For some people this
might be the dumbest question in the world and follow it up with who cares?
Honestly I am in this boat. I have always believed God cares more about the
heart then the clothes someone wears. Yet does a hat matter? 1 Corinthians
11:3-6…
“Every man who prays
or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. And every woman who
prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head- it is just as
though her head were shaved. If a woman does not cover her heard, she should
have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut
or shaved off, she should cover her head.”
What? So you can’t
wear a hat when praying? Let’s take a deeper look at this.
A lot of time with
scripture you have to look back at when this scripture was written and some of
the customs of the time. At the time some scholars look at women covering their
head as a custom in the first century in Jewish and Greco-Roman culture.
Basically it had women wearing a cover like a hood. Women wanted to be
liberated and in other words fought for rights. Some thought they were doing
this by not wearing their hood. Paul said at that time in history, it was not a
liberation but of degradation (Bible
Knowledge Commentary).
Man was a little
different, he was classified as in the image of God. Not that he’s better but
he was the first image of God. “Paul nowhere
teaches that women are inferior to men in the eyes of God,” Wiersbe’s
Expository Outlines on the New Testament.
There were differences in the culture at the time. One of the ways people had a
difference between man and woman was hair. Therefore the majority of the men
kept shorter hair just as a way to differentiate between the sexes. This was
except the Spartans who liked the longer hair and would tie up their hair when
in battle. The Nazarite also wore long hair as part of law as a vow sanctioned
by God.
Long hair was a
women’s honor. As I read into this further, this was looked at as a physical
covering therefore a hood was not necessary because God gave women the natural
covering with long hair. This doesn’t deal with the scripture of 1 Corinthians
11:5-6. Paul goes back and said that this was a stumbling block for the people
in the culture of the time. Paul hoped some Christians would look at the fact
women wearing there hoods kept people from experiencing God and that was wrong.
Short hair and not wearing a veil were also a custom of prostitutes of that
time.
Looking back at
scripture and the culture, are we supposed to keep to these same practices? In
the culture it called to obey this command. Our society and culture are
different today. There is a vastly different perspective why people wore
hats/hood in the first century then today. Then it was commanded, today it’s a
fashion statement. The Corinthians relied on themselves and disputed anything
that they had to conform too. This is wrong.
Is wearing a hat
keeping people from worshiping God? Wiersbe put it this way…
“While
we do not have all of the same circumstances that Paul had to deal with in
Corinth, we must admit that a woman or a man out of place is always a hindrance
to the work of God. There ought to be modesty in the local church, both in
dress and action. We dare not conform to the world, lest we lose our
testimony.”
Is a hat keeping people from following Jesus? I don’t believe
so. The Elevation worship video on here is a great song that my worship minister Kris showed me.
A powerful song and a hat has not kept me from worshipping
Jesus. Don’t get wrapped into the little things. What is representing Jesus the
best? A hat is just a hat in culture, it’s not a distraction like it was in the
first century city of Corinth. Don’t worry about the little things that people
can debate about. Focus on the main, the power of Jesus, his love grace and
mercy.
Have a great day.
