178 sigurd grindheim
point is that this practice of drawing attention to one’s own status does in
fact reflect poorly upon one’s metaphorical head, Christ, who is the only
one who should receive glory in Christian worship.7
if this interpretation is correct, it may help us appreciate the internal
logic in the Pauline understanding of Christ as the head. in Corinth, the
problem was that men reflected poorly on Christ when they emphasized
their personal status. the church in Colossae was plagued by a compa-
rable problem. False teachers denigrated the members of the church and
took pride in their own spiritual experiences (cf. Col 2:18, 23). however,
this kind of spirituality lacks contact with the head. the head ensures
a very different kind of growth, a growth where the whole body is held
together in unity (Col 2:19).8 as the head, Christ ensures an egalitarian
principle in the church. this is the point both in 1 Cor 11:3 and in Col 2:19.
this idea is applied quite differently in the two contexts. in 1 Corinthians,
it is applied to a problem concerning men’s behavior, and in Colossians
to a problem that concerns the whole church. nonetheless, there is an
underlying consistency to the use of the Christ-as-head idea.9
The Mystery
a more subtle difference between Colossians and the earlier letters is
found in the use of the term “mystery” (μυστήριον) in connection with
ecclesiology. according to Col 1:26, all the members of the church, the
saints, have received the revelation of “the mystery that has been hidden
7 david w. J. gill, “the importance of roman Portraiture for head-Coverings in 1 Cor-
inthians 11:2–16,” TynBul 41 (1990): 246–51; followed by Bruce w. winter, After Paul Left
Corinth (grand rapids: eerdmans, 2001), 121–23; contra Joseph a. Fitzmyer, First Corinthi-
ans: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (aB 32; new haven: yale uni-
versity Press, 2008), 412.
8 similarly, ernest Best, One Body in Christ: A Study in the Relationship of the Church to
Christ in the Epistles of the Apostle Paul (london: sPCK, 1955), 128; smith, Heavenly Perspec-
tive, 114–33.
9 it is also noteworthy that the idea of Christ as the head of the church does not fit the
argument of Colossians particularly well. in light of the exigency of the letter, the false
teachers’ obsession with heavenly visions and angels (cf. 2:18), one would expect the point
to be that Christ is the head of the authorities and powers (cf. 2:10). one might expect the
author to explain that these powers are subordinate to Christ and therefore not worthy
of the Colossians’ attention. however, the point of the reference to Christ as the head is
to show how he brings about harmony and unity in the church, something that is not
accomplished through the elitist spirituality of the false teachers. this application of the
Christ-as-head idea is much closer to the argument in 1 Corinthians 11 than the thought
that he is the head of the powers. these reflections of course amount to nothing more
than an argument from silence, but it may be another indication that the thought world of
Colossians is not as far removed from the undisputed letters as it is sometimes claimed.