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A while ago I went to a women’s conference in another state with some of my relatives. We heard two different Bible teachers speak. Both of these women had written books. Both were well known. That is where the similarities ended. One women was older. In fact, she was in her eighties. She spoke first. She shared her heart for us younger women. She shared from the Word. She spoke of women to whom she had ministered in countries where believers are being persecuted. Her voice broke as she spoke of her sisters in Christ, living under the constant threat of imprisonment and death. You could see the love she carried for them. She spoke of Christ and the gospel. Her knowledge of the Word was so evident, and her talk was so full of scripture that she just seemed to breathe it out. I left her session with a heart yearning for Christ. I left with a clear picture of what I want to look like if the Lord should give me the gift of old age. Decades of walking with Jesus had made her one of the most wise and gentle-spirited women I have ever seen.

The next speaker was a young woman. She stood up and immediately launched into funny stories about herself. She talked about trips she’d taken. She dropped names of famous people she’d shared a stage with. She told more stories about herself. At one point she decided to work in a little bit of Bible, so she wedged in a story about Noah and the ark, and “How must he have felt as he saw everything he had known floating by? There goes the house. There goes the tabernacle…” She let that hang in the air, as if giving it time to really make an impact. I sat there in my seat wondering how the tabernacle could have been floating by when it wouldn’t be built for over a thousand years after the flood. I tried to hang in there and give her the benefit of the doubt, but I gave up after the lunch session. After her talk, a couple of us had tickets to go to a more personal luncheon with her and sit in on her Q and A. During that session, we got to hear even more about all of the famous people she knows. She shared about different shows that she has been or will be featured on. She told us that often women come up to her and say, “I loved your book!” To which she replies, “Girl, which one? I’ve written eleven!” I so deeply wish that I was making this up. It got harder and harder for me to swallow the food I was picking at on my plate the longer she spoke. The final straw was when she told us that she wanted to have her own network someday and be bigger than Oprah.

As we left that event, there were two tables set up. The older woman was at one table, waiting to talk and pray with the women as they came out of their sessions. The younger woman was at a table loaded down with her books, signing autographs and taking selfies with women who had purchased a book. She was standing in front of a giant banner with a blown up picture of her own face on it. Here is the part that grieved me the most. The line at her table was 3 or four people wide and out the door onto the sidewalk outside. There was no line at the older woman’s table.

As I took in that scene, I had the thought that this is the problem. This is why we as women in the church are living on starvation rations of the Word. This is why we are spiritually weak and we cannot discern when a pretty face is lying to us while holding a Bible. It is because we love the wrong things.

We elevate youth and beauty. We want funny more than we want wise. We want our teachers to tell us a joke that we can laugh at. We don’t want to weep over our sin. “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.” Ecc.7:4

We want empowerment more than we want humility. “He has told you,O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

We don’t want truth. We want to be lied to. We would never admit that out loud, but at the core, it feels better to be lied to than to than to be told the truth. “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths.” 2 Tim. 4:3-4

The truth is that apart from Jesus, we have no good thing (Psalm 16:2). We are not the hope of the world. Jesus is. Outside of Him, we are “dark hearted, futile minded, enemies of God.” Contrary to what the pep rally, girl power, life-coach “Bible” teachers tell us now, we are not the ones who will change the world.  Jesus will. “I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me, you can do nothing.” In other words, God asks us to remain in Him. He asks us to chase His heart. He asks us to know His Word deeply and to abide in that. Out of that union, that closeness, real fruit will grow, real impact will occur, but even then, it’s all Him. It’s still not about us. There is never a point at which it is ok to raise our own name. We raise His name, like a banner. We are to be after His glory, not our own. We call people to follow Christ, not ourselves.

The book of Hosea describes a time when the priests refused to teach people the truth. It reminds me so much of our current culture.  God rebuked the priests and said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Are we being destroyed? Other versions use the word “perishing.” Are we perishing for lack of knowledge of the truth? I think that we are. We have exchanged the humbling truth of God for a self exalting lie. Does that sound familiar? Read Romans chapter 2. Women of God, I plead with you to pursue wisdom. I plead with you to put down the girl power self help book and pick up your Bible. Your life depends on it. Your children don’t need empowered mom. They need humble, god-fearing mom. Our world needs women who look not like our “truest selves,” but like Jesus Christ. This will not happen outside of making a decision to dig in our heels, draw a line in the sand and declare that we are going after God. We are going to consume His Word like the spiritual food that it is, and we are going to let Him conform us to His own image, no matter how hard, no matter how long it takes. And if that requires taking a stand against the tidal wave of narcissistic teachings sweeping through Christian culture, then we stand and take it full on, because the Rock under our feet will not move.

 

 

*My blogs are written with the assumption that they are being read primarily by Christians. If you want to know more about what it means to be a Christian or about the gospel of Jesus Christ, click the link here:  The Gospel

130 thoughts on “A Tale of Two Teachers”

  3. Very good wisdoms here. Yes, I read the description of the younger girl/author/speaker, I was reminded of a book I had recently read and when you said “Girl..… “ that was the book I read. It is very surface, and that is what our women want to hear, empowerment with no accountability or conviction. A scary place to be in this day and time. Thank you for your transparency would love to learn more about the 80 yr old lady.🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻

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  4. We as women need to expect more than fluff and enthusiasm. We must train our minds so we will not be easily tricked by smoke and mirrors. We MUST get into the Word. Girl, read your Bible!

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  7. Wow! Wonderful article. It’s true, all around us we see self glorifying behavior. When we focus our eyes on Christ, He changes us! He is ready and waiting to be the change we all need, but oh His patience-we get to choose every day to live in Him or in our own selves.

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  13. Sooo horribly true! So well put! The western church has assimilated to culture and blindly following after all the wrong things. Things that will all burn as wood, hay and stubble. Thank you!

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  19. For this same reason I am done with topical sermons. While they may contain important lessons, its too easy to skip over whole stretches of scripture that bring up thorny issues. We recently went back to a small church with expository teaching, whole books at a time. We are currently in Leviticus(!!!) and loving it.

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    • When I was in high school we had a guest speaker who preached on Leviticus. As high schoolers, we thought, “Oh great, here we go…Leviticus…” He taught about the cities of refuge. He related it to Jesus, our refuge where we run and are safe. He explained how a person who had killed someone (unintentionally) was safe in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. He then explained from Hebrews that Jesus, our high priest never dies. There will never never be a time when our refuge will expire, where we will no longer be safe in him. Wow. I still remember his sermon today as an adult. It made that deep of an impact. How beautiful that Jesus is all over the Bible, including the Old Testament. I am excited for you as you journey through Leviticus!

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    • I hear you about surface but I enzyme if you gabe to “be done with topical messages” why can’t a preacher do both? I have heard deeply impactful topical messages and very fluffy ones. I have listened through painfully inaccurate (although earnest) and boring expository teachings and some incredibly insightful ones. But a truly deep expository teaching always has a topical message and a truly deep anointed topical message is preached from verses in the bible. I believe they go hand in hand.

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  21. Thank you for sharing the truth. I am a children’s leader with Bible Study Fellowship…i share that b/c I am working on my soul and BSF is helping me find my way…by staying in His word. I’m not there by a long shot, but I could see myself in your story of the young teacher and I’m ashamed. I guess that’s progress.

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    • Joel, not one of us has arrived. I think every one of us wrestles with a self-exalting flesh. All of us believers are on this journey of sanctification together. Meditating on God’s Word, prayer and fellowship with other believers who can walk beside us are some of the gifts God has given, in His amazing love for us, to help us live and grow to be more like Him. Be encouraged! You are headed in the right direction.
      Also…I have heard really good things about BSF.

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  22. I agree with this. I’m glad to see the conference included an 80 year old woman. Some conferences don’t have anyone over 40, but when Paul wrote to Titus, he said “Let the older women teach the younger women” not “Let the younger women teach the younger women.” When younger women teach younger women, this probably happens more often.

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  23. Mic drop! You nailed it! I can’t even with the way Christians are behaving these days. And I don’t want some fluffy superficial Christian walk. It’s nauseating in all honesty. I’ll hang out with that 80 year old women all day!

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  25. Thanks for posting something my wife and I have been concerned about for years, among both men and women. You’ve put it so well, and so thoughtfully.

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  26. I’m the older woman who attended a church whose motto “Choose who you lose” was recited @ leadership meetings as they implemented attractions that draw crowds. They lost over 600 members with years of experience & graying hair.
    I have been asked not attend women’s Bible studies because my knowledge of God’s Word intimidates others. My husband & I have been “kicked out” for quoting Scripture readily for our defense of the life we live by faith. Our spiritual gifts of teaching & shepherding threaten leadership so we have been slandered & shunned. YES. This tale happens frequently in a culture filled with exalted story-tellers entertain and the truth is no longer desired.

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  27. I am a 79 year old man, husband and father. You have beautifully stated a major concern my wife and I share. Surely God’s plan has always been that women should be the rock of love, care, and spiritual teaching for the family unit. Sadly, it seems today’s modern, technology-oriented societies have replaced the focus on God and family with the lure of personal success and independence. Instead of ‘we’, the key word is ‘I’. Please forgive me if I am far off-base with this viewpoint, but I do believe in the sanctity of marriage and family and the highest importance of the woman’s role in preserving the family and belief in God.

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  29. Reblogged this on Stephanie Pavlantos and commented:
    This is good and so true. I wish I had written it. Amberlee says exactly how I feel. “…we love the wrong things.
    We elevate youth and beauty. We want funny more than we want wise. We want our teachers to tell us a joke that we can laugh at. We don’t want to weep over our sin.”

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  30. Oh my goodness…so good and true. We need more of Jesus and less of ourselves. More of God’s Word and fewer devotionals and self-help books telling us how great we are.
    Thank you for saying what I have not had the words to say!

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  34. This reminded me of a time when I was at a homeschooling convention. The key-note speaker was Elizabeth Elliot. I got a chance to talked to her, one on one. I told her how excited I was to meet such a remarkable woman. She humbly said “I am not remarkable. Our God is.” The young can add a fresh view on our walk, but the “mature” Christian who is humble and compassionate has years of mistakes and regrets ALONG with an open heart to love the unlovable and to open ears to hear the Word of God. As an “older” woman now, I still enjoy a fresh new look at the Word BUT the words of a wise older woman is still beneficial to my walk. Hopefully, the younger generation will realize that that.

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  36. Thank you for sharing this. What a picture of an awful spiritual reality. Yes, Jesus foretold it, but it is no less sad, and still feels rather shocking when we stand back and see the bigger picture of this playing out in the Church.

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  37. Awesome article. My granddaughter shared this with me. I hope that My influence has been as powerful as the eighty year old woman has. Correction not hope but blessed assurance that she has and is raising her young children with Christ like behavior. She is a woman of God. Thank you for the article. Joan Hufford

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  39. So brave of you to write and share this. Thank you for your insight. I resisted listening to more mature Christians for years because I thought they were too oppressive and backwards in their theology. But Barbara Brown Taylor is now one of my favorite authors of all time, she saved my life with Learning to Walk in the Dark. And I had no idea how old she was until recently. I realize she gets a lot of flack in conservative Christian circles but I feel like her wisdom is beautiful and inspiring. Thanks again for your honesty! Means a lot.

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  40. Reblogged this on sanctuarytalk and commented:
    What an extraordinary point of view given here. It has long since been a question in my mind as to why we would give so much attention to celebrity and ignore the teacher who chooses to be shaped by the hand of God and teach His truth. I decided to reblog this post because I truly believe that we need to decide that we are Christ-followers and not celebrity-followers.

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  41. Words cannot express how thankful I am for your voice. I, too, want to know this 80+ year old woman. After we moved from the pastorate to a theological education among the persecuted ministry and needed to find a church for the first time we have experienced the famine in the land. A famine where people do not even know they are starving for the true meat of the Word. They have been fed junk food for so long they have no taste or appetite for the purity of God’s Word and seek entertainment, feeling good about themselves and pep talks. When was the last time you were asked “How did you fare under the Word this morning?” after a message at church. We have heard stories spoken to get an emotional response, weak messages, shallow and often wrong interpretation and unable to equip the believers to stand against the onslaught of anti God philosophies and impositions. Thankfully, we found a small church with a young pastor committed to expository preaching! I think often on Romans 12:2 and also Matthew 7:13 these days. It is so encouraging to know that there are voices out there speaking truth, God’s Word. Social Media and Technology has brought this well written essay to me, but it also brings to the masses lies and celebrity. Oh that the Lord would revive the church to stand for Him boldly in the face of these opposing voices.

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  42. This article really hit many points in my own personal life and my walk with Christ. I have strayed from his path and been walking on my own. What I am about to say is what I am experiencing now and what I am learning. God has blessed me with a family who went to church every Sunday and tried their best to live by God’s word. I was saved right before my mother’s death. This was my first real experience with God. This was his plan. Now I am not saying that I am special in any way, but that God knew I was going to go through a lot of different and difficult times in my life. His salvation saved me from many situations when I was not following his path. God knew I would do those things. God knew I would mess up and not put him first in my marriage. God knew all and I knew nothing. I thought I did, but far from it. I am working my way back to his true path for me and maybe I am on it now? I have to remember that he knows all and I know only to rely on him. I want to be there but this has to come from him and not my own boasting. Remaining humble is what I want to be. I think of that old lady sitting alone and it breaks my heart, but she is not alone. We are never alone. Dying to oneself is understanding God is in total control and what you do comes from him. Our amazing body is from him so we should give thanks and take care of it the best way we can. Reading the Bible and taking time to be alone with him is my self care. Jesus said “love the neighbor as thyself”. Loving yourself and being humble is of God. Loving thyself and being boastful is from thyself. It is something we all need to be careful about not becoming and it can consume even the best who had the best intentions at heart. I am thankful to the person who wrote this article. I am thankful for what this one article has done for my heart and my walk with Christ.

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  43. Thank you for sharing your heart about these two different teachers!! I agree with your thoughts and thank God you were willing to speak out!!!

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  44. Hello, my name is Matthew Bixby. I am a missionary in Monterrey, Mexico, where I teach at a Christian college. As part of our ministry, we have a Spanish blog (www.palabraygracia.com) that publishes three articles a week. Usually the articles are new articles in Spanish, but we also translate some articles from English. Could I have permission to translate this article on our blog? We would include all the proper attributions (author [though I can’t find any indication as the the author of these articles on this website], original link, etc.). Thank you for your material and your time.

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  45. Hello, my name is Matthew Bixby. I am a missionary in Monterrey, Mexico, where I teach at a Christian college. As part of our ministry, we have a Spanish blog (www.palabraygracia.com) that publishes three articles a week. Usually the articles are new articles in Spanish, but we also translate some articles from English. Could I have permission to translate this article on our blog? We would include all the proper attributions (author [though I cannot find any indication as to the author of this article on the page], original link, etc.). Thank you for your material and your time.

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  46. This touched me deeply. My mind went immediately to an elder woman in our church who I greatly admire.
    There are many sad to say who project themselves as one thing when in fact they are quite different. Thank you for this article.

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  50. Thank you so much for writing this. As a73 year old woman who has loved and served the Lord for 62 years, I now feel completely useless in my church except to help financially. The whole emphasis is on youth and young families. Yes, I pray fervently for the next generation, but I feel shut off from them and no longer relevant. It makes me sad.

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