One day as we were driving, my daughter called out this
question from the back seat.
“Mama, can boys be preachers, too?”
She was five or six years old at the time. We were in the car on the road from Lexington
to Wilmore, Kentucky. We’d moved to
Wilmore when she was four so I could go to seminary. In the year prior to our move I was beginning
to preach, so for virtually all her life a “preacher mama” is all my daughter
has known.
“Mama, can boys be preachers, too?” My daughter could not have known how unique a question that is. For centuries, the
Christian church has been concerned with other question: Can girls
be preachers, too? Does God’s design
allow for women to be part of spreading this story of grace? The answer is in the story itself. Women were last at the cross, first at the tomb and first to be told, “Go and
tell.” And any woman who preaches
the gospel of Jesus Christ stands in that great tradition. It is not a call reserved for one gender or
50% of us. It is the Great Commission of
all God’s people: “Go and make disciples
of all nations.”
So what does this mean for both men and women?
1. 1. All of us are empowered to share the story. All of us. I don’t know where I read this (I haven’t been able to find the story since I first read it), but Steve Jobs was once talking with a group of high-ranking officials in Egypt. He was sharing business principles with them and at some point, someone asked him if he thought Egypt could ever be a viable world leader. Jobs response was, “Not as long as you are using only half your population.”
Of course, God can do anything he wants with whomever he chooses
but sometimes I wonder if he looks at the Christian Church, hears our prayers
for the Kingdom to come and thinks, “Not as long as you’re using only half the
population.”
In our Bible, there are many examples of women who were raised up
into positions of leadership. Deborah,
Mary, Priscilla and Lydia, to name a few.
Meanwhile, in cultures where these kinds of examples are missing from the prevailing religious tradition, women are impacted.
Earlier this year
in India, a few hundred girls went through a re-naming ceremony. These girls all carried the Hindu name Nakusa.
It means “Unwanted,” a common
name among girls in India. Someone
decided to issue an invitation to girls carrying that name, offering them the
chance to choose a new name. Literally
hundreds of girls showed up for that ceremony -- girls tired of being called
“Unwanted.”
This seems to be part of our unredeemed nature. In many places in the world, cultures oppress
girls. In many places, females are made
to feel like runners-up in the gender contest.
This is not a Christian teaching.
Paul said, “Christ has set us free
to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness
of slavery on you. As followers of
the gospel of Jesus, we believe everyone
is wanted and gifted in some way for sharing the good news. John Wesley once said, “God owns women in the
conversion of sinners, and who am I that I should withstand God?”
2.
We have a unique call. After years of dealing
with my own insecurities, I now claim God’s call to take authority and preach
the gospel. God is using me because of how I'm made, not in spite of it, to be
demonstration of the Kingdom. I am not a runner-up. I am God’s choice, called to serve a world
that desperately needs Jesus in all the ways and through all the people Jesus
can be shared.
3.
Engage the real question. The real question is not,
“Should women lead or preach in churches?”
That is a freedom question but ultimately, that is not a salvation
question. The real question is: “How many people does God want to reach, and
how many people is he willing to use to reach them?” What if all God’s people who are equipped
for the work are called to humbly proclaim Jesus to a lost and hurting
world? All his people …
including you.
“Mama, can boys be preachers, too?” It is a beautiful question. Revelatory. It reminds me of that parable about the mustard seed. It was the smallest seed in the garden, but it grew. And this gospel of freedom is spreading.
God has given all kinds of people the call to preach, and he has given every
one of us a platform that suits our spiritual gifts. This is great
news! Because Jesus sets people free, he
is able to redeem us from the pits we’ve dug for ourselves so he can call us forth to
spread the good news of freedom through Christ. As we come, He is
able to present us before His glorious presence without fault. He is able to present us before His glorious
presence with great joy! He is the only
God, our Savior. He is glorious. He is majestic. He is powerful. He has authority in this world and in the
world to come. He is our Master and our
Redeemer. He Who Is, Who Was and Who Is
To Come is Truth Eternal.
Who wouldn’t want to share that news? And who wouldn’t want to hear it?