A female missional leader embodies a way of being that approaches the world, and her place in it, as a Kingdom ambassador for the cause of Christ.
The Great Commission mandate is not gender specific; but rather, men and women are co-laborers and synergetic in community and mission. As men and women weave their giftedness together to embrace our collective mission to share the gospel, the church is empowered to exponentially impact the lost world. We are a missional people.
The word “missional” is defined in a multitude of ways, but the essence is reflected in one whose mindset and posture are filtered through a Kingdom-focused lens which cultivates an awareness of what God is doing in the culture and joining him in his work. Missional people see themselves as missionaries wherever their beautiful feet take them.
In a sense, we are all foreign missionaries and ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor 5:20); we represent the King in a foreign land. This is not our home. There is a deep sense of our “otherness” where we are in this world, but not of it. Like an awkward dance when one partner is just out of step with the other. We are not to be in sync with the world. We are to unabashedly dance to the beat of a different drum with a distinctive Kingdom rhythm that is other worldly. Embrace this tension. “Lean into your ‘otherness’—learn the contours of its face, feel out the steady grip of its hand. Because [God] intends it to be your lifelong companion.”[1]
Women can be missional leaders in various spaces without diminishing in any way the vital importance of our church and marketplace leaders who have God-given roles, authority, and titles. Scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 12 that every part of the body is essential – each with their own function. One is not more important than another, and every part of the body is to work together in synergy.
Often, when we think about women in leadership, we immediately think about the specific leadership roles in the church or in the marketplace. In the church, we may think of worship leader, children’s minister, women’s ministry leader, etc. Or, in the marketplace, we can think of managers, directors, executive leaders, and the like.
For women, there is often a dichotomy that lends itself to thinking about leading either in a ministry position in the church or the marketplace. Being a wife and mother is not typically viewed through the lens of leadership, but there is a true reality of leading in discipling relationships. Discipling and developing others do not stop when one becomes a wife or mother; it just looks different. Church ministry, marketplace ministry, and family ministry are all seasons of leadership, each with specific focus, context, and rhythms.
In this sense, missional women are leading from places and spaces that include both formal and informal roles. But in every context, leadership is a “way of being” – the way in which we show up as an ambassador of Christ embracing our Kingdom calling. We lead our neighbors, the children on our street, other soccer or karate moms. We lead singles, married folk, college students. We lead in our family with our children and extended family. When we are discipling and pouring into others, we are leading and pointing to Jesus. Women are uniquely positioned in strategic areas of the neighborhood and marketplace to influence others for the cause of Christ.
The cloak of leadership looks different on different people. And, it even looks different as we move throughout the various seasons in our lives. One season may be primarily focused upon family responsibilities with a few mentoring relationships woven into the fabric. Another season may be filled with church leadership opportunity – formal or informal. And then there may be a season of quiet and stillness where you are leading yourself to draw nearer to God. Each season is valuable and precious for the Kingdom purposes that it brings about.
Tony Merida powerfully encourages women by stating, “Missional women have always played a vital role in the advancement of the gospel. The church—as the bride for whom Christ bled, died, and was raised—ought to be a place where women are loved, taught, respected, heard, and deployed for service. They should thrive as Christ’s ambassadors in the world, as they are built up in him.” [2]
For the sake of advancing the Kingdom of God, may we grow and thrive in God’s design for the church to co-labor more intentionally and purposefully. May every part of the body of Christ be valued and utilized to equip the saints, cultivate unity in the faith, become mature, and move toward attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Eph 4:12-13).
[1] Wilkin, Jen. “Embrace Your Otherness.” http://www.thegospelcoalition.org. September 24, 2013.
[2] Tony Merida. “How to Train and Mobilize Women in Your Church.” April 26, 2018. Accessed May 9, 2018.
Missional Mayhem 
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