What Women Wish Their Preacher Knew
Denise Geroge
A preacher can do only three thing with an idea: explain it, prove it, and apply it... [in other words:] What does the text mean? Is it true? And so what? (Alice P. Mathews)1
Many Christian women today view the sermon?the proclamation of the gospel?as the centerpiece of the worship experience. They yearn for the serious pastor to stand with integrity in the pulpit, open his Bible to a particular text, and preach deep, accurate, biblical theology. They want him to explain the text and tell them what it means; prove the text and show them its truth; and tell them how to apply the text to their everyday lives. They desperately need God’s truth in His Word to get through the difficult and demanding week ahead. They depend on it!
Women Want Preaching to Be Bible Based
In a national survey of Christian women, most survey responses asked that more Scripture be taught in sermons. Many women told me they had recently left churches due to the lack of scriptural teaching in sermons.
A new Barna study shows that “a faith revolution is redefining ‘church.’” He writes: “There is a much larger segment of Americans who are currently leaving churches precisely because they want more of God in their life but cannot get what they need from a local church. They have decided to get serious about their faith by piecing together a more robust faith experience.
“Instead of going to church, they have chosen to be the church, in a way that harkens back to the church detailed in the book of Acts...”2
More than anything else, women want their pastors to “preach the Word” (2 Tim. 4:2).
“The one thing that has encouraged me, and equipped me most to serve my family and others, is the Word?verse-by-verse study of the Holy Scriptures,” writes an Alabama woman.
“Please, Pastor,” writes another, “preach the Word clearly and deeply.”
“Focus on Scripture!” writes a Minnesota mom.
“Teach the Bible,” writes another, “and allow the Holy Spirit to convict your congregation.”
“I need a clear interpretation of Scripture,” explains an Ohio woman. “I wish pastors knew that women fight against the subtle pressures of culture as much as men. They need to have clear definitions from Scripture so they can biblically influence culture?and not the other way around.”
“We need to be fed the Word of God,” writes a Virginia woman, “We need spiritual food to face the pressures and temptations of life.”
Another writes: “Women today face the problem of not being familiar enough with God’s Word.”
“I want to know God more intimately and to know His Word more deeply. I want to hear more depth during Sunday services,” says a Florida woman.