Useful Bible Studies > 1 Corinthians Commentary > chapter 11
Sometimes a Christian has an idea about the Christian life that seems quite new. If that Christian is able to persuade other people, the idea can spread quickly. People like to follow the most modern ideas and fashions.
Such an idea can have a powerful effect on many people. But it may not last long. People may forget that idea because it never really achieves anything worthwhile. However, they are more likely to forget it because there is something new for them to follow.
These ideas may be, for example, about the design of churches or the places for meetings. They may be about new ways to praise God or about things that the church leader can say. They may be about the behaviour or dress of Christians. Such ideas are not usually from the Bible, although the Bible may say something about them. Really, those ideas are more about people’s weakness than they are about the power of God.
In Corinth, the idea was about what a woman should wear during prayer. The women followed that idea because they felt excited by it. Some of them could argue strongly for it. But that did not make the idea right. Paul reminded them what they were arguing about. The Bible had not taught them to do that. It was not helping people to trust God. It was just someone’s new idea; the people in the other churches had not even heard about it. It would separate them from other Christians whose help and support they needed.
Clearly that idea, like so many new ideas, was not a good idea.
Next part: Church meetings and their problems (1 Corinthians 11:17)
Please use the links at the top of the page to find our other articles in this series. You can download all our articles if you go to the download page for our free 450 page course book.
© 2014, Keith Simons.