Is It A Sin For A Man To Have Long Hair?

I Corinthians 11:14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? 

I grew up in the 70’s and dated guys with hair as long as or longer than mine, and I had long hair.  I was scorned by church members who held to the belief that I was rebellious and my boyfriend was on his way to hell. There was no changing their minds. The picture of Jesus with long hair hanging inside the church building always confused me. I was 26 years old and married for 7 years before I really began to search the scriptures for answers to many questions that plagued my mind for years. This is a simple question but one that I believe needs to be answered.  With today’s fashion trends, we may have buried this nagging issue, but obviously it is still a concern.  Is it a command of Christ that men wear short hair? Is the Church denying Christ on this issue while pounding the pulpit regarding other commands? 

The belief that long hair on a man is a shame or a sin is simply the Christian church taking this scripture out of context. First of all, Let me point out that nature does not teach that it is a shame for the man to have long hair. Take the lion for instance. It is the male of the species that has long hair. Jesus is called the Lion of Judah. If long hair was a sin according to nature, Jesus would most likely have been compared to something else in nature that had short hair or no hair at all, wouldn’t you think? That in itself, makes me think there is more to this than meets the eye. I would like to point out some key points in Paul’s message that should put this controversy to rest. 

The first key point is the one above. Nature does not teach that it is a shame for a man to have long hair, but Paul said it, so there must be some other meaning to the word “long”.  It was a simple thing to look up the word “long” in a Greek dictionary and find that it carries the connotation of being “ornamental”. Further study shows that the Corinthians, prior to Christ, worshipped the god Apollo and the goddess Aphrodite. The men of Corinth were accustomed to fixing their hair to look like the heathen god Apollo and then coming to church and worshipping Christ. Paul is stating that this ornamentation was a shame to a Christian man. Likewise, it was the custom of women in Corinth to be covered distinguishing them from the prostitutes of Aphrodite’s temple who came into the city at night uncovered. Coming into the new freedom in Christ, the women wanted to be free of their coverings. This is totally understandable, but Paul was suggesting that this would be a disgrace to their husbands because of the customary thinking of the Corinthians. We do not want to flaunt our freedoms in the face of those who do not understand, before they have the opportunity to come to Christ. How many Corinthians would listen to an uncovered woman talk about Christ when their first thought was “prostitute?” He was showing them that the outward representation of purity with humility was the best way.  

I Corinthians 11:13 Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? The second key point I want to make is, “Judge in yourselves.” When God commands, He does not ask you to judge it! His commands are not up for debate!  

This issue was not church-wide nor was Paul pronouncing an edict for all the church. Jewish women and men shaved their heads to enter into a Nazarite vow with God, after which they did not cut their hair at all until the vow was fulfilled. In other places, women had their heads shaved to shame them for their adulterous behavior. Samson, a man and a judge of Israel had long hair. These things have to be taken into consideration.

And final key point, I Corinthians 11:16 But if any man seem to be contentious; we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. This entire discourse by Paul was clearly about the customs of that region, not a command of God for the church.

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