How do I decide who is right about head covering?
Question:
I did not realize the churches of Christ practice head covering. The church of Christ in my area doesn't. I am a Christian, and I attend a Baptist church. I have been saved for five years. As I have read the Bible, this is one issue that truly has me confused.
I have talked to a Mennonite preacher, and he has told me that my eternal life depends on my obeying this ordinance. I have since spoken with three different preachers and all three have given me different opinions on this issue. The last one that I spoke with told me my hair is my covering, one says it doesn't apply to us today, and one says it was a tradition back then. They have all reassured me that if I trust in God and do the best I can that everything will be OK. I wished I knew who was right. Could they all be right?
I wish that there was a church like yours in my area. Neither my husband nor my three adult children are saved. My family detests the very thought of me covering my hair or not wearing pants! The church that I attend has told me not to get hung up on the small stuff. But what if this isn't the small stuff to Jesus. What then? Oh, how I am totally confused. What is a person to do?
Please help me if you can.
Thank you.
Answer:
Churches don't practice head covering. Christian women practice it. I can't solve your dilemma because you are looking for someone else to tell you what to do instead of learning the issue and taking responsibility for what you put into practice in your life. I presented what I have learned over the years. You have to decide whether that evidence is convincing to you or not.
Since everyone is giving you different answers, then clearly they can't be all right. "For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints" (I Corinthians 14:33). Nor is it correct to state that whatever you decide to do will necessarily be acceptable to God. "As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ" (Galatians 1:9-10). Nor can you put the desires of your family members ahead of doing what you know is right. If people did that, few would become Christians.
And in your years of learning, it doesn't mean that you won't discover later that you missed something important and change your mind. We've all been there. It merely means I take the mistake in stride and begin living in closer conformity to what God desires in the future.
By the way, there is nothing in the Bible that states women must wear dresses. God only says that women's clothing is to be modest and different from men's clothing.
