Being a mission-focused family in a selfish world

A mission-focused family is a group of people that are united in their mission to glorify God by building His Kingdom. They have the opportunity to do this through everyday life, which is not always easy when faced with worldly temptations. This post will provide you with some helpful tips on how to stay focused on your mission as well as the importance of being a mission-focused family in order for you and yours to be happy.

Decide you’re not like the world

The world tells us to focus on ourselves. To find our own happiness, to put ourselves first. But the Bible tells us something different. It tells us we should focus on the mission of building God’s Kingdom. We are to seek first His Kingdom because when it comes to finding happiness, He is the only One who can truly give it.

It’s not always easy to be different from the world. There’s a lot of pressure to conform to society’s standards. But it’s through Christ that we are able to do the impossible, like dying to ourselves. When we die to ourselves, He can bring us new life.

I continually tell the kids that we are raising them to be countercultural. They aren’t supposed to look like the world. Frankly. it’s a decision we all have to make each and every day. We have to decide we aren’t going to be like the world.

We have to decide that we aren’t going to live our lives for ourselves. In a world where our worth is defined by Instagram likes and TikTok followers, we have to be different.

That’s where mission focus comes in. It’s about living your life, every day, with a focus of building God’s Kingdom. I tell the kids that everything we do can impact the Kingdom of God. Our words and actions can either bring someone closer to God or push them further away. We get to decide which by either the same as the world or different.

See a need, meet the need (if you can)

As a mission-focused family, we are faced with many challenges in today’s world. We must navigate a society that is selfish and self-centered. The mission of God has been lost to the mission of “me.” In this type of environment, what can a mission-focused family do?

We have an opportunity to stand out from the crowd by making it our mission to serve others. This includes serving those close to us as well as reaching out into our community. Our service should include both physical and spiritual needs because they go hand in hand. We need each other if we want to see the Kingdom thrive!

When we make mission-focus a priority in our lives, God’s mission is furthered. When we make mission-focus a priority, the mission of “me” stops and the mission of God begins. This can be hard to do because of our sinful nature. But when we follow the Holy Spirit and stay a mission-focused family, He will provide the strength we need to continue down His mission path.  

This is really about seeing a need and meeting that need. Glenn just said this last night to the kids. One child came home from school and was just having a rockstar of a day. He was selfless. He was seeing needs around the house and going above and beyond to help meet the needs in the home. The other was defiant and rude. Going out of his way to meet me with an attitude. I promise you here and now I am not a perfect parent and my life is not sunshine and rainbows. We have bad days too.

Glenn happened to call me in the middle of a defiant moment because he was at the store and wanted to see if the behavior after school warranted a surprise. I told him one child absolutely deserved a surprise and the other not so much. We don’t randomly reward bad behavior. The defiant child was miffed when he was not given a piece of candy when Dad came home but understood when it was explained why.

Glenn explained that maybe instead of taking a “what can mom do for me” approach to life he can ask himself “what can I do for others” approach and his outcome would be much different. His brother had taken that approach without expecting anything in return and was blessed because of it. Without knowing there would be a reward, he already felt satisfied because he had lifted a little bit of the workload in the house. Yet Dad felt the prompting to go to the store to go get him something without knowing the good deed he had done.

It became a teaching moment about seeing a need and meeting the need, about selflessness, our attitudes, expectations, and so much more. When we’re mission-minded, the reward is the service. The reward is serving others and seeing how that service impacts the other person. God sorts the rest out.

Be in relationship with others and God

Remaining a mission-focused family means staying in relationship with not only God but with others. We are called to be in relationship with many people, not only family members. We must participate in our churches, communities, and societies because that is where mission work takes place to build the Kingdom of God.

We are all one body.

In one of His most well-known parables, Jesus refers to the Church as a body (Romans 12:5). As with any body, each individual member is vital and serves a purpose. We all have a mission to fulfill, and when we neglect one mission, the whole mission suffers. Another key point Jesus makes about mission work is to stay mission-focused in our mission work. We have been called to share the love of Christ with others through mission work (Acts 1:8). We can do that by simply doing random acts of kindness for others.

Mission work does not have to be mission trips

We can fulfill our mission work in our daily lives by merely being mission-focused individuals, applying the missional mindset of Christ to our homes and communities where we can be missional in action or words. The mission of God is everywhere; it is not only on mission trips. We are all missional beings by living intentionally.

Being mission-focused is not easy

The temptation to become selfish, worldly or even lazy can be strong. However, we must put Christ first in everything, even mission work because it was the mission of Jesus to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10; Matthew 18:11). We must remember that mission work is everywhere and at all times because we were called to mission work as Christians. Our mission field is our neighborhood. It’s the PTA meeting. It’s the soccer field. It’s where we work.

It’s really easy to stay focused on ourselves. It’s really easy to get sucked into what we’re doing and our own problems. I’m guilty of it too. We have to make checking up on others a priority. We have to make mission work a priority.

In Luke 9:23, Jesus said that whoever wants to be His disciple must deny themselves, pick up their cross daily, and follow Him.

It is not always easy to stay focused on mission-oriented goals when faced with the many distractions of the world. However, following these tips can help you and your family members stay on track and be happy with what you are doing. Remember that it is important to focus on God’s mission for your life rather than getting wrapped up in worldly pursuits. When you do this, you will find that everything else falls into place.