Speaking of H-h-hats in W-w-worship
The chain of command is: God, Christ, husband, wife. But we must understand that authority is not the same as status, and furthermore that Christian authority is not the same as worldly authority. “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave” (Matthew 20-25-28). Christian authority — headship — is, then, service and responsibility, not domineering power.
God is the head of Christ, who is the head of every man. And the husband is the head of his wife. Christian headship is, then, a biblical family office to which men are called and elected by God (and voted into office by the wife who votes yes to his proposal of marriage). In addition the office of headship provides a double bind. Husbands are under Christ and in service to their wives. Husbands are bound by the authority of Christ and by loving service to their wives, who by virtue of their marriage concur with God’s calling and election of their husbands. Husbands are responsible to Jesus Christ for themselves, for their wives and for their children. Wives are responsible to their husbands for themselves and for their children. And children are in the process of learning Christian service and responsibility. That’s the model.
Paul then began a discussion about the tradition of Christian worship, as he understood it. Differentiating between husbands and wives, Paul said that “Every man who prays or prophesies” (1 Corinthians 11:4) does one thing, or does it one way, “but every wife who prays or prophesies” (1 Corinthians 11:5) does it another way. Before we