Let's talk men's fashion...

 

 

Read 1 Corinthians 11

I know what he is going to talk about. Tom will use these scriptures to tell people to park their cowboy hats and ball caps on the rack outside the sanctuary.

He is going to say that this sanctuary is to be a place of reverence, so park your popcorn and energy drinks in the car.

He is going to post an organizational chart with the man, the woman, children, pets, plants, and then kids in the hierarchy of things.

He is probably going to do an old guy PowerPoint with neverending analogies from the Corps or worse, more dad jokes that he got on sale.

Or not. What did Paul say?

These are the governing words to remember: Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

That said, Paul starts dispensing some grooming and fashion advice. Men—no head covering.

Women—just who are you to go around with your head uncovered?

Men—get a haircut. High and Tights would be excellent.

Women—don’t even think about getting a man’s haircut.

Here’s the logic.

There is God. That’ not a hard sell.

Then there man. He is next. No ball caps between your gord and God.

Women—sorry, you are a little farther down the ladder.

Now, we should hear the backpedaling. What? Paul became a little conciliatory. Really?

Women, remember when you were just a rib?  That’s just the way the forbidden fruit fell long ago.

I know, ever since then, man has come out of woman.

So, it’s not a governing hierarchy, is it?

Where did we begin?

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

Paul said that he was following Christ. If you're unsure about the next step, look to me. I’m doing my best to please the Lord. We’ve talked before about the rights I have as an apostle, but those things don’t matter to me.

Bringing glory to God, that matters to me.  I’m on a good track. My example is solid.

Here is some good advice. It is not directive or punitive as far as I know. I am not going to say it here, but I think you and future believers will sometimes go a different path.

Make no mistake, Paul is not lukewarm about this.  This is our way! While I am in this world leading the Gentiles to Christ, we will do some things my way.

If you have taken the yoke of a Rabbi, and this one was a Pharisee, you sometimes get some strict stuff. This was not a Rabbi-disciple relationship, but Paul was surely mentoring the new church, one in which there were few that migrated from the Synagogue.

These traditions may have been more Hebraic than Hellenistic, but Paul felt them applicable to then and there. What do we do with them?

Embrace the story: God creates man, then woman from his rib, then woman creates a man in her womb and delivers him into the world.

It’s a hierarchy that is a cycle and hardly central or governing. Accept God’s order of things throughout creation. Embrace it. Fighting it won’t change it, but I am not giving it more time today or tomorrow.

Chew on his counsel. Now, let’s get back to making disciples.