Cultivating a Missional Imagination in Our Children
Parents carry with them a constant sense of care for their children’s well-being. We have been wired to care, provide, and plan for their future as best we can. We are also called to entrust them to God’s providence and goodness in Christ as they start making their own way.
It’s not easy. There are many challenges. As Christian parents—and as servants of the gospel—we want the best for our children. But what’s best for them might be in places we can’t even pronounce. It might involve the ends of Earth. So here are a few things to consider as our families develop a Great Commission mindset.
THE WHY: A DESIRE TO JOIN GOD’S PLAN
Throughout most of Latin America, as in many countries in the Global South, churches are growing, disciples are being made, and many are finding joy in the gospel for the first time. A lot of the people I meet are first-generation Christians who are anxious to raise their children in the discipline of the Lord. They are eager to do things differently—they don’t want to perpetuate some of the sinful patterns they endured as they were raised in families without Christ.
At the same time, our children are growing up in cultures that often measure success by comfort and consumption. If we’re not careful, we may raise kids who love Jesus but think too small about his mission.
Scripture reminds us that the gospel doesn’t stop at our borders. The same grace that reached us is meant to overflow toward the nations. If we want our families to be aligned with God’s will, we need our families to be aligned with God’s commission. What’s more, if we want our children to make a difference, we need to teach them to look beyond themselves—to focus outward, to think of others—following Christ’s example (Phil. 2:3–8).
THE WAY: AN INSTINCT FOR REDEMPTION
In Deuteronomy 6:4–9, God instructs his people to talk about and share his commands with their children as they sit, walk, lie down, and rise up. That means parenting is discipleship—constant, ordinary, intentional formation.
One of the reasons missions aren’t a big part of some churches is because they’re barely talked about on an everyday basis—except for the big “Missions Sunday.” The same can be true in our families: if “missions” is a topic that needs to be labeled (“We’re going to read a story about a missionary!”), then our children may file it away in a special compartment in their minds for that one time we speak about missions.
Teaching our children to love the nations isn’t about adding one more task to the list of parental duties. It’s about showing them that they belong to a story far greater than their own. From the earliest age, we can help them see that God is redeeming a people “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).
The Bible’s story shows how connected humanity is. There’s plenty of data showing the impact of missionary work in improving the quality of life of local communities. And the command to be salt and light is a clear reminder of how desperately the world needs the gospel we carry.
These elements can and should be planted as seeds in daily conversations with our children that—if the Spirit brings to bear—can take hold of their hearts as they grow in the faith. Instead of a checklist, we want to develop an instinct attuned to Christ’s redemptive work throughout the globe.
THE WHAT NOW: PRACTICAL STEPS FOR THE EVERYDAY
Some brief suggestions for parents:
- Language: Once our children start learning another language, another world opens up to them—literally and figuratively. They’ll start listening to music, watching videos, and learning about a culture they never would if they only spoke their mother tongue. And you can only care about what you know. Speaking other languages is, in my experience, the most important motivator for children (and adults) to get involved in global work.
- Friendship: Opening our homes and hearts to people from other nations ensures our children grow up with global relationships. So when a hurricane hits a country a thousand miles away, it’s not “over there”—it’s where “Uncle John” is from. Hospitality helps our children see the world as small and connected as it really is.
- Prayer: We might not have many international friends, and we might not be particularly skilled in language learning, but we can all pray for Christ’s work among the nations. As we spend time with our kids, we can choose one country each month and pray together. As we hear stories of what the Lord has done in that particular place, we can pray as parents for ways our children might join his work until his return.
So, let’s raise sons and daughters who see the world as God sees it. Let’s teach them to pray beyond their comfort zones, to love beyond their borders, and to go wherever Christ may lead. The gospel that came to us is the gospel that must go through us—until every nation rejoices in the name of Jesus.
