Tag Archives: freedom in Christ

Should I Wear a Hat to Church?

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1 Corinthians 11:1-16

Are we wrong in the 21st Century Church to not adhere to Paul’s mandate about hats in worship? I hate to think there are 16 verses in God’s Word that have no meaning to us in 2025.

As I sat here and tried to make sense of it, and before I went to Amazon to look up “women’s hats” to buy, God seemed to draw my eyes to the word “tradition” in verse 2. I looked back at what Paul had written in chapter 10 and saw he’d just had a conversation about our freedom in Christ. Are these verses in chapter 11 a continuation of that theme? It seems so to me.

Eating food sacrificed to idols isn’t an issue for us in the modern church, but the wisdom in the lesson still applies: choose to do nothing that would trip up a weaker Christian, or give a non-believer a wrong idea about what it means to follow Christ.

The ancient tradition of head-covering has a lesson for us, too. If idolatrous men covered their heads while bowing to their false gods, Paul is calling Christian men to take off their hats when they worshiped God. If idolatrous women went to their false god bare-headed, Christian women should cover their’s. It wasn’t as much about the hat, as it was being totally separate from anything idolatrous, so as not to trip up a weaker Christian or give a non-believer the wrong idea about what it means to worship the one true God.

Does God care what we wear to church? The popular philosophy is, no. But I wonder if we should care. Does what I wear separate me from the world on a Sunday morning? If I go to church wearing my short shorts and tank top, am I going to hell? Of course not. (don’t worry. I don’t even own short shorts and tank tops anymore. Relax!) We have the freedom to wear just about anything.

But if my unsaved neighbor sees me getting into my car on a Sunday morning, will he automatically know I am going to worship God, or will he think I’m going to the beach or a ball game? If my approach to worship looks that casual, would a weaker Christian think it’s ok to take a casual approach to worship?

What is permissible is not always profitable.

I know when we talk about wearing our “Sunday best” to church, we are touted as old fashioned, out-dated, legalistic. Yes, there is no dress code for church. But shouldn’t I care about how I am perceived as a Christian woman? What do my clothes say about me and my worship of Holy God?

I will go so far to say that this lesson isn’t just for the Sunday morning worshippers. I hope we present ourselves every day as people separate from the world through our choice of what we wear to work, to play, or simply to walk through the neighborhood.

You might say, “I have a right to wear what I want.” Ummm, I question that. As Christians we are called to set aside our “rights” for the sake of the Gospel, for the sake of that weaker Christian, or for that unsaved person who is watching us.

I’m not advocating for the fashion police to guard the doors of our churches. But I think I’m advocating that we guard our hearts and our witness every day, and especially on Sunday when we have the privilege of gathering with our family of faith to worship our precious Savior, our Holy God.

What does your choice of clothing say about you? Do you blend in with the world? Could people mistake you for a non-believer? Or are you living a life that is separate from the world, and looking like it?

Deliberately Limited

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1 Corinthians 8-9

A.W. Tozer said Jesus is God, “limited deliberately.” He never ceased being God. But He chose to limit Himself when He put on human flesh. In a sense, Jesus went into the ring with one hand tied behind his back… deliberately.

Paul apparently believes that is the model for living this Christian life. In Christ we have freedom, rights. We are “children of the King,” “joint heirs with Jesus,” “chosen.” We are not bound by a list of do’s and don’ts because Jesus fulfilled the Law on our behalf.

Free at last!

But Paul tells us to limit deliberately our rights and freedoms for the sake of others. For instance, I have the freedom to attend the wedding of a homosexual couple. Yet because my going can be interpreted as approval, or a celebration of that sin, I choose to decline the invitation. Being at that wedding wouldn’t effect my going to heaven. It might, however, effect that of someone else who looks at my example and reads “homosexuality is not a big deal,” “sin is no big deal.”

I want to limit deliberately what I do, where I go, what I say in order to represent Jesus the way He deserves. The pleasures of this world aren’t worth it. What is permissible is not always profitable. May I choose holiness, absolute truth, and the inerrant Word of God to be my standard of living, no matter what freedoms I have in Christ.

Those freedoms cost Jesus a great deal. Deliberately limiting myself for His sake is a no-brainer.

I’m Free!

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Galatians 3:27-4:11

A little boy was standing in his front yard when a man, just freed from prison, ran past him, hands waving in the air, and shouting, “I’m free! I’m free!” The little boy watched the spectacle a bit confused, not understanding the man’s excitement. “So what?” he shouted after the man. “I’m four!”

I wonder if we are ever underwhelmed by the freedom we have in Christ because we don’t really understand it. The little boy in my story certainly didn’t understand what “free” meant. Do we?

We do this or that. Or we don’t do this or that. We say the right things. We smile, lend a hand, and all the while we hope it’s enough. We struggle with sin, we are paralyzed by guilt, we doubt, and we hold back. We stand in a prison God has freed us from by the blood of Jesus.

Satan loves to convince us that God’s grace is not enough. But he is a liar. What he doesn’t want you to believe is that if you repent of sin and accept Jesus as your Savior… YOU ARE FREE!

You’re free from the punishment of sin, you are free from the power of sin over your life. In Jesus, there is victory, cleansing, joy. Satan cannot confine you with the chains God has already broken.

So don’t let him. Yes, there will be struggles. Surrender them to God. There will be failures. Ask God to forgive. There will be doubts and fears, but God wants to free you from those and replace them with the assurance of His presence and strength.

Dear one, if you have accepted the free gift of God’s grace, don’t live like you haven’t. Don’t stay a prisoner when the prison walls have already been destroyed and your chains have already been broken. My prayer is that you, and I, will surrender today to the One who has freed us, that we will allow Him to be our strength. We will be reminded that Jesus has set us free from the bondage of sin and death. His death is enough.

I’m free to love Him! I’m free to receive Him! I’m free to call Him Father! I’m free to go to Him boldly in prayer! I’m free to rest in Him! I’m free to obey Him, not out of duty or out of hope He will accept me. I’m free to show Him how much I love Him by the things I do so that others can find Him, too.

I’m free! I’m free!

November 30 – Not My Problem

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1 Corinthians 5-8

In our society we are told that each of us should take care of ourselves above all others. That our happiness needs to come first before we can make anyone else happy. That our rights trump the rights of anyone else.

What does the Bible say about that? Paul, in chapter 8, gives us an example. He says we know that idols are pretend gods, so food offered to idols isn’t unclean. There is nothing wrong with eating it.

However, if our eating that food causes anyone to stumble in their faith, Paul advises us to not eat it.

“But,” you might say, “I like what they’re serving.” Paul says, “I know. Don’t eat it.”

You might say, “I need to eat it so I can be a better mom.” Paul says, “Find something else to eat.”

You might say, “I have a right to eat it.” Paul says, “Get over yourself. We’re talking about someone’s eternal soul.”

And you might even say, “If they don’t like me eating that food, it’s not my problem.” Paul assures us it is:

But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

This example might translate into drinking alcohol, going to certain movies, attending a ballgame instead of going to church. I don’t know what God is speaking to you about, but I think He’s telling us that just because we “can” do something, it doesn’t mean we “should.”

I firmly believe if we live our lives considering the eternal lives of people around us, and are less focused on ourselves, we’d be truly happier, and they would see Jesus.

What we do and how we represent the Lord is very much our problem.