Should Men Have Long Hair According to the Bible?

Jimmy Fortunato

July 5, 2025

Should Men Have Long Hair According to the Bible?

Are You Dressing for Your Glory or God's Glory?

Every Christian faces this question daily when they look in the mirror. Ladies, are you fixing your hair for your own definition of glory, or for God's definition of glory? Men, are you making choices about your appearance based on what you like, or what honors the Lord?

This isn't about salvation - we know that's the most important thing. But as Christians, we shouldn't disregard verses in Scripture. We want to regard them, put them in their proper place, and move forward in obedience.

Let's dive into what God's Word actually teaches about hair and His natural order from 1 Corinthians 11.

What Does 1 Corinthians 11:14-15 Teach About Hair?

"Doth not even nature itself teach you, that if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering." - 1 Corinthians 11:14-15

The Apostle Paul asks a pointed question: doesn't nature itself teach us about appropriate hair length? There's a distinctiveness that God has created between men and women. Long hair has always been a symbol of femininity and God's established order.

This doesn't save you or make you more saved than anyone else - just like baptism doesn't save us, but we still follow the Lord in believer's baptism. Hair is way down on the list compared to believer's baptism, but since we're in these verses, we need to preach through them faithfully.

Understanding God's Natural Order

God has established a natural order that even unregenerate people can recognize. Look at Romans 2:14:

"For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves." - Romans 2:14

Even Gentiles who weren't given God's law could recognize natural principles through their conscience. There's a natural way, a natural order that people instinctively understand.

The Contrast Between Two Natures

Before salvation, Ephesians 2:3 tells us we "were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." That was our natural state - children of wrath who could only sin.

But as believers, 2 Peter 1:4 says we are "partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." We have a new nature that can live a life glorifying to God.

How Long is "Long" Hair?

People always want specific measurements - inches, millimeters, yards. But God doesn't give us exact measurements. He simply says "long" versus "short."

Here's a practical principle: How about long enough so that everybody looking at you would know you're a female or would know you're a male?

If you have doubts about your hair length, then it's probably too short for women or too long for men. Philippians 1:10 encourages us to "approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ."

The Historical Context: When Hair Became a Statement

Following World War I in the 1920s, the "flappers" movement became popular as a symbol of feminist fashion. These women took on the image of the party girl - they smoked in public, drank in public, danced in public. Their ultimate style statement was cutting their hair short.

This wasn't just about hair - it symbolized something deeper. There was an attitude and behavior that came packaged with this external change.

At Bryn Mawr College in 1903, two girls from Chicago caused a huge ruckus by showing up with short hair. Even today, that campus has something called "the Bryn Mawr chop" - a rite of passage where girls cut off their feminine hair for a "more business-like or modern haircut."

A Important Clarification

Let me be clear: I know plenty of good brothers with long hair who are anything but effeminate, and plenty of good sisters with short hair who are anything but masculine. You cannot look at someone's haircut and determine what's in their heart. Your heart is more important than your hair.

But in our culture, appearance is often one of the first things that communicates our values and priorities.

The Real Glory We Need to Focus On

While we should pay attention to these biblical principles, we must remember that the world needs something far more glorious than our appearance.

According to 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, unbelievers are blinded and need "the light of the glorious gospel of Christ." When we witness to the lost, we don't start with external changes - we shine the glorious gospel that can transform their nature from children of wrath to partakers of the divine nature.

Three Glorious Aspects of Our Faith:

  1. The Glorious Gospel - What saves people and transforms lives

  2. The Glorious Church - Ephesians 5:27 describes Christ's church as "a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing"

  3. The Glorious Power of God - Colossians 1:11 says we're "strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power"

Where Do You Get Your Fashion Standards?

Here's the convicting question: Where do you get your fashion from? Do you get the way you decorate yourself from the Bible, or from the fashion industry?

The Bible warns us in Galatians 5:26: "Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another."

Instead, we should echo Paul's words: "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Galatians 6:14).

A Personal Word About God's Love

Here's something beautiful to close with: Luke 12:7 says, "But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

Put aside the long hair versus short hair debate for a moment. Do you know how much God loves you? Every single hair on your head - not only does God know about it, but He has it accounted for. Try counting the hairs on your head - you couldn't do it, but God can and does.

That's someone worth serving. Someone who loves you that much, someone who did that much for you - that's someone you want to honor with every aspect of your life, including how you present yourself.

Questions for Reflection

  • Are you asking "What do I like?" or "What does God like?"

  • Why do you make the appearance choices you make?

  • Are you living to glorify yourself or to glorify God?

  • When you look in the mirror, are you thinking about your glory or God's glory?

Remember, anything we do in the Christian life should be for the Lord. Our questions should be phrased in a way that brings it back to God, no matter how small the issue might seem.

🎧 📖 Want to hear the complete message? This blog post only scratches the surface of this powerful expository preaching on 1 Corinthians 11. For the full verse-by-verse Bible teaching and deeper insights into God's natural order and design, I encourage you to listen to the entire sermon. There's so much more biblical truth and practical application that will challenge and encourage your heart.

[Listen to the full message here] - you'll be blessed by this faithful exposition of God's Word!

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