1 Corinthians 11:2 I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you.
As we have traveled around the world for professional reasons, we have noticed that different people have different traditions. In Japan, for instance, they are a very honoring society. They show this honor, this deference toward others, with bowing upon greeting. It is one of the ways that they honor each other.
We tend to shake hands when greeting. Handshaking goes back to times when blades were the primary weapon of choice for killing up close and personal. Shaking hands brought a potential enemy in close enough for inspection. It helped build trust.
This BLOG has a tradition. I start with a Scripture, make a contemporary connection, then try to put the text in its context before applying. This is not a hard and fast rule, but my usually practice. It is a tradition that has been refined over the last fourteen years.
How do you establish traditions? Do you just accept those passed on to you, or is there flexibility to create your own? How important are your traditions? Are they worth fighting over?
Paul begins to share some very practical insights into the church and Christian conduct. He has pointed out that there are some things that are just not acceptable no matter the people, place or time. Some behaviors are just off limits for Believers.
And now he turns to some traditions of his day. Traditions are things handed down to us for those who have gone before us. We all have them, whether we realize it or not. And it is often the traditions that we inherit, and about which we are ignorant, that get us into the most trouble.
Married couples find this out! The blending of two families brings traditions into full view. Often this gets expressed as “the right way” to do something. And there are more than two ways to do things!
Paul writes about traditions in the church. One of the traditions is a carry over from Judaism. It deals with how women are dressed when they worship and pray. The Jewish tradition is that women cover their heads with a scarf, demonstrating that they are in submission to the LORD with that covering. It is an outward sign of an inward state.
But the Corinthian church is a mixed body, made up of both Jews and non-Jews. The non-Jews didn’t have this same tradition. The uncovered head of a woman had no significance one way or the other to them. It was meaningless.
But for the Jewish converts, the covering was a big thing. It had meaning and to be without it was a disgrace. It was a rebellion against God.
So these two traditions were placed side by side in this one congregation. And Paul does not suggest starting two different congregations or services to accommodate these differences. Instead, he tries to explain the meaning of the tradition, so all would understand. He brings in a culturally appropriated parallel: shaved head.
For a woman to have a shaved head in that culture was not a good thing. It brought with it certain expectations and meanings that were negative. Paul uses that common tradition in an attempt to bring unity around what is important. He wants all to be in submission to the LORD, regardless of the tradition.
Traditions may come and go. They change over time. They vary by people groups and cultures. But submission is universal. It will look differently at different times, and among different people groups and cultures. But there is a principle of submission that needs to be expressed by everyone, male and female.
The Arnold Journey 