Could the length of a person’s hair have anything to do with pleasing God?

[marrion]

Such an idea may at first seem strange. But before the question is dismissed, it would be wise to consider the following:1 Corinthians 11:1-15
11 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
[SUP]2 [/SUP]Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.
[SUP]3 [/SUP]But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
[SUP]4 [/SUP]Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
[SUP]5 [/SUP]But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.
[SUP]6 [/SUP]For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.
[SUP]7 [/SUP]For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
[SUP]8 [/SUP]For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man.
[SUP]9 [/SUP]Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
[SUP]10 [/SUP]For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.
[SUP]11 [/SUP]Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.
[SUP]12 [/SUP]For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.
[SUP]13 [/SUP]Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?
[SUP]14 [/SUP]Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
[SUP]15 [/SUP]But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.

so what do you guys think?

 

[GRA]

marrion --- you need to learn how to post in the proper forum...

 

[Oncefallen]

Moved from Tech support

 

[Graybeard]

Fist of all, one has to define what is long hair....

 

[posthuman]

you stopped your quotation (at least) one verse too soon.

I Corinthians 11:16

But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.

 

[posthuman]

i think in other words, culturally for those Paul was writing to in Corinth, the length of hair of women and men had a relevant meaning so that a bald woman or a man with long hair would be looked at in a certain way.

throughout the epistles the apostles urged the believers to live and act in a way that they would be above reproach - so that the gospel would not be associated with immorality. this is all of secondary concern to salvation and grace in itself -- so Paul wrote, if anyone had a really big issue with cutting or growing their hair, it was better the church just drop the idea of a haircut than to start an argument over it.

boy, we can use some of that attitude, can't we?

today Paul might have said women in the church ought not to wear fishnet stockings, tight leather skirts and 4 inch heels, and men shouldn't have long dreadlocks with clay beads in them. otherwise the people in the world would say "oh those christians all their women are hookers and their men are stoners, just look at them" -- wether the accusation is true or not, it's better they have no cause to accuse you in the first place. even so dress or hair doesn't commend you to God or condemn you. it's just a matter of propriety and wisdom.

 

[p_rehbein]

you stopped your quotation (at least) one verse too soon.

I Corinthians 11:16

But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.

Isn't if fully how a LOT of folks do that?

 

[p_rehbein]

When I was 19, my hair was blondish, red, with light brown streaks, and shoulder length.........then I went into the Military.....

aaarrrggghhhhh!

after I returned to civilian life...........WHAT WAS LEFT of my hair...........well, kinda brownish grey-white.......

IF the length of someone's hair was a necessary component for pleasing God, then pray tell WHY He took it upon Himself to cause IT TO FALL OUT!

Seriously, the answer is NO!

What you are quoting are "the traditions of men." And you know what Jesus said about those who do that?

Mark 7:6) He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7 .) Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
8 .) For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
9 .) And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

 

[Praus]

Such an idea may at first seem strange. But before the question is dismissed, it would be wise to consider the following:1 Corinthians 11:1-15
[SUP]3 [/SUP]But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
[SUP]4 [/SUP]Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.

so what do you guys think?

Song 5:11 "His head is like gold, pure gold; His locks are like clusters of dates And black as a raven.

 

[marrion]

p_rehbein wow that's a lot of accusations you have against me there brother.
To be honest I think you went a little too deep.
Also when Jesus scolded the Pharisees for teaching the commandments of men he was referring to laws they had invented or changed.
I have done no such thing.
I simply quoted what paul wrote and I see absolutely nothing wrong with God wanting to use hair as part of a distinguishing factor between males and females.
Or maybe you do not accept Pauls writings as being divinely inspired or needing to be adhered to?

 

[p_rehbein]

Yes, but remember, Jesus, when on earth in the form of man, was a Nazarene, and they take a vow to not cut their hair do they not?

 

[marrion]

you are absolutely right but after he died and resurrected he visited paul on the road to damascus and inspired him to write the bulk of the new testament during which he gives us many instructions and guidelines to follow of which some were different from the old testament ones.
I see where you are going with the commandments of men thing but I disagree that this is in that same category.

 

[p_rehbein]

p_rehbein wow that's a lot of accusations you have against me there brother.
To be honest I think you went a little too deep.
Also when Jesus scolded the Pharisees for teaching the commandments of men he was referring to laws they had invented or changed.
I have done no such thing.
I simply quoted what paul wrote and I see absolutely nothing wrong with God wanting to use hair as part of a distinguishing factor between males and females.
Or maybe you do not accept Pauls writings as being divinely inspired or needing to be adhered to?

Sorry you took it that way........wasn't making accusations about you.....just pointing out that Scripture/Jesus talked about not holding so important the traditions of men.............

And, as posthuman pointed out..........Paul himself said "we have no such traditions, NEITHER do the Churches of God.

And it is also important to remember/understand that the Apostle Paul wrote in two distinct styles..........

The first being: Thus sayeth the Lord........when writing in this style, there was no argument, no debate, no discussion, it was thus sayeth the Lord.

The second being: It would be better that, I would rather that.......when writing in this style, Paul was offering his opinions/advice, and it was not to be taken as thus sayeth the Lord............

And the Scripture passage you referenced are a classic example of the second style in which Paul wrote.

They are not "thus sayeth the Lord," therefore they are not Commandments from God, and Paul made this quite clear in verse 16 that posthuman quoted........... just saying.......

 

[SparkleEyes]

Just one more law that as part of the new covenant, we are not required to abide by.

 

[RedTent]

Just one more law that as part of the new covenant, we are not required to abide by.

You say the new covenant includes not requiring us to abide by law? What exactly is the new covenant?

I thought the new covenant was this: Hebrews 8:10, NIV. "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people." Then Christ explained it further when He said no law was changed, but He added to it by adding not only what we do but what we think.

Paul took the gospel to the gentiles, and said they didn't need to become Jews to be included, is that what you mean?

 

[posthuman]

Yes, but remember, Jesus, when on earth in the form of man, was a Nazarene, and they take a vow to not cut their hair do they not?

that's "Nazarite" -- like Samson & the vows he took -- "Nazarene" just means he was from Nazareth.
some Hebrew brother will have to clear this up - but there's no mention of Christ taking the Nazarite vows, and in fact part of them was that a Nazarite couldn't touch wine. the first miracle, Christ turned water into wine, and Luke 7:34 (the son of man came eating and drinking, and you say 'here is a glutton and a drunkard.' ) one might interpret as meaning that He did in fact drink some non-zero amount of wine, which would definitely rule out being a Nazarite.
i've always been told Jews of his time wore their hair 'long' -- now we're getting into what graybeard pointed out, "what does 'long' mean exactly?" -- which really isn't important.

i think p_rehbein's point is that hair length, clothing style, etc. are 'traditions of men' as to what's 'acceptable' or not -- and Paul's point was that as much as following them doesn't contradict the gospel, it's wise for believers to not to give the appearance of being crude - so even without verse 16, we ought to reason that hair length is not inversely proportional to salvation; God looks at the heart, not the fashion. verse 16 makes it clear though, it's better to drop these gray-area-not-really-sin-and-not-important-with-regards-to-theology issues if they become a stumbling block for us.

like music; some people think any song with a hint of rock-n-roll in it is sinful, which is a totally exterior judgement. it's best we don't play rock music for them, gospel or not, but it's also best on their part if a brother wants to sing praise with electric guitars not to accuse him of heresy over such a trivial thing.

i used to have pretty long hair, which was even purple - after the point in my life i accepted Christ - & Christ loved me just the same. i'm sure it offended some people, and i'm sorry for that, but it was a witness to others that there is freedom in Christ. am sure you could turn this thread into a huge heated debate over the merits of that - but that's not what i want to get at -- i have short hair now, and no interest in growing it out other than to keep my ears warm in winter. it comes down to being wise about my hair - short hair = low maintenance.

for us as believers & witnesses to the world, a long list of offenses = high maintenance in defense of the gospel. it's just pure prudence that we should as much as possible, "give none offence" (1 Corinthians 10:32)

 

[marrion]

p_rehbein that makes a lot of sense brother.
I guess that would coincide with what paul says about everything being lawful but not everything being expedient.
I guess I must be a fanatic then.
I definitely am a Jesus freak and with the times we are living in I am trying to stick as close to scripture as Gods grace will allow me and I would that others do the same.
This can rub people the wrong way at times though but trust me its coming from a good place.
plus all this is worthless without a converted heart

 

[posthuman]

i think in the end, wondering if Christ will like your haircut or not is an adorable thing for His Bride to do, and it pleases Him.

=]

 

[Josh321]

i think people get offended when the word is provided and they are doing the total opposite of the word, but i have a question how long is too long i got a min afro 2 inches, is that too long?

 

[Nautilus]

like my hair is maybe a quarter of an inch on the sides but almost 6 inches on top...can i have both short and long hair?