I have been struggling with how to write this blog for a while now.  I want you to know that I have nothing against women in leadership, women pastor’s and women teaching men.  However, I do have something against some of the attitudes our women leaders have.  As I have studied the bible and looked at women leaders there, they never demanded followers.  They did not expect respect as a leader because they were a woman.  They just did what God asked them to do and people took notice.  Deborah was not up in leadership because she was a woman but because she was just and righteous.  God put her in position, she did not put herself there.  She was strong, courageous and bold but knew who was really in control.

Men could not demand to be a leader either.  No one will willingly follow someone just because they say they are a leader.  They must display leadership, show respect to everyone and be just.  I know many wonderful women who are teaching classes, preaching sermons and serving in the ministry.  Those women are not talking about their right to be a leader, they are just leading and people take notice.

The women’s movement in America is creeping into the church.  Who of us has any right to lead or be in control?  What rights does Christ say that we have?  Our command is to follow Him, serve Him and obey what he calls us to do.  He will do the rest.  If you, as a woman, are called by God to lead (just as any man called by God to lead), you must still take up your cross daily and follow Him.  People will notice your God given abilities, you do not need to point them out.  Leaders that demand a following are missing the point.  We are called to lead people to follow Christ, not ourselves.

It is hard to follow someone who is tooting their own horn, someone who says I need to follow them because of their gender, whether male or female, or someone who demands my respect instead of earning it.  Please, follow that path that God has laid before you but do it in a way that leads people to Christ.  It will help all of us see each other’s strengths and come along side each other to reach the world for Christ.

I also realize that some women’s “demand” for leadership is a way for them to hide the insecurity they feel in being qualified to do what God has called them to do.  If this is the case for you, remember whose you are!  God never asked us to do anything by ourselves.  We have the all powerful, all knowing God with us and in us.  He can do more than we can imagine through us if we allow it to flow.  Don’t force it but let God use the abilities, personalities and experiences of your life to bring more people to Him.  He is more than enough.

I have heard so many sermons about choosing the right path, leading others to the right path, how to get back on the right path but this week during prayer at a church we were visiting I distinctly heard God ask me another question I had not thought about before.
“Are you willing to walk with someone on their path to Me instead of just showing them the path to Me?”

I have learned a lot about evangelism and have talked with people about my faith and how they can take steps to be closer to God, but I haven’t really been willing to get down in the mud with those who are on the wrong path and walk with them until they find the path to God.  I am still processing what God has planned for me in this, but I do know that I have to take another look at what I am willing to do to reach people who are lost.

Paul states it well in I Corinthians 9:19-23

“19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”

It is never easy to walk with someone through their struggles, but the reward is so great when I can see the miracle God does in a life.  Instead of looking down on the alcoholic, the stripper, the homeless, the unlovely, I want to be able to come along side them, love them and share with them what God can do; THEN take it one step further and walk with them as they discover that.  I do not believe God wants me to just be the one willing to tell them (which I need to do), but to be a guide and a friend along the journey, however long that journey is.

I want to be willing to be the “slave” to the weak, the oppressed and the outcasts in our society.  Who else will?

By creating lifelong friendships,

knowing my identity in Christ,

and shattering expectations