Is Wearing A Headcovering Distracting?

Our church recently had a modesty class for ladies Sunday School in which the associate pastor's wife and I taught. We got both extremes in feedback. Some women loved it and thanked us and others.... not so much.

One thing we discussed was how modesty goes beyond just dressing sexually. It's a much bigger issue than just worrying about men lusting after you. We can be immodest in our behavior, our hearts, our home decorating and most importantly in our hearts. One way we can be immodest is in being distracting by wearing flashy things that draw attention to us.

"I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes..." 1 Timothy 2:9

I think that is what Paul is getting at in this passage. I think we can be immodest by spending an unreasonable amount of time on our looks and wearing things that are elaborate or "over the top".
One of the things we tried to major on in this modesty class was that each person needed to search their own hearts and look for areas of pride in their relationship to modesty. But unfortunately, when you talk to ladies about modesty and clothing we struggle with "keeping our eyes on our own page". We struggle with truly praying for the Lord to help us in our own lives without worrying about what others are or aren't wearing.

I have had a couple women now (one right after this modesty class) tell me: "Your headcovering is very distracting." Ouch. My response to the second woman was: "It wouldn't be such a distraction if more women in the church would obey the bible." Um... did that just come out of my mouth?! :) It is how I feel though.

It seems clear to me that the main reason so many women don't wear headcoverings to public worship is because so many women don't wear headcoverings to public worship. There is safety in numbers. People will often justify things and it is even more tempting to do so if some of "the most godly women" you know don't wear one. 

Please search the scriptures and your hearts for yourselves and see what His Word says about wearing a symbol of authority on your head.

Be sure to check out this new sermon series I found on headcoverings! You will have to scroll down a bit to get to the actual sermons. Also if you haven't seen my other posts be sure to check them out here and here.