Women Wearing Hats to Church and Other Unimportant Practices
In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he gives them instructions about head coverings (1 Corinthians 11:3-13). It’s a curious passage that’s challenging to apply in today’s world.
At one point, Paul says women should have their heads covered when they pray or prophesy (1 Corinthians 11:6).
Wear Hats to Church
I’ve known people who take Paul’s instruction most seriously. They assume it means that women must wear hats when they go to church.
Though I’ve not seen this in quite a while, I once attended a church where some women followed this practice. These weren’t simple head coverings, however. They were quite fancy.
Sometimes these hat-wearing ladies would gather after church to complement each other on their amazing head coverings.
One woman often wore extravagant hats. They were most impressive: large and showy. You never wanted to sit behind her in church, because her hat blocked the view.
The Intent of the Law
It seems the reason behind Paul’s instructions for women to have their heads covered was to not let their hair call attention to themselves. A simple hat or scarf would accomplish this.
But the women at this church were calling attention to themselves with their hats. Them wearing a hat of grand pretense served to accomplish the exact thing Paul was trying to avoid.
Judge For Yourselves
Paul ends this passage with instructions for us to judge for ourselves if it’s proper for a woman to pray with her head uncovered (1 Corinthians 11:13). I suspect he intended this as a rhetorical question, where the expected answer is, of course not.
Yet if we take Paul’s instruction to judge for ourselves as a serious command, we will likely say it doesn’t matter whether a woman’s head is covered or not.
Swallow a Camel
This post isn’t about wearing hats to church, not really. It’s about being legalistic to such a degree that our obedience to the letter of the law obscures what is more important to God and for our faith.
In one of Jesus’s critiques of hypocritical religious leaders who pursued the letter of the law with close minded diligence, he calls them “blind guides.” His rebuke is that they “strain out a gnat but swallow a camel,” (Matthew 23:24).
May we never do that.
The Spirit Gives Life
In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church, he talks about us being ministers of the new covenant, that is, the covenant of Jesus. We are to do so not in the letter (of the law), but in the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:6).
The letter kills. The Spirit gives life.
May we choose the Spirit.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.
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