This summer, I am walking through a study with women at my church that equips women to study God’s Word and teach it to others. At the beginning of the study, I asked participants to share who has been a significant female influence in their walks with God. I was encouraged to hear their responses.
One woman shared about her ninth-grade Sunday School teacher and how every young woman anticipated their year in her class. Another shared about her older sister who has taught her truths from God’s Word and how to live them out. They shared about mothers, grandmothers, and college ministry leaders who have discipled them in their faith. We sat in a circle and acknowledged that we were there, continuing to walk with God and learn, with a desire to teach others because of the impact of those women.
How the Church Prepares Women to Obey The Great Commission
Before Jesus ascends to heaven, he provides a blueprint for discipleship in the church in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18–20). For both men and women to obey this command, we need a deep and robust understanding of our faith. This is where theological education within the church becomes not only valuable but essential for women.
Not every person will have the opportunity to, or even should, pursue a formal theological education, known as seminary. This is why opportunities to study the Bible in depth, explore core doctrines of the Christian faith, and learn how to evangelize should not be optional for the church to provide, but foundational in discipleship programing.
Here are four key ways theological educations equips women to make disciples and obey the Great Commission:
1. Cultivating an Understanding of the Story of the Bible and Scripture
Believers should never forsake the Sunday gathering of God’s people sitting under the preaching of God’s Word, but it is not sufficient in building Bible literacy. To share the gospel and bring others in as followers, or disciples, of Christ, you have to know the gospel story. In depth study of the Scriptures helps women gain a comprehensive understanding of God’s redemptive plan and how it unfolds throughout history. It is difficult to grasp listening to sermons from week to week.
I have conversations often with women who begin to understand, for the first time, the whole story of the Bible, and the light bulbs go off as they begin to see how it all fits together. They begin to see their place in God’s story, and invite others in to know God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
2. Developing Sound Doctrine and Theology
Theological education in the church provides the opportunity for women to develop sound doctrine. Understanding core doctrines of the Christian faith like the Trinity, the person and work of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Scripture, and justification, to name a few, is foundational in living our faith and making disciples.
Women grounded in sound doctrine are better equipped to share and defend the gospel and teach other women these Christian truths. Additionally, doctrinal grounding helps in preventing the spread of false gospels and false doctrines that are stumbling blocks in the church. Women are better prepared to recognize false and heretical teachings and bring the truth to light.
3. Preparing for Ministry Leadership
Providing spaces where women can grow biblically and theologically equips women to serve and lead within the church. Obeying the Great Commission can look like, but is not excluded to, teaching in women’s Bible study, mentoring younger women, and engaging in community outreach.
Theological opportunities to learn and grow within the church only serve to better prepare our women for these God honoring tasks. These roles are not optional for women in the church, but essential, and we do our churches and our people a disservice when we do not give them spaces to learn, grow, and flourish in their gifts for the purpose of obeying the Great Commission.
4. Fostering Community and Togetherness
When Jesus gives the Great Commission he does not give it to individuals, but to the disciples together. Providing learning environments within the church creates spaces for communal learning and growth.
Women grounded in sound doctrine are better equipped to share and defend the gospel and teach other women these Christian truths.
This gives opportunities to build new relationships or strengthens existing ones around God’s Word and doctrine. This gives women the place to challenge, sharpen, and encourage one another. It ensures that women are not living isolated lives as disciples, but are part of taking the gospel to the ends of the earth alongside one another.
As I sat and listened to the women who were part of that book study, I thought about how I long for my church to be full of these women. Women who are using their gifts and their passions to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, mutually challenging and encouraging one another, and raising up the next generation of disciples. But no one, man or woman, can do that if they are not equipped and given the tools. Our churches are stronger and the gospel goes further when women are given spaces to learn, grow, and be sharpened as followers of Jesus. It only serves to take the Great Commission forward.
Krystal Brummitt serves as the Director of Women’s Discipleship & Care at Redeemer Community Church in Birmingham, Alabama. She is working towards her Masters of Divinity in Biblical and Theological Studies at Southern Seminary.
