“I want you to spend your life telling the world, not the evening news, but the Good News.” God’s voice spoke loud as thunder to my heart. Powerful and pivotal, this moment affected the course of my life. I was in college studying broadcast journalism to someday sit in a news anchor chair, delivering the world news. Mine were big plans, but God’s plans for me were even bigger. I was young and didn’t know what this would look like, but I knew this specific call changed my trajectory. For me, no longer was I solely aiming toward an enviable secular position; my vision was now set upon a God mission: to go tell.
God’s calling on my life was unique for me, but truth is, it is not unique. It is a commission that echoes another commission in Scripture, a commission that matters greatly for every woman who has ever been called to “go tell” by God.
The Great Commission
Jesus’ command to “go tell” is summarized in “The Great Commission.” Following His resurrection, Scripture says that Jesus invited His eleven disciples to meet Him on a mountaintop where He told them, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…” (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV). “The Great Commission” is foundational for gospel-centric going, teaching, baptizing and disciple-making. And though Jesus spoke it to eleven men, there is little debate that, somehow, someway, His Great Commission applies to every person who claims the name of Jesus. We sing about it and talk about it with enthusiasm.
However, when it comes to women actually living this out, suddenly all sorts of rules, parameters and restrictions are applied. Denominations, such as the Southern Baptist Convention, make sweeping resolutions regarding women with the call to “go tell.” Paul’s words, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet” are raised as the final answer about women speaking up in ministry (1 Timothy 2:12 NIV). The door is closed in women’s faces, as if their God-given gender nullifies their God-given calling.
Now, to be sure, authority structure within the house of God is of huge importance as we give the world a picture of the triune Godhead. However, the angst and anger that has arisen regarding the women in ministry debate is disproportionate to what the Bible actually says.
This is why I believe we need to consider Jesus’ commission that precedes “The Great Commission.” This prior commission, which I call “The Girls’ Commission,” must be taken into account as we hotly debate what the Bible says about women living out their God-given calling to “go tell.”
The Girls’ Commission
Just a few verses prior to The Great Commission, Matthew records the story of a group of women going to Jesus’ tomb. They anticipated seeing Jesus’ body but instead encountered an angel. As they shook in fear, he said, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen… Go and tell his disciples…” (Matthew 28:6-7 ESV). Scripture says the women literally ran to do what the angel instructed them to do.
But alas – women were second class citizens in the first century! Who would listen to them? Who would believe them? Even if an angel had spoken, why would the disciples pay any attention to women? Oh but praise God! He knew their culture; He understood their “ministry” context. So, as the women were on their way to go tell as the angel had commanded them, Jesus Himself appeared to them. When they fell at His feet worshipping, “Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me” (Matthew 28:10).
Jesus’ command here to “go” is from the Greek word hypagete, which means “to lead or bring under.” His command to “tell” is from apaggello which means “to report or announce.”
We can stack these meanings with those of the angel: the “go” is from poreutheisai, which means “I travel, journey, go, die;’ the angel’s “tell” is from dilate, which means to “answer, bid, bring word and command.”
The angel and then Jesus commanded the women to lead, report, speak up, die to themselves and announce something really important. And so they did just that. The girls were commissioned to take the message God gave them.
None of these words in Matthew’s gospel suggest they were to quietly whisper or merely mention one on one what they’d seen. None of these words suggest that they were to demurely let their gender be an issue or to go find a man to go tell the men.
Scripture Speaks about Women Speaking
Throughout Scripture, God called multiple women to go tell, to speak up, to declare, and, sometimes, even to command. Yet now, here we are today, women like myself, caught in the quandary of whether or not we heed God’s calling on our lives or our denomination’s censure.
This issue matters to me not just for myself but even more so for the young women I love and lead. God entrusted me with four daughters and a daughter in law, each of whom has a very clear gift and ministry calling. God has also surrounded me with other young women, not of my blood but of my heart. My mission – as a mom, as the co-founder of Vanguard Church, as the founder of the Family Disciple Me ministry – is to raise up each one to go run with Jesus and declare in her own unique way all the good things God has done in her life.
Their commission, my commission, is no less than those of the men surrounding us. Paul’s words “She must keep quiet” must be taken in context with his other words, such as, “Your sons and daughters will prophesy,” (Acts 2:17) and “Every woman who prays or prophesies…” (1 Corinthians 11:5). What’s more, Paul’s words must be taken in context with those of other New Testament writers, such as the Apostle Peter, who wrote to the many “elect exiles of the Dispersion” (1 Peter 1:1) that God has commissioned and called all His followers to proclaim what He has done. “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of the darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
A Commission for the Women Who Know Jesus
So… rise up rise up, women of God! This is not about a power grab or an authority coup. This is not about usurping men’s roles or destroying order within the Church.
This is about each of us living out our God-given commission to “proclaim” and “go tell.” Uninhibited and unafraid. Bold and determined. Like the woman at the well (about whom my husband Pastor Kelly Williams recently wrote), telling anyone and everyone who will listen about what Jesus has done in our lives.
Girls, we are not second class. We are not less than. We are commissioned, each in our own unique way, by God Himself when we have a real relationship with Him. God called me to spend my life “telling the Good News.” He has called you, too.
The Great Commission is ours, but “The Girls’ Commission” is, as well.
Let’s live it for the glory of God and the good of those He has entrusted to us!
Be encouraged! Tosha ❤️
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