I love running into my friend Heather at the grocery store. Not in the produce section, but in the checkout line, where her publication graces the racks next to Better Homes and Gardens and National Geographic Magazine. As editor-in-chief of a major regional magazine, Heather is a thought leader and tastemaker in our community. But not everyone sees her this way.
I’ll never forget a conversation I had with her pastor, in which I mentioned that I met Heather and admired her leadership. The pastor looked sheepish, “I didn’t know she was an editor. I see her chasing her kids or standing next to her husband after church, so I never considered what she does for a living.”
He’s not alone. As founder of a national initiative that equips women for godly influence in public life, I’ve met with hundreds of women in various denominations, professional roles, and life stages. Through those conversations, a common theme has emerged: Few Christian women feel that their work is seen or supported by their faith communities.
In spite of the U.S. women’s labor force participation rate reaching an all-time high of 77 percent, according to the Center for American Progress, church strategies for women’s discipleship remain focused on our private lives. Opportunities abound to study the Bible, learn a spiritual discipline, or become a better parent, but women who are passionate about their jobs find few settings that affirm their work as a place for kingdom impact.
This critical gap in discipleship results in feelings of isolation and compartmentalization in which some women shift between different personas to meet the demands of their various roles. Who they are expected to be at church differs from who they are at work or in their marriages. As one 50-something sales executive observed after one of our events, “This is the first time I have been invited to integrate my faith, my work, and my femininity, and to know that each matters to God.”
If we believe that vocation is, as Steve Garber put it, “integral, not incidental, to the mission of God,” then equipping women for faithfulness and fruitfulness in all of life should be central to the work of the church. And that effort begins by shifting the way we see women and their work.
I offer three ways of seeing women’s work in new ways:
1. See your own perspective: Conversations about women and influence flow through a mix of theological convictions, social norms, and our own experiences. Maybe you were raised by an entrepreneurial single mom so you love seeing women lead in business. Or maybe you regard work as a financial necessity but think a woman’s primary focus should still be the home. It’s vital to evaluate the influences that shape your perspective and compare them to the examples of women’s work we see in Scripture, which include midwifery, inn-keeping, judicial leadership, entrepreneurship, and manufacturing.
2. See the experiences of individual women: Jesus was deeply curious about the lives of the women he met. How could you show similar interest in the work of women in your community? You may discover a single woman celebrating a promotion while wondering how she will navigate the pressures of leadership alone. Or a woman of color who walks a fine line between being seen as decisive but not angry at work. When you move beyond the marital or family status that often defines a woman’s identity, you will begin to see her life more fully.
3. See the systems in your faith community: Is your programming shaped by a robust vision for work in all its forms? You may find that women with growing careers avoid your programming because the content doesn’t feel relevant to their lives. If networking or mentorship opportunities divide by gender, women may miss valuable learning opportunities afforded to men in your congregation.
When it comes to women, work, and the church, my invitation to you is to see each with new eyes.