Family Discipleship:
Fulfilling the Great Commission in Your Home
With
the recent emphasis on discipleship, I’ve had this article on my heart.
It’s a slightly revised version of something I wrote and published in
1998, when my kids were still at home. I hope it will bless and
encourage you. ~ Karen
Today
I opened my mailbox to find letters from two missionary families with
whom we are very close. How exciting to get news from the “front lines”
and see how God is blessing those precious missionary servants whom we
have supported with prayer and finances! I was thoroughly enjoying the
letters, rejoicing in how God is using these families to change lives,
when some uneasy thoughts began to creep into my mind. “You know,
what you are doing here, in this little corner of the world, is useless
and unimportant. You’re just a mom, surrounded by kids that need to be
trained, school papers that need to be looked at, and laundry that
needs to be folded. You aren’t going into the uttermost parts
of the earth like these missionaries. Your contribution to society and
the kingdom of God is insignificant!”
Have
you ever heard these voices, ladies? Have you ever been bombarded with
feelings of worthlessness, insignificance, and irrelevance? Though you
may have ministered the Word of God to your family all week, have you
ever felt twinges of guilt or condemnation on Sunday, when hearing a
sermon on “The Great Commission?” I have! But I discovered something –
I realized that the source of all these voices and feelings is Satan,
the father of lies, the accuser of the brethren! Mark 4:15 says that he
comes to steal the Word from our hearts. Why does he try so hard to
convince us that being a godly wife and mother is a trivial exercise, a
meaningless expenditure of energy that will be of no account in the
end? He tries so hard because he knows that just the opposite is true!
He knows that, unless he can discourage and stop you, his kingdom of
darkness is going to suffer major losses at the hands of your sons and
daughters!
Let’s take a look at the familiar passage of Scripture commonly known as The Great Commission, found in Matthew 28:18-20:
Then
Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And
surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matthew 28:18-20, NIV
These are Jesus’ last words to his closest friends. We might compare them to the final words of instruction from one who is close to death, an urgent conveyance of the most important message from the heart of one who knows he will never speak again.
These
verses are most often applied in an evangelical context and, of course,
that is an accurate application, since a person must first be a
believer to become a disciple. But Jesus did not say, “Go and make believers of all nations…” He said, “Make disciples of all nations.”
Doing
a word study of the words “nations” and “disciples” uncovers some
revealing insights. When people in Jesus’ day used the word “nations,”
they were not necessarily referring to countries or governments, as we
would. “Nations” was another word for tribes, or groups of families. The family was acknowledged and recognized as the primary building block to every beneficial social structure.
And how was someone “discipled” in Jesus’ time? The person being discipled actually lived
with his teacher. The teacher was able to see his student in every
possible life situation. There was no hiding, no covering-up of
character flaws. Everything was exposed to the scrutiny of the
teacher, and character shaping could be immediate, accurate, and
thorough! The teacher was present at all times, to make the most of
life’s little “teachable moments.” The student was also able to see his
teacher walk through daily difficulties, witnessing everything his
teacher said and did. The mentor would take his student aside for
tailor-made instruction. He daily demonstrated, by his own example and
character, the correct and wise way to handle every situation. He was
able to encourage, exhort, and challenge his disciples twenty-four
hours a day, and thereby eventually mold them into his image!
May
I ask: In what relationship structure can we observe this intensity of
hands-on training? Yes, in THE FAMILY, as expressed in both the family
unit and the family of God (the local church).
Discipleship takes place because of relationship.
Mutual trust allows for the giving and receiving of not just
information, but love, affection, comfort, encouragement, correction,
instruction, training in righteousness, and the many other virtues that
can flow in a covenant relationship. Intimacy facilitates
transparency, character building, singleness of purpose, and vision
giving – the passing of the teacher’s experiences, hopes, wisdom,
expectations, dreams, goals, passions, and legacy to another. We invest
ourselves into our children (both physical and spiritual children)
because they are precious to us. And they receive from us because they
know we love them. It has been said that people do not care how much
you know until they know how much you care. It is relationship that expedites discipleship.
Jesus’ final commission to us was to make disciples of all nations (families)! As Christian women, we must invest ourselves into making disciples within our own families,
as well as reaching out to others. Whether you are a godly mom,
grandma, or single gal who is mentoring others in the Word of God, you
are intricately involved in doing the Great Commission, just as
actively as any evangelist in full-time ministry! You are making
disciples – individuals who will grow up to be godly men and women who
passionately love God and are skilled in the Word of righteousness.
Psalm 127:4-5 (NKJV) says, “Like
arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth.
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be
ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate.” You are
shaping and sharpening your arrows, and then aiming them to hit a
bulls-eye, causing major damage to Satan’s kingdom and bringing great
victory and glory to God’s kingdom and purposes!
The
key, of course, is to be certain that your arrows are strong and sharp
before releasing them, making sure that they will be changing others,
not being changed by others. Nurture, protect, train, and adjust them
until you unmistakably see true warriors and disciples, “who are of full age, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14, NKJV).
If
we are diligent and resolute in these precious years of training and
preparation, our children will grow up to be not only disciples, but
also disciplers. The disciples you make within your own family
will rise up and make an impact that is too great to even fathom! By
making disciples of your sons and daughters who, in turn, go forth and
make more disciples, who make even more disciples…YOU have started a
ripple effect that will change the eternal destinies of hundreds, maybe
thousands of people!!
Ladies,
we are so privileged and honored! Never consider it a small,
insignificant job to raise up a child in the nurture and admonition of
the Lord! We have a GREAT, HIGH calling! Making disciples truly is,
according to our Savior, the most important investment we can make with our lives – an eternal investment which will yield eternal rewards!
Article by Karen Jahn.
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