women in leadership - bible study

8/6/2019 Women in Leadership - Bible Study

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A Bible Study

Our continuing challenge is to honor Gods intention that women and men work together as

partners in ullling His will o bringing wholeness and healing to the world. This study is

meant to help you do that. Each o the seven Bible studies consists o a Scripture reading, a

short refection, a testimony, and questions that can be used in discussion or or written refec-

tion in a journal. The challenges o a lost, broken, and need-lled world cannot be met by onegender alone; it will take both women and men working side-by-side to ulll our calling as

servants o Jesus Christ.

Beautiful Fruit

Read

Jeremiah 29:11 and John 15:5

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ReflectThe Lord knows the plans He has or every individual (Jeremiah 29:11). Scripture shows us

time and time again that God chooses and appoints sometimes unlikely individualspeople

that a biased and broken world may not see as the best optionand equips them or the task

God has or them. John 15:16 says God appoints people to go and bear ruitruit that will

last. John 15:5 promises us that i we abide in Jesus, we too will bear ruit. Our sovereign

God chooses leaders with dierent strengths and capabilities and helps them to nurture their

gits or service to the kingdom.

God chose both men and women or leadership positions. Moses, Joshua, Deborah, and Esthe

are just a ew o the well known ones. God has invested extraordinary potential in men and

women. But in a allen world, there are sometimes extraordinary obstacles to realizing these

capabilities. What we are capable o and what the world encourages us to do may be two verydierent things. As we struggle to ulll our God-given potential and help others reach theirs,

we meet these obstacles head-on. Despite them, the potential always exists or extraordinary

service to a God who has told us o His great plans.

The making o a leader may seem slow and painul. There is probably no painless way to

create a servant with a strong character.

JouRnal oR discuss The Lord says: For surely I know the plans I have or you Sometimes we may eel

that God knows these plans, but the world doesnt seem to have heard about them yet.What are some obstacles in your lie and work as you strive to ollow God?

Name some o the obstacles you have seen others overcome as they are built into a

leader.

The verses rom John 15:4-5 are some o the most beautiul in the Bible. Remain in me

and I will remain in you says Jesus. I am the vine; you are the branches. How do

you abide in Jesus? How does being a branch attached to the Jesus vine impact your

workyour ruit?

Women may ace extra obstacles to ully engaging in the work to which they believe

God is calling them, because o societys expectations upon them. How can these poten-

tially lie-changing verses encourage and equip us to work with each other?


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I Will Follow

ReadRuth 1

ReflectWhen the Book o Ruth begins, no one would ever guess that this seemingly insignicant

woman would end up in the genealogy o Jesus as great grandmother to King David. Hers is a

story o obstacles overcome, o powerlessness turned into opportunity, and o personal loyalty

to a riend changing the course o history.

Crisis, survival, and sorrow transormed into aith, love, and hope are all hallmarks o this

beloved Bible account.

There are no great battleeld stories here; no shimmering angels. I anything, Ruths story is

testimony to Gods presence in the day-to-day details o living. The divine meets the ordinary

as two women struggle to survive in a society where that is very dicult to do without a hus-

band or a son by your side. And Naomi and Ruth have lost both sons and husbands.

Ruth is a oreign woman in a strange land. She had no standing in the society to which shepledged to ollow her mother-in-law, yet God used her. Her brave decision would eventually

lead down through the generations to another scene o the divine meeting the ordinary in a

barn in Bethlehem. Ruth and Naomi become decision-makers, and God honors their eorts.

A oreign woman trying to survive in a patriarchal society reminds us that the living God is a

God o both women and menboth created to refect Gods image.

JouRnal oR discuss In the spirit o much o the Old Testament, Naomi is a woman who is unaraid to share

her real eelings with God. In Ruth 1:20-21, she says, the Almighty has made my lievery bitter. I went away ull, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Being that hon-

est about ones eelings, even toward God, can be empowering. How has the decision to

speak up honestly, to God and others, impacted your own development as a person and

leader?

How can an honest evaluation o a dicult situation help women to make the decisions

they may need to make to overcome obstacles placed in ront o them?

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When Ruth makes the decision to ollow Naomi, twice Naomi tells her and Orpah to

turn back. What are some o the voices that tell women to turn back rom theirprogression as powerul decision-makers and leaders in their own lives?

Orpah did turn back. Ruth did not. Where did Ruth nd the courage to continue?

Ruth and Naomi acted together. Ruth pledged her support to Naomi, and Naomi

became a partner in the subsequent decision to engage with Boaz. In places where

women have little power, there is much to be gained by partnering together. How can

you encourage these partnerships o power in your work and your lie?

Justice

Read

Genesis 38

Reflect

Here we nd a story about a woman who, against all odds and using the resources available to

her, holds others accountable and obtains justice or hersel. Tamar is wie to Er and daughter-

in-law to Judah. She is widowed and then given to her brother-in-law, who does not meet his

obligations and then also dies. Judah promises her another husband, his remaining son, Shelah

But Tamar must wait or him to grow up.

Judah reneges on his promise, and Tamar is let to her own devices to secure her lie and

uture. She nds hersel living in her athers house, which is not much o a lie at all or a

widowed, childless woman in this patriarchal society. Tamar takes matters into her own hands

and this colorul Bible story gives us a glimpse into the lengths one woman went to in order to

exercise power over her own lie and move rom passive victim to powerul player.

That Judah holds tremendous power in this story is never questioned. He can pronounce the

sentence o death on a pregnant daughter-in-law living in her athers house. Tamars power

comes as surprise. She becomes an independent agent who secures a uture or hersel. Recog-

nizing the injustice done to herthat Judah has not kept his wordshe takes the initiative to

very cleverly right the wrong committed against her. Judah recognizes his own sin and gives

patriarchy a blow when he acknowledges Tamar as more in the right than himsel. Tamar

becomes a ounding mother o Israel. Her name is listed also in the genealogy o Jesus.

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JouRnal oR discuss Clearly there is a double standard at work in this story. Even today there are double

standards at play or men and women. Share some o the more obvious ones you have

experienced or witnessed, either in the workplace or in your community.

Does God have double standards?

How were the rules and assumptions o patriarchy challenged in this story?

Tamar recognized the wrong done to her and set out to right it, using whatever means

available. What wrongs have you experienced as a womanor witnessed happening to

a womansimply because o gender? How could they be set right?

Leader BornNation Saved

Read

Esther 2:5-17, 8:3-14

ReflectEsther is known as the book that doesnt mention God, but o course, God is ever-present,

transorming the lives o the woman Esther and the people o Israel. Esthers story shows

Gods love or his chosen people and Gods readiness to protect and set these people ree rom

their oppressors. Gods timing, combined with the courage o willing individuals who hap-

pened to be at the right place at the right time, can be the bridge o transormation or peoples

lives.

Esthers story is the story o a woman coming into her own. She nds her voice and her power

and identies the thing she believes God is calling her to do. At great potential riskher very

lieshe constructs a plan that will end up saving Gods chosen people. As her cousin Morde-

cai reminds her, she may be in that place at that time or just such a time as this.

Esther is an orphan who becomes a queen. She is a woman who is in the background o the

kings lie (ignored or one month beore her risky intrusion into his chambers) who takes cen-

ter stage on behal o her people. She becomes an advocate o her people, willing to speak out

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against injustice and thereby saving the lives o the Jewish men, women, girls, and boys. This

is a story o the transormation o a woman and the deliverance o a nationand how, with

Gods help, those two things can give birth to each other.

JouRnal oR discuss What leadership qualities does Esther exhibit in this story?

Mordecai is the lesser hero o this story, but serves an essential role as encourager to

Esther. He nudges her to step out in aith and into personal power. Who has been the Mordecai

in your lie?

How can you act as Mordecai in the lives o the women with whom you live and work?

Resurrection

Read

Galatians 3:26-29

ReflectWe are all called in Christ to a restored dignity. What the Fall took rom men and women, the per-

son, cross, and resurrection o Christ restores. This is a dignity that surpasses gender. There is now,

thereore, no longer Jew nor Greekmale nor emale.

This Scripture passage, regardless o our own churchs denominational leadership practices, mustimpact how we view men and women in relationship to each other and in relationship to our God.

Christ is the model or the renewed human existence. Christ changes everything. All o culture

and societys views o men and women must all under the new way o Christs kingdom.

The image that Paul draws on in this passage rom Galatians is that o baptism. New believ-

ers took o their old clothes beore entering the waters, and put on new clothing when they

emerged. This change o clothes became a rich symbol or how they had let their old lives

and were now new creations in Christ.

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Jesus Himsel said, So i the Son makes you ree, you will be ree indeed (John 8:36).

This new reedom o existence will extend to the whole range o our lives and our work: jus-

tice, peace, compassion, and service marked by sacricial love. We have received the command

to become like new. Jesus shows us what that looks like.

JouRnal oR discuss How is Gods way o relating to women and men dierent rom the way the society in

which you live in relates to women and men?

What old clothes are you still wearing rom beore you became a new creation in Christ?

How could the leadership models you see around you more accurately express the revo-

lutionary message o Galatians 3:26-29?

Lead On

Read

Romans 16:1-2

ReflectThe Apostle Paul recognized the leadership o women in a cultural and social context that

oered them ew opportunities. Phoebe was a Christian woman whose service and leadership

helped shape the early Christian community. Paul reers to her as a deacon, the same termhe uses or himsel and other male leaders elsewhere. He roots her in a specic congregation,

Cenchrea, making it even more likely that Phoebe was a leader o signicance there.

Paul sends her with a letter to the Romans, which goes on to specically name other women in

leadership. The names are part o the honor roll o women whose histories we will never ully

know, but who were shapers and builders o the early church: Priscilla (Romans 16:3), Mary

(Romans 16:6), and Junias (Romans 16:7), joining with their sisters in the Old Testament like

Miriam, Deborah, Abigail, Esther, and Ruth, to name only a ew.

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In this passage, Paul instructs the community to receive Phoebe and to help her in whatever way

she requires rom them. She was a woman who commanded respect, and Paul wanted to makesure she received it.

Thereore, or Paul, the leadership o Phoebe was worthy o recognition, admiration, and respect.

Phoebe was a woman on a mission. Her gender was not to be viewed as an obstacle in ullling it.

JouRnal oR discuss How oten in your church have you heard sermons or teaching about the many women

in Old and New Testament history?

Paul tells his co-believers to welcome Phoebe and help her in whatever way she may

require. How have you welcomed and helped the women leaders around you? How

have you personally been welcomed and helped by other believers?

Phoebe is described as a great help to many o many, including Paul. This term can

mean one who takes care o and gives aid to others, but also indicates a supervisor

unction. Phoebe was ree to use her gits in the church, and clearly many people ben-

eted, including Paul himsel. Imagine what the church and society would look like i

all its members were ree to use their gits or the benet o everyone. Identiy one per-

son in your lie whom you can help to be even reer to use his or her gits.

The Present Future

Read

Luke 1:26-56

ReflectJesus ushered in the kingdom o Goda worldview so radically dierent rom that o the pre-

vailing culture. His is an upside-down kingdom. It started out that way rom the very begin-

ning, with God choosing a humble virgin named Mary to help bring it orth. Jesus could have

entered history in a more spectacular way than being born to a poor, young Jewish peasant

girl living in an insignicant rst-century Roman province.

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Her response to the encounter with the angel Gabriel, however, convinces the reader that Mary is in-

deed the right woman. Her initial apprehension turns to humble acceptance o Gods avor. Unaraidto ask questions, even o an angel, Mary asks how it is that she will bear the Son o the Most High.

When she was told that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the power o the Most High

would overshadow her, Marys amazing response demonstrated why she had ound avor with

God: I am the Lords servant. May it be to me as you have said (Luke 1:38). Mary revealed

a simple and unqualied trust in the character and promises o God. She believed him.

God chose Mary to ulll his promise to the people o Israel, a promise that had rst been an-

nounced in the Garden o Eden ater humanitys all. Mary exhibited true servant leadership by

opening hersel to be used by God in this amazing way. As a result, this humble peasant girl has

been honored throughout history. She is an inspiration or all Christians as a symbol o aith.

JouRnal oR discuss Mary gains incredible strength by submitting to God. How have you experienced that in

your own lie?

Presumably Mary risked and withstood the potential scorn (or worse) o her community

and her anc by saying yes to Gods plan. How have you seen this kind o aith and

commitment lived out in your own lie or the lives o women leaders around you?

The Magnicat, Marys song o praise in Luke 1:46-56, speaks o a new order to thingsGod scatters the proud, brings down the powerul, and lls the hungry with good

things. How does the promise o all things made new, ound here and elsewhere in

Scripture, encourage you in your work and your relationships with the opposite gender?

(Tis resource is adapted from a resource developed by World Vision International. Contributors include JoyAlvarez, Nthuntsi Borotho, Joyce Jackson, Isdalia Ortega, Dennis Osorio, Fr. Mihai Pavel, Carmen Perez, JamesSarfo-Adu, and Manrhoateng Sibolla.)

Te Scripture in this resource is from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INERNAIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2011 World Vision, Inc., Mail Stop 321, P.O. Box 9716, Federal Way, WA 98063-9716,[email protected]. All rights reserved.


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About World VisionWoRld Vision is a Christian humanitarian organizationdedicated to working with children, amilies, and their communities

worldwide to reach their ull potential by tackling the causes o

poverty and injustice. Motivated by our aith in Jesus Christ, World

Vision serves alongside the poor and oppressed as a demonstration

o Gods unconditional love or all people. We envision a world in

which each child experiences ullness o lie as described in John

10:10, and we know this can be achieved only by addressing the

problems o poverty and injustice in a holistic way. Thats how World

Vision is unique. We bring more than 60 years o experience in three

key areas needed to help children and amilies thrive: emergencyrelie, long-term development, and advocacy. And we bring all o our

skills across many areas o expertise to each community we work

in, enabling us to care or childrens physical, social, emotional, and

spiritual well-being.

Partnering with World Vision provides tangible ways to honor God

and put aith into action. By working together, we can make a lasting

dierence in the lives o children and amilies who are struggling to

overcome poverty. To learn more about how you can help, visit

www.worldvision.org.

About World Vision Resourcesending global poVeRty and injustice begins with education:

understanding the magnitude and causes o poverty, its impact on

human dignity, and our connection to those in need around the

world.

World Vision Resources is the publishing ministry o World Vision,

which educates Christians about global poverty, inspires them to

respond, and equips them with innovative resources to make a

dierence in the world.

For more information, contact:

World Vision Resources

Mail Stop 321

P.O. Box 9716

Federal Way, WA 98063-9716

Fax: 253.815.3340

[email protected]

www.worldvisionresources.com

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