Below is John Piper's list of "do's" found in his article A Challenge to Women. Naturally, his advice is not solely for women. However, many women often find themselves floundering about with a desire to minister to God's people but unsure of how to use their gifts and talents. At the end of his article, Piper includes a long list of ministry opportunities for women.
1 That all of your life—in whatever calling—be devoted to the glory of God.
2 That the promises of Christ be trusted so fully that peace and joy and strength fill your soul to overflowing.
3 That this fullness of God overflow in daily acts of love so that people might see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.
4 That you be women of the Book, who love and study and obey the Bible in every area of its teaching. That meditation on Biblical truth be the source of hope and faith. And that you continue to grow in understanding through all the chapters of your life, never thinking that study and growth are only for others.
5 That you be women of prayer, so that the Word of God would open to you; and the power of faith and holiness would descend upon you; and your spiritual influence would increase at home and at church and in the world.
6 That you be women who have a deep grasp of the sovereign grace of God undergirding all these spiritual processes, that you be deep thinkers about the doctrines of grace, and even deeper lovers and believers of these things.
7 That you be totally committed to ministry, whatever your specific role, that you not fritter your time away on soaps or ladies magazines or aimless hobbies, any more than men should fritter theirs away on excessive sports or aimless diddling in the garage. That you redeem the time for Christ and his Kingdom.
8 That, if you are single, you exploit your singleness to the full in devotion to Christ and not be paralyzed by the desire to be married.
9 That, if you are married, you creatively and intelligently and sincerely support the leadership of your husband as deeply as obedience to Christ will allow; that you encourage him in his God-appointed role as head; that you influence him spiritually primarily through your fearless tranquility and holiness and prayer.
10 That, if you have children, you accept responsibility with your husband (or alone if necessary) to raise up children who hope in the triumph of God, sharing with him the teaching and discipline of the children, and giving to the children that special nurturing touch and care that you are uniquely fitted to give.
11 That you not assume that secular employment is a greater challenge or a better use of your life than the countless opportunities of service and witness in the home the neighborhood, the community, the church, and the world. That you not only pose the question: Career vs. full time mom? But that you ask as seriously: Full time career vs. freedom for ministry? That you ask: Which would be greater for the Kingdom— to be in the employ of someone telling you what to do to make his business prosper, or to be God's free agent dreaming your own dream about how your time and your home and your creativity could make God's business prosper? And that in all this you make your choices not on the basis of secular trends or yuppie lifestyle expectations, but on the basis of what will strengthen the family and advance the cause of Christ.
12 That you step back and (with your husband, if you are married) plan the various forms of your life's ministry in chapters. Chapters are divided by various things—age, strength, singleness, marriage, employment choices, children at home, children in college, grandchildren, retirement, etc. No chapter has all the joys. Finite life is a series of tradeoffs. Finding God's will, and living for the glory of Christ to the full in every chapter is what makes it a success, not whether it reads like somebody else's chapter or whether it has in it what chapter five will have.
13 That you develop a wartime mentality and lifestyle; that you never forget that life is short, that billions of people hang in the balance of heaven and hell every day, that the love of money is spiritual suicide, that the goals of upward mobility (nicer clothes, cars, houses, vacations, food, hobbies) are a poor and dangerous substitute for the goals of living for Christ with all your might, and maximizing your joy in ministry to people's needs.
14 That in all your relationships with men you seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in applying the Biblical vision of manhood and womanhood; that you develop a style and demeanor that does justice to the unique role God has given to man to feel responsible for gracious leadership in relation to women—a leadership which involves elements of protection and care and initiative. That you think creatively and with cultural sensitivity (just as he must do) in shaping the style and setting the tone of your interaction with men.
15 That you see Biblical guidelines for what is appropriate and inappropriate for men and women in relation to each other not as arbitrary constraints on freedom but as wise and gracious prescriptions for how to discover the true freedom of God's ideal of complementarity. That you not measure your potential by the few roles withheld but by the countless roles offered. That you turn off the TV and Radio and think about...
The awesome significance of motherhood
Complementing a man's life as his wife
5 comments:
Wow, some great stuff there...
It all sounds good to me.
Arrrh John Piper sunshine for the soul (in small doses).
I really enjoy Piper's points, as usual... however, I would be a little wary of hints of the false dichotomy of vocation vs. ministry. It smacks of the false secular separation between secular and sacred, that vocational ministry is somehow more God-glorifying than working outside of the church, developing a biblical and Christ-centered worldview in their area of giftedness that God has given. If the Lord has gifted a person to work in the business world, medical field, or food service industry for the glory of God, that is his/her calling and their "ministry" and how the Lord is choosing to glorify Himself and work out His divine will through that person. That calling may shift and evolve throughout that person's life, but the bottom line is the same: doing all things for the glory of God.
Nancy Pearcey is a lot more articulate about this in her book Total Truth, but I thought I may point it out for discussion. I'm not necessarily saying that Piper is deliberately making the separation, but that was a red flag that came up in my mind as I read this article.
Sure, Donna. I think Piper would agree that in whichever vocation you find yourself, do it whole-heartedly for the Lord. While others tend to ignore or de-emphasize the importance of the ministry within the home, Piper brings it into the light. Ministering to your husband and children is just as important (perhaps more so than) as the woman you're counselling at church or the patient you stitching up at the hospital.
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