A Great Commission Family

By Nathan Schneider, Children’s Ministry Intern

 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Come January 25th, Michelle and I will have been married for two and a half years. It has been a blessing to go through these last few years with my best friend by my side. We enjoy being in each other’s company, whether that be out on an “adventure” or relaxing at home. God has truly blessed me with the perfect helpmate, but that’s just it… she’s my helpmate. God has called us not only to each other, but also to the world. We have been commissioned with carrying out His mission here on earth and what I’ve found is that we are a whole lot more effective together than we are as individuals in this task.

This is the way God designed marriage from the beginning. God created the first human beings, Adam and Eve, with the intention of them becoming one unit, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). He also created this unit, the first marriage and first family, with a purpose, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it” (1:28a). In other words, it was through Adam and Eve and their children that God was going to populate the earth with worshippers.

Unfortunately, because of the Fall (Gen. 3), a separation occurred in all of life and as a result, we often differentiate between our physical family and the mission that God has commissioned each believer with, to fill the earth with worshippers. We, as believers, are called by God to be His ambassadors in a lost world and what seems to be the case, is that we are whole lot more effective as units, especially family units. David Black, a Greek and New Testament scholar says this in article entitled A Great Commission Marriage,

 …not only do Christian couples seek to please each other, they willingly and actively seek to be faithful to the ultimate goal of reflecting God’s glory and grace in the world all around them.

This is what I found to be true when I surveyed the book of Acts, studying the specific role of family in the Great Commission.

Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. (2:46-47)

 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. (5:42)

Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually… ‘Send to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here; and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ (10:1-2; 11:13-14)

And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. (12:12)

And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household. (16:33-34)

Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized. (18:8)

What becomes clear from the book of Acts is that often the most effective way of getting the gospel to the lost is families reaching families. This is what has become obvious to me as a husband (and hopefully one day, father); my proclamation of the gospel becomes stronger when my neighbors and outside world can see the way that my wife and I interact with each other, the way we go out of of our way to serve those around us, and by the way we choose to conduct ourselves and our household. The challenge for all of us is to be boldly proclaiming the gospel with our words, but also by conduct in and out of the home as families.

Mission-Minded Parenting

The responsibility for pointing the next generation to the Lord falls on all believers, but most specifically, on the shoulders of parents. There is no greater investment for parents than to invest spiritually in their children. Steve and Beth Browning, on their website Navigating the Rope, illustrate the importance of “missional” parenting by using a personal story. Beth recalls what it was like growing up in a home that made missional living first priority:

Mom had every right to be discouraged, to be selfish, and to whine and complain about dad being gone…but she didn’t.  Instead, we would get together and pray for dad, and talk about all of the people that he was leading to Christ.  Our conversations on nights he was gone would consist of talking about people that WE could share Jesus to, because that’s what daddy always did.  Dad wasn’t “ditching us” for “church people;” instead he was given the awesome privilege of telling people about Jesus – something that we were lucky to be apart of and even wanted for our own lives.

Mom and Dad practiced what I call “Mission-Minded Parenting.”  They knew what it was that they wanted to instill within our hearts and they stopped at nothing to achieve their mission!  Prioritizing a relationship with Jesus Christ was the number one priority and it didn’t matter what else happened in our home, unless He was number, in their eyes, they would have failed.

Steve and Beth have three application points for making “misson-minded parenting” happen:

Mission-Minded Parenting is a daily process, but here are a few strategies, to help you implement it into your own home:

1. Make your mission match your lifestyle. 
God was real to mom, and to dad.  Mom was constantly sharing her faith with our neighbors, and looking for opportunities to invite them to church or tell them about Jesus.  She didn’t just “assume” the actions of the mission when my dad was home, but lived it out day-in and day-out.  Is your lifestyle choices matching the mission you desire your kids to embrace?

2. Don’t assume they know how to do it…practice it!
Mom taught me how to have my own quiet time when I was barely old enough to read, and would challenge us to go have a quiet time and then get back together every day and share what God had taught us.  We had weekly scripture memory verses (that were rewarded with Icees) and family devotions at night even when Dad was gone.  My parents went out of their way to give us opportunity to live out the mission “within boundaries.”  I feel strongly that it is crucial to practice the basics with your kids now (while they’re at home) rather than just assuming their live them out when they move away.  Habits begin with you.  Teach them habits that will last a lifetime!

3. Your Attitude MUST match your actions.
Jesus wasn’t something we just “did” on Sunday mornings.  He was an attitude we held day in and day out.  He was real to dad and to mom, which over the years, made him incredibly “real” to my brother, sister and I.  I mentioned above that my mom refused to whine and complain about how “hard life was” even though she had every right to.  Her primary objective was to teach us to love Jesus, and love sharing Jesus with everyone around us, and complaining wouldn’t teach us that. What is your attitude like?

Here’s the bottom line for today’s post…as parents, what is your mission?  What do you desire most of your kids?  Do you desire that they grow up to love Jesus with all of their heart?  Do you desire that they live honest, above-board lives?  If that’s the case, then what are YOU doing, day-in and day-out to instill that in them?   You can’t “make” them suddenly love Jesus.  You can’t “make” them suddenly want to be honest.  That’s formed through a daily attitude, and a consistent example that you’re setting for them.  So what’s your parenting-mission and how are you living it out… today?

To read the full article check out the Browning’s site, Navigating the Rope. They post new articles on family every Friday.

Steve and Beth Browning are members at Hebron Baptist Church where Steve serves as High School Pastor. Together, Beth and Steve, are partners in ministry and the proud parents of their son, Caleb.