American Popular Evangelical Women’s Ministry: Is it Failing Christian Women?

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Have you ever thought about the Popular Evangelical Women’s Ministry in America today? Do you read the popular books by popular teachers, attend the popular “bible” studies, and popular sold out conferences? Do you ever wonder if they are producing the maturity they claim to encourage? Or maybe you have spent hours and hours reading and spending money attending conferences and feel no more mature in your Christian walk then you did 5, 10, or even 20 years ago? Or maybe you’re a discerning woman who understands that there is something wrong but can’t put your finger on it or articulate the possible reasons why there seems to be a problem. I’m no expert, but as one who was immersed in it and has, by the grace of God, climbed out of it I can at least tell you what I see. Please… feel free to disagree, but I think it’s time we start talking about it.

The way I think is best to go about this is to see what Scripture says about women’s role in the fellowship of the Church and what God has called women to do. From there we can look at the popular women’s ministry as a whole and ask if the tools, books, conferences, etc. that are provided actually produce the same results. So the questions we should ask are:

• What does Scripture say the goal of Women in ministry is?
• What is said or encouraged to women in American Evangelical Women’s Ministry today? Specifically, as a Christian woman, what is the focus in these books and conferences? We can look at the purpose of popular books, and sold out conferences to see why they are produced. This will tell us where they see a need. Their books or discussion topics are given to supply the solution to that need. This will be their purpose.
• Are the results produced by America’s Popular Evangelical Women’s Ministry the same results that we see in Scripture?
• If they are not, what is lacking in Women’s Ministry today?

By looking at a woman’s role in Scripture we can see God’s goal.

First I want to clarify a word I’m going to be using here: that is the word “Church”. I will use it in two ways. 1) as the institution: the building and the offices that are involved therein. So when I say the women’s role in the “office” of church you will know I mean the building. 2) the church as they called out ones, the whole or Church “Catholic”. I will be looking at both.

So let’s look at what Scripture says the goal of a woman’s life should be in the “catholic” or whole of the Church. 

The Scripture is inspired by God to teach, rebuke, correct and train us in righteousness so we are thoroughly equipped for every good work. It’s goal is that our love abound more and more in knowledge and discernment (Phil.1:9-10), pointing us to Christ so that, by the Holy Spirit we will accomplish the good works God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph.2:10). 

In Genesis we see that God made Woman for Man to be his helper (Gen.2:18). In Proverbs the wise woman of God works for her husband and her children. Everything she does revolves around and is entirely for those in her household (Prov. 31). As with the rest of the Church catholic, she trusts God’s Word, the Scriptures. She is a child of Sarah trusting God’s promises found in Scripture and fearing nothing, calling her husband Lord, doing what is right and is not given into fear (1Pet.3:6). In fact this is not done on her own but through the careful study of Christ and His work found in Scripture. She holds to the more sure Word regardless of any experience she may have (2Pet.1:19). Her goal is to love her children and her husband, be pure and self-controlled, working from home, kind, and submissive to husbands because she knows this is how God’s Word is honored and not reviled (Ephs.5;22-24;Tit.2:4-5; Col.3:18; 1Tim.2:9-10). The woman who continues in faith, love and holiness, will be saved in childbearing (1Tim.2:15). This means that through Christ and His work she can be brought safely through all the hardships of the curse involved in child rearing. Motherhood will look more like God intended; the bringing up of children to know and love God. She desires to be gentle and quiet in spirit because it pleases God (1Pet.3:3-4; 1Tim.2:9-10, 3:11; Prov.21:9,19). So as you can see Scripture has a lot to say about the role of women in the Church “catholic”. This is what the righteousness of a woman looks like. And at the very foundation of this righteousness is Christ. Because the righteous woman knows her righteousness is filthy, but it is Christ’s that makes her righteousness perfect. And so the Holy Spirit works in her because of Christ.

Now what about her role in the congregation of the institution of the Church. Scripture is clear about this as well even though we have only a couple verses in regards to this. First we can look at what she cannot do: and that is found in 1Timothy 2:11-15, and 1Corinthians14;34-35. Paul says that because of creation women are not to have authority over men but are to submit to husbands as the Law says. Real quick, you should notice that the reasons Paul gives for our submission is found in Creation and in God’s Law, not because of any cultural, or philosophical reason. Both Creation and the Law are under God’s hand, they are in His purpose and plan, not man’s. Both Creation and the Law are unmovable. So regardless of changes in culture and what man says through philosophy about the roles of men and women, God decided to institute the roles of man and women in Creation, and the Law so they will never change.

“This is the biblical purpose of Women’s Ministry, to encourage the younger women not to revile God’s Word and be Titus 2 women.“

In Titus 2:3-5 we can see what a woman’s role in the institution of the Church is. It is to teach the younger women what is good, all the roles taught to all women in the Church “catholic”. In Titus 2:5 we see that this “teaching what is good” encourages the younger women to love children and husbands, be pure, self-controlled, workers from home, kind and submissive to husbands. When they are taught what is good and encouraged to do these things they honor God’s Word. This encouragement is the result of teaching what is good. It is what God wants women in the institution of the Church to train other women up into. This is the biblical purpose of Women’s Ministry, to encourage the younger women not to revile God’s Word and be Titus 2 women. So when we get into the purpose and results of our Popular Women’s Ministry today, will it match up? Are these female teachers teaching what is good, resulting in encouragement towards being a Titus 2 woman?

Back in my 20’s my husband I attended a small baptist church steeped in purpose-driven theology. We were heavily involved in ministry there. Every season I attended women’s small group study, the women’s retreat, the women’s conferences. We were determined not to be seat warmers. I would be lying to you if I said my pride didn’t get involved. It was almost Pharisaical like being in the 10% of the church that actually followed the push that told you to accomplish your purpose.

Almost 15 years later and women’s ministry has become a national thing. Female leaders such as Beth Moore, Prisilla Shirer, Jeannie Allen, Lysa Turkeurst, Christine Cain and many more, all produce studies and books that are used all across the world. The average individual books are around $20, the study guide is around $8, DVD’s for group study are around $30. Tickets to attend a conference can range around $90, and add your hotel stay if you’re traveling. Prices add up as you are involved in the world of the Evangelical Women’s Ministry. Do women get their money’s worth?

“How to discern God’s voice and experience God, how to chase after that God-sized dream, and how to conquer any obstacles that may get in the way of that experience, dream or your obedience. This is the purpose of most Evangelical Women’s Ministry today.” 

The constant teaching is a steady stream of learning to hear God’s voice (apart from Scripture) so we can receive revelation from Him about our calling in life. The individual books, and conferences are to give you how-to’s in overcoming obstacles that get in the way of this calling. The calling is always the bigger purpose in your life, something special God has only for you. Others are self-help oriented to motivate you to, as some teachers would say: experience God and radically obey. Look through a Christianbook Store catalog and you can fit most studies and books for women under these three topics: How to discern God’s voice and experience God, how to chase after that God-sized dream, and how to conquer any obstacles that may get in the way of that experience, dream or your obedience. This is the purpose of most Evangelical Women’s Ministry today.  “How to discern God’s voice and experience God, how to chase after that God-sized dream, and how to conquer any obstacles that may get in the way of that experience, dream or your obedience. This is the purpose of most Evangelical Women’s Ministry today.

Don’t get me wrong, ministry in the church institution is needed and good, but it’s for the OLDER woman who have served her home, children and husbands. Their children are grown up and now she can teach and encourage the younger to love her children and submit to husbands. This is SO very different from what is being encouraged through these popular female teachers, so of course the result is going to be so much different. And because of this difference it is lacking in producing women who love children, submit to husbands, are pure and kind, and whose main focus is the home. And because of this it is failing our Christian sisters today.

“5 reasons that the Popular American Evangelicalism Women’s Ministry has been failing…”

Now, I am merely an observer, so you can take my observations and scrap them if you see fit. But through my observations I believe that there are 5 reasons that the Popular American Evangelicalism Women’s Ministry has been failing and not producing spiritually strong Christian women in the Church, women who are without fear and are strong in the Titus 2 results that are  brought about by teaching what is good.

#1 Feminism

Feminism has affected these women. The feminist ideal of women working outside of the home now has been “redeemed” by claiming that God has something better for them outside of the home. I call it Christian Feminism. It’s all ok, cause God told you, and cause God needs you to advance the Kingdom through any means necessary as long as it’s apart from the home. 

The home is not a place of serving and evangelism. Those things happen either in the church building or ministry within the institution of the church. How do I know this? Cause I fell for it. In the end it pointed me toward a “higher calling” within the institution and away from the purpose of the home in the church “catholic”. 

#2 Insufficiency of Scripture

I believe this next failure is the result of the Christian Feminism that is hidden in plain sight in the teachings of most Women’s Ministry. To urge women on to ministry apart from the home something apart from Scripture must convince women to head in this direction. This is where the “discerning God’s voice” doctrine comes in handy. It’s easy to justify a God-sized dream from supposed inner directions and heart nudges that come from God. But if Scripture was our only guide for life, godliness, and good works then it’s not easily justified. Instead Scripture does the opposite, it points you away from yourself and your heart nudges and clearly defines how a woman should live in God’s Kingdom. 

The lack of the Sufficiency of Scripture is the driving force behind all the books and conferences themselves. If Scripture is enough, and Christian women knew that, these Female writers and teachers couldn’t sell a thing. But because American Evangelicalism today doesn’t believe that Scripture is enough to teach, rebuke, correct, and train us in righteousness so we can be THOROUGHLY equipped for EVERY good work (2Tim.3:16-17), we need their books and teachings to instruct us how to be good Christian women. 

#3 Failure to call out sin.

Women are relational beings who pride themselves and judge themselves by their relationships. So we tend to be cautious about what we say and how we say it, and this affects the teachings we hear. We don’t like when we are told that we are wrong, and we don’t like to tell other people they are wrong. We fight for peace and unity, and yes, most of the time it’s done at the expense of truth unfortunately. And this is a big issue. Sin is not identified as sin and therefore it is merely written off as a mistake, or mess-ups. Things like restlessness, and discontentment, worry and anxiety, are tossed around as obstacles to work through, but never looked at deeply enough to point out sin. Desires of restlessness and discontent may come from a heart that covet something other than what God has given, worry and anxiety may be a result of lack of faith in God and His Sovereignty. 

#4 Christ and His Gospel are in the past.

This failure results from failure #3. If sin is not called out, then Christ and His Gospel are not proclaimed for those sins. The Gospel was to get us in the door, and that’s the past. Now, because sins are merely “obstacles” these teachers can write books and hold conferences giving you disciplines and rules on how to overcome them. These women have gone through just what you are going through, so believe them…they know the rules and the disciplines that get you through it. And guess what? These rules and disciplines are found in Scripture. I’m being sarcastic here, but do you see where I’m going? They teach law. Their rules and regulations, but it’s law alright. And if they do get to Law found in Scripture it’s Law-lite, meaning that you can totally accomplish it if you only surrender. Don’t worry too much about being perfect, God doesn’t expect perfection, He only wants your surrender.( wink, wink)

This is not Scriptural at all. Scripture tells us that God does want perfect obedience. The law was given to show us our sin and how we do not meet that perfection, therefore causing us to cry out for a savior (Rom. 7:7-25; Gal.3:19). They search the Scriptures thinking they can find “life” and right living (John 5:39) and teach others to do the same. All the while they miss that the Scriptures testify about Christ and what He has done and because of that they see no need to proclaim Him. 

#5 Emotional Pragmatism

And finally: the failure to depend on the Holy Spirit to teach us through the Scriptures how to grow spiritually. This comes from a pragmatic view of Church growth and it is prevalent in American Evangelicalism today. In the Women’s Ministry it is expressed in emotionalism. Emotions are stirred to encourage women to obey those rules and directions they sell you. Stories are told to bring laughter, tears, and sometimes indignation, all to get your heart moved to do. And it sells well. 

Oh, yes, the Holy Spirit can be talked about to give you what you need to succeed in your God given purpose, but any talk of Him pointing to Scripture and what it says on how to grow the individual and the Kingdom is missing. If they believed that the Holy Spirit worked through the Written Word, they would teach it. Instead they do a lot of talking about themselves, their lives, and their encounters. They truly believe the Holy Spirit uses their encounters to help other women grow. But Scripture tells us that no encounter, whether ours or someone else’s, will convince us of the Kingdom of God (Luke 16:19-31), nor will it cause us to grow in Christ. The Holy Spirit uses Scripture to make us more like Christ, whom they testify of. Stories can entertain, and can also encourage, but they don’t revive the soul, make wise the simple, rejoice the heart, enlighten the eyes, declare our hidden faults (Ps.19), keep us from shame, and our ways pure, they are our counselors, and so much more (Ps.119)! 

I have a hypothesis on why this is: the move from evangelism by objective testimonies of Christ and His sacrifice on the Cross for our sins to evangelism by subjective testimonies of how Christ has changed our lives and behaviors. There is so much I could go into on this subject, but for this discussion I want to look at how evangelizing now is giving our subjective personal stories. The underlying assumption of telling testimonies like these is that they will stir one’s emotions up to motivate them to turn to Christ. A “see what Jesus has given/ changed in me, you can have it too” kind of evangelism. While these stories are wonderful, (I love hearing how Christ has worked in people’s lives) the Gospel is a proclamation that happened in history. What Christ did on the Cross for our sins can be applied to anyone. How Christ has changed my life will be different to how He might work in you. But the Gospel works the same in ALL His sheep. It cleanses us from our sins, gives us His righteousness, sanctifies us, and will one day bring us glorification, all through faith in it. So how do I believe this has brought emotionalism into the Church? Well.. if we have a good enough testimony to emotionally drive someone to go to Christ for a better life, then we must keep them emotionally driven to obey.

In conclusion, I’m sure that many will say how nit-picky I am to say that Popular Evangelical Women’s Ministry is failing Christian women. It’s done a lot of good for so many women. That’s understandable. But I can’t help but wonder what do they mean by “good”? Do they mean their standard of good? If it encourages women to do good works for the church institution, bring them into service and ministry focused more outside of the home, some people may say that is good. They would claim it is advancing the Kingdom. Please know that I’m not saying this is bad, I’m only pointing out that God has told us in His word what the good works of a woman look like. They are focused on our children, our husbands, our purity and self-control, and the home. This is how God’s Word is not reviled. And I truly, truly, believe these good works also advance the Kingdom, not only advance it, but reveal it, expose it, and magnify it in our homes.

I hope this makes us think a little more about what is being said and done in the Popular Evangelical Women’s Ministry of today. I hope it brings on discussions; whether you agree or not, if there is need for reform and change, etc. All those who are in Christ long to see the Kingdom of God grow. And despite these failings in Women’s Ministry, God will cause the growth of His women and His Church. And we praise Him for it.

-MelbaToast