By Tara S. Gibbs,
What does it mean for me to be a black millennial woman in ministry? It means nothing short of having insecurities, being ignored, and even being silenced. Being myself and bringing myself to my ministry has been painful. Fortunately, I have also discovered that being myself and bringing myself to my ministry has allowed me to see how powerful I am. My testimony is powerful. My story is powerful. I am a black millennial woman in ministry, and I am powerful. My ministry is not in spite of my color, or my age, or my gender; my ministry is in born out of the beautiful intersection of all of them.
John 4:27-30 and 39-42 NLT
“The Testimony of Hidden Figures”
A sermon inspired by the film Hidden Figures (2016)
Did you know that the real life Katherine Johnson
Once said that she didn’t know why anyone
Would want to write about or make a film about her life
In short, her testimony and her story didn’t mean much to her
But it meant the world to me
Because I’ve felt like her before
I felt like her when invited to preach, teach, and write
Why would anyone care to hear from me?
As a young black woman in ministry
I often feel like my story, and my ministry are average
Often, I compare myself to amazing women
My reflective writing skills are average
Compared to the poignant Rev. Dr. Yolanda Pierce
My testimony was uninteresting
When compared to the powerful testimonies of Rev Dr. Renita Weems
My mentor and counselor asked me a question
To help me deal with my insecurities:
Who put these judgements on you?
I later found myself asking a similar question
As I read story of the Samaritan woman in the gospel of John chapter 4
Why are preachers always putting judgements on her?
Jews put on her the judgement of impure
Because she’s a Samaritan of mixed ethnic heritage
Men put on her the judgement inhuman
Because she’s a woman, property, not a person
Interpreters/preachers put on her the judgement of immorality
Because she had 5 husbands, and the 1 now is not hers
What if the shame are nothing but what others put on her?
What if the judgement on your story is something others put on you?
Being raised by a single mother isn’t scandalous
Buying groceries with SNAP isn’t shameful
Being divorced doesn’t define you
They are a part of your testimony
And you can reclaim it
For the Samaritan woman
If there was one person to embolden her to reclaim her story and her past
It was Jesus
No matter how scandalous and shameful folk made it
Jesus says, “I know you and your past
And how society labels/judge it
But I’ll still give you eternal life”
Then this woman
Hidden because we don’t even know her name
Boldly proclaims to the entire town
That Jesus knows her story!
She reclaimed her testimony as evidence pointing to the Christ
I encourage you to reclaim how others label or judge your story
They tried to shame you for having a low paying job
But your testimony is that your bills are still paid
They tried to scandalize for how mean you were in the past
But it never stopped you from growing and loving people now
They tried to shame you for going to a psychiatrist or counseling
But it was the help you needed and now you are in your right mind
They tried to shame you and your testimony
Because you were black
Or a woman
Or impoverished
Or young
Can I encourage you to take back your testimony?
Can I encourage you to add this to the conclusion:
And I’m still forgiven
I’m still worthy of love
I still have purpose
The Samaritan woman reached an entire town
The 3 Black women at NASA reached me and other moviegoers
Who will you reach, when you reclaim your testimony?
Like this Samaritan woman,
Whose testimony brought an entire town to Jesus
There is power in our testimonies
Like Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan there is
Power in our stories
The power to inspire
The Samaritan woman’s testimony motivated an entire town to see Jesus
The testimony of Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan
Motivated moviegoers to be ambitious
The testimony of Emmitt Till’s mother, Mamie
Motivated whites and blacks to support the NAACP
So lynchers would get tried in court
The testimony of the paraplegic in Luke 5
Healed by Jesus
Motivated the crowds to praise the Lord
There is power in testimony of those hidden figures in society
The power in the testimony of those hidden figures can upset the status quo
It is the very nature of our faith
And the entire ministry of Jesus
And our duty as Christians
To make sure the last would be first
To put the marginalized at the center
To exalt the downtrodden
To highlight those cast to the shadows
To magnify the story of the silenced
The beauty in the way Christ did ministry
Is that Jesus Christ never ignored someone’s past
Never pretended people weren’t treated wrong by society
Or purposefully silenced
Christ knows our past, our histories, and our testimonies
And still loves us, blesses us, and accepts us
Jesus brings all things into His redeeming light
Not to shame, but to reclaim
I’m still working on reclaiming my own story
I’m still trying to accept that Christ accepts me
I’m still trying to recognize the power in my own testimony
The testimony of a black millennial woman in ministry.
Close
Black Church Rabble-Rouser, Preacher, Teacher, Director of Christian Education, and proud geek.
Minister Tara S. Gibbs is from the city of New Bern, North Carolina. She graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Spanish and a minor in Linguistics. Tara was licensed to preach the Gospel at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in 2010 and since then, has preached numerous conferences, women’s days, and recently the 2017 Shaw University Baccalaureate Service. True to her belief in a “thinking faith” she entered seminary at historic Shaw University and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Master of Divinity. The following year she completed a Masters in Practical Theology with a concentration in Christian Education at Princeton Theological Seminary. Outside of her studies, Tara has worked with non-profits such as Citizen Schools, Upward Bound, and the YMCA. She has been blessed to study abroad in Spain, Portugal, Morocco, and Mexico. Tara also spent time serving as a pastor at Woodbridge First Congregational UCC and Lumberton UMC, both in New Jersey. Now, she serves as the Director of Christian Education at Reeder Memorial Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. You can read more on her blog “The Black Church Rabble-Rouser” at taragibbsblog.wordpress.com and follow her on Twitter: @_taragibbs.
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