The parting words of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew carry significant weight, “Go and make disciples” (Matt 28:19). This simple command, known as the Great Commission, is often recognized as the marching orders for global missions.
However, these words from Christ are for every believer, not just those who are missionaries. This command should be brought into our families and in our homes.
So, are you fulfilling the Great Commission at home? Perhaps, you’ve never thought of it personally, or in the home. Let me encourage you to become a missional family.
3 ways to make disciples of your children
1. Share the gospel with them
The first part of disciple-making is always evangelism, which is sharing the glorious gospel truths of Jesus Christ. Evangelism must not be divorced from discipleship—they go hand-in-hand.
Now, discipleship is the process of helping someone to become more like Jesus.[1] In order to help your children to become more like Jesus, they need to know him first, and they encounter him through his gospel.
This means when God allows for gospel opportunities from sin we share the truth that saves. For example, when your child gets caught in lying, when correcting the sin, we tie it back to the need for Jesus. This provides a practical way for your child to admit they are a sinner who needs the savior.
Occurrences of sin are opportunities for the gospel in your children. You can fulfill the Great Commission at home by being aware of opportunities to present the gospel with your children.
2. Teach them diligently
Another way to fulfill the Great Commission at home is to teach your children diligently. This is an all-out attempt to instruct your kids in the way of the Lord.
Scripture says it this way, “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deut. 6:7).
In other words, we are to teach our children all the time and everywhere. When we are driving to the store, we are teaching them diligently. When we clean up the house we are teaching them diligently. When we are tucking the kiddos into bed, we are teaching them diligently.
All the time, everywhere, we teach our kids the ways of the Lord. What an incredible privilege and an amazing way to fulfill the Great Commission at home.
3. Train them in righteousness
We want to train our children in righteousness because that is God’s design. He has purposed for us to be the primary influencers of our children, and our job is to teach them how to obey and live for God.
We do that through training. Think of training as the means for producing Christlikeness in your kids. Essentially training is the forming of spiritual discipline through instruction.
The course or curriculum of our instruction is simply the Scriptures. Everything that we need for godliness and right living comes from the word of God.
Additionally, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
The Word of God is sufficient for training our children in righteousness. We must look to teach our children what the Scripture says. So, we want to take every opportunity to train in righteousness from the Word of God.
When your child won’t share, there are verses for that. When your child talks back, there are verses for that. When your child disobeys, there are verses for that. Go to the Word to help guide your children toward Christ.
The missional family
When we take the words of the Great Commission and apply them to our families, we become missional. Being missional means we can then see the greater purpose for our family that aligns with God’s righteous plan.
When we share the gospel with our children, we are fulfilling the Great Commission. When we teach our children diligently, we are fulfilling the Great Commission. When we train our children in righteousness, we are fulfilling the Great Commission.
May we all live missionally minded as we fulfill the Great Commission in our homes. The next generation will be stronger for it.
[1] Mark Dever, Discipling, 9 Marks, 2016, p. 13
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