modern illustration would be, like I said, the wedding ring today. For a person to remove their wedding ring before going out to a party, they would be communicating an availability that was inappropriate. Are you tracking? Right? Don't take off your ring, dude. Wear it. If you're married, own it. You committed. There is a universal truth then of modesty, propriety, decorum, order, and headship between man and woman in general, and husband and wife specifically, based firmly in creation. That's what the text has told us. Christianity always raises the dignity of women and does not diminish it. The universal truth must be lived out and evidenced. You should respect your wives. We, this church, should be respectful of women. We absolutely should and must be respectful of women. It will look differently in people, groups, and culture globally. So when we come to public worship, we must keep decorum in mind. We must all function with the idea that we're not independent mavericks in worship. We have a head or authority over us, and it is our responsibility to honor that spiritual head. Also, there are distinctions between men and women that we must keep in mind and honor, too. Men and women should look and act like the gender God assigned them at birth, okay? Also, public worship should look and feel differently than events in our culture. This is not like going to the mall or a movie. It's a social club or a football game. This is a meeting of God's people coming together to worship the eternal triune creator, almighty, holy God of the universe, right? We're coming together to do that, okay? So if you can't tell from that application, I think we should give deference to those who feel like it is a conscientious decision in their conscience as a husband of their home to let their wife wear a head covering. Culturally speaking, our denomination, if you want to call us that, does not have that practice. There are certain Presbyterian denominations, Mennonite denominations, and Reformed Baptist denominations that culturally have built a Christian culture of head coverings. Crossroad Baptist Church has nothing like that. So if we have a family in the church that wants to wear head coverings, the husband desires that, I think they can support that from the text, but I don't think the text requires it as a universal, timeless truth. Or if I did, I would require it as your pastor submitting to Scripture for membership across your Baptist church. Okay? Here's another reason why I don't think that it is a timeless, universal truth. Paul ends the passage by saying there are no such cultural practices for any of the churches. If this causes dissension, drop it. And let me say this, as a Baptist, right, B-A-P-T-I-S-T-S, not only are there two offices, but there are also two what? Ordinances. What are the two only things that we are required to do as a church to show the principle of submission to Jesus as Lord? Baptism and the Lord's Supper. And he's about to preach on that. And I'm going to preach on that next week. The next section is about the Lord's Supper. So the headship, this outward symbol of covering your head, was culturally necessary in Corinth. We have nothing like it in 2025, nor is Crossroad Baptist Church part of a denomination or group that has anything like it. So we don't require it, but if we have someone in our church that wants to do it, we should give deference and love to that person and say, you have a right to do that, and we support you. Does that make sense? Should we require it or mandate it? I don't think so. That's where I disagree and others disagree with me, right? I started the message with that, didn't I? And Presbyterian brothers, I have really good friends that disagree with me. I have a Reformed Baptist pastor friend who I look up to tremendously, and this is a requirement for his church. I didn't even tell you all the things, if this were a requirement, I didn't even tell you all the list of things that I would say if this were a requirement we shouldn't do. But the one thing that I definitely should say is if hair is a glory and the hair was to be covered for the married wife, then the covering better not point her out. Does that make sense? And in some of the denominations, you see it's like going to the Kentucky Derby. Some of those hats are as big as horses. It's like, hey, look at me. Look at my hat, right? That would be totally inappropriate. Does that make sense? If you're wearing a head covering, it better not point the woman out. because this is a symbol that her husband is requiring for her to show her submission publicly as a married woman in the home. But it was for only married women in the Church of Corinth, okay? So that's my take. That's what Scripture says. I hope it's been clear. There is one final thing, truth I'm gonna leave you with, and it's this. We must choose God's glory and others' good. We are not called to worship for ourselves. So friends, this is not to be contentious. It's to bathe each other in love and support one another in the work of Christ. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the word.