Are we commanded to cut our hair or not?

[firehill]

[Vickilynn]

Shalom,

Question: Gypc (I think that's his name) posted a while back that he and his wife have no problem with his long hair.

BUT, he was ministering and his long hair was a stumbling block, so he cut it. Awesome!!

I'll ask those who don't think hair matters, if your brother or sister stumbled because of your hair length, would you lay it down for their sake? Please answer honestly.

[Openly Curious]

Whatever. I suppose some people are only happy when churches produce cookie-cutter Christians who all look the same, with short hair on the men, long, flowing tresses on the women, with long skirts and no adornment whatsoever. Hmmmmmmm?

God looks on the heart folks! Our churches are full of all sorts, thank the Lord, and God is not producing copy-cat look-alikes, that's for sure.

I take exception to this statement being made here. You know I could say the exact opposite and it would be equally as true. It is obvious that you are taking things way to personal for some reason. Perhaps a differing opinion from your own is threatening to you for some reason.

I believe God does look on the heart but His eye is also on the sparrow and He see what we do outwardly as well. To me it is all about what is proper and right in the eyes of God and not socially acceptable to mankind around us for we are not to conform to our society but to God's word in the matter of hair length. And we can say what we will for or against it but the issue of hair length is found in 1 Corinthians 11 and is thus taught it is a shame for a man to have long hair and for a woman to have short hair. It is not about producing cookie-cutter Christians who all look the same. Even if all the men had short hair and all the women had long hair their would be differences as all do not look the same and all are different sizes and heights that kind of stuff only comes from those who want to buck against what it says in the scriptures while pointing their fingers at others.

As I said already God does look on the heart but he also acknowledges the outward things we do as well which stem from within our hearts as well. There are laws of nature that are in play and are not written down in a book for mankind to tamper with and the law of nature is very present in our world and it teaches us things as well. Like about sex and girls liking boys the differences between the two which there is suppose to be differences contrary to what some may think. But if one wants to go against their own nature and portray another then that is their own perversion they will have to deal with but they don't need to perverting others producing cookie cutter rebells.

OC

[Floatingaxe]

Whatever. I suppose some people are only happy when churches produce cookie-cutter Christians who all look the same, with short hair on the men, long, flowing tresses on the women, with long skirts and no adornment whatsoever. Hmmmmmmm?

God looks on the heart folks! Our churches are full of all sorts, thank the Lord, and God is not producing copy-cat look-alikes, that's for sure.

I take exception to this statement being made here. You know I could say the exact opposite and it would be equally as true. It is obvious that you are taking things way to personal for some reason. Perhaps a differing opinion from your own is threatening to you for some reason.

I believe God does look on the heart but His eye is also on the sparrow and He see what we do outwardly as well. To me it is all about what is proper and right in the eyes of God and not socially acceptable to mankind around us for we are not to conform to our society but to God's word in the matter of hair length. And we can say what we will for or against it but the issue of hair length is found in 1 Corinthians 11 and is thus taught it is a shame for a man to have long hair and for a woman to have short hair. It is not about producing cookie-cutter Christians who all look the same. Even if all the men had short hair and all the women had long hair their would be differences as all do not look the same and all are different sizes and heights that kind of stuff only comes from those who want to buck against what it says in the scriptures while pointing their fingers at others.

As I said already God does look on the heart but he also acknowledges the outward things we do as well which stem from within our hearts as well. There are laws of nature that are in play and are not written down in a book for mankind to tamper with and the law of nature is very present in our world and it teaches us things as well. Like about sex and girls liking boys the differences between the two which there is suppose to be differences contrary to what some may think. But if one wants to go against their own nature and portray another then that is their own perversion they will have to deal with but they don't need to perverting others producing cookie cutter rebells.

OC

Yes there is a perversion out there, and we must be distinct in behaving righteously.

[Openly Curious]

Shalom,

Question: Gypc (I think that's his name) posted a while back that he and his wife have no problem with his long hair.

BUT, he was ministering and his long hair was a stumbling block, so he cut it. Awesome!!

I'll ask those who don't think hair matters, if your brother or sister stumbled because of your hair length, would you lay it down for their sake? Please answer honestly.

I think this is a very good question to ask. Because it does matter to others as some will not recieve you if you come to them with long hair and on the same token some will not recieve women if they have short hair as they are looked at as being rebellious and people will stop up their ears to them. It is the same with other things as well not just hair. But these things are important because someone could get saved after listening to your message you bring but some may not recieve you and think you are real and above board and therefore not respond to your message who may have otherwise. You see it not always about us but others. I think it was very admirable of Gypc in what he did for the sake of his hearers.

OC

[exrockstar]

I'm telling Shiloh I understand where he's coming from but he keeps saying Paul wrote it for the church.

I know what, who, when he wrote. I totally understand the divisions, the problems at Corinth, the influences of paganists, etc.

Fiosh you pretty much summed it right there.

I believe Christian members are not only supposed to be a an example as people who do God's work by good deeds but also

a visual example. Hair and tatoos are the two most popular signs of a visual statement one has.

Ever notice how the hippies rebelled the war with long hair, rock fans and bands didnt conform to society by having a certain look,

and the ones that get poked fun at is the goodie two shoes that live in Leave it to Beaver world.

I aint an old man either but sometimes you have to step outside of the box and really study society (and not be too involved with it).

... 3xR0c|<stAr c-u-l8r

I hear 'works' and 'good deeds' in opposition to the Gospel of Grace.

'Hair and tatoos are the two most popular signs of a visual statement one has.' To who, are these signs 'negative' (by implication), you? Sure Paul became all to all, so you are one of the weak ones or not?

the "gospel of grace" gets you saved. then what?

if I use the "F" Word and present the gospel to you would you take me serious?

the key word is "presentation" some may even say "set a good example"

do what you do thats all I can say ... 3xR0c|<stAr c-u-l8r

[Openly Curious]

'exrockstar'

the "gospel of grace" gets you saved. then what?

if I use the "F" Word and present the gospel to you would you take me serious?

the key word is "presentation" some may even say "set a good example"

I know I sure wouldn't take one serious if they were cursing before delivering a message from God. We are to be a good ambassador for Christ. The way that we present ourselves to the world is the way we are saying Christ is like and it is important what others see portrayed in and through us contrary to what others may think. It could be others have never considered this area of their lives before not giving it much thought but it is very important to set a good example because people do pattern their lives on things we do in front of them as we have influences on people in whom we may never know we did in this life by our examples of the faith we portray. So I agree with you exrockstar now a rockstar of Christ the Rock that don't Roll.

OC

[Floatingaxe]

Shalom,

Question: Gypc (I think that's his name) posted a while back that he and his wife have no problem with his long hair.

BUT, he was ministering and his long hair was a stumbling block, so he cut it. Awesome!!

I'll ask those who don't think hair matters, if your brother or sister stumbled because of your hair length, would you lay it down for their sake? Please answer honestly.

I think this is a very good question to ask. Because it does matter to others as some will not recieve you if you come to them with long hair and on the same token some will not recieve women if they have short hair as they are looked at as being rebellious and people will stop up their ears to them. It is the same with other things as well not just hair. But these things are important because someone could get saved after listening to your message you bring but some may not recieve you and think you are real and above board and therefore not respond to your message who may have otherwise. You see it not always about us but others. I think it was very admirable of Gypc in what he did for the sake of his hearers.

OC

In this culture, I truly do not think that any unbeliever is going to be so rigid as to reject the gospel of Jesus Christ because the woman who is presenting it has short hair, or the man who is loving them in Christ has long hair. People outside of the body do not make those kinds of judgments in general. In fact, if people outside of Christ think that they have to adopt the long hair look as some people here believe we should all do, then they will run, not walk to the nearest GO! They would find it refreshing to see the gamut of styles in our midst.

We need to be relevant to the people of our culture. It is the Holy Spirit who brings them, and the Holy Spirit who woos them, and the Holy Spirit who saves them by the blood of Jesus!

[firehill]

Shalom,

Question: Gypc (I think that's his name) posted a while back that he and his wife have no problem with his long hair.

BUT, he was ministering and his long hair was a stumbling block, so he cut it. Awesome!!

I'll ask those who don't think hair matters, if your brother or sister stumbled because of your hair length, would you lay it down for their sake? Please answer honestly.

I think this is a very good question to ask. Because it does matter to others as some will not recieve you if you come to them with long hair and on the same token some will not recieve women if they have short hair as they are looked at as being rebellious and people will stop up their ears to them. It is the same with other things as well not just hair. But these things are important because someone could get saved after listening to your message you bring but some may not recieve you and think you are real and above board and therefore not respond to your message who may have otherwise. You see it not always about us but others. I think it was very admirable of Gypc in what he did for the sake of his hearers.

OC

In this culture, I truly do not think that any unbeliever is going to be so rigid as to reject the gospel of Jesus Christ because the woman who is presenting it has short hair, or the man who is loving them in Christ has long hair. People outside of the body do not make those kinds of judgments in general. In fact, if people outside of Christ think that they have to adopt the long hair look as some people here believe we should all do, then they will run, not walk to the nearest GO! They would find it refreshing to see the gamut of styles in our midst.

We need to be relevant to the people of our culture. It is the Holy Spirit who brings them, and the Holy Spirit who woos them, and the Holy Spirit who saves them by the blood of Jesus!

[OopsMartin]

The Old Testament never makes the claim that if someone gets a divorce and re-marries for any reason other than fornication, they are guilty of adultery. The Old Testament never addresses sins of the heart, only outward actions. The Old Testament never addresses a lot of things found in the New Testament, so based on your standard, those things must only be cultural.

As for your reference to 11:16 "But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God," it makes no logical sense to spend all those previous verses telling why it is shameful for a man to have long hair and a woman to have short hair, only to turn around and make it null and void in verse 16. In the first place, he is addressing contentious people who won't follow his teachings. It makes far more sense that what he is saying is that if someone wants to be contentious, there is no custom of women having short hair or men having long hair in the churches of God, than to think he is saying nothing previously stated is important.

Divorce is indeed addressed in Scripture. Sins of the heart are addressed: unbelief, lying, greed, etc.

Again the issue isn't length of hair but impropriety - appearances that bring shame. The subject isn't contention, but outward appearances that offend.

I'm not really into argumentive discussion where one is hanging onto religious symbols. Lengths of hair are cultural issues not spiritual. They only area where they become spiritual is if one is trying to look like the oppostie sex or inadvertantly becomes offensive to the local cultures. We are here to bring Christ to the masses, not to look spiritual but to be spiritual.

The idea that divorce and re-marriage for causes other than fornication is not directly stated in the Old Testament. Neither are sins of the heart addressed in the Old Testament. If they are, prove me wrong by providing scripture. You stated that if hair length mattered, it would be mentioned in the Old Testament, so the same thing can be said of all other issues.

1 Corinthians clearly states that the issue is length of hair. Look again. 1 Corinthians 11:14,15

"Doth not even nature itself teach you, that if a man have LONG HAIR, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have LONG HAIR, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given her for a covering."

If it is not an issue of length of hair, how do you explain the fact it mentions the length in these two verses?

Because it mattered to the cultures of Jews and the cultures of the Greeks. Jews and Greeks did things slightly differently, maybe even differently in different provinces. In some areas it was more proper for the women to cover the whole head and face. In other areas it was more proper to put the hair up and cover. In other areas it was more proper to have the hair long and little to no veil. In some areas men's hair was shorter. In other areas long hair on men was the norm. Some areas had particular beard styles and certain customs with side hair.

As Paul said "does nature teach it is a shame". Well, no it doesn't. In nature as in humans there are many many different styles of hair on males and that primarily long. So we must judge for ourselves. And keep in mind that wives should behave and dress in ways not to bring shame on their husbands. How would she offend; by looking too masculine in the culture they lived in or by not following the culturally proper styles for women. We all need to remember that we are Christ's ambassadors into a lost world. We must not offend the people we wish to teach about God.