Women of the Bible vs. Women of the Twenty-First Century

Dr. Erdie Mae Roberts Hutchings

• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781098062750
• eBook ISBN: 9781098062767
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: History of Christianity

As the ruler of the world, God had chosen how to guide His people. He pointed them to two relationships: Jesus's relationship to the Father who sent Him and His relationship to those God gave Him. God controls every breath that we take and every step that one makes. It is God that makes disappointments His appointments. God reminds woman that His delay does not mean denials; it means development.

God's provision had already been set for both women of the Bible and women of the twenty-first century. This helped women worship the Giver more than the gift. This is why prayer should not only be focused on God's provision but on His vision. God stirred the spirit, being large and in charge. It was the relationship that women of the twenty-first century and biblical women had with God that opened a mirror into the condition of their heart and women's dependence on Him. God's delay does not mean denials; it means development.

Women of today's era are much different than biblical women. The twenty-first century woman is consumed with multiple obligations, duties, and responsibilities on a daily basis, sometimes all at once. Today's women are finally stepping out of their historical role of only mother and housewife. The modern woman has a much different lifestyle with many different choices. Modern women also look, dress, and act much differently than biblical women. Women today have also evolved and continue to evolve as they adapt to change.

Chapter 3

Evangelism and Discipleship Leads to Church Growth

A. Introduction

Women of the Bible would inform the women of the twenty-first century that although they prioritized their time, women of the Bible as well as women of the twenty-first century should use everyday situations as opportunities to make disciples. Having a vision and obeying the Great Commission made a difference in spreading the Gospel. It had been part of God’s plan, in order to work all along. Rendering a passion for lost souls, sharing the good news of salvation, evangelizing the world, and discipling others so that they would come to know him were strategies women of the Bible used as well as women of the twenty-first century. That could move a spiritually dead believer to a mature believer in Christ. This chapter had God’s purpose in mind and it listed several approaches that women of the twenty-first century should possess when considering God’s plan to save lost souls. This explains God’s purpose and what women of today could do to encourage positive evangelism and discipleship.

B. God’s Purpose

Those who approached God’s plan to make disciples must have allowed wisdom to have been their guide, as they built on the foundation laid by Jesus Christ.19 Disciples needed to be encouraging and willing to ask God for direction.

God had a plan already in place. Christian women of the twenty-first century should be willing to serve just as Jesus served. His disciples lead the lost to him as they recruited them to a vision (God’s purpose).

C. Direction

Jesus gave his disciples certain tasks and he expected them to carry them out. Because of his predestination, he knew that sometimes they would fail. Rather than criticize them, he stepped in to help. Jesus told his disciples that those that did not believe will be condemned.20

D. Discipleship

When evangelizing and disciplining the lost, a wise coach knew when to allow persons to make their decisions, even though the outcome may not have been as they may have expected.

Jesus had no limitations. He had a positive relationship with his disciples. The wonderful thing about this was that they knew without a doubt that Jesus loved them. When discipling others, Christians should not sit back and allow those they disciple err in belief. When something like this happened, it encouraged sin. This also prevented the sinner from developing a Christlike character.

E. Sharing Christ with Others Is Sharing Good News

The questions were, “How did evangelism, discipleship, and church growth in their community relate, and were they all necessary?” There should have been no limits when discipling, just as Jesus did not limit them! The main business (God’s business) was the saving of souls! First of all, they should share the good news with boldness and confidence. This immediately allured people that they knew what they were speaking about and to whom they are speaking. They should have had a desire to tell people about God. It was important that people knew that they cared and that through it all, their lost souls would be saved. This immediately got their attention!

Witnessing about Christ is what evangelizing was all about. While evangelizing got a person’s attention, discipleship moved a believer from being spiritually dead in Christ to becoming a mature believer in Christ. This was when church growth came into play. Sharing Christ with others was essential to a church’s growth. A “healthy” church should provide its members with both discipleship training and evangelism.

Disciples should have been willing to go out into the world to witness and serve.

Pastor Erdie Hutchings’s vision was that she, along with the leaders of her church, would show the nonbelievers how to apply the Bible to their everyday lives.

Many Americans were living from paycheck to paycheck. These people were worried about how they were going to pay their bills each month. This was probably one of the reasons pastors and church leaders often receive resistance and frustration from their members in their giving. Offering a “Get Out of Debt” workshop and having the saints apply the skills being taught reduced some of the frustrations, as they afforded the saints and community a way to take control of their finances. This type of evangelizing definitely reached the community. It taught and trained the people how to manage their income.

When people knew that this workshop was biblically based, and that it was done in a practical way, the saints suddenly became interested. Financial peace helped the church as well as other churches’ growth. Members got more out of the workshop, and at the same time the workshop introduced Christ to them through financial principles.

F. Vision

Pastor Jerome Barber, the pastor of Six Mount Zion Baptist Temple (SMZBT), had offered this program for several years. The SunTrust Bank sent an accountant and other representatives for a week to share with the congregation how to make wise choices, invest, become a homeowners, and how to pay off credit card debt, just to name a few. The church was congested with members and nonmembers. Many church members admitted to not tithing due to other financial priorities. This workshop taught members how to take control of their finances. Money was an issue that affected everyone inside and outside of the church. Pastor Hutchings’s vision was to teach couples how to work with money.

Pastor Barber introduced this workshop years ago. In the last ten years his church has grown from three hundred to five thousand plus members. His members had continued reaping the rewards.

Brian D. McLaren (More Ready Than You Realize) spoke about street evangelism. He stated that some people on the street saw it as a way of selling God, while others saw it as a way of shoving one’s personal ideas down others throat. Television, according to McLaren, meant to some “rehearsed sales pitches and was non genuine tears!”21

G. Evangelism

Pastor Hutchings and McLaren both agreed...

Table of contents

• Taming Your Tongue
• Knowing God
• Evangelism and Discipleship Leads to Church Growth
• Postmodern Women in the Church
• Women of the Bible Spoke to Women of the Twenty-First Century
• Spiritual Women Explored Appropriate Strategies that Work in World Missions
• The Sovereignty of God
• God Stirred the Spirit
• Large and in Charge
• The Road to Eternity
• The Meaning of God