The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Head coverings

You cannot FORCE your wife nor for that matter any grown child to be obedient to you as husband/father. As one man said, "You can physically force a child to sit down, but he/she is still standing up on the inside." If after teaching your wife and daughters what God has revealed in Scripture about the matter of headcoverings and listening to their responses and then expressing your decision on the matter... assuming in your particular case that you believe females under your headship should wear a headcovering during worship, they refuse to subject themselves to you, there isn't much more you can do. What you have is another problem, perhaps much more serious. You would have a wife and/or daughter(s) that do not honor you as the God-appointed head of your household. And thus, they are sinning against God and not just disobeying a man. This would be most serious and church intervention (counseling) might be your best course of action.


1. At least there are/were a few women who submitted to Scripture on this matter.

2. Re: "It is a conviction thing..." which I'm going to assume you mean that the women who wear a headcovering have a conviction vs. opinion on the matter but the church itself has a conviction that headcoverings are not taught and thus required but if a woman chooses to wear a headcovering it would be allowed?

3. Re: "force my wife..." See above. But Tom, are you seriously suggesting and believe yourself that if you as the head of your house are immovably convinced that God, through the inspiration of the Apostle Paul requires women to wear a headcovering in corporate worship, and that you thus have made the effort to teach the females in your house about this injunction in Scripture, and after entertaining questions and objections, if there were any, you have decided that all females should honor God and you by wearing a headcovering, that your local church would administer church discipline on you?

I am NOT suggesting that you nor anyone else leave their present church because they forbid women from wearing headcoverings in corporate worship. However, IF there was another acceptable church in the area who followed the teaching of women wearing headcoverings or at least allowed women to wear them, then I would certainly attend that church if the present one would not entertain studying the matter and interacting with you and how you came to understand the Scriptural teaching.

I never implied that you did. I was simply answering your statement/question/?? On how, you being a man, should practice Paul's teaching on headcoverings. So, for the benefit on those who haven't studied, or perhaps even read this portion of Scripture, I wanted to make it clear that Paul was not simply addressing the matter of WOMEN wearing a headcovering in corporate worship, but the foundation of that teaching is based upon creation; the creation of male and female and the demarcation line between them and then the responsibilities of each to outwardly express the differences, e.g., men are not to have long hair, which God gave to the woman and that women are not to cut their hair short and finally that God further instructs the women to show their respect and subordination to their husbands/men in the congregational worship by having a covering on their head/hair. As I also wrote, "If the shoe fits, wear it."