September 12, 2023

Today I want to discuss something that sort of drives me crazy. Just a bit. And that is the commercialization of women's ministry in the world today. Just look around. The term "women's ministry" has become synonymous with "commodity". We all know that true women's ministry isn't that at all. We know women's ministry is women ministering. It involves bearing all that fruit of the Spirit, which is Christian living at its finest. But what is done in the name of women's ministry, now that's another story. I feel all this commercialization of ministry is becoming a real detriment to the women in our churches.

I talk about this in one of the chapters of my "Women's Ministry Insights" book.

INSIGHT #21. There are drawbacks to making women's ministry a commodity. I have learned that I have to be careful not to be drawn into the commercialization of women's ministry today.

Anyway, I talk about that a little in that book, but it's just one of those topics that I don't feel gets discussed enough, so here I am sitting at my desk writing more about it. I guess I'm hoping someone will at least listen to me or maybe stop and think about this topic for more than a minute.

So, let's get into it. Part of the reason I don't like all the commercialization of women's ministry is that I feel like when we buy all those Bible studies, video teaching material, and all those other things that are bundled up in boxes, bags, and pdfs, is that we don't allow for the women within our own local churches to really develop their spiritual gifts of teaching, hospitality, and other things. We can easily douse the working of the Holy Spirit in someone's life when we stamp out any hope of them to ever use their gift in their local church.

Think about it for a minute. Put yourself in the position of a woman in your church that maybe has the gift of teaching. She may have not even shared that teaching is her gift with anyone. She may just be waiting for an opportunity to use that gift in her church. Yet here she comes to the various Sunday School classes and women's ministry Bible studies and all she finds is a group using packaged up material and maybe even groups of women watching video Bible studies. She sees on the screen a woman teaching, who is maybe popular in the Christian world, but not even a part of the local church that woman attends.

How do you think that woman deals with her gift of teaching? She knows she will never be able to use it in her local church. She may think it's not fair. She may have doubts as to whether her gift is God-given. She may get depressed about not being able to teach and use her gift with the women in her own body of believers.

As a women's leader, have you really ever thought about those women that have the gift of teaching in your local church, but has nowhere to share it because women's ministry teaching has become a commodity? I just think it's sad.

I'm so grateful for the places I had to share when I was younger. I was able to fill in for absent Sunday School teachers, took on some Sunday School classes on my own, spoke at showers, Vacation Bible School classes, shared devotionals at women's monthly meetings, and anywhere they needed a lesson for children or ladies. Those opportunities within my local churches helped build my courage. They helped build my confidence. They helped me share my gift. I just feel like as a whole we keep those with that beautiful gift of teaching in a box because we use so many of the women's ministry products that are out there.

I understand that a facilitator or one that just runs and guides a Bible study that is using packaged Bible studies or Bible study videos is also using their organizational talents and gifts, but it just makes me wonder if we now have more facilitators than we do teachers among the women of our churches. And no, I haven't done any research on the actual numbers in our churches, but with the amount of women's ministry Bible studies sold, I can just guess.

Recently I saw an advertisement for a church online somewhere that was advertising "facilitator" classes to lead Bible studies. I just sat here with my mouth open. I was like, what? I felt this awful sinking feeling come over me. Why aren't they teaching others to dig into their Bibles and how to teach what they have learned? I just don't get it.

Don't we want the women in our local churches to delve into their Bibles and study those topics, Bible characters, and all those amazing passages of Scripture and share them with other women in their own churches? Sharing what we have learned from studying the Bible ourselves and the lessons we learn individually is so powerful!

And it's not just the gift of teaching that I think gets stifled with so much commercialization of women's ministry and the products that come from it. I feel other gifts and talents that God gives women are suffocated as well. Some of those other gifts, talents, and skills are pretty much put in a box because of the use of so much boxed materials. I guess that's kind of ironic.

I just hope we can get back to encouraging the talents, skills, and gifts of the women in our local churches. One of the best things about women's ministry I have found is the varied skills and talents that come with our women. They are all unique and have so many ways of giving and sharing through our women's ministry programs. And with that sharing comes the sharing of those women's stories. And hearing the stories of how the Lord has worked in someone else's life can be so motivating and encouraging. We must make opportunities for our women to share their stories more. It's one of those ways of "teaching other women". The sharing of our stories can be a powerful teaching tool with no books, videos, or materials required.

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; (KJV)

Thanks for listening to another one of my rants about that where has all the teaching gone? that I like to mull over with you. I think some of us work so hard not to let commercialism win in other parts of our lives. We see this at Christmas. None of us want to let the commercialization of the season affect us as Christians. We want to keep focused on the birth of Jesus at Christmastime. But we must look at how much commercialism is taking over our churches every day, especially where women's ministry is concerned.

My prayer is that we will begin to see the need to encourage all those wonderful gifts in the women that God gives us to work with in our local churches.

Copyright ©2023 Julia Bettencourt

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