Verse 16 says, “But if anyone seems to be contentious, we do not have such a custom of being so, neither the churches of God.” I think Paul’s word is quite strong. Paul knew the Corinthians well. Corinthians can be found not only in Corinth, but also in many places! They can be found in the church where you are!
Paul said, “But if anyone seems to be contentious.” What is the contention about? Verses 1 through 15 speak about head covering. Thus, the contention is about head covering. But Paul said that it is wrong for anyone to be contentious. The matter of head covering is not to be contested.
Many want to argue that the woman does not need to cover her head! This is the same as saying that God’s headship over Christ is a Corinthian matter, not a universal matter; this is the same as saying that Christ’s headship over man is a Corinthian matter, not a universal matter; and this is the same as saying that man’s headship over the woman is a Corinthian matter, not a universal matter. But thank God! Being a Christian is a universal matter, not a Corinthian matter. In the same way, God being the Head of Christ and Christ being the Head of every man are universal matters, not Corinthian matters. Likewise, man being the head of the woman is a universal matter, not a matter that just pertains to the Corinthians.
What did Paul say to those who thought that sisters do not need to cover their head and who opposed his words, his decision, and his commission from the Lord? He said, “We do not have such a custom of being so.” We refers to Paul and the apostles. There was no such custom among the apostles. There was no sister who did not cover her head among the apostles. “If anyone seems to be contentious, we do not have such a custom of being so.” There is no way to argue. If anyone wishes to argue, “neither the churches of God” have such a custom. This means that no one may argue about this.
Here Paul showed us the custom of the churches of God at that time. According to the custom at the time, all Jews covered their heads when they entered the synagogue. Jewish men and women covered their heads with a head covering called a “tallith” before entering the synagogue. Without such a covering, they could not enter the synagogue at all. The custom of the Greeks (Corinth being a part) was that when men and women entered their temple, both uncovered and exposed their heads. No race or country during Paul’s time had the custom of men uncovering their heads and women covering their heads. The Jews at that time covered their heads, while Gentiles uncovered their heads. But for God’s children, men should uncover their heads, while women should cover their heads.
Thus, for man not to cover his head and for woman to cover her head was a commandment uniquely given by God’s apostles and a custom unique to the churches of God. This custom was different from either Jewish or Gentile customs. This custom was uniquely found in the church. Because this custom was instituted by the apostles, it was brand new, and it was from God.
All the apostles believed that the woman should cover her head. Should there be an apostle who did not believe that the woman should cover her head, he would not have been one among the other apostles and would surely have been an outsider. The apostles did not have such a custom among them. If any church tried to contest this, Paul’s answer was that the churches of God did not have such a custom. No church had such a custom. There was no such custom among all the local churches the apostles visited. From verse 16 on, Paul did not try to reason concerning this matter. His reasoning ended with verse 15. In verse 16 he no longer was trying to reason. If anyone seemed to be contentious, Paul said, no apostle should agree with such a one. Such a one had nothing to do with the apostles and nothing to do with the church. All the apostles and all the churches believed this, and no one could argue about this.
This is the reason we ask all the sisters in the church to cover their heads in the meetings when a message is given or when they pray. They must do this because God wants to secure in the church what He could not secure in the world. He wants to gain what He could not gain in the universe. We want Him to gain in the church what He did not gain among the angels. We want Him to gain what He has not gained in the world. The sisters should know this. Verse 3 gives us the clear teaching concerning this. God is the Head of Christ, Christ is the Head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman. For this reason, the woman should have her head covered. This is the underlying teaching of this portion of the Word.