Why don't Apostolic Pentecostal women cut their hair? (An explanation of uncut hair teachings)

We don’t cut it. We don’t trim it. We don’t take scissors to it or do anything to shorten it. We also leave it natural without artificial dyes. Why? In a world where we are told “split ends” look bad and you must chop your hair for beauty and color it for attraction, why would any woman choose to leave her hair natural?

As Apostolic Pentecostal women, we leave our hair uncut and natural because of the way we interpret 1 Corinthians 11:3-16.

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1 Corinthians 11:3-16 (King James Version)
 
3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
 
4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
 
5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.
 
6 For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.
 
7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
 
8 For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man.
 
9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
 
10 For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.
 
11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.
 
12 For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.
 
13 Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?
 
14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
 
15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
 
16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.

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Verse 15 says that long hair is a glory to a woman. We desire that.
 
Verse 6 says that it is a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven. We don’t want to appear in a way that is shameful or inappropriate for a woman professing holiness.
 
It also mentions in verse 14 that it’s shameful for a man to have long hair.
 
We can see this is part of gender distinction. The men have short hair. The women have long hair. There is more to it than that.
 
What does it mean for a woman to be shorn? That term isn’t used very often anymore. Many modern English translations use the term “cut off” her hair. We can make the assumption that implies short hair because in our world today for a woman to “cut off” her hair means something drastic, but assumptions are not biblical interpretations. We are living in such a different time. For centuries and centuries, traditional gender roles including dress and hair length were the norm. Well into the 1800s, many women did not cut their hair. Long hair was considered beautiful and glorious. In the 1900s feminism influenced women to become rebellious and manlike. They began wearing pants and cutting their hair short. Even 100 years ago, it was often considered scandalous and disgraceful for a woman to cut her hair short. It was rebellious even by the world’s standards of the 1920s when it became fashionable to bob their hair as influenced by the flappers (women of that era who dressed immodestly with short skirts and behaved indecently). Despite the insanity of modern times, even the secular world finds it shocking when a woman shaves her head. Even the world knows that long hair is glorious and feminine.
 
At that time this was written to the Corinthians, there were pagan temple prostitutes that were distinguished by their shaved heads. It’s reported that some cultures also shaved a woman’s head as a punishment for adultery. Women of God were not to look like these women living a life of sexual sin. And when these prostitutes and pagans would come to believe in Jesus and come into the church, it was quick to see they were a convert because of their hair. In the Jewish Encyclopedia 6th edition on page 158 it says “Among women long hair is extolled as a mark of beauty (Cant. iv. 1, vii 6). A woman’s hair was never cut except as a sign of deep mourning or of degradation (Jer. vii. 29; comp. Deut. xxi. 12).” Given this history, it appears that uncut hair would have been the norm in the early church.
 
Those who are younger women today seeking answers on this topic only have a rebellious world to measure what is normal in our culture. That does not model for us what godly women did in the early church or for centuries after that standard was established.
 
What did it mean in the days the letter was written to the church in Corinth? In verse 6 when it says “to be shorn”, the Greek word is “keirasthai”. The listed Strong’s concordance 2751 lists “Keiro” as a verb defined as “to shear” with usage “I shear, cut the hair of”.
 
Merriam Webster defines shear as
Transitive verb
1a: to cut off the hair from
1b: to cut or clip from someone or something
1d: to cut or trim with shears or a similar instrument
 
Interestingly, before scissors were called scissors they were called shears.
 
This is why we don’t cut our hair. We believe the bible is still relevant today. We believe this is still for us. We follow the teachings of the early church. Even if it is contrary to what is considered normal in our culture, we are set apart for the Lord and follow after His ways. Sometimes following the bible will be counter-cultural. We won’t argue reasons to resist obeying this.
 
Dedicating our hair to be uncut is an act of obedience. We are obeying the scriptures even if it is a sacrifice for our flesh’s desires or personal preference.
 
This is a covering for us (verse 15). There is power on our head when we obey this (verse 10).
 
If you are on the fence about whether or not to follow this, I encourage you to obey the scriptures and see how it changes your perspectives. Sometimes we don’t have full understanding of something until after we follow it. The Holy Spirit may give you conviction on this or allow it to be weighing on your mind if you are cutting your hair. Once you stop cutting your hair, you will see things differently. You will see a godly beauty in what is His design. Natural hair is not chopped; it is not straight across; it does not look like a blade has been taken to it. It is not what the world calls most attractive. Remember as holy women we are called to adorn ourselves in godly ways, not worldly ways (1 Timothy 2:9-10, 1 Peter 3:3-4). What is beauty as a godly woman is different than what is beauty to a world that seeks to define women by their body’s level of attraction. Our natural hair often reflects nature. The branches of a willow tree are thicker at top and thin out near the ends. Yet we see its beauty. The natural ends of uncut hair often split like tree roots. Yet this reflects nature, and is not ugly. It’s not about length. Some of us have hip length hair. Others have knee length (and on occasion even longer). Still others only grow to the middle of their back. There are many Apostolic women that have long and thick hair. There are also many who have thin hair and struggle to get it to grow due to health reasons or aging. The glory is in the obedience to God.  
 
Holiness is always right. This is a holiness standard in all Apostolic Pentecostal churches because it has been the practice of Christian women since the beginning of the church and it was the practice of Jewish women before that. Be willing to be set apart (2 Corinthians 6:17).
 
We leave our hair uncut and natural to be obedient to scripture, covered as we pray, and to have power (authority) on our heads as long hair is our glory (honor).
 
 
Tell me where you are at in your uncut hair journey in the comments below.