Custom in Corinth
Hello, I am a lifelong male WELS member and I am having difficulty with the prohibition of women's suffrage in WELS. It is my understanding that 1 Corinthians 14 is cited as one of the reasons that women cannot vote in church elections. 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 seems to indicate to me that women should cover their head (or maybe it is interpreted as having long hair). If that is so, why then are women with no head covering or with short hair allowed to participate in worship? Doesn't verse 14 suggest that men with long hair is a sin?
In 1 Corinthians 11, the apostle Paul was speaking of a custom or practice that existed only in the city of Corinth. The practice included women having long hair or wearing head coverings and men having short hair or not covering their heads.
In the everyday, pagan culture of Corinth, men and women adorned themselves this way because they recognized the different roles of men and women. They came to that recognition not on the basis of Scripture, which they rejected, but from the natural differences that they observed between men and women.
The directive in 1 Corinthians 11 was that the Christian women in Corinth not to be social renegades by disregarding what their heathen counterparts were doing, but be living examples of biblical principles regarding men and women (1 Corinthians 11:3). By mirroring cultural practices that were occasioned by the natural knowledge of God and conscience, the Christian women of Corinth could reinforce that knowledge and display their faith so others could be positively influenced (Matthew 5:16).
We keep the observation about men’s hair in verse fourteen in perspective when we look at verse sixteen: “If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God.” In the original Greek, “other” is really “such.” The apostle explains that the hair/head covering situation in Corinth was a local practice and not a universal principle that binds all Christian women of all time. That explanation also includes men and what was said about their long hair.
In summary, the answer to your question means recognizing the difference between a local custom (hair/head coverings) and the biblical teaching of head and helper (1 Corinthians 11:3, 8-9). Congregational voting is an application of the biblical teaching of head and helper.
You might be interested in “A Bible Study on Man and Woman in God’s World.” Your congregation may have it in its church library. It is also available from Northwestern Publishing House.