“Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.”
~ 1 Corinthian 11:3
Hi James and Ellen,
Have you been in a church service when the Lord’s Supper – or Communion, was served? Have you been able to join or participate in the Lord’s Supper – or Communion, celebration? Several verses in I Corinthians 11 are often used by a guy as he leads a Lord’s Supper – or Communion, celebration. In the first letter that Paul scribed to the Christ-follower guys and gals in the Corinth, Greece Christ-follower community, Paul focused on some very serious concerns that he knew existed among the Christ-follower guys and gals who were living in Corinth. Some of these issues were culturally specific for Paul’s time and for the Grecian society. A Christ-follower gal was to cover her head with a veil – especially when she prayed and prophesied, to demonstrate that she was a faithful Christ-follower in the Christ-follower community of guys and gals that was in Corinth. As a public example of being an authentic devotee within the Corinth Christ-follower fellowship of guys and gals that was in Corinth, it was also important that each Corinth Christ-follower fellowship gal keep her veil on her head when she was in public. For a gal who was living in Corinth, Greece going on 2000 years ago to take off her veil while she was in public to show off her hair was a sign to any guy or gal who saw her that her morals had been compromised. If a gal who was participating in the Christ-follower community of guys and gals who were living in Corinth took off her veil, the gal would be communicating to the other guys and gals in the Corinth Christ-follower community that she was an independent spirit who did not respect her husband and the guys who were assigned the responsibility of being the leaders in the Christ-follower community of guys and gals that was in Corinth. The consequences of a gal caught in an immoral action would result in her having all her hair shaved off her head and she was not to wear a veil while she was in public. Paul pointedly states that any gal who was a congregant in the Christ-follower fellowship that was in Corinth who openly flaunted her refusal to submit and honor her husband as her authority leader should be disgraced by her fellow Christ-follower fellowship of guys and gals by their cutting off all her hair.
It is always frustrating to your grandpaa whenever he hears a guy or gal take a verse from a site in the Bible that fits a moment or supports a point that a guy or gal is trying to make while at the same time, the guy or gal ignores neighboring verses. Case in point is in this chapter. Paul openly vented in his first Corinthian Letter to the Christ-follower community that was in Corinth his frustration and ire on how they were going about celebrating the Lord’s Supper. Paul was not pleased at all that the potluck meals that Christ-follower guys and gal who were living in Corinth were bringing when the Christ-follower guys and gals met together at the times when the Lord’s Supper was going to be celebrated were not being shared in a non-status or non-strata way. Paul was not happy at all that the rich guys and gals kept their food all to themselves – leaving the poor guys and gals hungry. Paul communicated in the first of his two letters that he sent to the Corinth Christ-follower community of guys and gals that he did not like it all that they had gotten to making their potluck meals the focal point of their meeting together versus making the celebration of the Lord’s Supper their focal point. Paul emphatically suggested that the guys and gals who would not share their potluck meals with the poor guys and gals should stay home and eat their food in their own houses and if they wanted to get drunk, that they were to get drunk in their owns houses and not among the guys and gals in the Christ-follower community that was in Corinth. Paul went from vehemently blasting the guys and gals who were in the Christ-follower community that was in Corinth to telling them how they were to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Your grandmaa and grandpaa have had the blessing of joining in and of leading the Lord’s Supper celebration time in all kinds of settings and in different churches. Your grandmaa and grandpaa can remember a number of very poignant, memorable times when they participated in one way or another in a Lord’s Supper celebration. Some of the most meaningful times that your grandmaa and grandpaa can remember of celebrating the Lord’s Supper – or Communion, took place during the two years that they went to the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church that was in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Each guy, gal or kid who wanted to take the Lord’s Supper – or Communion, when he or she was ready to do so was go up to the altar that was at the front in the church for a piece of bread – which symbolizes the body of Jesus Christ and the suffering that Jesus Christ had to suffer as a ransom payment for the sins of guys, gals and kids – like your grandmaa and grandpaa, and for a small glass of grape juice which symbolizes the blood of Jesus Christ and how the blood of Jesus Christ – as it was pouring out of the gash in his side, covered forever the sins of guys, gals and kids – like your grandmaa and grandpaa, and then to kneel at the altar that was at the front of the church to eat the piece of bread and then drink the small glass of grape juice. Your grandmaa and grandpaa especially remember the music which was played on the piano invariably by Harriet Vander Baak during these times of celebrating the Lord’s Supper – or Communion.
Your grandpaa’s dilemma begins with Paul being an example of Christ – which your grandpaa also has to be. Paul then writes in verse 3, “Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” This Bible chapter that is often used while doing Communion is ignored to explain the role of a gal in a Christ-follower community. How can gals be authority leaders in churches?
1 Corinthians 11 (650)