The WoH fellowship is to minister to a particular group of women by women in church.  It is to help them to be mature and to edify the body of Christ both at home and in church.  It will also help them to be true lovers of their husbands and children.  We have seen that the key point of the aged women’s ministry for younger women is to help them improve and build right relationships, which will prevent them from blaspheming the word of God. 

Biblical and Spiritual development through the WoH ministry

The emphasis on the importance of women’s ministry falls on the primary purpose of our existence, which is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.  When Christian women fail to grow “unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13), they ought to consider and to examine their faith and knowledge of the Saviour, Jesus Christ.  Behind this challenging exhortation, there is a serious recognition of the importance and significance of women in the heart of God.  They are neither neglected nor set aside from the providence of God.  Androgyny was not, is not, and will not be God’s way.  In God’s eyes, it was not good for Adam to be alone in the garden.  Without Eve, Adam was incomplete.  Thus, a passive approach to women’s ministry is short-sighted and myopic.  We all affirm and confirm that men and women are equal in dignity and they are equally valuable in God’s creation design and redemptive calling.  Then, why do we talk about men’s roles in church, while silencing women’s roles and ministries?  Interestingly, in some cases, women themselves neglect women’s ministries. 

First, the WoH ministry helps and assists women to grow into God-pleasing characters.  By being together with other women, they will learn their own weaknesses and strengths, and its effects will be like iron sharpening iron.  As we saw before, people are different, and no two people are exactly alike.  Read Luke 8:1-3 one more time: “¹And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, ² And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, ³ And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.”  The first thing we can observe from this passage is that we are not looking at a homogenous group of women.  If we consider their backgrounds, we cannot but say that there were radical differences between someone who was freed from the possession by evil spirits to the wife of a very high ranking officer in King Herod’s court.  Their commonality was God’s grace in their lives, and they were sisters in Christ.  While the apostles were called to their ministries, these women worked behind the scenes to support them.  I cannot say that there was no tension amongst them.  As the apostles themselves did suffer internal divisions and conflicts, so women followers must have had the same issues.  However, they learnt to work together and walked with Jesus in grace and love.  In other words, they grew into mature Christian characters beyond individual differences.  It is also a growth in relationships. 

One of the greatest benefits of the WoH fellowship is that its members get opportunities to work together with women from different backgrounds.  Oh, yes, it is not easy to get along with all.  Some do not keep promises or time, while some are really frustrated by such.  Some are very inquisitive, while some are private.  Some are super-energetic, while some are withdrawn.  Some love to talk about their super-achieving children, while some are grieved over their children’s troubles.  These contrasted character traits and life situations could be endlessly named.  A simple fact of the matter is that everyone has different life experiences and people see the same thing differently quite often.  Then, how can our Christian women have fellowship with one another and serve the Lord with oneness of mind? 

The essence of the WoH should be Christian women uniting their hearts and hands to care for the body of Christ.  As we know, serving the body of Christ always requires more strength and grace than we possess.  If someone has a high mind, she will have to learn to be humble.  If someone has been self-centred, she will have to learn to look around and to open her hands to help and encourage others.  If someone has been passive and always ministered to, then she needs to turn around and to become a willing labourer of love.  In every ministry and fellowship, there are always only handful of people who do most of the work.  The rest are spectators.  We need to ask a question here, “do we not love Jesus?”  What Christian women must begin with is their own self-examination to know the state of their relationship with the Lord Jesus.  They want to know if they are crucified with Christ and the one who lives in their flesh is Christ.  Thus, they live by faith in Him.  If the reality of their spiritual life does not reflect their confession of faith in Him, they need to repent and to return to their first love.  The WoH fellowship will be able to awaken Christian women’s inner spiritual consciousness toward the reality of faith.  In order to labour together in this ministry, they will have to learn to be harmonious and compassionate for one another.  Without mature Christian faith and character, they will experience pins and needles in their feelings and minds, and they will think that they have been hurt by others.  “Togetherness” requires character developments, without which they are constantly hurting others and getting hurt themselves. 

Second, the WoH ministry helps and assists women to learn to be better believers.  One of the key instructions to women by Paul is that they (the aged) should teach and they (the young women) should learn.  Young women ought to learn.  They are important to families and the body of Christ.  They are the supporters and complementors of their husbands.  This complementary role also provides them spiritual leadership in their families.  They are home-educators of their children, too.  Mothers are the first and primary teachers of their children at home for their children’s moral and spiritual growth.  (1) I need to bring younger women’s attention to their future character and spiritual “portraits.”  The exhortations given to the aged women offer some ideas about their future.  Titus 2:3-5 says, “³The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; ⁴ That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵ To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”  What young ladies do today must be able to prepare them to become the people described in the passage.  They should pursue “godliness.”  They must pursue “the path of godliness.”  They should not be “false accusers” or “slanderers,” which means that they should not spread rumours and not be backbiters.  They should not be addicted to anything that ruins their godliness and holiness.  They should know what is good and bad.  They ought to be sober.  They must love their husbands and children right.  They must be self-controlled (not temperamental), pure, homemakers, and subject to their own husbands.  (2) The fellowship and co-labour within the WoH ministry will provide opportunities for women to develop and improve these godly and God’s pleasing traits.  There are “age-differences” within the WoH members, which will provide opportunities of services and ministries amongst them.  They will also find out if they are builders or scatterers of Christian fellowship. 

Lovingly,

Your Pastor

More Lively Hope

© Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church
14 Bedford Square, Colonel Light Gardens, South Australia 5041