Yes.
So that means that you faithfully follow the instructions given in the New Testament by Jesus Christ and His apostolic writers?
Um, well, yes...
All that "If you love Me, you will keep My commands" stuff - you follow that, right?
Well, yeah, I try my best. And God forgives me if I mess up, right?
Absolutely. As long as we're trying to obey, He forgives our mistakes.
All right. You were scaring me...
That's the idea. Look at First Corinthians 11, please:
3But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. 4Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, 5but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. 6For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. 7For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man.8For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; 12for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God. 13Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, 15but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.
That, dear reader, is from the Apostle Paul, he who founded more of the original Christian churches than any man who ever lived. And what he is telling us is that men must uncover a clean-cut head to pray, for "if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him,", and women must not have short hair, for it is "a symbol of the authority on her head, because of the angels".
Umm....
You're twitching, aren't you?
Yeah, I am. Are you sure it says...
Well, I'm quoting the ESV here, but the King James is the same with a bit of older English thrown in:
13Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?
And in the original Greek, it says...
Yeah, no, I believe you! I believe you.
It's just that - well, I mean, we just... Society's moved on from that "hat wearing" stage, where all the men wear hats in public and doffed their cap when a lady walked by. Women always had to wear dresses, and have long hair, and be housewives instead of having their own jobs. I mean, this isn't the 1950s any more, y'know? Hey, doesn't Proverbs 31 talk about how a strong woman makes her own wares and sells them outside the home? Isn't that saying that women can work for a living?
You're trying to leave this argument and start a different one, friend. I never said anything about working - although i suppose if I were to go down that road with you, I'd point out that her job was to supplement the husband's income. But that's a topic for another day. What about the hair and hat thing?
(Sigh...) I mean, it was a different TIME back then, y'know? Nowadays, we're much more liberated about the way we live - we don't put silly restrictions on people that don't do anything constructive, you see?
I see. So, it's all right to love one another because Jesus said so, and it's all right to do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and this eating whatever you want thing is fine with you, and this circumcision/no circumcision thing is cool...
Ew! Why'd you have to mention that one? That's gross!
Because it's one of God's commands that was superseded in the New Testament. In fact, it was never mentioned by Christ in the Gospels - you have to go past that into the days of the new Christian church, where like the writings of Paul, Peter was divinely inspired to start serving the Gentiles as they did the Hebrews, just as he was divinely inspired to understand that all food is acceptable for a Christian to eat, as long as he doesn't offend his fellow Christian by eating it.
But that's all right with you, yes? To eat of whatever food you want? Bacon?
Well, yeah! Of course! God said it was okay.
And you're cool with not having to be circumcised?
My father was, but I'm not... and I sure don't want to be, not at my age!
Hmm. Fine. But when we hit something in the New Testament that offends your modern sensibilities, suddenly there's a problem?
I... ah...
This is the problem we have in the Christian world in 2017, although you hit it on the head when you said "this isn't the 1950s any more". The only part of "Make America Great Again" that actually should hit home with Americans is the return to something resembling a more God-fearing, Bible-conscious society. Marriages became more disposable when men and women stopped living according to His prescriptions for a loving, lifelong marriage.
And it was never about women not deferring to men, because the other half of that equation was that men were required to make every decision based on the good for his wife above all else. Sure, some marriages died because the woman forgot her place, but many more died because the man forgot his primary task. And still more marriages died for a far more sinister reason: the pervasive modern attitude that everything is disposable - marriages, spouses, stable homes for children, and God.
What do you mean, "God"? We still worship Him! We still pray to Christ!
When you choose to.
The moment you and society started to pick and choose which parts of the Bible to obey and which parts to ignore because "society's moved on" from a particular command? That was the moment you replaced God's role as your Lord with someone whose leadership you greatly preferred.
What? Who?
Yourself. More people in America worship themselves as Lord than ever considered Christ as their Lord. We've celebrated the "self-made man" - we praise the "me generation" - we lovingly speak of the man who "lifted him up by his own bootstraps", never stopping to think that trying to actually DO that just throws you into the dust from whence you came.
Cutting your hair or not cutting your hair isn't the most important detail in the grand scheme of things. But it's a way of looking at your heart - are you willing to follow Him in the little things?
Consider, in closing, what Our Lord Jesus Christ said to His followers as they approached Jerusalem and the week of His Crucifixion. As Luke recorded in chapter 19, verses 12-27, those who are trustworthy in the little things will be trusted in larger things; and those who aren't, well...
12He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 13Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ 14But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. 16The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ 17And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ 18And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ 19And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’20Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; 21for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ 24And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ 26‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 27But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’”
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