The Principle behind the Rule: Issue 1 Hair

The first issue or "rule" I will address is the issue of long hair. Let me start by saying all of the issues I will address are not necessarily rules. Some are convictions, some are preferences, and some will fall under "rules". For the sake of the blog, I will refer to them as "rules" but will leave it up to you, the reader, to determine how they will be categorized in your life. The Bible says to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. I am just using this as a format to address the questions I get most often when someone new attends Afton who was not raised in the "holiness circle". "Why do you have long hair?" "How long is long?" "Do I have to have long hair? The Bible says in I Corinthians 11:15, "But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering."

What is glory? Webster's defines Glory as:
Function: noun
1 a: praise, honor, or distinction extended by common consent
b: worshipful praise, honor, and thanksgiving
2 a: something that secures praise or renown
b: a distinguished quality or asset
3 a (1): great beauty and splendor
(2): something marked by beauty or resplendence
b: the splendor and beatific happiness of heaven;
4 a: a state of great gratification or exaltation(when she's acting she's in her glory)
b: a height of prosperity of achievement

To get the full context of what verse 15 is saying, you need to read the whole chapter up to that point of I Corinthians 15. Paul is speaking to the church in Corinth.

1. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
2. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.
3. 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.
4. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.
9. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
10. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.
11. Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.
12. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of god.
13. Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?
14. Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
15. But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.

It does not say anywhere in the Bible that it is a sin for a woman to have short hair. What it specifically says is that it is a glory for a woman to have long hair. So many times in the Bible we see that God compairs our relationship to Him to a relationship between a husband and wife. There are alot of things that I do just because it pleases Kevin or makes him happy. Not because he requires it of me but simply because I love him with all my heart and I am happiest when he is happy. The same thing can be said about my relationship with Christ. He thinks it is a glory to me if I have long hair. Look back up at the definition of glory. Specifically to the portion that states "something that secures praise, a distinguished quality or asset, great beauty and spender, and a state of great gratification or exaltation." Wow, those are the things that Jesus thinks about me because my hair is long. Why wouldn't I want the One that I love more than anything to give me a complement like that! What a compliment Jesus gives me just because my hair is long.

The Bible does state in verse 5 and 6 that a woman should have her head covered if she is going to pray or prophesy. This is why some religions feel it is necessary to wear a pray cap (a white head covering). I personally do not feel that is necessary since I have long hair.

So hopefully this will answer some of the questions behind why I have long hair and what the Bible says about it. Feel free to post comments or questions if you would like to have some additional information. I meant for this to just be an explanation or "the principle" as to why I have long hair and why the church preaches that a woman should have long hair.