In the lead-up to Secret Church 14, “The Cross and Everyday Life,” we’ve been interviewing a number of people about how the gospel impacts their everyday routines and responsibilities. Jennie Allen was kind enough to answer a few questions for us on this topic, particularly as it relates to the everyday life of women. Jennie is a wife, mother, blogger, author, and leader of other women. We hope you’ll be encouraged as you learn more about her life and ministry…
Jennie, tell us a little about yourself…
I love Jesus and all kinds of tacos (I live in Austin) and my tribe of wild banshees that includes an incredible husband and 4 kids ages 6-14. I deeply believe in this generation of women and desire to equip and lead them closer to Jesus through teaching and writing and I just launched the IF:Gathering in that effort as well.
Can you tell us what the IF:Gathering is all about?
We exist to gather, equip and unleash the next generation of women to live out their purposes. We just launched our first major gathering in February and virtually gathered around 40,000 women from around the world. What really excites me though is nearly 15,000 of them are involved in IF:Equip where we are daily reading the Word together and involved and we are tangibly loving the world alongside organizations like Food for the Hungry to gather and equip women around the world.
In your latest book, Restless, you talk about the fact that even though you loved your calling as a mother, you struggled with a sense of purpose…I'm guessing you've gotten feedback that this is common for women who desire to follow Christ? Why do you think is so common for women in particular?
We are in the midst of a generation laced with social and gender pressures. The weight of "the rules" for women in the church, home, and workplace are so prevalent, I think we forget how all of the different pressures are carried into nearly every choice we make, nearly ever dream we dream.
If we are all obeying God with our unique gifts and visions then our dreaming, obedience, and our roles should look beautifully diverse. We each look unique on the outside, and I assure you we are even more intricately designed on the inside – our personalities, our gifts, our passions, our visions and everything that we're suppose to do while we're here.
Judgment and boxes aren't only built in perfect houses in the suburbs. Even the dreaming, radical, passionate ones among us build our tribes and judge those that don't dream big enough or serve radically enough. One of my friends at the University of Texas said that in her Christian community on campus friends feel ashamed if they spend their summer doing an internship in Dallas instead of serving in Africa. In our handbook, dreams must include radical sacrifice. Where God is clear let's obey, and where there is freedom, let's embrace that freedom and issue it to others.
When you talk about dreaming big and the need to risk comfort for God's glory in light of the urgency of our task…how does this fit with the everyday routines that women face?
We brush against people in checkout lines who will live forever in heaven or hell, and we contain God. Try to tell me your life is insignificant. Try to tell me that anything about this life is insignificant.
Your view of your life may be small, but nothing about your life is small. We are souls undone and rebuilt by the Spirit of God. As God surveys this earth, He sees light and darkness. And He sees his light, His Spirit in us, wandering through neighborhoods, offices, schools, Walmarts, playgrounds, and eating breadsticks at Olive Garden.
We are created in the image of God and the Holy Spirit dwells inside of us! How could that ever be small? Why would we ever waste time comparing when our work is so important and our time so short?
There are no average, small dreams, and no average people. There are no meaningless moments as we go to the gym or cook macaroni or handle shipping orders gone wrong or nurse our babies. If we were sitting across from each other and you pleaded with me—begged me—to believe you were average, your life was boring, that there was nothing significant to anything you were doing, you could not convince me. You could not. You just may not realize it. The "more" is already built in your everyday life. You just have to see it.
Our upcoming Secret Church theme is "The Cross and Everyday Life"….could you talk a little about how the gospel shapes all of these things…including your everyday responsibilities?
" … Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation." (2 Cor 5:18) This takes intention and thought and dreaming and community as we wrestle through how this plays out for each of our lives.
Surrendering to this daily is the tricky part. Surrendering is the laying down of our lives, control, and plans in order to follow Jesus. I am so passionate about this because for so long I missed this… or at least I missed really living this kind of risk-it-all, die-to-self, die-to-control part of following Christ. It turns out that in God's beautiful irony the kind of life we want so badly lays on the other side of death.
The scariest and safest thing I have ever done is to finally and completely surrender my rights—to hand complete control of my life and my dreams over to my God.
How it practically plays out involves 1,000 little deaths—from forgiving friends who've wronged us, to walking through a cancer diagnosis, to taking initiative for orphans, to folding dozens of socks every week, to fighting those dark sins that we just can't seem to beat.
For me, the most common form of surrender is in letting go of playing it safe and starting to risk comfort for God's glory and the good of others.
How do you balance marriage and motherhood and all of the other callings that are in your life?
My main earthly voice in my life is my husband. I often am asked, as a wife and mother and pastor's wife and writer…how do you do it all? I have a lot of help – sitters and help with cleaning and administrative help. But the most obvious answer is that without the blessing, leadership, and sacrifice of my husband, I would be miserable and unable to do any of it. We have fought our way to a good marriage, it has not been easy. But as passionate and strong and independent as I can be, I have chosen to come under his leadership, even if that means at times I feel held back. But honestly- I am blessed with a man whose identity is secure in Christ and he has unleashed me again and again to do the things God has called us to do here. I am so thankful.
– Go here to register or to find out more information about our upcoming Secret Church 14 simulcast on “The Cross and Everyday Life” on April 18th.
