Gender or Giftedness?

Hi everyone! It’s an honor to be a guest on Pete’s blog. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Jenni Catron, and I work alongside Pete at Cross Point.

There is a question that we get a lot at Cross Point that I thought I would open up for discussion. The question is, “Where do you allow women to serve in leadership at Cross Point?” Frankly, I hate this question. While I am the first to support and encourage women, I’m also slow to demand equal representation of the sexes, especially in the church. For the most part, I haven’t worried much about this question. I have never really felt like my gender has held me back from serving as I feel like God has gifted me to serve. I realize, however, that I may be the exception rather than the norm. I’m blessed to work and serve at a church that understands and values women operating in their God-given gifts. For me that plays out in my role as Executive Director. My top gifts of Administration and Leadership serve me well in this capacity. (Note that I am usually the lone female among a sea of males in the leadership circles that I run in, even at Cross Point.)

I think the challenge here is to quit seeing gender and to begin seeing giftedness. As I have studied women throughout scripture, I’ve discovered some amazing chicks operating in their gifts. There are the obvious ones like Esther, Ruth and Mary, but then there are some even more obscure women in the New Testament like Tabitha – called a helper and leader, Priscilla – a teacher in the New Testament church, and Phoebe of Cenchreae – an administrative leader that I hope to meet in heaven one day because I’m sure we’ll be in charge of something together! The scripture is clear that God used women in powerful ways and I believe He still intends to do so today.

Unfortunately I feel like culturally women have been raising a battle cry for equality with men that can be boiled down to simply a cry for equal representation rather than a desire to see women allowed to operate in their areas of giftedness. In a desire to find our voice, rules and restrictions have been created such as requiring equal representation of males and females on committees, worship teams, etc. It’s become about being equal in number rather than about being valued for what we uniquely bring to the table.

I don’t believe that God is as concerned about gender as He is about our hearts and attitude for service. If I’m truly seeking to serve Him by using the gifts He has given me, I have to trust that He will put me in the circles where He can best use me.

Is there any role in the church where you believe that women should not serve? Go ahead, let’s open it up!