HEAD-COVERING FOR WOMEN IN THE CHURCH:
What does the Bible teach about head- covering for women in the church meetings?.
This has become a controversial subject in churches in Western countries and among
WESTERNIZED Christians in Nigeria. It would probably be true to say that 99%
of sisters who cover their heads when praying and prophesying do not know why
they do so; and 99% of brothers who keep their heads uncovered when praying and
Prophesying do not know why they do so. Let me begin with the conviction
that THE ENTIRE MESSAGE OF THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD WITHOUT ANY ERROR.
If we reject any command in any of the New Testament epistles, saying it was
only for the time and place when it was written and not for us today, then in order
to be consistent , we must give equal freedom to other people to reject other
Commands in the epistles and in the teachings of Jesus as also being only for
that time and not for us today. For example, we must, in that case, give
freedom to people to teach that forbidding homosexual behavior and same-sex
marriages and divorces and premarital sexual intercourse, etc., were only for the
first century and not for us today. Otherwise we will be inconsistent.
It is inconsistent, therefore, to say that every command in the New Testament is
relevant for us today, and then to reject just this one command to women to cover
their heads when they pray or prophesy ( 1Cor.11:1-16 ).
(Note: We must distinguish between commands given by God and mere
greetings given by the apostles. For example, the apostles give greetings and
good wishes such as these in their letters: "Greet one another with a holy
kiss" ( Rom16:16 ) and "I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers" ( 3 John 2). These were obviously mere greetings and good wishes and not commands or
promises given by God, for there is no Divine principle taught in those verses, as
is the case with head-covering, water-baptism and breaking of bread ( Rom.6 ;
1Cor.11 )).

MEANING OF HEAD-COVERING
There are at LEAST THREE REASONS given in the New Testament why a woman should
cover her head when she prays or prophesies in the meetings of the church:

FIRST: The Bible says, "A man should NOT cover his head." . and the reason given is:
". because he is the image and glory of God". In contrast, we are told, "but the
woman is the glory of man " ( 1 Cor.11:7 ). The glory of man must be covered in the
church, and since woman is the glory of man, she testifies to this fact by covering her head. This is the plain and simple meaning of this verse.
Second: The Bible says , "A woman's long hair is her glory " ( 1 Cor.11:15 ). The glory
of the woman also must be covered in the church, just like the glory of man, And so
she must cover her head which has the glory of her long hair. Almost all women
are conscious that their long hair is a major part of what makes them look
attractive, and that is why even among those women who do put a covering on
their heads, most of them cover only a part of their hair!! If a woman does not
want to cover her head, then the only alternative that the New Testament offers
is to remove that glory, by shaving her head completely: "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" ( 1
Cor.11:6 ).

THIRD: The Bible says: "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" ( 1 Cor.11:10 ). The head-covering symbolizes
the fact that a woman accepts her God-appointed role as having been created " for
man's sake " as his helper and therefore her willingness to be submissive to male
authority - whether as a wife to her husband, or as a daughter to her father, or
as a sister in the church to the church- elders. It is significant that the
DISAPPEARANCE of the head-covering from women in Western churches (on a large scale) coincided with the time that the
movement for "Women's Liberation" (aphrase used in a book in 1949) began to
spread in Western countries, about 60years ago. The "angels" mentioned in this verse could refer either to the fallen angels or to the angels in heaven. So it could
either be a reminder to women to bear in mind that the fallen angels fell because they were not submissive to authority, or it could mean "A woman should wear a
covering on her head as a sign that she is under man's authority - a fact for all the
angels (in heaven) to notice and rejoice in" (as The Living Bible paraphrases that
verse).
1 Corinthians 11:16 says that every church that is a church of God, will insist on this head covering for women when they pray or prophesy. The Holy Spirit recognized
that 20 centuries later this would become a controversial issue; and so He made
Paul to state (in this same verse) that if anyone was going to be argumentative
about this matter, he would not argue with such a person. He would just allow that
person to continue on in his/her disobedience and inconsistency. Some Questions
Some may say that the head-covering is only a symbol and therefore not so important, but baptism and the breaking of bread are also only symbols. The first half
of 1Corinthians 11 (v.1-16) explains the meaning of the symbolic head-covering for women. The second half of the same chapter (11:.20-34) explains the meaning
of the symbolic breaking of bread. In the same way, Romans 6 explains the meaning
of the symbol of water-baptism. Would we say that the Lord's table and baptism also
are unimportant, because they are only symbols? If we insist on baptism and
breaking of bread as essential for believers, then we are inconsistent if we
say that head-covering for women is not essential. Some may say that head-covering for
women is mentioned only once in the New Testament . Breaking of bread also is
mentioned only once in the epistles. Likewise, the truth that God loves us as
much as He loved Jesus is also mentioned only once in the whole Bible ( Jn.17:23 ).
But once is enough, to know this glorious truth. If Almighty God has given a
command, then even if it is given only once in Scripture, that is sufficient. The
importance of a command is determined by the importance of the Person Who gave
it. In ancient Babylon, Daniel stood for a law ( Dan.1:8 ) that had been commanded only once in the Scriptures (about food in Lev.11 ; and wine in ( Prov.23:31 ) . In the
same way, in the midst of Babylonian Christianity today, we also stand for the
commands of God, whether small or big, whether mentioned once or many times.
Some say that since we are commanded to pray at all times ( Lk.18:1 ; 1
Thess.5:17 ), therefore a woman should cover her head all 24 hours of the day.
Scripture must always be read in its context, if we are to understand it aright.
The entire section ( 1 Cor.11:1-34 ) is dealing with the meetings of the church
( Verses 16 and 18 make that clear). So it is obvious that the Holy Spirit was
referring to church meetings when He gave this command. If we add to that, and insist that women should cover their heads at all times, then we will be adding to the
Scriptures. And further: If those who preach a 24-hour
head covering are consistent, they must also teach that men (who should also be
praying at all times) should never cover their heads at any time - and therefore
should never wear a cap or a hat, at any time, whether it be hot, raining, or
snowing. Such teachers must also then teach that women should keep their heads
covered even when sleeping or showering /bathing (=24 hours). But they do not
preach that, proving that they are inconsistent in their teaching . We can
safely ignore such inconsistent teachers. I have also observed that many sisters
who practice a 24-hour head covering do not cover their entire heads. They cover
only the back portion of their heads or just the small part of their hair that is tied up
in a bun at the back of their heads, so that the glory of their hair is still visible. A
small piece of cloth at the back of the head however is only an excuse for a
head-covering, and not a head-covering at all, because the head and the glory of the
hair are still not covered. Such " namesake head-coverings " are worn by legalists only
to ease their conscience and to appear " holy " before others. But their teachers do
not object to this, because they themselves are inconsistent in their
teaching.Some say that the hair itself is called the
head-covering for women in 1 Cor.11:15 . If one has understood the Divine principle
taught in the first 14 verses of this chapter, then this verse will not cancel out
the need for a woman with long hair to still cover her head with a covering. Paul
could not possibly have taken 15 verses merely to teach that a woman should have
long hair! That could have been stated in just one sentence! What does not come
out in the English translation of the Bible is the fact that in the original Greek language
(in which Paul wrote his letters), the Holy
Spirit prompted him to use a different Greek word for " covering" in verse 15 than
the one He used in verse 6. The Greek word used in verse 6 is katakalupto;
whereas the word used in verse 15 is peribolaion (which is translated as
"mantle" in Heb. 1:12 ). This makes it crystal clear that the mantle of hair
referred to in verse 15 is not the head- covering referred to in verse 6 or in the
rest of the chapter. Another proof of this is: If hair is the "head-covering" being referred to in this section, then every man
who prays or prophesies would have to have his head completely shaved, if he is to obey this Scripture that tells him not to have his head covered!! The clear teaching
of the Holy Spirit in this chapter is that the " mantle of hair " that nature has given a
woman as her glory must be covered with a covering, when she is praying or prophesying.

FINALLY, WE MUST BEAR IN MIND THAT:
- If we ignore any command of God in Scripture (however small) we will suffer
some eternal loss ( Rev.22:19 ).
- Those who cancel (or teach against) the smallest command of Scripture will
be called "the least in the kingdom of heaven" (as Jesus said in Matt.5:19 ).
- The truths of Scripture are hidden from the clever and the intelligent and
revealed only to the humble ("babes" -Matt.11:25 with Matt.18:4 ) . The
teaching of 1 Cor.11:1-16 will be simple and clear to the humble,
childlike person. But one who depends on his human cleverness and
intelligence will argue against the plain meaning of these verses.
- God tests our honesty in the way in which we deal with such verses of
Scripture. He does not see whether we understand everything in His Word, but
He does see if we are honest in dealing with His Word. The Lord says, "To this
one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles
at My word" ( Isa.66:2 ).

IF A SISTER IS STILL IN DOUBT ABOUT WHAT THIS
PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURE TEACHES, LET HER
CONSIDER THIS: Isn't it better for her to do more rather than less - and especially so,
when there is no inconvenience or cost involved. What will she lose by covering
her head when she prays and prophesies? Nothing. But think of what she will gain by
covering her head, if she discovers at the judgment-seat of Christ that this was
indeed God's command? She will have the joy of having pleased her Lord on earth, in
spite what other Christians taught and practiced. So, every woman, if she is wise,
will cover her head with a covering, when she prays and prophesies.
And in conclusion, as to the practice in our Christian meetings: We do not force any sister to cover her head (against her wish/ conviction) in our meetings, because if she
does this under compulsion, it will be a dead work; and God wants only cheerful
givers of obedience ( 2 Cor.9:7 ). We will not judge such a sister either. We will
graciously assume that she does not have light on this subject. But at the same time,
if she does not cover her head. I also believe that this is how it is practiced "in all the churches of
God" ( 1Cor.11:16 ). I do not judge other churches that do things differently from us,
in this or in any other area.
BUT WE FEAR GOD AND DESIRE TO OBEY HIM FULLY, EVEN IF SOME SISTERS (OR THEIR HUSBANDS) ARE OFFENDED AT THIS.
" If anyone is truly determined to do God's will, he/she will definitely know whether
this teaching is from God" ( Jn.7:17 ).

THOSE WHO HAVE EARS TO HEAR, LET THEM
HEAR.

Op I know that something pushed you into this research. And I say keep it up.

This is damn too much but it makes a lot of sense...
Church is in the heart,a friend will always say,what does it profit a man to do some things for physical judgement and not spiritually strong

mtcheeew abeq leave trash for lawma