Distinctively Different: Hair

1 Corinthians 11:14-15
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."

We all understand that we are living in a time where cultures and customs have changed, people have changed, society has changed. We shouldn't forget the importance of maintaining a holy and righteous lifestyle by the way we look, not just act and present ourselves. In the scriptures above, it says that nature has taught us that it is a shame for a man to have long hair. It wasn't until the Hippie movement with the youth ages in the 1960's that it wasn't weird for a man to have long hair. Even during that era some adult men kept their hair well groomed. There was a time when I was growing up that a lot of the boys I went to school with had long hair. I'm not talking about shaggy hair a little past the ears. No, a lot of the guys had hair that was well below their ears. Seeing that was interesting, not only was it easy to mistake him for a girl because of how it looked, but it also made them look like they haven't bathed in weeks. That could of just been the young middle school boys not wanting to take showers. But growing up, I've always been taught that men should keep their hair short and woman should keep their hair long and uncut. This isn't just scriptural, but it's also something that has just been a natural thing. Men looked one way and woman looked another way, distinctively different.
A lot of what I've been taught growing up in a Pentecostal home and church is about hair. I'm always getting questions about my hair and why it's so long. When I tell people that it's a personal choice, based on what the Bible teaches about hair, that I don't cut it, it soon becomes even more of a conversation piece. In my perspective I've always had long hair and I've grown up in a church where women have long hair, so it's no foreign subject to me. Although it's a completely different story for some people. In verse 15 of 1 Corinthians it says that if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given to her for a covering. The part of the verse that talks about it being her glory can confuse people. What does glory mean? The dictionary gives several good definitions of glory but the one that stuck out to me said this: something that is a source of honor, fame or admiration, very great praise, distinguished ornament or an object of pride. We can put this into context when discussing woman's hair. When a woman has long hair it is honorable to God, and it is what separates woman from the rest of the world. You have to be careful when you use the word pride, but Pentecostal woman take pride in their hair. We know that it is honorable to God to have long hair, so we take care of it and make sure it is pleasing in the sight of God. In the Bible woman would wear a covering to signify authority. That is why Paul said that the hair is a woman's covering, when long and uncut it is used to signify that a woman is submitting herself to God and she is under the authority of God.
1 Corinthians 11:14 says that it is a shame for a man to have long hair. Why would Paul say this? If a man had long hair it would be a symbolism of him giving up his masculinity. See this article by Daniel Spratlin, he also talks about this. A man was known as the authority of the household and the church for leadership. The role of a man wasn't taken lightly, so when a man would have long hair it was a sign that he was giving up the male authority and the authority that God gave him to be a leader in the church. It is good and acceptable in God's eyes for a young man to be well groomed and to be a Godly example for other people.

Romans 13:2 "Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation."