The Kingdom-Driven Family

Many times women I speak with lament that they don’t have opportunities to share their faith. Those who stay at home with their children especially feel as though they have limited access to unbelievers. But the truth is quite different.

First, a woman’s family is a great mission field. Even those born into a believing family need to be taught the Christian faith and discipled into a life that lives out God’s law-word in practical ways. This should never be minimized as these sorts of interactions on a day-to-day basis will have a greater lasting value than occasional, infrequent exchanges with others.

That said, women have many chances to be salt and light to those outside their families. On any given day, a woman may have to deal with a service repair person, a customer service representative, a grocery clerk, parents at sporting activities, music teachers, store owners, and neighbors. The way to engage them into a mindset of Biblical thinking is to initiate topics and small talk that will guide the conversation into sharing a Biblical worldview.

Some suggestions:

Neighbor: “I notice that your children don’t go to school. Do you do that homeschooling thing?”
Answer: “Yes we do. We made that choice because we want to educate our children in more than academics. As Christians, we want them to learn how to be responsible and competent in all areas of life. By the way, if you ever need anything during the day, we’re home so we’d be happy to help you. God bless you.”

Grocery clerk: “Are all those children yours? I mean, it looks like you are shopping for a sports team.”
Answer: “Every single one of them is a blessing from God. We shop here because the prices are reasonable and the quality of food is good. I’m glad this store is close by. By the way, let me introduce you to my children (give names). Kids, say hello to (give name, and then make sure to say hello by name each time you frequent that store).”

Service repairman: “This washing machine looks like it gets a lot of use.”
Answer: “Yes, with this many children we use it a lot. Do you mind if my older children watch as you fix it? We are a homeschooling family, and I’m eager for them to learn things I’m not able to teach them. Someday if God blesses them with families, it will be a great benefit if they have some idea as to how to fix things.”

Of course, you’ll need to adapt the exchanges that fit into the circumstance and your particular situation. But you can always be salt and light, even in the most mundane of interactions. Give it a try. I bet you will be surprised at the results.