Putting on the Veil: A Personal Testimony of How I Came to Wear the Head Covering
My purpose in writing this blog post is simple...to allow my Christian family and friends “access” to this particular belief if/when they are feeling too shy to ask me in person. If you are one of the many who have inwardly wondered “WHAT is THAT on your head?” or “WHY do you ALWAYS wear that?” then this one is for you!
I think we can all agree that religious head coverings are much more uncommon (in America) than they used to be. Sure, we still see them worn by Amish, Mennonite, and some other women today, but why (for the most part) have they been abandoned by the vast majority of Christians? It didn’t take a large amount of research to determine that head coverings didn’t start getting abandoned until the Woman’s Liberation Movement starting in the year of 1968 and continuing into the 1970’s.
About 2 years ago, after quite a lot of research and discussion with my (now) husband, I was convicted to start wearing a head covering. I admit that it took me a while to warm up to the idea of always having a piece of cloth on my head. My wonderful husband was so supportive of me through the whole process. He grew up in a church where the women wore coverings, so he was a big encouragement to me. Looking back on this period in our lives, even though I am sure Jeremy would have loved to have seen me in a covering from the start, he never said a word about it and I respect that he was so patient with me. It was his gentle and loving heart that helped guide me through the following passages that led me to the life changing conviction that I now have, to wear a head covering.
1 Corinthians 11:2 says: “Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.” My first thought when reading this is probably similar to the first thought of many of you. The word ‘traditions’ tends to have a negative connotation and usually makes me think of something that is not actually commanded but is just “added on” or “in addition to” God’s word. However, that is not necessarily the case in this passage! After seeing how the same word “tradition” is used in other places in the Bible, I realized that the negative stigma this word carries isn’t always the way it is. A different passage where “tradition” is used positively is 2 Thessalonians 2:15 and it says: “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.” Now both of these verses use the same Greek word for “traditions” and we found that it can also mean “ordinance”. Both of these passages are written by Paul and both use the phrase “hold to the traditions that were taught/passed on to you” as if to “ordain” that this should be done.
Once I started researching God’s Word regarding the head covering, it was evident that a major reason behind women wearing the head covering is to signify God’s divine order. 1 Corinthians 11:3 says: “But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.” Now, let me start off by stating that, while I am married, I do not think that a woman needs to be married in order to wear a covering. This passage says the man is the head of a woman, IT DOES NOT SAY the husband is the head of a woman! Therefore, it makes sense to say that this is not only referring to married women, but to single, courting, engaged, and widowed women too! For me, this conviction arose during a time in my life when I was already reaffirming my beliefs because I was engaged to be married and wanted to “start out right”. I knew that in order to show submission to God and to all other men (especially to my husband) that I needed to follow this faithfully. To continue with divine order, 1 Corinthians 11:4-5 says: “Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved.” The “head” refers either to the heads on our neck, or to our heads in reference to divine order depending on the placement. To clarify my point, Verse 4 would read like this: Every man who has something his head (the head on his neck) while praying or prophesying disgraces his head (divine order: man’s head is Christ).
The history in the Bible teaches us that women are to keep their hair long (without actually giving us a clear length) and that it is shameful to have it cut off or shaved because our hair is our god-given glory as well as natural covering for us. 1 Corinthians 11:6 says: “For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head.” At first glance, this verse can be taken two different ways. I have heard many people say that a woman’s covering is her hair and only her hair; therefore women do not need to wear an additional cloth covering. But in my opinion, this belief is very flawed. This line of thinking comes from a verse later on in this passage (1 Corinthians 11:15) which I will get into later. But with this thought (that the only covering is our hair), let’s read through the verse again: “For if a woman does not cover her head [with her hair], let her also have her hair cut off...” The word ALSO is key here! Under the thinking that the hair is the only covering discussed, this passage does NOT make sense! Think about it like this: if a woman does not cover her head [with her hair], then that would mean she is bald! So if we keep reading forward, HOW could she then “let her hair be cut off” if she is already bald?
Now we will RE-read this verse with the belief that an additional separate veil/piece of cloth is our covering. “For if a woman does not cover her head [with a separate piece of cloth as a covering], let her also have her hair cut off...” The passage DOES make sense under this line of thinking! Now, this passage is saying that if a woman refuses to wear an additional cloth covering (over her natural hair covering), then that woman should cut off her natural hair covering because it is such a shameful decision she is making to choose not to follow this command!
1 Corinthians 11:7 says: “For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. After reading this verse, I couldn’t help but to think: “why do men still take off their hats for prayer, but women don’t cover their heads”? I have heard many arguments against head coverings, but if coverings are done away with or are only a cultural thing, than why do we even bother with having the men uncover their heads? This is an inconsistency that many Christians (including myself) fell, and continue to fall prey to.
1 Corinthians 11:8-12 says: “For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake. Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God.” What stood out to me in this passage is the statement “Because of the angels”. For the longest time, I did not fully understand what this meant, however, now this simple statement is a huge encouragement to me in my choice to wear a covering. Angels are not omniscient (all-knowing) as God is. The angels do not necessarily just know who is or isn’t submitted to God’s authority. I believe God has left it up to the woman herself to show the angels that she is under the authority of God and man by means of wearing a head covering! Let’s remember that there are fallen angels (like Satan and other demonic spirits) and also un-fallen angels (God’s messengers). I believe the head covering is a sign to BOTH spiritual realms. When the un-fallen angels see a woman’s head covering, they see that this woman knows her place and is committed to God. They are like our guardian angels – sent to minister to and protect women who testify by wearing a covering. When fallen angels, on the other hand, see a woman wearing a covering, they will be more apt to leave her alone because they realize that this woman is divinely protected. Fallen angels are less likely to try to deceive a woman wearing a covering because they know that she is under the power and authority of God so she will not be easily deceived by them. They will instead seek out a woman who is acting independently and not in submission to God’s divine order – just as Eve was so easily deceived in the garden when she acted out (alone/independently) by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
1 Corinthians 11:13-15 says: “Judge for 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 one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God.”
Up until this point, when talking about the covering, Paul has used the Greek word katakalupto. When breaking down this word we find the prefix kata meaning “down” and then kalupto meaning “cover”; and when combined together this translates as “to come down and cover”. This clearly represents what a cloth head covering does. However, in this verse, Paul uses a different Greek word peribolaion which uses the prefix peri meaning “around”. Rather than a cloth covering, this word better describes a woman’s hair (or natural covering) as our hair is like a mantle framing the perimeter of our face. The question is: WHY did Paul introduce a new word (peribolaion) which is completely unrelated to the first (katakalupto)? It is clear that he wanted this new word to stand out, and that he didn’t want to confuse the peribolaion natural covering (long hair) with the katakalupto cloth covering (piece of tangible cloth). Paul differentiates between the two so his readers see that both the hair covering AND the cloth covering are being discussed here. This teaches us that the hair as a covering is not the same as a cloth as a covering because if it was (and if hair was the only covering we needed) than he would have just used the same word, and not made it a point to show the differentiation!
Also in these last three verses, Paul asks the Corinthians to “Judge for yourselves”, which he intended rhetorically. He believed his audience would understand that a woman should wear a covering when praying to God. He then concludes his teaching with the reminder that there is no other option than wearing a head covering among the churches of God (believers), so there is no grounds for a controversy to arise.
I also want to mention that throughout his entire teaching here, Paul is trying to motivate women! Now, if hair was our only covering, how can we motivate it to grow? How could women be expected to DO something that we have little control over? I mean, being that we are indeed supposed to DO something (perform an action which Paul is motivating us to do), it makes a lot more sense to say that putting on a cloth covering would be that action! It shows an effort on our part, just as following any scripture takes some kind of effort.
Lastly, I found it interesting that at the end of this very same Corinthians 11 chapter, Paul brings up the Lord’s Supper. This leads his audience to wonder why we (the believers) hold on to such practices as communion and even baptism, but we steer away from the wearing of the head covering. It seems inconsistent that we would hold on to (and in many cases insist on) keeping those practices mentioned by Paul, but yet refuse the practice of wearing a head covering. I had to remind myself not to pick and choose which practices to keep, and to try my hardest to just keep them all!
I have decided to cover my head pretty much all the time instead of just while praying or prophesying. This decision is based on three things. Firstly, to be an example and represent God’s divine order to other christians. Secondly, because by me wearing a covering, it shows the angels that I am one they can minister to. And thirdly, out of convenience; In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 the Bible commands all christians to “Pray continually, without ceasing” or at least to be ready to pray with just a moment’s notice! Since, I don’t want to be scrambling around for my head covering (many times a day) when I want to pray or prophesy (which is interpreted to mean reading, studying, having thoughts on, or talking about anything of God), it is simply more convenient for me to just always have my covering on! Wearing a head covering is a very humbling experience – reminding me of my God given role as a woman. It is also my daily reminder to follow scripture and act in accordance to God’s will for me. Through wearing a covering, my personal walk with God has been and continues to be strengthened greatly!
Posted by: Leslie Gipe
