The Twice-as-Good Challenge, by Amy Bost Henegar

Last updated on: September 21, 2016 at 4:45 am by Scot McKnight

The Twice-as-Good Challenge, by Amy Bost Henegar 2016-09-20T20:33:19-05:00 Scot McKnight

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This week, we begin a four-week series written by four different women who preach, teach, and minister in traditions where they are among the first to serve their congregations in such capacities. Their experiences will inform the series.

Amy Bost Henegar is a Minister for the Manhattan Church of Christ in New York City and a Doctor of Ministry student at New York Theological Seminary. She spent the first part of her career in hospital chaplaincy and has been in congregational ministry since 2001. She is married to Matt and they have five kids. They live right outside of New York City.

Twentieth century feminist Charlotte Whitton is quoted as saying “Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.”

Any woman making her way in a traditionally male field knows this sentiment. I have spent two decades working as a female minister in a fellowship that is in the process of ongoing transition regarding gender roles, and I have heard this message over and over again – that I need to be twice as good as the men if I want to be taken seriously. While the message has certainly come from other people, both directly as well as through subtle implications, the loudest voice insisting on my need to be “twice as good,” is in my own head. Every insecurity I have regarding my calling and skills for ministry coalesce around this simple mandate: You have to be twice as good.

I cannot pretend that women are the only ones who hear this message. Certainly many minorities in our society receive the same messages. It may be gender, race, educational background or life history – many of us believe that for some reason or another we are going to be judged by a higher standard. This belief has far-reaching effects and has the power to significantly shape who we are as people and professionals.

On the one hand, the challenge to be twice as good can be constructive. Women in ministry do well to realize that standards are high, and we must be prepared. We are going to be scrutinized and we are going to be judged, sometimes fairly and other times it will not be fair at all. The challenge to be twice as good compels us to become highly competent – go to seminary; continually read, study, listen, and learn; be diligent when it comes to prayer, Bible study, individual and corporate worship; and maintain a high standard of personal and professional ethics. If we realize we are going to be carefully scrutinized, we are motivated to remember these important practices.

On the other hand, if we are not careful, focusing our attention on being twice as good can be dangerous. You see, as women in ministry, we become skilled at standing up for ourselves and are well practiced in advocating for our place at the table. We have accepted this as an unavoidable part of taking on a traditionally male role. But deep down, underneath all of the striving and advocating, we know the truth. We know that Charlotte Whitton was wrong. It is not easy. It is in fact very difficult. And if we are not careful, the burden of trying to be twice as good has the potential to completely undermine our ministries.

I once heard a seminary professor challenge a group of ministers to have the deepest devotional lives of anyone in their congregation. He made an excellent point – that you don’t have any business helping people connect with God if you don’t have a practice of authentically connecting with God yourself. But I missed that point entirely. My focus immediately turned to the superlative in his admonition and I felt overwhelmed at the idea of needing to have the most impressive devotional life in the congregation. All of my doubts about my competence for ministry came racing to mind. “I’ll never be that person! I can barely get out of bed in time to get my kids to school – how can I get up even earlier to pray? I may as well give up because it’s just too much.” When we focus our attention on needing to be twice as good as everyone else, we will become discouraged. Perfectionism leads to burnout because the burden is just too heavy.

And while feeling overwhelmed or giving up would be tragic, what’s more dangerous is the theology underneath those feelings. If I hold myself to a standard of perfection, what does that say about my faith in God? If I need to work my fingers to the bone in order to be twice as good, then ultimately I am forgetting that it is God’s work and not mine. The Christian faith can only be truly known in the context of vulnerability. We are weak, fragile and broken. All of us. We are all in need of a savior. All of us. If we truly believe we have to be twice as good, we have forgotten that God’s power is made perfect in our weakness.

Additionally, if we think we have to be twice as good, we have fallen into thinking that we are part of a competition. As much as our capitalist culture may urge us to view everything as a competition, we must remember that ministry is not. A competitive mindset divides us from each other and sets us up to be opponents rather than teammates. If I’m trying to be “the best,” then I am trying to be better than you, thus it is impossible to root for myself and you at the same time.It also places us in a competitive framework with regard to the church and the community. When we focus on our need to be twice as good, we are preoccupied with the way other people see us, continually competing in real and imagined battles. We end up isolated and starved for support and community.

There is no room for this type of competitive thinking in the work of the gospel. I like Karoline Lewis’s words from her book She: Five Keys to Unlock the Power of Women in Ministry. “Once again, where you begin matters. If you enter into ministry from a starting place of competition, combat, and crusade, then your ministry will, by default, embody that ethos.”

So we have a dilemma. We must acknowledge that we live and work in the shadow of the twice as good challenge. But if we give it too much power in our lives, we risk undermining our effectiveness as ministers and suffering spiritual and emotional damage. So, as we do in many areas of our lives, we must dance in the ambiguity. There are times when we need to look someone straight in the eye and say, “I am an incredible preacher,” all the while shaking in our boots and trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit to make those words true. But in the quiet of our prayer lives and the safety of our closest relationships, it is absolutely essential that we drop the charade, that we admit our fears, our weakness and failures, and that we humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord will indeed lift us up.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

September 21, 2016

Surprised by the Cross: What If?

Next Post

September 21, 2016 Republican, Conservative, and Supporting Syrian Refugees

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Acts of the Apostles Adam Advent Anabaptism Angels Anglican Apologetics Atonement Baptism BCP Prayers Bible Biblical Studies Birds Blogging Bloglossary Bonhoeffer Books Calvinism Christianity Church Church History Coffee Colossians Commentary Recs Conversion Creation Creeds Culture Death Ecclesiastes Economics Education Embracing Grace Emergent Emerging Movement Eschatology Essays Ethics Eucharist Evangelicalism Family Fasting Fathers Fellowship of Differents Footsteps Tour Fun and Whimsical Gospel Grace Happiness Heaven Hell Holy Spirit Irenaeus James Jesus Jesus Creed Job Justification Kingdom of God Law Lectures Lent Liberalism Love and Marriage Mabanteneni Manhood Mary Miracles Missio Alliance MissioLife Missional Missional Jesus Movies and Film New Perspective Northern Seminary OneLife Origins Project Orthodox Parables Pastor's Spouse Pastoring and Leading Pastoring and Preaching Patristics Paul Paul-John Tour Pharisees Pietism Political Theology Prayer and Formation Preaching Problems for Faith Psalm 119 Psalms Public Issues Purgatory Religions Resurrection Revelation Romans Rule of JCreed Science and Faith Sermon on the Mount Sports Ten Commandments Theology Third Way Top Ten Lists Translations Uncategorized Universalism University Ministry Way Out Weekly Meanderings Wisdom Women and Ministry Work Worship Writing & Blogging Youth Ministry

Select a Month July 2021 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 0000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "El Shaddai" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

God is Judge Provider God Almighty Prince of Peace