One
of my Facebook friends posted something like:
The other day, someone told me
that female preachers should preach like women and not like men. I asked him to unpack that statement. I’m still waiting.
I
can’t remember who posted that status, but I was moved to respond. So, here is my answer to the question
What
Does It Mean to Preach Like a Woman?
I
don’t know who said this you, but maybe I can unpack it for you.
Maybe
the brother who said this meant that you should preach like Miriam (Exodus 15)
who stood shoulder to shoulder with her little brothers Aaron and Moses,
leading the nation of Israel. Maybe he
meant preach like Judge Deborah (Judges 4) who inspired an army and mentored a
general, just like the male judges who led Israel.
Could
be that he meant preach like the Prophetess Huldah (2 Kings 22) to whom the
king sent priest, and scribe, and royal advisors to ask how they could revive
the nation according to the long lost Word of God.
Maybe
he meant that sisters should preach like Isaiah’s wife and partner in prophetic
ministry (Isaiah 8) whose children were a witness and testimony for the Lord
and to the nation.
Perhaps
he meant preach like Anna (Luke 2: 36-38), the senior citizen prophetess who
served full time in the temple and testified with her co-laborer Simeon of the infant
Messiah Jesus.
Maybe
he meant that women should preach like the 4 prophesying daughters of Deacon
Phillip the evangelist (Acts 21: 6, 7).
I’m sure the brother who said this DID NOT mean that women preachers should
preach like Noadiah (Nehemiah 6: 14) who along with several men sold out to the
enemy and tried to undermine Nehemiah’s mission to rebuild the walls of
Jerusalem.
I’m sure he didn’t mean preach like Miriam did when in a moment of
ego and bigotry, she and her other brother Aaron let their ambition override their
anointing and tried to usurp Moses’ place.
Like
genuinely called male preachers, genuinely called female preachers are
powerful, purposed, anointed and human. They
are as capable of greatness or of corruption as men.
No
more so. No less so.
Even
in the patriarchal ancient world, the Bible placed sisters in just about every ministry
that men held. The Bible records women preaching,
prophesying, leading, and ministering with equal power and with the full
support of the Holy Spirit.
Huldah’s
harsh condemnation of the king, priests, and culture is no more softly dressed than
Haggai’s indictment of the nation. Anna’s proclamation of Jesus is not described
as dainty or demure compared to Simeon’s testimony.
Women preached with power. Women
preached under their anointing. Women
preached what, when, and how God told them to. Women preached AND they had strong marriages
and families.
Maybe,
just maybe this is what the gentleman meant by “preach like a woman.”
Funny
thing is that it’s also exactly what it means to “preach like a man.”
---Anderson
T. Graves II is a writer, community organizer and
consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.
Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall
Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
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