CHRISTIAN HEADCOVERING UNCOVERED!
Caution: If you don’t have at least 30 minutes to digest this, I suggest waiting until you do to read this blog post.
A little over a year ago I wrote a blog post briefly introducing and discussing a passage in 1 Corinthians 11, about head coverings. At that time I had an opinion but I had yet to study in depth the passage and view it in light of all scripture. So after one full year of study, research, scripture interpreting scripture and most importantly prayer I have come to a personal belief on this passage. I preface this blog post to be a telling of what I have had confirmed by the Holy Spirit through God’s word as my belief. I want to be careful to not link this to modesty of dress but to link this to modesty of heart which is where modesty of dress begins. The format and goals of this blog are as follows; to debunk popular thought on the passage, to explain my personal conviction thoroughly. So without further adieu, my beliefs.
“Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. 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. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. 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. 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. 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. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? 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. But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.” 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 (Authorized King James Version)
Excellent resource for in depth study: Bible.org
When I used to read this passage, I would read it through the lens of the examples of women at my church and at other popular evangelical churches. As I grew in my walk with the Lord, He began to grow me in my knowledge of Him and His word. He began to show me that I need to read the scriptures for myself and not allow the pastors I listened to determine all of my beliefs for me. For whatever reason I believed the top 2 things that most modern mainstream Christians believe; 1) That the long hair is the covering and 2) that is what just a cultural thing. I hope to share how I personally studied and came to the conclusion that both of these beliefs were false.
Belief 1: The Long Hair is the covering
The reason I believe that the long hair on a woman can not be the covering Paul is speaking of when He said “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. 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.” is because it simply makes zero sense read that way. Essentially to disprove this claim all you have to do is insert “long hair” whenever you see the words, “covered, covering, cover”. I’ll do that work for you here, and you let me know if that makes any logical sense at all. “But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with “short hair” dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not “long haired”, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her “have long hair”. So with the long hair belief Paul is essentially saying if a woman has short hair while she is praying or prophesying let her have her hair cut short or shaved off but if it’s a shame for a woman to have her hair short or shaven then let her have long hair. Well, helloooo, if she doesn’t have long hair her hair is by default already short. I mean there’s nowhere else to go with that. It wouldn’t make any sense to make a woman with short or bald head have to be shaven if she won’t have long hair……SHE”S ALREADY SHORT HAIRED OR SHAVEN! (Read that inserting long hair throughout the whole passage if you have to, it makes zero sense).
So that is how I came to the conclusion most biblical scholars come to that no way Jose could long hair be the covering Paul wants women to have while praying or prophesying.
Belief 2: It’s a Cultural Thing, No Longer Valid Today
Well if this is a cultural thing surely I can make submission, order of creation, and angels just a cultural thing too right? Of course not, but these are all reasons Paul himself gives for a woman wearing a headcovering while she is praying or prophesying. He opens stating that the head of every woman is the man, and the head of every man is Christ (order of creation/headship-submission model of husbands and wives), then continues on in his statement saying, that man was not created for woman but woman was created for man. Then he says that nature itself testifies to this truth! He simply points out, “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.” God shows us naturally that we should have a covering by giving women typically hair that can grow longer than a man’s. To hit back on “Belief 1” not all woman have this arbitrary long hair, some of us can grow hair down to our butts, therefore the long hair cannot be the covering that Paul is talking about. Paul is simply pointing to nature itself as a reason to throw on a literal material head covering while praying or prophesying. Many commentaries will hit you with something of this nature, “During this century prostitutes wore their hair out and only religious women wore veils as a sign of submission and a symbol of being Jewish/Christian”. Well I dare you, double dog dare you to find factual historical evidence of this, because you know I looked long and hard and it’s not there. Futhermore, if some were to pop up, Paul doesn’t say hey this is all just cultural, nope, he hits us with something(s) more eternal-angels. Paul says, “For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.”. Wait? What??? Paul says that for the cause (order of creation), women should have power on her head because of the angels? I mean he could of said because of the temple prostitutes women should have power or a covering on her head, ya know, to differientiate between the two. But nope, Paul (under inspiration of the Holy Spirit), sees fit to write “because of the angels”. Now many people disagree with what this means, but I try to stay biblical and use what God gives us. To keep this short I want to just copy and paste what headcoveringmovement.com writes to explain. I basically agree with this whole explanation. Here’s why “because of the angels” has so much weight and value for our lives.
“These rulers and authorities are the angels of God (Col 1:16, 1 Pet 3:22). We see from this passage that what our Lord is doing through the church, shows to them how incredibly wise He is. Peter describes the angels as “longing to look” into what God is doing (1 Pet 1:12). They’re captivated by what God is doing and want to see more of it. I believe this is a desire that God would take pleasure in fulfilling. Allowing them to watch us worship could be one way of fulfilling that desire.
I love thinking about what the angels must be thinking, since they have such a unique perspective. The angels were the very first of God’s creation. We know they’ve seen all of history unfold as God told Job that the angels rejoiced watching Him make the world (Job 38:4-7).They’ve spent their entire lives in the presence of a Holy and perfect God. They watched Him create a perfect world where there was no sin, death or suffering. Those concepts were unknown to them. Then one of their own, Satan, sins. God puts him and the angels who follow him out of His presence forever (Jude 6). No opportunities for repentance and no one to intercede of their behalf. The angels know that sin has a high cost.
Then as a repeat, the first couple God created also sins. However, there’s a twist in this storyline. God kills an animal in their place and promises them a redeemer. He then sets apart a group of these sinful humans to display His love and affection on. It culminates in God Himself entering the world in human flesh. He lives a perfect life and then lays it down as an unblemished sacrifice. The Father slaughters Him, the Lamb of God, so that ill-deserving children of the devil can be totally forgiven and adopted into His family. What a story! No wonder the angels long to look into this.
So now put yourself in their shoes as they watch the gathered people of God worship.
They see enemies of God now worshiping because they’re forgiven and redeemed. They see Jews and Gentiles worshiping together as members of one another in unity. They see males and females worshiping together as equals. On top of all that through head coverings our women show all present that their position as a woman is also redeemed. No longer are they at war usurping and longing for the mans position of authority (Gen 3:16). Instead they’re content in the role God ordained for them in Genesis 2.
The men likewise through their bare heads communicate that they will exercise authority in their respective roles. However, no longer will it be through domineering (Gen 3:16) or being passive like the first Adam. Their position as a man is also redeemed.
The angels with their jaws dropped must cry out as they watch this, “behold the manifold wisdom of God!”
Let’s not forget that as sinless beings they would be much more sensitive to sin. If we’re dishonorable & disgraceful from a human perspective (1 Cor 11:4-6), how must we look to angels if we disobey this command? If we don’t pray and prophesy as God said to, the only thing we may be symbolizing to them is the role distortion of Genesis 3!”
to read the whole article click here
My personal conviction:
Based on the above research, study, and prayer over the course of a year God has convicted me strongly that I should cover my head when praying or prophesying. For me, most importantly I want to testify to the angels about God in this way. It is a very simple thing to cover my head while praying or giving a word of prophesy to someone. There is so much freedom in what the head covering could look like. It can be a headband, a pretty scarf, multiple scarves, a hat, a cap, a thin lace veil, I mean literally whatever you want it to be! I do not believe that this verse in any way teaches that your actual hair has to be covered or that it has to look any particular way. What’s important here is that the woman who is choosing to cover her hair is doing so out of an understanding of this passage, a clear conviction from the Lord, and a heart that is submissive to his will and not her own. If this is not done from love like any other obedience it is a filthy rag to God. Therefore this article is NOT me telling all Christian women to cover their heads while praying or prophesying or even encouraging them to cover. Nope, this blog post is me simply uncovering the mystery behind this passage and encouraging my sisters in Christ to pray about this and take a fresh look at these verses on their own! I am confident that God will move who He desires to cover to obedience in this area.
Hopefully that sums up my beliefs on these scriptures. If you have any questions feel free to email me at modestgeneration910@gmail.com.
