This is a great question that was asked in a Christian Hair Stylists Group.
I would say that what is being prescribed here in these verses are what we call disciplines. Disciplines, unlike doctrines of faith & morals, can be changed.
For instance, 1 Cor. 11:5-6 says that women should veil when they Pray (or she might as well cut off her hair). It was common discipline in the Early Church for women to cover their heads or veil during the Sacred Liturgy. However, this discipline has changed and women are no longer required to. Though some women do choose to continue this practice as a personal devotion & reverence towards God.
What is important to God is the beauty on the inside.
Another aspect to this is that it is a sign of subservience. Both men and women are called to be subservient (obedient) to God. Those who do not are full of pride, putting themselves above God and others.
We are called to live a life of humility & faithfulness. This does not mean that wearing jewelry and styling our hair makes us full of pride. We can be both beautiful on the inside and the out. The disorder is when we are focused more on the beauty on the out 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 than we are on the beauty within. I hope I’m making sense.
This question sparked a good conversation. I think it is a great reminder to us all that we need God’s grace to beautify us on the inside and our talented Christian hair stylists to beautify us on the outside. And we already know that God is greater at creating beauty than any of us!
Lord, help us to be beautiful on the inside and the out. â™± Amen
I have seen video footage of places in the Middle East where the man who keeps sheep has to put diapers on them if/when guiding the sheep through public places. Why? Because the view of the sheep’s back side inspire sexual feelings in the hearts of men, at least the local men. I personally am not affected in this way when I look at a naked animal. I have heard the common expression describing American men of the south as “pig fornicators”, (using a different word for the fornication part of the phrase.). Apparently these things go on.
So the idea of women covering their hair …… this is to protect the men from being subject to the arousal of sexual thoughts and feelings. This makes perfect sense to me. But there is a kind of global hegemony of the business world that convinces the women to wear tattoos in public, wear pants that expose every minute aspect of the body, wear clothes that highlight the size of their breasts, tear their pants at the knees, let their hair blow freely in the breeze. And then complain when men come on to them, or when there is rape. It is like advertising and then accusing someone of making the purchase.
So, modesty is for our own protection. And as Cade says, real beauty is an inside job. Why would a woman want to dress and groom in a way that invokes lusty desires in the hearts of men?
Fortunately for me, I don’t find those things attractive. Hair in the breeze doesn’t affect me one way or the other. Having lived for years in Boston, which is windier than Chicago, I was used to people’s hair blowing in the breeze.
You are a refined “gentle man”, Stephen. Every scripture makes the point that the closer we are to God……..the more we are relieved of the demands of the senses. The saints of all spiritual traditions strike the man in the street as being very austere. But they are not practicing asceticism. They are simply indifferent, by virtue of tasting the bliss of spiritual enlightenment. I believe that I read that Saint Francis was walking barefoot in the snow. The fact that monks practice celibacy makes the point that, as Jesus said in his sermon on the mount……”A man cannot serve two masters….God or mammon.” This is because we are not these material bodies. We are eternal spirit souls. Therefore one who experiences this, by direct perception, forgoes the association of wife and children. That is the test. Even Jesus did austerity, to make this point…….by fasting for 40 days, before beginning his preaching mission. One who does austerities becomes very powerful. Even the demonic souls know this. This understanding is illustrated in the example set by Jesus. After fasting in the desert, it was shown to him that now he could enjoy the pleasures of the world without limitation. But Jesus showed, by example, that this is not the purpose of austerity; it is for gaining detachment from the demands of the flesh, and using determination to be fixed in spiritual pursuit. So he said, “Get behind me, Satan!” Of course, Jesus did not have to do austerities in order to purify himself. But he does different things, just for being an example to us. Just like when John recognized the spiritual authority of Jesus. Jesus asked John to baptize him. And John felt that he was not fit to even tie the sandals on the feet of Jesus. But Jesus said, “Let us do this, just so we can set an example for others.” It was to show that in order to advance spiritually, closer to God, one requires to surrender oneself to a spiritual preceptor. That’s why Jesus says, “I am a the way, the truth and the life. There is no way to approach the Father other than through me.” Amongst the Muslims and the Hindus who maintain ancient traditions, the women cover their heads. When we look upon such a woman in the market place, we immediately feel a sense of reverence and respect. She is not advertising her wares. The 10 commandments are given to us to counteract the human tendency to feel and behave like the animals. As I say, Steve, you are a more refined human being. But laws like the commandments are given to us because most of us require to be restrained. Therefore if women are modest in their public appearance, this can be a helpful reminder, that the goal of human life isn’t sensual pleasure…….but to cultivate the ability to open our hearts to God.
I think that the less we need or desire, other than God’s ways, makes us less susceptible to temptation. (I’m not even close, but I’m getting nearer.) One of the Scriptures and an Easter hymn say that we shall be raised incorruptible. Whenever I hear it, I think of not only physical corruption but spiritual. We shall, I think, be untemptable.
Now you are talking! Artificial renunciation won’t work. Satan is singing: “Time is on my side.” He will win. All of us are looking for the same thing - pleasure! satisfaction! Therefore we have to become more than church “members”. We have to experience spiritual fulfillment. Then we are on solid ground. Like David prays in Pslam 23: “My cup runneth over.” He is experiencing so much happiness within his heart, that he can’t contain it. This is what Jesus is advertising when he says: “Accept the yoke that I wear. It’s really light and you’ll like it.” And, “Love the Lord thy God with all of your strength!” This is not about rules. The Jewish clergy had hundreds of rules. And wishing to catch Jesus off guard, and have him say something that contradicted one of their “rules”, they asked him, “What is the. most important rule?” And Jesus told them directly that there is something more powerful than obedience to rules. Love of God. Just like love of family, love of friends, love of husband, love of wife, love of community, love of nation. These are not rules. They are spontaneous. Love of God is spontaneous. And the sense of reciprocation overflows the heart, and sets one free. Satan can’t come close. Too much light. This is what Jesus is selling - as the fulfillment of all the laws, the next step in spiritual life. We are leaves on the tree of life. And God is the tree. The leaf on the tree that waters the root, is fulfilled. The reciprocation of love is our sword and shield in the battle against our lower inclinations. Am I there? No. Therefore we have spiritual practices. Like chanting the rosary. Spiritual life is also a kind of addiction. When we become mad after it - we are saved. An eternal love affair.
I sometimes forget that a yoke connects two animals to pull a load. So Jesus is yoked with us.
Finding it easy reminds me of how about 15 years ago I was diagnosed with prediabetes. I wasn’t eating much sweets already, but I cut them out of my diet almost completely, and the less I ate, the less I wanted. (I can still eat fruit.) Last year the nurse practitioner changed my blood sugar status from prediabetes to controlled. I think that when we need to turn away from things, sometimes it is hard, but it may be easier than we expect.
Ha-Ha! : ) One of our rivals in High School, we called, “The Sheep Screwers,” because apparently back in the 70’s a man from that town was caught doing things with a sheep. Who knows if it was true or not. I never went to the Library to look it up on the old microfilm reader. But, it sure did stick. When we were playing them one homecoming, our cheerleaders got in trouble for making signs referencing the nick-name and one of the classes slipped in a reference on their homecoming float : )
You may be onto something here, but this says more about the men than the women. Sure eve caused Adam to sin, but ultimately, it was Adam’s sin.
Yes, men are physically stronger. But women control the men. Instead of becoming a monk and giving one’s heart to God and His service 100%, a man gets a wife, has a job or a business to maintain his wife, his kids, purchase a nice house, a nice vehicle, clothing for the family, house insurance, car insurance, health insurance………and a million things to take care of…….just because he can’t live without a woman. Very strong drive. And those who can’t find a woman….find a pig or a sheep.
“Kinsey Reports (Mid-20th Century): The widely-cited Kinsey studies from the late 1940s and early 1950s reported that 8% of American men and 3.6% of American women had at least one sexual contact with an animal in their lifetime. These figures were even higher for individuals from rural backgrounds (40-50% for rural men)”.
Now, in our Bible, we have the story of Samson and Delihla. Samson was the strongest man. But because of his sex drive, he was imprisoned into slavery. This is a good metaphor for the results of sex drive in man.
But Jesus did not keep a wife. Nor do the saints. Nor do the monks. So it appears that the pursuit of sex and the pursuit of God are mutually exclusive. But at least let it be contained to one’s own wife, and members of the same species.
When the male donkey pursues the she donkey, she kicks him in the face. In all animal species, there is fighting, growling, crying. Unweded mothers is a problem in human society. Most abortions are because the women/girls are not married. Rape is a big issue. The president of the United States (Clinton) lost his position as president because of succumbing to sex in his office. Trump has a reputation for being sexually inappropriate with women.
In some religions, the husband and wife engage in day-long prayer, prior to the act of procreation. The idea is that if the man and wife have their hearts inclined towards God at the moment of conception, the soul that God places. in her womb will be very pious by nature. And children that are born out of lust are more inclined to be very animalistic, like the kids who engage in “punk” music, “slam dancing”, piercing their cheeks with safety pins, etc.
Ideally, one should be engaged in prayer at the moment of conception, asking God to send us a saintly child who will be a spiritual inspiration to all of us.
There is a verse in the Eastern scripture called, Bhagavad-gita which states that lusty desire burns like a fire, and is the sinful enemy of the world. The idea is that the more we feed a fire, instead of being satisfied, the flames increase. Therefore as you say, by not complying with the demands of the senses, they become progressively easier to control. As Jesus says, we cannot have two masters. The closer we come to God, the more we become free. And the more we serve the demands of the senses, the further we become from God. The two paths are mutually exclusive. Of course we cannot be artificially renounced. But scripture provides us with guidelines……..like the 10 commandments. And Jesus says that it is harder for a wealthy man to enter the Kingdom than to push a camel through the eye of a needle.