Well for starters...you're continually on public display. Is her hair right? Are her clothes right? Do her kids behave? Is she an amazing hostess? Does she handle everything with a calm grace? Does she always have a smile?
So many have an image of what a pastor's wife should look like...yet is that image correct in God's eyes? A pastor's wife is a human being just like everyone else.... She will not be the picture of perfection to anyone that expects her to be and she may not fill the role that people think she should.
In fact, this particular pastor's wife actually walks in a pastoral role as well... I'm not the behind the scenes kind of gal...never have been...never will be. Not because I like the limelight but rather because that is who God has made me....and I'm clear in who He has made me. No man or twisted theology can change that. I have never wanted to be that phony smile all the time kind of person. I wasn't like that before I met Jesus...and I won't be like that since I've met Him. I am who He created me to be. A very unique individual who is a defender, a nurturer, an administrator...and so much more. I will never fit in the little box people try to put me in...nor would I ever want to.
The John MacArthur story that recently came out telling Beth Moore to "go home," struck a chord with me. It truly reveals the heart of many...and gives great credence to how I've been feeling. It shows the battle that I think many women in ministry have to face on a continual basis. God did NOT solely give a man the right to minister... but said that His Sons and His daughters would. That sounds like a pretty level playing field to me...and yet people miss it. God used women all the time throughout history in roles that man thought they shouldn't be in.
In my life recently someone told me that it wasn't right that the pastor had to stay home and watch the kids after working all day so that I could go to a Bible study and get refreshed. That same person also believed that I shouldn't be referred to as pastor in the church even though I've been in public ministry for 27 years and served as senior pastor right alongside my husband for the past 7 years counseling, administrating in the church, shepherding, preaching, teaching, going to bat in prayer and on the front lines for congregant after congregant.... Apparently in that person's eyes... much like MacArthur... women are less than men and should sit like a dog in their place and only come out when requested. In fact I was recently told that maybe I should lower myself so that God could raise me up... ummm really? Yeah...no... God already has instilled in me who I am...the one with the problem is not me... it's the one who can't or refuses to accept that due to a limited view of who a woman should be and the role she should fill in life and ministry. So should I wait around for some man to give me his stamp of approval? No... my God already has.
The reality is... God has made each of us very unique... my husband has giftings that I don't have...He gets words of knowledge and has an amazing way of delivering the message every week to the congregation that God wants him to deliver...and I have giftings that he doesn't have...I have dreams that have always been spot on revealing things that will happen... I have God given discernment... God's made me a watchman... and I'm an effective administrator, and when my husband and I work as a team, we are an unstoppable force for the kingdom... so why wouldn't the enemy want to try to interfere with that right? Why wouldn't the enemy try to be critical of everything about a pastor's wife...to take out not only the woman of God...but the man of God in the process.
I encourage each pastor's wife whether you are a behind the scenes gal or an out on the firing lines kind of gal... keep on keeping on. God will send those who will support you and not be critical of every aspect of you. God will use you greatly for the kingdom and no man or principality in high places can stop what God has planned for your life.
So many have an image of what a pastor's wife should look like...yet is that image correct in God's eyes? A pastor's wife is a human being just like everyone else.... She will not be the picture of perfection to anyone that expects her to be and she may not fill the role that people think she should.
In fact, this particular pastor's wife actually walks in a pastoral role as well... I'm not the behind the scenes kind of gal...never have been...never will be. Not because I like the limelight but rather because that is who God has made me....and I'm clear in who He has made me. No man or twisted theology can change that. I have never wanted to be that phony smile all the time kind of person. I wasn't like that before I met Jesus...and I won't be like that since I've met Him. I am who He created me to be. A very unique individual who is a defender, a nurturer, an administrator...and so much more. I will never fit in the little box people try to put me in...nor would I ever want to.
The John MacArthur story that recently came out telling Beth Moore to "go home," struck a chord with me. It truly reveals the heart of many...and gives great credence to how I've been feeling. It shows the battle that I think many women in ministry have to face on a continual basis. God did NOT solely give a man the right to minister... but said that His Sons and His daughters would. That sounds like a pretty level playing field to me...and yet people miss it. God used women all the time throughout history in roles that man thought they shouldn't be in.
In my life recently someone told me that it wasn't right that the pastor had to stay home and watch the kids after working all day so that I could go to a Bible study and get refreshed. That same person also believed that I shouldn't be referred to as pastor in the church even though I've been in public ministry for 27 years and served as senior pastor right alongside my husband for the past 7 years counseling, administrating in the church, shepherding, preaching, teaching, going to bat in prayer and on the front lines for congregant after congregant.... Apparently in that person's eyes... much like MacArthur... women are less than men and should sit like a dog in their place and only come out when requested. In fact I was recently told that maybe I should lower myself so that God could raise me up... ummm really? Yeah...no... God already has instilled in me who I am...the one with the problem is not me... it's the one who can't or refuses to accept that due to a limited view of who a woman should be and the role she should fill in life and ministry. So should I wait around for some man to give me his stamp of approval? No... my God already has.
The reality is... God has made each of us very unique... my husband has giftings that I don't have...He gets words of knowledge and has an amazing way of delivering the message every week to the congregation that God wants him to deliver...and I have giftings that he doesn't have...I have dreams that have always been spot on revealing things that will happen... I have God given discernment... God's made me a watchman... and I'm an effective administrator, and when my husband and I work as a team, we are an unstoppable force for the kingdom... so why wouldn't the enemy want to try to interfere with that right? Why wouldn't the enemy try to be critical of everything about a pastor's wife...to take out not only the woman of God...but the man of God in the process.
I encourage each pastor's wife whether you are a behind the scenes gal or an out on the firing lines kind of gal... keep on keeping on. God will send those who will support you and not be critical of every aspect of you. God will use you greatly for the kingdom and no man or principality in high places can stop what God has planned for your life.
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