by Sarah Wootten
For many of us who grew up in church, we were taught rules to obey. Don’t use foul language, go to church, be kind, etc. However, critical pieces of information were often left out with these rules. Rarely were we told WHY we needed to do these things. This left us with a soldier-like demeanour towards God – obey, and you’ll be fine. But that’s not how God communicates to us in His Word. He doesn’t just tell us what to do. He shows us His character and how we are to reflect it. This changes our actions, our attitudes, and our desires. His commands should be obeyed, but God isn’t just about changing our actions. As Christians, He transforms our character to one of godliness.
When Paul writes that women should wear headcoverings when praying or prophesying, He doesn’t just say “do it” and move onto the next topic. He teaches the principles we desperately need to understand in order to obey this command from the heart. He writes, “But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God,” (1 Corinthians 11:3, ESV). After reading that we have an authoritative head over us, rebellion cries within us. However, it’s my earnest desire that you’ll soon see God-ordained authority and submission as something to worship God for.
Let’s start with the Father being the head of Christ. The world was created through Jesus, and yet, He did nothing on His own accord (John 5:19). He submitted to the will of the Father in everything. On the night He was arrested, Jesus cried out in anguish to the Father, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will,” (Matthew 26:39 ESV). My dear brother and sister, do you not know that if our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ wasn’t humbly submissive and obedient to the Father’s will, then the wrath of God would still be upon us? Eternal praise is fitting for the Son because of His willingness to submit. How can we be so foolish to look at God-ordained submission as oppressive?
Next, Paul reminds us that husbands are the leaders of their families, but they aren’t commanded to lead based on their own desires and wisdom. Christ is the ultimate head of the marriage because Christ is the head of the man (1 Corinthians 11:3). This means that as the husband leads, he is commanded to submit to God’s Word. How does God’s Word say husbands should lead? Husbands are told to reflect to their wives the love that Christ has for the church (Ephesians 5:25). Christ sacrificed Himself for the Church. He came as a gentle servant ready to give rest to all who are weary. He teaches her, protects her, guides her, and has unending compassion for her. The husband’s task is one of emptying himself of himself and assuming the position of a servant leader, just as Christ modeled before us. This is one of the many ways in which he submits to Christ.
And then in the context of God’s good design, the wife is called to submit to her husband (Ephesians 5:22-24). If the husband is doing his job of loving her, then submission to her husband is a no brainer. The longing of every woman’s heart is to be loved, known, and protected. But we live in a sinful world. Husbands don’t always submit to Christ’s headship as they should, and wives approach their husbands with pride and an unwillingness to be led. None of this sinfulness changes the design or the command of God. We don’t toss God’s Word aside because sin runs rampant in our hearts. Instead, we beg Him to transform our inner being to agree with and love His beautiful design.
Where God is obeyed, great blessings follow. Look at Christ; we have received great blessings through His obedience to the Father’s will. Look at the marriage; it flourishes so beautifully when both spouses are committed to diligently following God’s command for their respective roles. The problem is never God’s commands, but our unwillingness to heed it and obey it.
Lord willing, we’ll see how this relates to headcoverings in worship services next week.
This article originally appeared in The Clarion Newspaper.
Corinth Baptist Church 