“Where
are the women leaders? I wish there were more out there…”
“I just wish there more coming through, but there don’t
seem to be any anywhere”
“What’s
happening?”
Ever been part of a conversation like this? It’s a
conversation that I’ve had with men and women across the US, around Europe,
across the generations. It happens over coffee, online, on a conference call,
in a hangout and in print. Sometimes the conversation is tinged with angst and
longing, sometimes hurt, something incredulity, like something simply doesn’t
add up.
It’s not that women in the church have disappeared (at
least not yet!). In reality women are shaping and influencing their world in a
broad range of ways. They’re engaging with the imbalances & injustices of
the world, advocating, fundraising, adopting, fostering, making dresses for
children who go without, knitting quilts for women in shelters, writing letters
to troops and sponsoring children. Some are investing their gifts and talents
and as they establish their homes and raise their children. Their gifts are
predominantly expressed at the school gate, on the PTA, with girl scouts and sports teams, in the
local neighborhood. It’s a high calling, being salt and light in the local
community – world changing in fact.
Some women are leading and loving it in the
workplace; they’ve been equipped, empowered and their leadership gifts have
come alive. It’s an incredible opportunity. Like Esther they’re called for such
a time as this, like Joseph and Daniel this is where their ministry unfolds.
Other women are realizing their potential as they support others – their
bosses, their spouse, their friends, their teams. Its not a subjugation thing,
nor a lack of confidence. These women know who they are and where they are
called to be, and they thrive.
Perhaps on one level, our definition of leadership and
influence has been too narrow, too one dimensional. These stories are different
from the ones we often hear; maybe they seem a little ordinary. But in the
hands of an extraordinary God, these women do amazing things. Their stories in all their glorious diversity
should be told and heard, seen and valued. They help us see what we can be.
They must be invested in and equipped in order to realize their potential in
the place God’s already placed them.
Still there is another group of women, different ages,
life stages, colors and cultures. Same conversation.
“Where
are the women leaders?”
"I wish there were more out there…”
“I just wish there more coming through, but there don’t
seem to be any anywhere”
“What’s happening?”
Like their sisters they feel called to serve, but as
leaders within the church. To lead churches, to exegete the Scriptures, to lead
teams, to preach, to lead worship, to train leaders, to lead prayer movements,
to share strategic insights, to pioneer ministries, plant churches, to pursue
missional frontiers. Sometimes it’s like a quiet persistent hum in the
background, sometimes it’s like a raging fire in their bones. There’s a
conviction, a passion, a calling.
They’re just not sure what this calling looks like beyond their passions
and their dreams…
“Where
are the women leaders?”
They’re asking because they can’t be what they can’t see.
They’re asking because they need to see whom they could be. There’s been so much controversy, so much
debate, that at times its cut deep into their sense of identity and
relationship with God. They’ve
questioned repeatedly whether they are just too proud, just ambitious, not
feminine enough. They’ve prayed, wept and walked away, only to find that the
restless nagging sense of call won’t leave them alone. Oh, they’ve tried to not
be called, because that would be so much easier, far less costly. But they’ve flown away on the wings of the
morning, settled on the far side of the sea, dug themselves into the dark
shadows - and He was there. Loving, affirming, but still commissioning.
Calling. And when they’ve dared to
respond, dared to whisper yes… they felt alive.
Seeing
helps. Seeing the lives of the women of the Scriptures – Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Junia, Priscilla,
Lydia, Mary, Phoebe, Elizabeth. Hearing their names, understanding their lives
helps. Seeing Christian women through the ages helps. The martyrs of the early
churches like Perpetua and Felicity. Leaders
in the Celtic Church like Hilda of Whitby. The women through the ages Susanna
Wesley, Phoebe Palmer, Catherine Booth, Sojourner Truth, Mother Theresa, Jackie
Pullinger.
You cannot underestimate the
power of what you can’t see. What we see (or don’t see) speaks incredibly
loudly about what is possible. Seeing
inspires from afar, seeing ignites possibility.
But I believe that to equip and empower women who sense a call to
leadership they’ll need some things that are much, much closer.
They need leaders who can show them how to explore and
engage with their call to leadership. Leaders who will assure and reassure them
it’s OK to be called, that its more than OK and though it may be difficult at
times, it is possible. They need leaders who can show them through the
illustration of their lives, through their testimonies, and their presence out
there.
They need leaders who can tell them their stories, their
whole stories, their successes and failures, their devotional lives. They need
leaders who can open their time and hearts and help them understand what it
means for God to work on your character. Who can share their stories of stress,
suffering and struggle and also faith, hope and love.
They need to experience leaders who will train them. Who
will sharpen their skills, cultivate their gifts and give them regular tangible
opportunities, walking them through success but also failure. These women need
people who will apprentice them. They need leaders who are secure enough to
open doors for them to go through, willing to launch these women into a future
that might be even greater than their own…Now obviously male leaders can and
have trained female leaders.
My hope and prayer is that more would, because we
need to see healthy teams of men and women who’ve worked out before God how to
work alongside one another. We’ve got to commit to the vehicles that help that
process.
They also need to be in community. They need to have an
extended family. Because we’re not one dimensional beings whose lives have to
revolve around a job or a task. We are
also friends, sisters, daughters, mothers, aunties, wives. So we need people to
do life with, because when your immersed in a community, it’s easier to be
grounded. It’s easier to be normal and not take ourselves to seriously. It’s
easier to find support and encouragement to keep going. It’s easier to
cultivate relationships with people we can confide in or trust to ask the
difficult questions.
Can
a fresh generation of female leaders come through without it? Are they?
In truth they are – but it’s more difficult, it’s
lonelier, and women are not realizing their potential. That’s a challenging
enough thought in itself. But let’s think beyond these leaders and think of the
places where God’s sending them. Think about the communities and cities, the
people groups yet to be transformed by the love of Jesus Christ, yet to see the
Light of the Gospel. What potential lay
unrealized there because we’ve not raised up the next generation?
This is not a clarion call for every woman to be a
leader, though I hope that every Christian man and woman would have a vision
for being salt and light wherever they are, and leading someone to Christ. We've all been called to make disciples, all been called to play our role in
the Great Commission. But it is a call to those of us who do feel called to
leadership, who have wrestled and agonized, who have run away from God’s call
or toned things down to be more acceptable – to reengage with the call of God
on our lives.
What
do you need to see to be all that God’s called you to be?
Jo Saxton is a leader within 3DM, a movement training
churches and leaders to do discipleship and mission in an increasingly
post-Christian world. Originally from the United Kingdom, Saxton was college
pastor at St. Thomas Church, Sheffield, England, planting missional
congregations among college students and young adults. Since moving to the
United States eight years ago, she has served on church teams discipling young
leaders and planting missional communities in areas ranging from the suburbs to
the inner city.
She is also the author of "More than Enchanting"
(released Spring 2012), exploring the subject of women in leadership. She loves
running, good music, reading books, blogs and magazines and laughing loudly
with family and friends over a great meal. She is married to Chris, a pastor,
and they have two amazing daughters, Tia and Zoë. They live in Southern
California.
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