Why do you Headcover?
One of the most common questions people ask our family is, “Why do you cover your head?”
I decided to go ahead and answer that question on my blog since it seems to be the thing everyone is curious about. The reason for me writing this as my third blog post is not because I think it’s the most important issue for Christian women; I’m not trying to “major on a minor”, but instead I’d like to just clear this one up for all those who have asked or who may be curious, but didn’t want to offend me by asking. By the way, I’m not offended at all when people ask, I understand, it’s different, and people are curious. It doesn’t hurt my feelings or make me feel self-conscious. I know why I do it, and I’m happy to explain it to those who really want to know.
Let me first start out by clearing up common misconceptions people often have about why I would practice headcovering. Those misconceptions are often: you headcover to earn or keep salvation, or to earn special favor from God, or because your husband makes you. Let me take a minute to clear those things up.
I do not cover my head to earn my salvation or to keep my salvation. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. It is not by any work we could ever do. It is not Christ plus our works, it is all of grace by His sovereign love and election of sinners who were so dead in their trespasses and sins they could never save themselves. It is His work to save us, His work to sanctify us, and His work to keep us until the end.
I do not cover because I believe it earns special favor, merit, or protection from the Lord. I’ve heard these ideas from other groups, and I do not believe them. I think a child of God has His love, care, favor, and protection at all times whether covered or not.
I do not cover because my husband or church forces me to. It is completely my own choice. My husband and I came to understand this passage together, and I was the one who initiated our study of it because I felt convicted when reading the passage. I began practicing it at a church where my daughters and I were the only ones who did in 2016, and we have covered in church ever since. In 2018 I became convinced that it was not just an in church only context, and began covering almost full time from that point. I’ll explain why I believe it isn’t just in church later.
So why do I do it? I’m simply seeking to obey the One I love and the one who saved me. Jesus said:
““If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
John 14:15 NKJV
Let’s look at this commandment together.
“Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you. But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved. For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man is not from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God. Judge among yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering. But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.”
I Corinthians 11:1-16 NKJV
Let’s break this apart bit by bit, it will probably take me multiple blog posts to cover it all. Let’s just focus on verses 1 and 2 today.
“Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you.”
I Corinthians 11:1-2 NKJV
He begins this paragraph by saying “imitate me as I imitate Christ”, many translations take the liberty to lump this verse with the previous section, but this sentence is a transition into the topic of headcovering, and it makes perfect sense with the next sentence. He had been correcting them and now he transitions to praising them for keeping one of the traditions that he delivered to them: the tradition of women covering and men uncovering when praying or prophesying. So you may be wondering, “where did this tradition come from?” and I think that’s a good question. Here is where it seems to have come from:
“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”
Matthew 28:18-20 NKJV
“The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”
Acts 1:1-3 NKJV
So you see, Jesus gave commandments to his apostles that they were to teach His followers to obey. I believe He told them how His church was to be conducted, and this was one of the traditions given. In 1 Corinthians 14, you see Paul explaining how the church meeting is to be conducted and he says there:
“If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.”
I Corinthians 14:37 NKJV
The Lord gave commandments for how the church meeting was to be conducted, and at the end of the section in 1 Corinthians 11, speaking of Headcovering he says:
“But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.”
I Corinthians 11:16 NKJV
It seems pretty clear to me, that this is a commandment given to the apostles by Jesus that the church is suppose to practice.
So the simple answer to the question, “Why do you cover your head?” is: We cover to obey the commandments that the Lord Jesus gave to His church.
Now I mentioned that I wanted to go through this passage bit by bit, and that is my plan for the next few blog posts.
I’ll explain the way I understand the rest of this passage in great detail, and I will explain why I disagree with the most modern interpretations of it with the Scripture itself and with quotes from church history.
So if you clicked on this because you have been curious why we cover, can I make a simple request? Please pray about what I share here. Don’t just assume I’m wrong because it’s different than everyone else around you, or because it’s hard to be different. Don’t disregard it because you don’t want people to think you are strange. Would you really pray and ask God to help you understand this passage? Would you obey God if He made it clear to you? Ask Him to make it clear. I’m not here to condemn others who don’t view this passage the same as I do, but I am making a little request that you would put aside fears of difficulty or what others might think, and simply seek to understand what the Spirit through Paul is saying to us here.
Paul said in His second letter to Corinth referring back to the first letter,
“For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end”
II Corinthians 1:13 NKJV
The only reason we struggle to understand this passage is because it doesn’t match up with what we see practiced around us, but friends let’s always remember this:
“Indeed, let God be true, but every man a liar.”
Romans 3:4a
And this verse meant so much to me as I began to walk in full trust of God’s Word even though it opposed what I saw around me.
