Appearances

Jesus is our Lord, and we are called to submit our lives to His authority. 1st Peter 5 says this:
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

We are under authority of Almighty God, and He has laid out for us in His Word a template for a life that honors Him.  As servants of the Lord, we surrender our desires to His authority and seek to be people who are willing to lay down self so that Christ may be exalted.  And we can trust Him; we can know that if our lives are in His hands, then we are in good hands - He loves us and wants the best for us.  We can know that in His care is a place of confidence and rest.

+++++

In 1st Corinthians 11, Paul addresses matters of Biblical authority:
1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
2 Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you.
3 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.

Perhaps you've heard the story by now: a Christian woman went into a driver's license office in Lee County, Alabama.  The office refused to take her picture because she was wearing a headscarf.  She is now suing the county for the right to wear the scarf in the picture.  Again, this is a Christian woman.  ChristianHeadlines.com, referring to a CBS News story, reported that the ACLU is representing the woman, who claims county officials told her that only Muslims are allowed to wear headscarves in license photos.  I would say that is problematic, because adherents to other religions and of other nationalities traditionally wear scarves.

The story quotes the woman as saying in a written statement:

“In accordance with my Christian faith, I cover my hair with a headscarf, but the DMV refused to take my driver license photo unless I removed it. The DMV officials said only Muslims were allowed to keep their headscarves on for photos. I didn’t know what to do. Without question, I believe that Muslim women should not have to violate their faith just to take a driver license photo, but neither should Christian women.”

The Christian Examiner reports that the ACLU lawsuit claims, "Wearing a headscarf is an integral part of her sincerely held Christian beliefs," adding, "Ms. Allen believes that the Bible – in particular, 1 Corinthians 11 – commands her to show her submission to God by covering her hair in public. She believes that removing her headscarf in public is disobedient to God."  Isn't it interesting and a bit odd that the ACLU is defending a citizen's religious freedom?

I came across another Christian woman who dresses modestly with her head covered...writing for the website, First Things, Veery Huleatt, in response to the burkini ban that had been enacted in French cities, but has now been lifted, wrote:

Nice was the last city to lift the Burkini Ban, in accordance with an order from France’s Council of State, which ruled that the ban “illegally breached fundamental freedoms.” But the veiling debate—which has been going on for years in France—is clearly not over.

As a woman who dresses modestly and wears a head covering on the basis of my Christian faith, I have been thinking about the issues involved here for a while.

Referring to the controversy over the wearing of burkinis, Huleatt wrote: "This is the problem I see at the heart of the matter. France is forcing its Muslim citizens to make this choice: To be French, or to be Muslim. In accordance with the French policy of laïcité, French Muslims are told that, in order to be good citizens, they must keep their religion out of the public square."

Interesting - she goes on: "The way I dress seems to invite people to think in these terms, and to assert the principle that the spiritual life should not be lived in public."  Huleatt believes that her modesty is an expression of her faith; a public expression - and that generally, faith should be exhibited in the public square.

So, whether or not you agree with these ladies who wear head coverings, I think they raise some important questions for us:

One is the question of allegiance: to whom do you submit?  And, where do your allegiances lie? Huleatt expressed concerns that Muslims in France were being forced to choose between "church and state?"  When your deeply held beliefs conflict with the dictates of governmental authorities, do you possess the conviction to stand according to Biblically-based beliefs?

There is the question of authority:  these women apparently see the headscarves as a sign of Biblical authority and submission to God. And, reading further in 1st Corinthians 11, Paul refers to a head covering for a woman as a symbol of authority - this is not the place or time to discuss the theology of that passage, but...I think we can examine our hearts and actions and recognize whether or not our hearts and lives really reflect such Biblical submission.  Jesus is our Lord, and we are called to humble ourselves under His power and principles.

And, there are certainly questions of appearances:  I think we do have to be respectful in the way we dress, and the Bible does teach a philosophy of modesty, not causing others to stumble.  We can also think about our freedom of religious expression - we are called to be visible with our faith so that others may see.  Religious practice should not be separated from the public square.