I was in my late 20s when a pastor in my local church called and asked if I would teach a Wednesday night class. I was terrified. But I said yes because he told me he thought I could do it, and he said he would help.
We met at McDonald’s, and he walked me through his plan for the class. He told me to teach as long as I wanted, and then he would wrap up the class when I finished. So I studied and prepared all week long. I wrote out my lesson. When that Wednesday night arrived, I was nervous. I took my prepared lesson, taught for five minutes, and sat down. The pastor must have been a bit shocked and even ill-prepared to carry the last 45 minutes, but he never made me feel bad or even hinted that my five minutes wasn’t the contribution he was looking for.
Despite how little I brought to the table, this pastor allowed me to continue teaching. My five-minute offering grew, and, eventually, I was invited to teach some Sunday school classes and weekly Bible studies. The first women’s retreats I spoke at were born out of these opportunities. As women moved away, they began to call and ask if I would come teach at their new churches’ women’s retreats.
When I look back, I see two elements that helped me discern areas of gifting and grow in my ability to use those gifts. First, it took an invitation from someone significantly more experienced in ministry—my pastor. Second, he offered encouragement and real help.
We Need Help Discerning Our Gifts
God is on an epic, global, eternal mission to seek and save the lost. He’s forming a people for himself, and he uses his people to accomplish this grand mission. He uses the old and the young, the rich and the poor, people from every nation and language—and he uses both men and women.
When we look back to Eden, we see God had created a world that was very good. But there was one thing in Eden that wasn’t good. It was “not good that the man should be alone.” So God said, “I will make him a helper fit for him” (Gen. 2:18). God created Eve to help Adam fulfill the mandate to fill the whole earth with other image-bearers. Adam couldn’t have done that alone, and, in a similar way, women are still vital to the fulfillment of God’s mission to go into all the earth and make disciples. One way women do that is by teaching and discipling other women in the local church.
For me to start teaching, it took an invitation from someone significantly more experienced in ministry—my pastor.
But when it comes to leadership and teaching, women may be particularly hesitant to put themselves forward. Many leaders and teachers in women’s ministry have stories similar to mine. They only started serving in these ways because someone in their local church saw potential and asked them to give it a try. We need the body of Christ to help us discern our gifts.
We Need Help Honing Our Gifts
My pastor not only helped me identify my gifting by inviting me to teach but also helped me develop it. He gave me ample opportunity to try, fail, get help, and try again. We all need space to learn and grow. One of my seminary professors observed that most of us have far too few opportunities to receive meaningful feedback on our teaching. What this pastor gave me was invaluable!
As we seek to hone the gift of teaching, two things are particularly beneficial: feedback and continuing education. In other words, we always need to keep learning.
When I teach, I’ve found it helpful to ask for feedback in three areas: structure, content, and delivery. Was the structure clear and helpful? Did it follow the structure of the text? Was the content solid, true, and from the text? And was anything about my delivery distracting?
But we don’t just need to learn about our teaching—we also need to continue to grow in our understanding of Scripture. This can happen formally (through seminary or Bible college) or informally (through reading good theological resources and discussing them with a pastor or ministry leader).
At The Gospel Coalition, we periodically offer an eight-week cohort called “How to Teach the Bible.” This cohort is designed to help women gain and sharpen the tools needed to teach. Even if we know the basics, we can always be challenged to apply that knowledge in new ways. I don’t think we ever “arrive” as Bible teachers. Some of the best Bible teachers you and I know still ask for feedback, still pursue learning, and still practice honing their skills.
How Pastors Can Help
My pastor was instrumental in helping me identify and develop my gift of teaching, and all pastors have the opportunity to help women in their churches.
My pastor was instrumental in helping me identify and develop my gift of teaching, and all pastors have the opportunity to help women in their churches.
Perhaps there’s a woman who’s gifted to teach but needs to be offered an opportunity. Perhaps there are women who are already teaching who would benefit from feedback and encouragement. Even something as simple as offering access to commentaries and theology books could be a huge help as they continue to learn and grow. Or maybe the church could pay for women to attend a TGC cohort or seminary class.
Women are a vital part of God’s mission to seek and save the lost. Let’s help identify, equip, and encourage those who are gifted to lead and teach. And may many women be strengthened and established in their faith as a result.
The Gospel Coalition