The preaching at the conference was very good - encouragement from God's word to trust that all things are in God's hands; we should be patient until the end and pray with confidence to the God that has redeemed us.One thing I've been thinking about with regard to women preaching is what we should expect from a woman in comparison to a man. A couple of friends have commented on women preaching often being weak/wussy and so being not nearly as effective as some male preachers. I think women preachers are often much more aware (and perhaps too aware) of sensitive women in their audiences, or are perhaps quite sensitive themselves. I also think women have a natural tendency to say things gently - which is usually a wonderful quality to have.
I just wonder how much, if any, of these sorts of things should be brushed aside when preaching. I do think women can and should say 'the hard things' and be able to present the Bible as it is without unnecessary disclaimers, but maybe it's not happening enough? How should a sermon from a woman compare to one from a man? Is there/should there be much difference at all?
Any opinions, let me know!
5 comments:
I'm so glad you were encouraged by it and at the same time kinda jealous that you get to go to that kind of thing!
whoah, are you inviting opinions or what!!!! Well....here's mine! I'm going to need patience if i sound sexist or anything!!
Women and men SHOULD preach differently because:
Its easy to forgive a man for being insensitive....I assume that women preachers have thought about how everyone feels, what they need and is sensitive and empathetic to everyones feelings....if they then hurt me by blasting me insensitively it hurts so much more. Men, hey, nuff said?
Quiet is powerful....i've always found the change in tone refreshing, my ears prick up. Because the preachers a woman, and i know she knows how i feel, I pay special attention and I listen to her on things i find harder to listen to men (unless i know the man is thoughtful and sensitive).
Women arent men, and shouldnt pretend to be. Women speakers arent trying to do a "mans job"..they're using the gifts God has given them in a feminine way to (i believe) teach women and children.
That said, self-depricating, mousy, apologetic preaching from women isn't at all cool. We have faith, brains, conviction and confidence in God's word.
There ya go...longest blog comment from me ever!!! luv u
Maybe we need to be prepared to listen differently to women preaching?
I guess that I would say it's not generally wussyness or sensitivity that's been the problem with women's preaching that I've heard (in fact, some of the most powerful preaching I've heard has been from very quiet and gentle women) The problem is maybe more a slight shallowness or superficiality. I don't mean that it's Barbie preaching... but rather that there's a lack of deep content because there's so much sensitivity, self-consciousness and fluff. There can be so much niceness, you don't end up saying much!
I guess I totally agree with Nikki that women's preaching shouldn't necessarily be the same as mens but I'd want to stress that both should be powerful.
I agree that women should be women when they preach. Interestingly, there has been some discussion lately in my (non-christian) workplace about women leaders and male leadership qualities often being unsightly in women leaders. I think this is possibly a similar principle - women should be women whether preaching or leading or whatever.
As someone who usually avoids women preachers wherever possible, I was wondering about the importance of women preaching? Don't get me wrong, I agree they can preach (to women), and the content can be very good and benificial to the preacher and listeners, but I'm not sure that it is necessarily the best way for women to minister to other women? Maybe the relational/sensitive advantages women have (not displayed in my post) are best used in other ways?
Just a thought... Please don't kill me ;P
Glad to hear you think men and women SHOULD preach differently, Nikki. Some helpful reflections there! And I agree that women listening to women preaching probably means we pay more attention- there's a sense of camaraderie or something. I think I often find the way a woman's sermon is expressed is in a way that I really 'get', and the application is often so right for me (if that makes sense!).
Bron, I wonder if alot of the problem with women preachers is lack of practice? -even women who have done it for years don't really preach much during the years in comparison to a man.
Women should definitely be able to preach God's word with power... let's pray our generation really rises to the challenge and leaves some good role models for the future.
Fiona - nice to hear from you! (Hi!) I reckon preaching is such an effective way to reach and teach a large group of people that if women can do it well, then they definitely should. So much is achieved at EQUIP and 'katoomba women's convention' (or something like that) where women are preaching. Our relational abilities also mean we are often really well suited to more on the ground stuff, but I don't think that this means preaching doesn't need to happen.
BTW, I'm not all offended by your comment :) - it's always a good thing to question why we do things.
Here's my two bob's worth:
1) I tend to agree with you Fiona. I usually find men's preaching better than women's. But Katie could be right that it's just lack of practice. In any case, I know there's a number of women who get a lot from women's preaching - and that's reason enough for it to continue.
2) I think you can preach powerfully and even bluntly and still be gentle. I think Nikki you do this (well in conversation, I haven't heard you preach!) and I suspect I might too (?). I don't quite understand how it works though. Maybe it's just that gentleness permeates everything, even if you're the sort of person who says full-on stuff.
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