On Head Coverings (1 Cor. 11) | The Sandhurst Podcast

All right.

Welcome to the Sandhurst Beyond Sunday podcast.

We want to equip the saints to think biblically about God, life, and culture so that our faith goes.

Beyond Sunday.

That's what it's about.

And um, so we got we got a good one today.

Head coverings.

Yeah, man.

Let's do this.

Uh the uh the question of the ages.

The the passage in the New Testament that nobody knows is there.

And then when you read it, it's like, what did I just read?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You're not alone.

We've been keeping up with the World Cup.

It just finished.

Thoughts?

Oh my goodness.

I mean, yeah, brain stuck.

Like, I mean, just some it was incredible.

I mean, it's incredible.

The whole thing.

I loved it.

Um, I think one of my favorite things was, you know, the uh the Lay's commercial where Will Farrell tells, you know, his is yelling out to to Beckham, hey, do you fancy so event?

You know, and we're like, why are you talking like that?

We'll drive on the left side of the road.

And uh, but uh it just uh brought back a lot of memories of living and just I love that for me.

I think the World Cup, I love just the international flair.

The you know everybody, all the nations, the whole world comes around one thing, you know, and in some ways, you know, don't want to get too theological, but I mean it kind of reminds me of what we'll have one day.

All the nations come out of one thing, the glory of Christ.

So, but now we have the glory of football, so we can just uh um just enjoy it for what it what it is and what it's worth, but had it had it just a great, great time watching the games.

I'm I'm I miss it already.

I was actually I was wondering what the viewership is of the World Cup final compared to the Super Bowl.

Oh yeah.

And I thought, okay, is it how comparable is it?

And I I may get the mutt the numbers off a little bit here, but it was somewhere in the ballpark of Super Bowl, 120 million.

The the World Cup final, over a billion.

Oh, yeah, easily one and a half billion people.

That's like one out of seven people on the planet were watching that.

Yeah, I was almost thinking about it.

Not everyone though.

Not I was almost thinking that was a low estimate because it brings the whole world together.

It really does.

And it's a it's a brilliant game.

Just need a ball.

And uh and I and you know, love our country, codos to America, great job, made us proud.

But dude, Spain, they are ridiculous.

Yeah.

I mean they kind of made it a little bit of a boring game for us in that their defense unbreakable.

I mean, just imagine this.

Imagine you're on a baseball team, and you know you got this pitcher who pitches every game, and all you have to do is score one run, and you'll win every game.

That's it.

Because like nobody can score on them even.

Yeah.

So they just look invincible.

Uh I can't wait to see where this team goes.

I hope they stay together.

I hope they keep their, you know, their uh that that's the whole thing about them, you know, is that they don't have one player that that kind of takes the limelight.

The whole team just works so well together, and I hope they can maintain that.

Yeah.

Yep.

Um, so the uh we're gonna jump into 1 Corinthians 11, but right after this, we're gonna walk into staff meeting.

And uh on the third staff meeting of the month, the third Tuesday of the month, uh, we do a Bible class with Adam.

All right, so give me give me the sneak peek.

So if you if well you nobody knows because it's just staff meeting, but Adam does a little Bible class, a little bibliology class for the staff.

It's super awesome.

We come with our notebooks, we come all around the table.

And uh, so you want to give me a little sneak peek into uh what today is gonna be?

Yeah, man.

So I mean, the Bible as as a book, as a study itself.

You know, we can we can study a passage, but you can also study the book itself.

And so we've been studying the history of the Bible, the development of the Bible, and today um is going to be really a drill down on the spiritual dynamic of God creating his word.

So, I mean, there's the there's the there's the human authorship and the transmission and the copies and the manuscripts and all that, uh, but there's also the divine element.

So we're starting with that.

So we're going uh gonna focus on uh divine revelation, inspiration, and uh divine revelation, inspiration, and then tra in illumination, and then what is what is illumination and and how is it different from revelation and inspiration?

Does it matter?

Why does it matter?

What about authority?

And then we're gonna talk about infallibility and inerrancy.

So those are you know, because all of that we throw in all these topics.

Yeah, we're gonna do because that's all related to to the divine process of God giving us his word.

So all those parts are gonna boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

We'll we'll do it quick.

Okay, give give us the 30-second sort of you listed like four or five words that are important.

Yeah, what's the 30-second explanation for each?

Yeah.

So revelation is God's divine uh disclosure, that he reveals himself to man, and this is important for a lot of reasons.

But I think the where I'm gonna camp out is gonna be on inspiration because there's a lot of confusion about it.

Um inspiration is mainly it comes in three ways.

It's verbal, uh, it is plenary, and it is organic.

Verbal meaning that God gave us his words, and uh it is plenary, uh, in that every part of the scripture is uh, it's not just the parts that say, Thus says the Lord, or the red words of Jesus.

You know, it's it's the whole thing, and then it's organic.

Like it uses people are like, if God wrote the Bible, why then is, you know, does Peter sound different from Paul in Greek?

You know, if it's if it's one author, and the reason is he doesn't um he doesn't, it's not it's not like uh dictation uh or some kind of trance-like thing.

He's he's he's co-authoring, if you will, with uh the humans, not author there, they are they are there's words for this, but he's co-operating with them.

Think about it like how does the how can there be a perfect divine man born of a woman, right?

How can there how can that happen?

How can you be both God and human?

Uh well the the written word is like the living word.

So the Holy Spirit overshadowed a woman, and then she uh conceived and brought forth that which was divine.

But you know what?

Jesus looked like Mary.

And so there's a sense in which our scriptures are the same way.

God overshadowed an author, and then they brought forth that which was the written word, and it's gonna look like Paul or Peter.

And so we're just gonna kind of drill down on how does God give us his word and what is that what does that look like uh in terms of uh writing the Bible uh in the original manuscripts.

All right.

I like it.

I'm excited for it.

And that sounds like something that would be fun to do as a podcast at some point later.

Yeah.

All right, let's do First Corinthians 11.

Um, as we go through it, I think uh the the things that I want to try to do are one, we're we're uh Bible people, so we're gonna start with Bible, we're gonna read the Bible.

What does it say?

And then I just want to to talk through um number one, what are what are some of the the key movements or key themes that Paul addresses?

How have uh how has the church historically interpreted it, interpreted this?

And then what are some things that didn't come out in the sermon just because of time that uh are worth trying to explain and understand?

And actually some of them I think were really helpful to me, and then trying to just press that into real life a little bit more.

All right.

First Corinthians 11.

He's moving from personal conscience to corporate worship, and so I'll start in verse two.

I'm gonna read all the way through verse 16.

Here we go.

Now I praise you because you remember you remember me in everything, and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.

But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.

Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head.

No hats in church.

Uh-oh.

But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head.

Uh-oh.

For she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved.

For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off.

But if it's disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off, let or her head be shaved, let her cover her head.

For a man, uh so so that's okay, that has a lot to do with I mean everything to do with what's on your head.

And there's a lot of confusion here because what the head covering is is actually in dispute.

Is it some sort some sort of shawl kind of veil type thing on the back of the head, or is it actually just your hair?

Right.

Um, there's actually a fair amount of debate about that.

But general consensus is he's actually talking about some sort of head covering.

Yeah.

Uh verse 7, for a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God.

But the woman is the glory of man.

For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man.

For indeed man was not created for the woman's sake, but woman for the man's sake.

Therefore, the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head.

Why?

Because of the angels.

Ah, yes.

Yes, that's great.

Okay.

We'll talk about that.

However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.

For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman.

And all things originate from God.

Judge for 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's a dishonor to him.

But if a woman has long hair, it's a glory to her, for her hair is given to her for a covering.

But if one is inclined to be contentious contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God.

Whew!

All right.

Man.

That just clears it right up.

Just clears it right up.

Yep.

All right.

So I really I I I usually have a little bit of sort of a uh kind of flow I want to go through here.

But I don't know that I do right now.

So let's just kind of start with uh maybe let's just start with what is confusing or unclear either to you or uh to commentators in general.

I already referenced um the the nature of the covering.

Uh it's it is unclear, although general consensus is it's related to an actual covering.

Uh but that is unclear.

Is is we're talking about a head covering like a shawl type, veil type, hat type thing, or are we talking um hair?

I think the answer is hair.

But what are some of the other things to you that is like, mm, this is this is a difficult passage because where do we begin?

Uh so um I think the the uh the you know painting back the big picture, the the the main challenge of this passage is that it it there's so much that's culturally charged.

And Paul has not been afraid to address cultural issues.

Yeah.

Um and it it it makes sense that he's addressing a cultural issue and applying the gospel truths to it while, you know, like you know, you are free from, but consider that, you know, these, you know, that you still live in the world, although you're not of it.

So there's a c a lot of cultural issues he's addressing in there, obviously tied up in there.

But um then he throws in these, you know, eternal sounding things like the angels and because of creation.

And so are we talking about God.

Yeah, and God.

So are we talking about things that really um are are culturally um shaped, or are we talking about something that is more you know trialess shaped?

Yeah, timeless.

Exactly.

So I mean that to me, that's the big tension in the text.

And it it comes out, you know, in in head coverings, and and you I mean, I think that's the other is is it hair or is it uh something you wear?

Because then if if you put them if you if it's something you wear, is it something that you only wear after the fall?

Because when God put them in the garden, did He give them a little shawl, you know, for heave, you know?

Because apparently That fig shawl.

Yeah, I mean like that.

So it uh so uh yeah, we i i it there's there's it uh uh there's been a lot of ink spilled on this.

And that I think there's some things that we can kind of figure out, and then some things, some things we're gonna have to hold loosely.

Yeah.

Another sort of difficulty that just you know talk about where ink gets spilled, it's related to the understanding and definition of the word head.

Yes.

What does head mean?

That is what uh yeah, you just said the Greek word there.

The verse, verse three says God is or Christ the head of man, man is the head of a woman, and and God is the head of Christ.

Yeah.

Uh there's a lot of the word head repeats in this passage so many times.

Yeah.

And it's used literally, something on your head, and it's used metaphorically.

Yep.

Uh God is the head of Christ.

That's right.

Okay.

So uh it carries these different meanings, and there's really two um sort of you might say opinions on how to interpret that word.

One is source.

Yeah.

Kind of like the head of a river, right?

That's source.

Yes.

And the other is authority.

Yeah.

And um the the consensus is in the direction of authority because even if it does mean source, source still even implies authority.

So you just said the head of a river.

It is it is the thing from which it comes and it it ha it carries then with it authority.

That's right.

Um but so that's another difficulty.

Uh last difficulty to mention, and then and then we'll try to uh clear things up in a way that I think is actually really helpful to a point where I actually begin to think, man, this is this is actually good.

Yeah.

Um the the difficulty of the emotional sort of aspect, no matter who you are, you have reason to read this and go and get a little bit offended or get uh feel like, what?

What you know, whether you're a guy with long hair or a guy who wears his hat in church, or whether you're a woman or a woman with short hair or a woman who's never worn a head covering in church as a symbol of anything, uh you can read this and just go and and and have like reason to be offended.

But then here's so there's the emotional side, and then you pair that against uh what has been taught about this passage throughout church history up until the middle of the 20th century, and that is this that 1 Corinthians 11, if you if you look at what the what church fathers have said throughout, like up to the 20th century, um, this was actually not a controversial passage.

You read what what like the the guys that you typically are quoting and they're like yeah this is head coverings, yeah, do it.

And um and it wasn't until the 1950s-ish that the shift began to happen where First Corinthians 11 began to feel controversial and then began to drift away from what is just the plain reading of the text in terms of head coverings.

And so then the question is, well, what happened in the 50s and 60s that would have led to such a dramatic change in in the church's teaching on this?

And the answer is sexual revolution, feminism.

And um, and so then you go, okay, well, what's the connection there?

And it's you have this cultural change um that and then you have church leadership that is going, hmm, maybe maybe we need to find a way to make the Bible more palatable.

And so here the kind of my journey through this passage was this.

Um I started with my conclusion, and my conclusion was there's I've never seen I've never been in a church where women wore head coverings.

I've never been in a church where it was like by the leadership looked down upon for a man to wear a hat in church.

I've never been in a church like that.

So I started with the conclusion that is this has to be uh culturally relative, not binding.

That's where I started.

And then a little bit into my study, I thought, well, it just kind of dawned on me that that is literally the worst way to study anything with your conclusion already formed.

Right.

And then so I was like, I need I need to go back to this, and so started um like I I needed to to study this with more humility, more objectivity, and um that's when I started reading more of what the early guys said, and even so there's actually some more modern push back to it, um, and started to listen to them, and had to ask myself this question.

Um if if I was convinced in my mind biblically that for the last you know 90 years or so, 80 years, the church has been missing the mark and and we should be wearing head coverings in church, would I have the guts to say to the elders, guys?

I think we've missed it and I think we need to go in this direction.

Like, would I have the guts to actually be here when it's unpopular or not culturally acceptable?

And uh so that was kind of my journey to go, do I actually have the guts to do that?

I was thinking, do I have the guts to tell my wife she has to wear a head covering to church?

And uh and that that would be that would be uh I think that that question has two layers, and and I'm I'm kind of interested to see where you go with how this before I I I I tell you where I'm okay.

Uh so keep going with my journey though.

Yeah, keep going.

All right, well, so my journey through it was to g to go um all right, there's a lot of a lot of different um issues that people appeal to culture as a way of wiggling out of the Bible's clear teaching.

Yes, that's it.

Um and I gave an example of that on Sunday.

That's uh but you you can take any example.

I gave the homo the the example of homosexuality, uh that you know, in the Greco-Roman world it was like this, it's not like this anymore, and so um things aren't the way they used to be, so we're good now.

And um and so I and so I had to go back to okay, um how do we interpret the Bible?

And and one of the most basic Bible interpretation principles is you let the Bible interpret the Bible.

W when when there's something you read in the Bible that makes you scratch your head and go, hmm, I'm not sure what to do about that.

I don't go with okay, what is easiest to explain away or what is most um culturally acceptable.

I need to go, okay, what does the Bible have to say about this?

And this is where I started to get some traction.

Ha, amazing.

Like the normal Bible study principles.

And the Bible has very little to say about head coverings.

So let me get to to my conclusion and then uh you want to jump in.

Yeah, it's fine.

Um so what is the Bible, what does the rest of the Bible have to say about head coverings?

And the answer is really nothing.

Um, so what else is important and core to the passage that helps me understand the passage?

And I really started to get traction um when I saw that this passage is bookended with by two different words that have very similar meanings in verse two.

Now I praise you because you remember me and everything, and hold firmly to the teachings.

Yeah, yours says teachings.

Yeah, okay, traditions.

Yeah, the mine says traditions, and that's important because the the Greek word that is used there, the that word for traditions, is a word that Jesus uses in a couple different times, but in Mark 7 in particular, come back to that in a second.

And then in verse 16, he says, But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice.

That word is custom.

So we have these two words that book in the passage, tradition and custom.

When you look at the word tradition, and sorry that this is reviewed from the sermon, but this was just really, really, really helpful for me.

Um when you look at that word tradition, I forget what the Greek word there is.

I don't know if you're gonna look it up.

Yeah, I got it right here.

Uh sorry, I scrolled down to see what uh practice is.

But the tradition is uh peridasis, peradosis.

Okay.

Um so that word comes up a couple different times in Jesus' ministry, and usually he's using it uh well, not not all the time, but in Mark 7 in particular, in a couple different instances similar to it, uh, Jesus is being confronted by the Pharisees because he's not keeping their traditions.

The tradition of the elderly.

The tradition of the elders.

Yeah.

This was not Old Testament command, this was basically Old Testament interpretation.

That's right.

Um and and he's like, hey, you're not keeping our traditions.

And and specifically in regard to washing their hands before the eating of these meals.

That's right.

And Bro, you're not keeping our traditions.

And he's like, You're experts.

He literally says, you are experts at setting aside the commandment of God for the sake of your traditions.

Same word.

Yes, yeah, that's the same word as verse two in chapter 11.

So um Jesus is quite, quite happy to throw out the tradition for the sake of the truth that stands behind it.

The truth behind the tradition of the washing was the the significance of holiness.

Okay.

Yeah.

Um but to the extent that that tradition is actually distracting from the truth, it's not inset, it's it's not like upholding holiness, it's incentivizing like self righteousness and judgment.

Jesus is like, all right, we we're gonna get rid of the tradition because we care about the truth.

That's right.

That that was like really, really, really helpful.

Um, and so it's in the and then that word custom.

Similar uh Pilate uses that word in regard to Barabbas.

It was a custom.

It wasn't an old testament like binding command.

It was a custom.

And uh so uh I got to a point where I was like, okay, I I'm not just trying to I'm I am not doing sort of the uh hermeneutical gymnastics to try to wiggle my way out of a passage that I just don't like.

I'm actually like applying the the core common sense, maybe not common sense, but just like the the core basic principles of Bible interpretation.

You let the Bible interpret the Bible.

The Bible doesn't say a lot about head coverings, it does say some important things about traditions.

We we've we have freedom and I would say uh responsibility to be flexible with the tradition and actually to get rid of the tradition when it distracts from the truth that's behind it.

That's right.

All right, that was a lot of words.

What you got?

That's good.

Yeah.

And I think that helps because that is also consistent with everything we've been saying about like the passage is really not about me sacrificed to idols, you know.

And it's about deeper, deeper things.

And and and so uh ultimately it's love and the glory of God.

And and and so uh we he's I think he's continuing that, saying, okay, you know, that we have traditions and what the traditions communicate things, uh, but the main thing about them is uh the truth behind them, like you said, and the foundation.

And so what we are uh Jesus was happy to, I mean, he literally made a very clear distinction between traditions of men and the commands of God.

And so uh that that that really is that so we're not just saying, oh, here we read something that we don't like, and so let's just toss it out because it's you know probably culturally ensconced and you know, we've moved beyond that.

No, there it's he Paul specifically bookends this passage talking about traditions, practices, and uh and then he brings he does bring in some eternal elements and some uh some foundation.

Um, but uh there there he clearly uh he he what he's talking about is is something that um there that that that that was communicating a tradition that was communicating something in their day that it no longer does in our day.

Yep.

Yeah.

Uh and so here's kind of the three uh points I would want to draw out of this text to help kind of frame in a right understanding of it.

Um number one, head coverings were an issue of number one, witness, and then head coverings were an issue of number two tradition.

We just talked about that, and then head coverings were an issue of headship, and that that would be the third one.

So witness, tradition, and headship.

In regard to witness, here's here's where I come to that.

Um when you go back to the culture and you go, okay, what did head coverings say in the culture?

Uh the for a man to wear uh uh to cover his head was usually what he would do in one context, and that was temple sacrifice.

Okay.

So uh, and then for a woman to have the shawl on her head was very customary for women across the Greco Roman world.

I mean, truly, in in my all my reading and looking at all the things, you look at any statue of a woman in in the world in that in that time period, and she's got a shawl on.

Um so the so this is what the head covering said.

For a man to wear it, it said, I'm about to, I'm I'm engaging in temple worship.

For a woman to remove it was a sign of um well to to have it was a sign of modesty and submission to her husband.

That's that's what it meant.

So then to remove it was to say, I'm available.

That's actually one of the ways you would know the the of the the thousand temple prostitutes is no head covering.

Yeah, she's available.

So um if you were to go to a church where the he he he says, guys, don't cover your heads and women do cover your heads.

To go to a church, corporate worship, where the men have their heads covered and the women's have the women have the head coverings removed, you literally walk in and the cultural explanation, the only assumption that you have is I'm in the presence of pagan worshiping prostitutes.

Right.

Like that, and and he's he's going, This is not who you are, but you are saying something about yourself that isn't true.

Stop it.

Yeah.

And um, so that's why I say it's an issue of witness.

And then couple that with this is I can't remember if I said this on Sunday, honestly.

Uh I hope I did, but this is an important transition text from personal conscience to now corporate worship.

And um, and he's coming out of all this conscience stuff, going, hey, there's certain freedoms that you have that you ought to be willing to give up for the sake of the gospel.

He gives his example in chapter nine, the the freedom, the right to be able to receive financially from them as an apostle, but then he gives up that right for the sake of the gospel.

And now I think he's going in chapter 11.

Hey, um, technically, theologically, you you have the right, we can you can ditch the head coverings, okay?

However, you are saying something about yourself that isn't actually true.

And this is something that while you could be free to get rid of the head coverings, you should not for the sake of the gospel.

Because when people, some were to someone were to come to your corporate worship, they would assume pagan worshiping prostitutes.

That's not who you are.

And let's function in our church service in a way that is consistent with what who we are and what we believe.

I I think again, yes, what you're free, but set that aside for what's gonna be loving, what's gonna what you're gonna communicate, because it does communicate.

I mean, imagine uh uh going into it, um, you know, if you know, I'm gonna give you one guess as to what kind of car I drive.

Like like uh clothing communicates.

If you're listening, he has a Jeep shirt on.

Yeah.

Uh you can go to YouTube and see us.

Um, but yeah, it communicates.

And so he's saying just be careful what you're communicating, because you even though you're free, you know, don't don't abuse your freedom.

And I mean we we all live by this.

So I like I like that it's anchored in that this what feels like a bizarre passage has a very actually natural uh you know lesson to it as we as you get into it.

And just it's be cautious with that.

So the the practical, the sort of life question for me that came out of that was really helpful.

And what ways do I engage in in well, yeah, to keep it personal, in what ways do I uh engage in the corporate worship setting where I'm saying something with my actions that isn't actually true about what I believe?

Okay, to to not wear head covering with saying something with their actions, that they are available, but that wasn't actually true.

What in what ways do I attend a church service and say something with my actions that are in contradiction to what I actually believe?

And I reference things uh like uh saying with the way I worship that this doesn't matter to me when it actually does matter to me.

Um there there's a long list of things that I could go through that I'd go, man, uh I don't want I don't want to be a walking contradiction where if you were to put a video camera on me, you would make assumptions about uh what I care about, what I value, what I believe, and then for that to be different than what I actually believe and what I actually care about.

Imagine being at a you know at a wedding or at a at a at a at a party and the bride and the groom just don't look like they want to be there.

You know?

I mean it's it's it would be a it would be a walking contradiction.

And so yeah, it's absolutely we we need to to to be aware of that that our our body matters, our presence matters, and and decorum matters.

And so uh I I think it's a good reminder from Paul to to to be aware of what we're communicating with our our demeanor, with our dress and uh and and and our words, our relationships, yeah.

Yeah.

And so I think we're gonna get to decorum in a in a few minutes, but just to kind of review, we've said headships were an issue of witness.

You know, to ditch them or was to say something about themselves that wasn't actually true.

Uh they were an issue of tradition.

We already talked about that, and then an issue of headship.

So this is uh this is where I want to dig in a little bit in terms of headship.

Head coverings were an issue of headship.

Uh what do we mean there?

And let's dig into some of the things that he says.

This is where I think he'll um he'll talk about the angels, he'll talk about uh nature, and I want to dig into those things.

So if it's about tradition, if the head coverings are an issue of tradition, and traditions are practices that uh that are meant to uphold truth over time, then we go, okay, what was the truth behind the head covering?

What what was yeah, what what was the truth behind the what's the timeless reality behind the time-bound symbol of the head covering?

And it's in verse three, and uh it is this uh that I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.

So what what's the truth behind the head covering?

That is you we we can be flexible with the tradition, but not flexible here.

Here it is that God has created a structure of authority, and in the context that he's talking is in the church.

Now, it's also when we read the New Testament, it's also true in the home as well.

But get there's an authoritative structure: God, Christ, man, woman.

Um, you know, institutions created by God, and and two of them really, you know, there's the there's the family unit, and then there's the church-family, you know, both of which mirror our relationship to God.

And so uh it makes sense that he would apply this uh principle of headship to the home and the church where there is uh headship involved.

And obviously, you know, and and you touched on it on Sunday that it's uh it's uh a headship in terms of role, but there's you know, I don't think Christ felt like he was lesser than the Father, you know, that there's a there's a unity and an equality among the members of the Trinity, uh, and just like there is in a family, and yet nonetheless, there is uh there is an order that God has created that that that that headship reflects.

Yeah, and and I think that's actually why, you know, Paul is always when he's writing, he's anticipating the objection and he tries to get ahead of the objection.

So I think that's why he follows it up when he says, Christ is the head of man, man is the head of a woman.

The objection that you can come up with, this is an authoritative structure uh that does it's it's not just a structure of roles, but a structure of value, because Christ is has value over humanity.

But then he goes, and God is the head of Christ.

It's like he's anticipating the objection.

Oh, so you're saying that men are better than women, just like Christ is better than humans.

And he's like, oh and in anticipating that, he puts God back into the the Father back into the equation.

And this is where like a theology of the Trinity helps so much that Jesus was equal to God.

He is equal to God.

We gave examples of that on Sunday, and yet distinct from the Father.

He had his own distinct role, and that role, in one word, was submission.

I mean, this is what he says.

Um and so the so what he's making case for in terms of the authority authoritative structure is that it is a distinction in roles, not a distinction in value.

There is e and actually then because he ties the authoritative structure back to the Godhead, it affirms equality of equ equal and value, distinct.

Which, by the way, is interesting because a lot of moderns will read this and they'll get uh scandalized by how barbarian it seems, but the opposite would have been true to the original readers.

They would have thought it's scandalized in its liberality.

How can you say that uh that man is the head of woman in the same way that God is the head of Christ?

Like there's no way that women get that that much status.

There's no way that you could elevate women to that equal role with men or equal status with men, equal, equal before God there in their in their design, in their in their nature, uh, in their in their being.

And so that would have been completely um scandalous to the original hearers that they that they would have the same status uh with a man that Christ does with the Father.

Yes.

Incredible.

So so tying the authoritative structure back to God affirms the equality between men and women and um in uh in value with distinction and role.

Yep.

All right, so that's him tying it back to God.

Uh you know, that's that's all stuff that we talked about on Sunday.

So let's uh let's let's dip into some things that we didn't talk about on Sunday uh that may help us out, or maybe they maybe they won't help us out, maybe they'll just uh give us more context.

Okay, um let's go to verse uh verse eight.

We're gonna talk about because of the angels.

Okay, for man does not originate from woman, but woman from man, for indeed man was not created for the woman's sake, but woman for the man's sake, therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels.

Yeah.

Adam, what you got?

Okay.

You know, um, this is where I I do love the duality of this.

Um the the whole thing about the angels, and there is something I want to say, I guess, about later in the passage about the duality of man and woman, but I'll wait till we get there.

The angels it it if if you're sitting there thinking, well, this this means we definitely have to do head coverings because you know, the the angels it's just again in scripture with scripture, you know, uh Jesus gave us two sacraments, right?

He gave us baptism and um and the Lord's Supper.

And these are both the same images of the gospel.

Uh and by saying Jesus gave it to us.

I mean, he he he was baptized and then said, uh do this in remembrance of me in terms of of the Lord's Supper.

And I mean, imagine saying, well, you know, I know we think that really we have these two sacraments of baptism and Lord's Supper, but really we have baptism, the Lord's Supper, and head coverings.

Like it makes just no sense at all to kind of throw that in as a third physical uh thing that we have to practice globally forever until God comes.

Like there's um it it it just it runs completely counter to me to the gospel to try to enforce like this dress code um in worship.

And so uh the angels is I think well, if it doesn't, if it's not bringing in some eternal truth to support actual wearing of head veils, what does it mean to bring in the angels to this then?

So there's a couple of things thoughts on that.

One is that it could be uh simply that they are uh observers in the the worship, and we are in in some ways we are participating with angels.

The angels are in heaven worshiping now, you know, the holy, holy, holy.

Isaiah has this vision of the throne room and the angels worshiping there, Revelation.

Also, you see these creatures worshiping in the in the throne room, and they are there now.

And so when we're in worship, we are in a sense joining with the angels.

And there was a there were some ancient Jewish traditions that angels were present among worshipers uh in a way that was unique to the event that they weren't in other ways, and so that that could be something he's referring to.

And and yeah, so that's that's one idea, and I don't want to put more in this than is uh right.

However, if you just go, well, m what if maybe that is true and what Paul is saying, that angels that are are present in heaven, like worshiping God, but they are also like real beings on earth that are actually like in our worship services, we just don't see them.

That kind of raises the stake.

Like I think about um who was it, Elisha, when he's with his he has a servant, and they're surrounded by this army, and Elisha's like cute, like just chill.

And the servant's like, what in the world?

Like that, and he's like, Hey, we are more than they are.

And the servant's like, uh, and Elisha's like, uh, Lord, open his eyes that he can see.

And then the servant is able to see that which he could not see before, and that was the presence of these heavenly beings on earth, and and that gave Elisha it was Elisha, right?

Not Elisha.

Yes.

Yeah, it was Elisha.

Um, he goes, it that that impacted his earthly experience, what he could see that other people couldn't see.

So if I just try to imagine, I don't want to put more into this than what is a right or good, because it is fairly obscure.

But what if what if God could open my eyes to see that kind of angelic, heavenly, spiritual presence in the room?

How much more does the gathering of the saints and worship for God get elevated in my heart that just kind of purges me of any sort of ho-hum kind of uh ritualistic uh participation in the service?

Like that is there's something about like when we sing songs.

My wife gives me a hard time about this.

If we sing a song that is anything about us joining with angels songs, there's something about that that just kind of fires me up.

Because one day, uh while this is we're making we're in a little bit of guess land right here, um, guessing what he may be saying.

We certainly will one day be with angels singing and uh serving the Lord, uh, and we will see him as he is.

But man, if that could be a little bit of a window into how things actually are now, yeah, dude.

That's good.

And and to to to in our defense, we're not in not make just making this up.

I mean, obviously he says this, and that was a tradition um among the ancients that angels participated with them in worship, but it is actually preserved in the uh in the prayer book of the Anglican church, which has come down to the Episcopal Church to this day.

Um, every single service, the priest recites these words, this prayer before the communion, right after.

You know, we always say um the the Sursum Corda, which is uh lifting up your hearts, the Lord be with you, and also with you, lift up your hearts so much.

It is right and good to do so.

And then here it says, literally, he is his very next prayers, it is very meet, right in our our duty that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to thee, O Lord, holy, uh, almighty and everlasting God.

Therefore, with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we praise and magnify your glorious name, ever praising and saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

Glory to you, O Lord Most High.

And so, like every single worship service uh in the Anglican and Episcopal Church, those words are repeated that we join our voices with the angels and archangels and the whole host of heaven.

And the idea is that um in the in the in the in the Christian cosmology, there's three realms.

There's the, there's, or there's four, I guess.

There's the human, the, but but there's the human realm, sort of the angelic, demonic, and then uh the divine realm or heaven.

And, you know, if you sort of uh roll hell or Hades into that, also it's sort of uh the the opposite, the the foil side of heaven.

So but I think of in the the ancients would have thought of the the world in three uh tiers, the human, the angelic, and the divine.

And and he's just saying, you know, we are joining our voices, as you said, you know, in worship with the angelic realm of the divine God that we serve in love.

And I do feel like that that gives us um uh we we're not disenchanted, we're not dis we're we're not completely cut off from those who praise him.

We are a part of their praise, even though we don't see or hear it now.

One day we will.

And just be vigilant to the fact that the angels worship him perfectly.

And so let's be uh thoughtful in the way that we worship so that we don't dishonor those who do it well.

So that's thought one related to because of the angels.

Yeah.

Uh I think that that is a cool thought, but I think that's also the thought that we are less inclined to at least that that's the thought that I'm less inclined to think that's what Paul had in mind.

Um so what's the second thought?

There's like second, third, fourth, and fifth.

Yeah.

There's there's two primary ones that that I continued to read about.

Yeah.

And actually this the second one I thought you made the most compelling case that I had heard um because of the angels, was a reference to the fact that if you if you take the authoritative structure, God, Christ, man, woman, uh that angels are part of an authoritative structure too.

That angels are that they are um these creatures that live in willful, joyful submission to the Lord.

And um and and they participate in and in that authoritative structure as well.

Um but you said.

it better than I did.

And do you remember how you said that was a couple weeks ago now?

Yeah no it's it's uh and and and exactly so as as a part of this cosmic realm right the angels are perfectly submitted to to God and they delight in it.

They they they they embody that submission and honor it because it's it ult it ultimately comes down to honor um that humans are made in God's image but angels are also created by God and as his perfect creatures they honor their creator and they are delighted and happy to do this.

And so I I think Paul's saying if angels are delighted to honor their God uh let us also honor our God and and be and and be mindful of of the angels and and and to to uh to respect the the the created order that he's given us I I I think I think you did it.

I think that that's how that's how I would have said it.

All right yeah so if if you know head coverings are an issue of witness we talked about that head coverings are an issue of tradition we talked about that head coverings are an issue of headship then angels are part of this headship process too where they submit to their head God as well and there's delight in it and that does not make them uh lesser uh that I mean they're lesser than God but they're not lesser in their joy because of their submission.

That's right.

And because their distinction Yeah and they don't they're they they they don't they don't feel you know uh dismissed or I they that they that they again they they perfectly embody their role in in in creation and their role in relationship to God their head.

Yeah.

All right so uh in terms of because of the angels do you have any other thoughts or any any sort of leaning you have in regard to what Paul what you think Paul was saying the only other possibility and and and it it you know the word angel and I only introduced this just to to to kind of make a case for um to remind us that there really is no word for angel in the Greek right it means messenger that the the word angel exists but it literally means messenger so imagine if there were no angel the word English the only English word that we applied to we applied it to was literally messengers.

So we have these heavenly messengers and the word angel in the New Testament is used of hum humans also messengers.

And so the it it it's it's possible uh and so I just wanted to remind us that it is a possibility that he says and because of the angels he he might mean because of those who will be impacted by your witness those the the messengers of uh the the people that will go out from our church make sure that they carry a consistent gospel.

If you're gonna invite your one to church make sure that you don't invite them to a church where you look like a bunch of pagan prostitutes.

Yeah exactly yeah so the to to be to be vigilant to the message that you're sending essentially that that that you as the messenger are living in accordance with the uh the divine order.

So that that is a possibility.

Um uh and and and again I just mentioned it uh because it's it it would also be consistent with with the message of Corinthians.

Yep all right uh so that's because of the angels let's look at uh a second sort of thing he grounds the authoritative structure in and it's authoritative structure slash decorum and that's not just the angels but nature.

Yep.

Alright I'm gonna take a stab at this one and then tell me what you think.

Right after where we just stopped verse 13 judge for yourselves it is is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?

Does not even nature okay so we're we're grounding the argument here this authoritative structure in nature now does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it's a dishonor to him but if a woman has long hair it's a glory to her okay does nature teach us that men have shorter hair that males have shorter hair answer no like if you look at nature look at a lion okay certainly Paul knew Peter knew a lion where he wrote about lions okay does nature teach us that males have shorter hair judge for yourselves is a proper woman praying for her head uncovered does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it's a dishonor to him like nature does not teach that men have uh long hair to their dishonor.

If you let nature run its course men have just as long a hair as women plus someone are face.

That's right.

So what is he talking about nature?

Well again we let the Bible interpret the Bible and he talks about nature in Romans 1 when he's talking about God handing people over to the desires of the flesh as they've exchanged the truth of God for a lie and um and that that men exchange their natural desire for things that are unnatural.

It's the same word that uh he uses here as he uses there in Romans 1.

It is what is natural to us.

And so what does nature teach us?

Um nature teaches I I think this is the most simple and true I think way to understand it.

What does nature teach us?

Nature teaches us that things look like what they are nature teaches us that things look like what they are.

If you see a lion and it has a mane guess what?

It's a male lion yeah if you see a deer and it has antlers guess what?

It's a it's a buck.

If you see a duck and it's all colorful guess what I don't know what you call a male duck.

I'm not I'm not a duck guy but it's a male duck if you see a turkey and it goes it's a gobbler.

Things nature teaches us that things look like what they are and that so this was really helpful to me because then you you make the cultural connection there that in certain cultures uh if you were going to apply that things look like what they are in their culture again you go back to the statutes and the artwork you see in the Greco-Roman world for men had short hair that was what men in fact the the the depictions of men with long hair are um some of them and we actually watched a video about this together I think you were there yeah yeah you were there uh the the depictions of men with long hair were of the conquered peoples that was that seems that some people guess uh is the Romans way of saying hey you know why we beat you?

Because your soldiers were a bunch of girly boys.

That's right.

Yeah yeah so nature teaches us that things look like what they are and and what and the way that gets represented is different in cultures.

So um what I think he's saying here nature teaches things look like what they are so you need to pay attention you know you need to be in c in in in line with what does your culture say like about how men look if I go up in uh on a Sunday and teach with uh a skirt on somebody should and somebody would say no no no no no we don't do that because we we we we we want to look like this things look like what they are you look like a girl right now right okay but if you wear that same thing and make it plaid and do it in Scotland guess what yeah you're a manly man you're a manly man yeah you know because here there things look one way here things look another but it's consistent with the principle of nature things look like what they are and that's going to be different depending on culture.

So and and you could apply that to a bunch of different um cultural elements things but that was really helpful nature teaches us things look like what they are and so I it it is um I think a hindrance to the gospel message when our culture understands um has certain expectations of if you are this you look like this and then to go to intentionally go against them for a man to wear a dress for a man to paint his fingernails um is is a contradiction to that and it's confusing and it's a hindrance to the gospel.

Take the opposite uh for girls in our culture you know we used to use the word tomboy I don't know did you guys grow up with it it's it was culturally um uh acceptable for a for a girl to dress like a boy and that was called a tomboy she but that wasn't looking like she wasn't that's just kind of the way things are in our culture the point is things look like what they are and there ought not be a contradiction in the church's setting between what the cultural expectation of uh if you if you are this then you look like this because that causes hindrance to the gospel and causes confusion to to the message.

You know he he really ties these uh men and women together uh he's he's showing both the diversity but also the unity and that's what I love it he doesn't give up he doesn't jump in one ditch or the other that look men and women are totally different nor men and women are all the same you know he's he understands that there is there are things that unite us uh and there are things that not divide us but distinguish us.

So uh in verse let's see in in verse 11 he says in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor is man independent of woman so they are they are tied they are together for as woman came from man so also man is born of woman but everything comes from God.

So there he's he's I I love it that he's reestablishing the uh unity of um the the the the the the equality uh of of man and woman and one uh forget who the theologian was if it was uh I think I tracked it through Beth Moore maybe Rick Warren back to Tozier who said you know the pride of the man is that woman was made for him but the humility of the man is that he needs her right he needed a helper and the pride of the woman is that the man needs him but the humility of the woman is that she was made for him.

Like there's a duality to this.

That was I didn't read that.

Yeah that that was and so that that's good.

Yeah it is I mean and it it's it's it's a pretty profound thought that that and what it does will you just say it again.

Yeah yeah sure so you know the the uh the the pride of the man is that the woman was made for him but the humility of man is that he needs her and the um the the humility of the woman is that she was made for the man but the pride of the woman is that he needs her and and uh and and so that they both bring their uh the uh uh a strength if you will and and a vulnerability that that is completed by the other uh that the the the man brings a strength and the woman brings a strength her help and then they both bring a vulnerability that the other's strength completes and that that is God's good design and that is affirmed by Paul and so Paul is saying here that neither one is better than the other they're both vital and they're both created equal by God but there is also alongside their equality in creation there is a distinguishing in their roles so that that duality is preserved not only in side by side as husband and wife, but vertically as a part of the cosmic order.

And this duality will reflect the order from God the Father to Christ and from Christ to the to the man and from the man to the woman.

I hate to keep making you repeat yourself, but can you say that again?

Yeah so there's a uh there is a complete equality of the a male and female side by side as both made in God's image and they complete one another in in a horizontal, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a worldly sense, side by side but there's also a vertical way in which they retain a distinction enroll between uh and they reflect the divine hierarchy or the divine order of God in over Christ and Christ over the man and the man over the woman.

And so there's a uh there's a complete equality on the ground uh right to left and there is also a complete order and distinction um uh if as it were north to south vertically with God to reflect God's divine design and it is so it is is beautiful it is powerful and when it and and God says when you operate on the ground in a way that is perfect you reflect the Trinity and we have complete equality side by side but we also have a divine order uh of authority and I will give that gift I'll give that gift of that divine order to you to demonstrate my glory on the ground to creation because that's what I made you for was to uh to rule creation and by rule I mean to reflect my authority and power to all of my creatures whether they are seen or unseen.

I'm trying to think how to summarize in my own words what you just said I'm not sure I can get there but it's it's still really good.

Yeah no and and that's what I think um when when when he grounds the parts that are eternal in the creation and this sort of the these dualities that complete each other whether you know you go back to Genesis 1, it's earth and sky it's land and sea it's night and day and it's male and it's female right these these dualities that complete one another and he grounds um his teaching on worship in God's created order and so and that's that that's the appeal then to nature he's saying you know like look um uh you're going you're going to express this order in different places in different ways like you said you know in in modern America a skirt means one thing but in uh in Scotland it means something else and so as you reflect this order just be mindful that whatever you're doing uh on the outside of what you wear and how you conduct yourself that it reflects what's happening on the inside to the people around you I I got it that's good beautiful so that's uh so we talked about because of the angels talked about because of nature uh I want to we probably need to wrap up here in a second uh I want to just think okay what what are some things that we missed and maybe two things come to mind uh number one we it in in the on Sunday I limited the scope of this to corporate worship because that's the context of chapter 11.

He's talking about corporate worship this God given authoritative structure in the church and then we also see in the New Testament in the home.

It's important that those that the authoritative structure which affirms equality and distinction and interdependence which we talked about on Sunday gets understood to be in those spheres the church and the home but not beyond those uh and to to to help us understand like what does this not mean and so let's just take fire out a few things what this doesn't mean this doesn't mean um that that men exercise authority over women in in all spheres of life it doesn't mean that women can't or shouldn't be CEOs or presidents or have authority he's limiting this the the application of this authoritative structure to the church and in the home and when it gets applied in the church it's that there um there's really one role that is distinct for distinctly for the man and that is elder.

We talked about that.

But in terms of like what does it not mean what what things come to your mind?

It doesn't mean that women uh are uh less capable that is certainly not the case at all in the same way that Jesus is not less capable than God.

Again it helps so much to go back to the nature of God here.

It doesn't mean that it doesn't mean they they can't or shouldn't be in leadership positions.

What what other things come to your mind we're like, oh okay we need to make sure we understand this does not mean when I think about what it doesn't mean um to combine kind of your family and elder example I think it doesn't mean that even in the church that every man has authority over every woman.

Okay correct.

And it really the while he talks about men and women what he really means is while men and women have these characteristics, it is played out practically in a marriage.

And so and the fact that men are elders well they have authority over women yes but that is a symbol the elders in that in that role are symbolizing Christ the the the bridegroom the husband and the church is symbolizing the female or the the bride and so um they are reflecting the the the the family and of a single family in that sense of a husband and a bride.

And so you know I I have authority in my home but I don't have authority over someone else's wife or another a a single woman that that that while there are characteristics to malehood and and femininity that are real and matter um it is played out in man in in the church with elders and a church resembling a husband and a wife.

So true any other thoughts as to I'm trying to anticipate because I didn't see I know some people said they sent questions in but I never actually saw what the questions are.

So sorry about that.

Yeah um I don't know where those questions got put I think um you know my my final thought was don't let this be the the hil to die on um because there are so many obscure elements what we the the things that we that are not obscure are consistent with the rest of New Testament teaching.

You know that there that God has given us a created order.

It is good and we do our best to live within it to reflect it to each other to the culture around us as a part of our witness uh as a part of our as a as a part of our being as a part of our honoring God's uh design and uh at the at the end of the day it it's it it's it's there are a few details you know that you can debate but at the end of the day um he affirms the equality of men and women he affirms the headship of Christ and the headship of God over Christ.

You know all the all the basic truths of the gospel are still here and you know I don't know if you were gonna gonna read it but I thought you know you uh articulated that very well at the end of the service.

I was actually going to finish it with that yeah to to to I thought that was beautiful to say look whatever you take take this like this is the this is what we know and this is how where we can stand.

Yeah and so one thing I would add to what you said because you affirmed equality you affirmed the headship of Christ.

I I think what I found to be really sweet and good and necessary um relevant about this passage is while it affirms equality it also affirms distinction.

Yes a practical distinction that right now our culture is trying to erase and uh and we erase the distinction only to to the extent that we erase the distinction we blur the image of God.

Yes and this really helped me see that so equality yes distinction yes and interdependence.

Yes I mean that and I'm not just injecting that word uh he he uses the word independent twice.

Yes uh however in the Lord neither is woman independent yeah yeah of man nor is man independent we in other words yeah we're not independent we are interdependent yeah and and we need each other yeah and and the way that God has created us equal under him yet distinct to be able to fully express the image of God.

So I do want to end with trying to press out some of the nuance of that distinction.

We did that in your equipping class a few weeks ago and that was really good.

But as my my dad really kind of uh drilled into us uh these four qualities of a man I think it was from the book Raising a modern day night and it was you know man rejects passivity accepts responsibility leads courageously anticipates the greater reward that was drilled into me some other um I I've been reading uh there there's a organization maybe called uh warrior poet society or something like that um and they kind of have these four qualities of man's provide protect lover leader provider protector lover leader provider protector and um maybe it's just because I haven't read the right books but I haven't yet I I was I've been wanting to find something that's like man what are the things that I can really capture for womanhood and that matters to me a lot uh well one it matters to me as a pastor two it matters to me because I got four daughters and uh so I've been just trying to like okay what does the Bible say?

And a few things that stand out to me that will that were reflected in what I read again I just didn't have time to talk to I kind of ground it in the scripture um the one we've already referenced that Eve was made as a helper for Adam that word helper is used of Eve in Genesis one and two and then the rest of the time that word helper is a is in reference to who?

God.

God about 30 times.

Yeah the Eve is a helper to to Adam like God is a helper.

This is not made you know like M A I D.

Right.

It's not her being a maid this is this is her being to him a a help like a God given God sourced help.

That is a beautiful thing.

Yeah okay so woman she is a helper Helper.

Um, what else is the woman?

The woman is uh it you think about like First Thessalonians 2, and then uh it's Matthew, maybe whenever he's weeping over Jerusalem, and Jesus is weeping over Jerusalem, he calls himself uh he he likens himself to a mother hen.

Yeah.

A mother hen with her chicks.

Yeah.

Okay.

And Paul is uh compares himself, likens himself to a loving mother who t who um tenderly cares for her uh nursing child.

Yeah.

That there is a tenderness, a nurture, a nurturer that is um distinctly feminine, yeah, that is also so part of who God is.

Yeah.

He is the helper, he is the nurturer, yeah.

And that is how God has wired women to be.

All right, I'm getting in on it.

Don't know.

I got one more, but you can go Don't run away because I wanted to jump in on this.

I think for me, the image, you know, you've probably heard me talk before from Song of Songs 2, 3 about the image of the man being an apple tree of fruit and shade.

And the but in the verses right before it, I think the primary image of femininity that I draw from the Bible is Song of Songs 2, 1.

She says, I am a rose of Sharon and a lily of the valleys.

And you know, the rose of Sharon was actually a desert cactus rose, right?

And so um what I what I see in there is that um it's not just that she's this like delicate flower.

You know, it's like the rose of Sharon, like when you're in in the in the desert, you're dead.

Like it's the life and death is water.

And what the cactus does, it says, I can take it, I can take the heat, I can retain the water, and I can give you refreshment when you need it.

And so I feel like there's a feminine strength that provides refreshment to me as a man, to me as a husband, that is really unique to a woman, you know.

And I can I can be with the bros and be encouraged and strengthened, but not like I can with my wife.

I mean, there's a different life-giving force that she has when my life feels like a desert, when my day is like a desert, she can bring that refreshment as Rosa Sharon.

A Lily of the Valleys, you know, and that um is about beauty and fragrance.

And, you know, without getting into the philosophy and history of it, I mean, it's like we all know that beauty has a healing power.

Like that's why people pay to go to museums.

Uh, there's a healing, and people make art.

It beauty has a healing power.

And and women bring um uh a beauty, uh fragrance to our lives, a feminine strength and refreshment.

So when I see the Rose of Sharon, Lily of the Valleys, to me, uh uh I see a woman who is strong, who is nourishing, nurturing, refreshing, beautiful, fragrant, and just brings uh delight to the soul.

And this this is this is you know something that women bring.

And that brings with it um not only renewal in life, but healing.

Uh uh one of the historic W why do you say healing?

Just curious.

Because there's other words that come to my mind.

When you say beauty has a healing power, there's other words that I would think I I might I would be more inclined to put there that that kind of resonate with me more.

So why do you say healing?

I say healing because you know, life beats us down.

Um, you know, like what think about the um the the the you know, when kind of the the kid skins his knee, runs to mom crying, okay, yeah, mom maybe provides a band-aid, but really what she provides is care, attention, attentiveness, and the healing she brings uh to that child, and that child runs away 30 seconds later, his knee is still the same.

But something in his soul has been healed by her care for him.

And and, you know, you as as adults, as a man, I still have that skin knee that I still bring to my wife, and she still brings that care, that compassion, that tenderness that is healing, not uh like you know, life gives you these cuts, these hits, these bruises, these that the man is supposed to take, right?

And then um, and then though there's a there's a womanly um life-giving force that brings renewal.

Uh, and to to use the natural world as an image, historians, I'm not making this up, um, so historians have talked a lot about the male image of the sun is something that initiates, it provides heat, it provides light, and the earth, the female receives that heat and light and turns it into life, right?

Turns it into greenery and forests and and and and vegetation and beauty and flora and fauna and all the things that that that and so there's a and then in the winter it all dies off, um, but in the in the spring, it's all renewed, right?

There's a healing power even to the to to the to the annual calendar of the earth.

And I I feel like that's that the that that's what women bring to to us men.

All right, beautiful.

Yeah, so the the healing and then the um the first thing you were talking about with with the flower.

Yeah.

Both these, I I I would just kind of as you explain it, connect it under the umbrella of the helper and the the tender, nurturing, caring, yeah, um, carer.

Which, by the way, I think really well reflect both sides of God, right?

In terms of um uh uh I heard a woman say recently that Christ was a man without He was a man with compassion, without compromise.

With compassion, without compromise.

And I think there's these two sides to it, uh to humanity that Christ brought uh and showed us the tender side and the strength.

And uh, and and that that there's a there's a that that women are able to to be a helper to to us men um in this way.

Yeah.

So helper, nurturer, carer, uh here's here's a third thing that it like scripturally and practically, and we did we need to wrap up here.

You you got a Bible class that you need to teach in a second.

Yep.

But uh a third thing that has stood out to me so well that I don't know how to like really capture it with a label.

So if you're listening, you have a label that you could put on this, this would really help uh me.

But in Deuteronomy 17, God gives the rules for the king.

And this is just one example of hundreds that you could get from the Bible of the power of the woman, is what he says.

He says, um, the king shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away.

Okay, uh don't multiply wives for yourself.

There's a lot of reasons why not to do that.

Uh, one of them is his heart will turn away.

The the capacity of a woman to steer the priorities of a man's heart is so obvious, especially if you've been in youth ministry.

Holy cow, you'd watch you watch a guy and a girl, and they start, ooh, they start feeling things, and you know, they're they start to like each other.

And then if if this is the priorities of the girl and this is the priorities of the guy, here's what happens.

Yep.

The the woman's capacity to steer, to influence a man's heart is it is so obvious scripturally, just why God warns uh against multiplying wives here.

Um, and and then just practically, you can see nothing steers the priority of a man's heart like the woman he loves.

So, yes, the woman is helper, yes, the woman is the nurturer, and yes, the woman is help me with a label here, but it's like the the the steerer, the influencer.

I don't know what the label to put on.

But um what the reason I I want to get at these is we're talking about the equality of the genders, we're talking about the distinction of the genders.

And I just wanted to uh put some language behind some of the things that have been stirring me about what is distinctly feminine and distinctly uh the the what parts of feminine feminine femininity are distinctly feminine and and at the same time distinctly divine and how beautiful that is and how I want to be able to champion tenderness and care as good expressions of femininity that don't need to be um suppressed, where um gosh, I I have so many things I want to say about this, but and and kind of its application to the way I want to things I want to champion with my girls, but I just don't have time.

So here's I I want to finish our time by reading what I read at the end of the service.

And the reason I want to do it is uh because it was my attempt to from the really like the depths of my heart to be able to champion equality and distinction and interdependence all in a short little um I don't know what you would call this.

Yeah, uh a thing to our women and a thing to our men.

And uh so let's listen to this as um husbands and wives, as moms and dads, as single men, single women, and um and as part of many members of one body, masculine and feminine, distinct and equal, in a church where we are interdependent.

All right.

I'm gonna start with the women and I'll try to read it somewhat fast, but not too fast.

Women, you are made in the image of God, you are wired by God to be like God in terms of your help and your nurturing care.

Yes, just as God gave Ease Eve as a helper to Adam and then called himself that helper, so you bring God's help to those who need strength.

Your kids find great joy and comfort in your embrace and in your words of encouragement.

So do your husbands.

You are distinct.

While men are usually stronger, you possess an inner strength that often comes out in crisis.

Like Esther, who said, If I perish, I perish, or the women who stayed by Jesus' side when the men hid, or the women who came to the tomb, you tend to find yourself in the place of need.

There's a reason more women serve in church at higher rates than men.

You are distinct.

You tend to have bigger emotions.

You like Mary who anointed Jesus with her with perfume, and the woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears, and like Hannah, who prayed before the Lord so passionately she appeared to be drunk, you have a tenderness before the Lord that expresses itself and worship that Jesus called legendary.

You're distinct.

And your help, your care, your inner strength, your emotions, your tenderness, you reflect the God whose image you bear.

You're distinct.

Man, that pumps me up.

Yeah.

To the men.

Men, we are made in the image of God.

We are wired by God to be like God in terms of providing and protecting and loving and leading.

God made us bigger and stronger, that our strength would get leveraged to protect the vulnerable, to run in the direction of bullets or burning buildings.

We are protectors.

We are distinct.

We are providers, yes, in terms of physical necessities, but also in terms of emotional stability.

Our emotions tend to be more steady, and we can be stable bulwarks that our wives can crash against without us being moved.

We are distinct.

We are wired for purpose, for chasing something bigger than ourselves, like Moses, Joshua, David, or the apostles.

Many of us have the desire to create and sustain movements that take ground, that make a difference.

We're distinct.

In our marriages, we represent Jesus in terms of sacrificial love, the one who gives preference, the one who humbles ourselves to the point of death, the one who dies that others might live.

We are distinct.

In our protection, our provision, our love, our leadership, we reflect the God whose image we bear.

We are distinct.

And when you get, when you put all this together, you get a better picture of God.

When we see a God who is not idle in our need, who ran to us in our need and placed himself in the middle of it to rescue his children and glorify the Father, he carried the cross and maintained the inner strength to do what no man or woman could do, absorb the wrath of God as our righteousness and loving substitute.

Only God could do that.

He is distinct.

He was crucified, buried, and rose again that he might give his righteousness and his spirit to those who call on him in faith, that his spirit in us might make us distinct more than just as men or as women, women, but supernaturally distinct as ones in whom God dwells.

To help, to care, to love, to lead, to provide, and to protect through the glory of the Father.

So knowing we are distinct in our gender and supernaturally distinct by his spirit.

Let's be who we are.

You want to pray for us?

Good word.

Yeah, let's pray.

Father in heaven, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for your guidance, your Holy Spirit.

Thank you for that, even though uh we don't always understand everything, that you uh will continue to help us to walk in a path of righteousness.

Thank you for things that we do understand and help us to hold fast to those and to walk in them.

By the power of your spirit, for the praise of your glory, may we retain um both the uh the equality but also the distinction and delight to live in those things so that we will reflect our design and honor you and honor any celestial observers whom we will one day join in person.

But until that day, Lord, may we be faithful to do it here by the power of your spirit to the praise of your glory in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Let's go.

Let's do it.

Thanks for joining.

Vamos espagna.