Nazarites had long hair. Numbers 6:
1 Corinthians 11:
Paul appealed to the human judgment of the Corinthians for social norms.
Paul was comparing men's and women's hair in this passage. I prefer short hair, and women look good with long hair.
i.e., the practice of the churches of God in Paul's time.
I see 1 Corinthians 11:13 as a social issue at the time. It does not need to be applied universally today.
Is long hair on men sinful/wrong?
No, but I prefer short hair myself.
You don't want to be legalistic and judgmental like the Pharisees who strained out a gnat and swallowed a camel. Jesus' focus is on your inside, not so much on your outside.
I agree and well said. It is largely a cultural thing. When the culture identifies a woman with short hair as transgender, or a man with long hair as transgender or homosexual, then a Christian should try to not send the wrong message.
In my culture (US), there are no clear messages on the length of hair alone. Long Hair for a man may be useful for a host of reasons. For example, a US actor may wish to portray someone in a particular culture and time that requires a man have long hair. Or short hair may fit a woman's pursuit of a better time in swimming competition.
I think Paul was speaking into his particular culture to support the biblical idea that people should not send the improper message gender-wise. Under the Law it has been forbidden to wear opposite-gender clothing, not because the clothing is corrupt or wrong, but only because in the wrong context it is a deliberate effort to send a homosexual message.
In Paul's culture, a woman's hair was longer both because it made her more attractive but also because it indicated a commitment to *being a woman,* in the order that the Bible created it. At the time long hair indicated that a woman was a woman, indicating that to be a wife she was to submit to the man in a marriage commitment.
Both the man and the woman were to be committed to the other in their own ways. Thus, long hair in Paul's time was a signal that a woman would be dedicated, as a woman, to her husband. And the man would be faithful to his wife.
