Corinthians was Pauls letter to the people of Corinth. 1 Cor. 11 is not Gods commandment for all people of all time but Pauls SPECIAL ADVICE for the people in Corinth at THAT TIME.
God doesn't look on our outer look but He looks at our hearts! <1 Samuel 16:7> So God doesn't care if you have long or short hair, what's important isn't your hairlength but that you are living for Him.
"Man looks at the outward appearance, but the lord looks at the heart"(1 Samuel 16:7).
First you must understand Pauls ways to show people the way to Christianity:
1 Corinthians 9:22
"Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law" Then 2 verses later Paul states; "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some"(9:22).
"When I am with the Jews I seem as one of them so that they will listen to the Gospel and I can win them to Christ. When I am with Gentiles who follow Jewish customs and ceremonies I don't argue, even though I don't agree, because I want to help them. When with the heathen I agree with them as much as I can, except of course that I must always do what is right as a Christian. And so, by agreeing, I can win their confidence and help them too. When I am with those whose consciences bother them easily, I don't act as though I know it all and don't say they are foolish; the result is that they are willing to let me help them. Yes, whatever a person is like, I try to find common ground with him so that he will let me tell him about Christ and let Christ save him. I do this to get the Gospel to them and also for the blessing I myself receive when I see them come to Christ"(I Cor 9:20-23 LIV).
BUT to understand this scripture we need to understand what the situation was like in Corinth. At this time Corinth was known for it's immorality and perversity and the men that were sexual perverted and male prostitutes had long hair.
So this is NOT God's commandment to all people throughout all times, but Paul's SPECIAL ADVICE for the people in Corinth, at that time.
Another interesting thing is that the whores in Corinth had short hair or shaven heads and Paul didn't want the people in church to be taken for whores so that's why he told the females in church to not cut their hair off. <1 Corinthians 11:6>
at that time pagan women would go into their temples with uncovered heads, having impure motives, and a bared head for a woman came to be considered a sign of her shamelessness. A profligate woman was punished for her profligacy by having her hair cut off. This is why the Apostle says, if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn (v. 6).
Paul that wrote this letter didn't want the men and women in the church to be taken for perverted and that's why he wrote these words.
1 Corinthians 11:13 says, "Judge for yourselves...." and verse 16 seems to imply there was no custom concerning this in the churches. It seems the interpretation is up to each individual depending on the cultural standards of their day. I think the New Bible Commentary sums up best how we should look at this issue, "To dress with decorum is a Christian principle of permanent validity for the outward appearance reflects the inner attitude. How this principle finds expression in detail will vary from place to place and from age to age."
I Corinthians 11:14. It says - "does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him". Seems a little bit confusing, doesn't it? I guess any scripture would when you take it out of context! Paul continues in verse 16 to say, "if anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice - nor do the churches of God".
Is there any reason in nature why a man's head should be uncovered and a woman's head covered (see verses 3-15)? Is there a reason why one should wear long hair and the other short hair? Not really! The uncivilized tribes know nothing of this reasoning! It can only be traced to custom. Isn't custom 'second nature'? Original nature doesn't teach us this, but custom and tradition does. That's why Paul says, we have no other "custom" (KJV).
With this thing clarified, let's look into another scripture that talks about long hair.
The Nazarite vow.
Numbers 6:5 & 7 speak of the Nazarite vows� requirement of not cutting the hair. Most Nazarites took a vow for 100 days or less, but as the Believer�s Bible Commentary states, "In some rare cases, people were Nazarites for life � e.g. Samuel, Samson, John the Baptist." In fact Judges 16:17 specifically states Samson never had a razor touch his head. Nazarites must have had very long hair but nowhere are they condemned. They were only following God�s command. Would God in one place in the Bible encourage long hair, and then in another place condemn it?
Long hair praised.
In 2 Kings 1:8 the messenger�s description of a man with long hair and a leather girdle caused the king to instantly realize it was the prophet Elijah. He must have had long hair indeed. In fact the Hebrew words the servant used to describe Elijah were ba�al sa�ar which means "lord of hair." In 2 Samuel 14:25-26 Absalom�s long hair was praised for its handsome appearance and nowhere is it ever referred to as shameful. In Leviticus 19:27 God commands that men should not cut the hair on the corners of their head (NIV � "temples") or the corners of their beard. In 2 Samuel 10:4-5 Harun shaved off half the beard of David�s servants. The men were so ashamed David told them to wait at Jericho until their beards grew back and then return home. In this case, being clean-shaven was considered shameful! Psalm 133 praises the oil flowing down Aaron�s beard to his collar.
