What is Women's Ministry About?

What's it all about? 

It happens every so often, as it did again this past week.  I get a call/email from an acquaintance from another church. “Can we get together? I’m wanting to talk through women’s ministry stuff. Could you give some insight on what’s going on there at Eden?”

I’m always excited for these opportunities. God has blessed us at Eden, not with spectacularly gifted leaders or innovative strategies.  But God has provided Biblical moorings that are timeless and give helpful steerage because they are firmly rooted in truth and clarify what is important.

I thought I’d start 2016 with a series of posts, each considering one of the 7 pillars around which we at EBC fashion everything we do for women, church-wide and individually.

The relevance of this for you, and not just for those in leadership,  will become evident, I hope, before the end of this post.

Indeed, the objectives laid out here are simply priorities for every woman who claims to be a follower of Christ. Each one comes straight out of the New Testament’s design for relating to each other---and to a world that needs the gospel.

(And if you are part of a church, you can encourage your ministry to keep to the right purposes.)

Will you investigate these a bit closer with me? (And be reminded of our roots?!)

#1: To introduce every woman not only to the helper design, but to the Designer himself for the purpose of loving Him with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength.

•        To be a Godly woman is not first to understand how we relate as a female;  instead, to understand how we relate as a created one to our creator.  (Gender comes second.)  And God has clearly established his goodness by offering us the answer: Himself: He is the revealer of and rescue for our greatest need, and He is the wisdom for both our earthly (now) and eternal (future) journeys.
•       Encouraging our love for God can only be accomplished by unveiling the wonder of God to eyes that are distracted by all kinds of ‘today’s’ needs, eyes that are blinded by sinful, deceived hearts, and eyes that are satisfied with trivial, cotton-candy-like pleasures. (That’s us.) God. Is. More.  Revealing him is the only means to this end.
•       Loving him with all our heart, soul, mind & strength is accomplished and grown amid the relationships and community of other believers. This is God’s design. We disregard it to our own peril.

Implications:

·         If the goal is to love God, then all the gender-related interests, our responsibilities,  and our roles as women will be second tier when ministry emphases and topics are selected.  Being a better mother, wife, woman, employee, etc may have a valid place in consideration (and we’ve discussed these at times).  But what is most needed is a closer look at who God is and my identity as His child, for from this platform all the roles I live out will flow.

·         There are many times I hear pleas for teaching on a specific life season (young mom, mid-life), on a significant life experience (being betrayed, grief support, parenting struggles), or support for temptations (I’m bored in my marriage, my spiritual life seems dead) ...to give a sampling. These hungers are only ultimately satiated, however, in the source of their satisfaction: God Himself.  Offering mere human support, practical answers & solutions, etc, will only put band aids on a welt that is responding to an internal toxin. 

·         Application from the truth of God to the needs of life is paramount. This is where women (and men) need much help. (I know I do!)  How does the truth of who God is relate to my weary monotonous calling of a stay at home mom?, to an unmarried woman among a materialistic and hedonistic culture? of being lonely with life changes that leave me with silent days and solitary evenings?  This is the calling of women’s ministry --Connect God and his truth to real life.

As each of us live out the first page of our 2016 calendars, and try to get our “new year ducks” in a row, may we investigate the core of our efforts and where they are directed.

Do we hold as supreme what Jesus said?

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. This is the first and greatest commandment.

Matt 22:37-38

Let’s run together ---full speed ahead--- into loving him more this year!

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

If you are a woman, you don’t have to look very far or read very much to find advice on finding balance. Likely, since the Garden of Eden, women have tried to dodge the excesses of imbalance and the peril that results.

 (“Eve, Eve”, pleads Adam, “I really need some clean animal skins and NOT another recipe for soup,  no matter how many dozens of new herbs you are discovering or how much fun it is to concoct them. Can you help me out, here?!” 

---Imagination purposes only here; no authentic Scriptural support intended J)

Finding balance indeed has its value, and we all can attest to the havoc in personal, family, or business lives when things get out of whack.

But  like all good things, the pursuit of balance can become unreasonable.

I call this the Dr. Jekyll (good) and Mr. Hyde (evil) effect.  

As it relates to balance in how we spend our time, it goes like this;

Dr. Jekyll:

I must limit my obligations so that I can give primary focus to my priorities: God, family, husband & home.

Mr. Hyde:

I can do little else but keep house, care for my children and husband, and attend Sunday services. Time with God, ministry, serving, looking to the needs of others interferes with these priorities so gets attention only when convenient or appealing. “Take on one more thing….are you nuts?!!”

Dr. Jekyll:

I must monitor the stress level of my own person so I have resources and health to pour into my  home, family,  and job.

Mr. Hyde:

I can do or give only that which I feel like doing, which comes when I’m not busy, or which does not require much sacrifice or hardship. I tire easily!

Dr. Jekyll:

Relaxation and rejuvenation enable me to persevere over the long haul, and God gives rest and entertainment as a good gift.

Mr. Hyde:  I am entitled to “Me-time” because of all I do, and I will protect it as sacred: no need of another, call for help, or opportunity to serve another will get in the way of what I need and enjoy.

Dr. Jekyll:

My children are a stewardship from God, and I am responsible to feed them, teach them, care for them, discipline  them, and invest in them as unto the Lord.

Mr. Hyde:

My time, energy, and resources all go to my children’s education, academic and extra curricular pursuits, wholesome and natural  nutrition,  and seeking their fulfillment and potential! I have no real opportunity to be involved in anything else because we’re too busy and too tired!  

Dr. Jekyll:

My husband and I are committed to a marriage of unity, love, and robust delight, which requires times of focus on our relationship as a couple.

Mr.Hyde:

My  husband is obligated to my specified forms of romance and frequent times for “just us” that limit our involvement in the lives of others and in other good things---but after all, aren’t I the most important “ministry” he has. We can perhaps minister in another season of life OR we already have put in our time.

 So easily, something that is good (wanting to limit unreasonable, ongoing, unhealthy demands) can take on the ugly form of something bad (selfishness, excuses for self indulgence, misplaced priorities).

I'm thankful for the role of the Holy Spirit to convict and teach, for the  truth of God's Word to inform and reprove, and for the example of others who give "skin" to how the sacrificial, eternal investment of this life looks, and that it is not a luxury cruise featuring a comfortable, stress-free life of balance. 

I admit I have much to learn in the pursuit of balance. 

But keep me honest, will you? So that this desire doesn't morph into the pursuit of my own preferred form of idol-worshiping banality : to eliminate stress, be at peace with my inner self, or maintain my own standard of life for myself or my family...etc.

Dr. Jekyll is welcome to come knocking.

Mr. Hyde? ---May God help me to pull the shades, lock the doors, and deny him entrance!