During the Russian and American space race, a communist teacher proudly told her grade school classroom what an atheist astronaut said after his voyage into outer space.
“I have been far beyond the earth,” said the astronaut, “And I didn’t see God anywhere.”
One seven-year-old girl piped up in response.
“He must not have a pure heart,” she concluded, “because Jesus said only the pure in heart shall see God.”
How great would it be if your child could respond to ungodly cultural pressures with such innocence, confidence and profound wisdom! I believe this young girl’s parents understood something critical:
No matter what the cultural opposition looks like, you can raise a world-changer.
We can instill such spiritual strength in our children that they influence their peers — and even adults — instead of the other way around. And this is not a goal for “some day.”
It starts in childhood.
So how does a parent raise a world-changer? It starts with being a world-changer.
Here’s what Jesus prayed for his disciples:
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it… As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” John 17:15-16, 17
Jesus wants us to be present in our world. He wants us to be protected, but not isolated. He wants us to be on mission, fully engaged.
He wants us to be salt and light, constantly influencing those around us.
The mission statement of my church, River City Church, is this: “Changing the world for Jesus, one person at a time.”
This is how we change the world: One personal encounter at a time. One conversation at a time. One seed planted at a time.
As you do this, include your children in the process. Disciple them in sharing about Jesus with others.
I recall numerous times when I would explain to my children, “Mama will be right back. God told me to talk to that person over there.”
My sons knew that listening to the Holy Spirit’s prompting and reaching out to others is normal life for the believer. This helped them develop the same habit.
At age four, one of my sons brightly and innocently exclaimed, “Oh, Mama, I love Jesus, and you love Jesus, and…oh, everybody loves Jesus!”
This opened up a teachable moment about how not everyone loves Jesus — and that we need to tell them about him!
We don’t produce world-changers by hiding them on the back forty, fearful that the least bit of exposure to the world will forever ruin them.
Neither do we produce world-changers by over-exposing them to the world and letting them soak in its philosophies.
This is where your family fortress comes into play. You filter what comes in. You instruct your child in the truth. You model and instruct what life looks like for those who love Jesus wholeheartedly.
But then you send your child out, one foray at a time, to be an influencer.
You discuss the conversations they have with children in the neighborhood. You invite their friends over, so those children can see a family pray together. You invite them to your small group.
The more genuine and robust your faith is, the greater the chance your child will choose to live the same way: wholehearted, on-mission, fully alive.
Can your family change the world? Absolutely — one encounter at a time.
