The church in Corinth had problems. New converts , called to live within the bounds of their new freedom in Christ, needed constant guidance and instruction. Recognizing that the apostle Paul preached God’s divinely inspired word to them; they readily listened to and followed his instructions. The apostle praised them for this (I Cor. 11:2) and it gave him the more encouragement to write about how the Corinthians must live in the world and in the church.

I Corinthians 7:17–24 explains how God’s people are to live within the social and economic areas of life. Salvation does not free one from the social structures of life but calls him to so live and work as to be a redeeming influence within them. Because in Christ there is neither “slave nor free” (Gal. 3:28) does not mean that in the economic sphere there are no slaves. There is an order in the social and economic world that believers have to recognize as established by God. Man may bring in injustices which distort God’s order, but that may never be an excuse for revolution to destroy that order. Rather, God calls us to restoration of His order through the Gospel. God’s people must so live within the structures of this world that they “make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive” (Titus 2:9). In this connection it is good to read such texts as Ephesians 6:5; Colossians 3:22, 23; and especially I Peter 2:18.

In the same way be lievers must live within the communion of the saints. Also in congregational life God has set ao order. God ‘s people must not only recognize that order, but also exhibit that in the ;Nay they conduct themselves, even in their dress. That order the apostle spells out very clearly in I Cor. 11:3. There we read that “. . . the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” That this headship involves authority, rule, and subordination is evident from the context. The wearing of a veil was a token of one being under authority. Some women thought that the new liberty in Christ freed them from that authority. It seems that the wearing of a veil was in dispute. In a society in which presumably only shrine prostitutes removed a veil, we can understand that taking off a veil in public by new converts created a stir and false impress ions.

Scripture addresses itself to that particular question in unmistakable terms. It makes it crystal clear that God demands that believing men and women recognize the order God has established . That order was to be observed and become manifest wherever and whenever there is a gathering of men and women. Especially is this so within the communion of the saints . There it must be seen that both men and women honor God’s order. That must be seen in the way men dress and cut their hair and it must be seen in the way women dress and wear their hair. Women must show, when there is praying or prophesying, that they are under authority, that is, under man as the head. They must do that for the sake of the angels also.

That statement about the angels is interesting as well as baffling. Commentators wonder why and how the angels are involved in this. Everyone knows that angels are present wherever God’s people are involved. They ·are spirits ministering to God’s elect children at all times. As such ministers to “those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14) they are naturally very much concerned that these ” heirs” observe proper decorum . Angels are grieved when God’s order is set aside. I suggest this is the more so since many angels rebelled against God’s order among the angels when Satan led them astray. Angels would be very sensitive on this score.

The apostle is not addressi ng the husband-wife relationship in this passage. He deals with that in Ephesians 5:22–23. What he refers to here is how the headship principle must also be practiced by the family of God. That must be practiced not only when the congregation is gathered in corporate worship (I Cor. 14:33–36) but also when there are other meetings being held by some of the congregation, for prayer or Bible study, or the like. In the worship services women are not permitted to speak; in meetings other than that they must reflect that they are observing God’s order, recognizing man as head.

That man is the head of woman must, I take it, be seen in the particular calling ofmen to be leaders, protectors and guides to the women. Men are called to be leaders heading the army of the Lord. That is not only true when they are assigned special offices in the church, but that belongs to them by virtue of a calling to observe God ‘s order. That this is in some sense similar to Christ’s headship over man can be deduced from what the apostle writes to the Ephesians as quoted above and fully implied in the name Christ as used in I Cor. 11:3. As Christ submitted to the Father for the salvation of His people, so men must submit to Christ for the salvation of the women. Within the communion of the saints this order of headship must be worked out. Then men will know what duties that entails. To give the kind of leadership and rule entrusted to them they must know God’s Word and live it joyfully. Only when men are revealing the image of God can they fulfill their calling as heads of the women. And when they do so they will gain the respect and reverence as the heads from women which God demands from women.

This is no easy order to follow. Its demands on both men and women are awesome. Both need the grace of God and its enabling power to remain in the divine order. Their need is greater when women are much more highly talented than men. Even such conditions do not allow men to abdicate their calling as leaders, rulers and guardians . And they do not allow women to become revolutionaries against the divinely established order. In such cases this message from God’s Word must be the more carefully maintained. A highly gifted woman has no right to usurp authority over less gifted men but must submit to proper rule and leadership within the confines of God’s will. Without the observance of the requirements for godly living laid down in God’s Word, the whole headship principle collapses. When men and women both remain within the order God has set for them here is an attendant glory. To that the apostle refers when he speaks of man being the glory of God and the woman the glory of man. And it must be repeated, that holds for every marriage as it does for the household of God.

To try to go into all the dimensions of this truth would make this article much too long. Allow me to say that this simple, clear teaching of Scripture is being questioned and criticized today. In a booklet “What is Headship?” edited by Joan D. Flikkema, who is the executive secretary of The Committee for Women in the Christian Reformed Church, we find statements such as “Paul wrongly implies that women are not God’s image, though men are,” or, “Paul wrongly requires absolute silence from women,” or, “Paul failed to work out fully his doctrine’s social implications.” The names of the authors who made such statements are given. Such startling statements, seemingly quoted with approval, make the Word of God of none effect. The warnings of the apostle apply to them. “If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. If he ignored this, he himself will be ignored” (I Cor. 14:37, 38). It is noteworthy that the apostle said this after forbidding women to speak in the churches. Such a statement is the more important in today’s world when those who claim to be Christians and also Reformed, dare to suggest, as is frequently being done today, that Paul’s writings were for then, conditioned entirely by the culture of his time. Such claims destroy God’s Word completely.

Apostacy runs with swift feet! It is running its swift course among us today. It seems hard to believe that many of our leaders are being captivated by the new hermeneutic and working feverishly to have the clearly-contrary-to-Scripture practice of women in ecclesiastical office implemented as soon as possible. And that is but a beginning of what will  surely follow. If ever there was a time for a call to arms against this wave of heretical teachings and actions, it certainly is today. May those who claim to be men of God stand up and be counted.

Cecil Tuininga is a retired minister at Edmonton, Alberta.