— My last letter concerning God’s scriptural requirements for the way people are supposed to dress and look drew many insults. This bothers me very little. What does bother me is that there are probably genuine Christians who, through ignorance and lack of sound teaching, are following the world’s pattern for dress and fashion rather than God’s. Therefore, I want to expound on this subject a little more.

Some people that commented on my letter said that everyone knows Jesus and other men in the Bible had long hair. Scripture never says that. The only men in scripture who had long hair were Nazarites like Samson who had it because of their God-ordained vows, and Absalom who was a wicked rebel.

Others said that the commands in 1 Corinthians 11 concerning hair length were cultural. Again, this is unbiblical. First, all of the epistles were written as guides of faith and practice for the New Testament era. If you can disregard any of their practical commands by saying they were “cultural” you can disregard all of them by the same foolish argument. But the irrefutable proof that these commands are irrevocable is found in 1 Corinthians 11:14-15. It says that even nature itself teaches us that men’s hair should be short and women’s long. So people who disobey these commands are indeed being unnatural.

Finally, someone said no churches use the headcovering anymore. I wasn’t going to say anything on this subject, but since it was brought up I will. Many churches, including my own, still believe in using the headcovering, as did the majority of churches until the feministic “enlightenment” of the last century. Again, this is a command for all New Testament churches.  An honest, in-depth study of 1 Corinthians 11 will show that wearing the headcovering is tied into a woman’s relationship with God, Christ, her husband, and even angels. It will further show that two separate coverings,  long hair and the veil, are being commanded.

Brethren, God has commands in scripture for every aspect of our lives. Please study, believe and obey them.

JOSHUA ASHWOOD

Fort Gibson