Faithfully Raising the PKs – Making Jesus Followers in All of Life

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. 

We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

2 Cor. 5:20 

An author and speaker that has greatly influenced my parenting is Paul David Tripp with his book Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family.

He asks, “What one word would you use to describe the position and role of a parent in God’s economy?” His response equates parenting to the role of an ambassador.

“The ambassador doesn’t have any authority in and of himself. He has authority only because he represents a king who has authority. Here’s God’s amazing plan. He makes his invisible authority visible by sending visible authority figures as his representatives. This means that every time you exercise authority in the lives of your children, it must be a beautiful picture of the authority of God. In the lives of your children, you are the look of God’s face, you are the touch of his hand, and you are the tone of his voice. You must never exercise authority in an angry, impatient way. You must never exercise authority in an abusive way. You must never exercise authority in a selfish way. Why? Because you have been put into your position as parent to display before your children how beautiful, wise, patient, guiding, protective, rescuing, and forgiving God’s authority is.”

We visibly represent God to our children and they are always watching our interactions.They watch our very public, up-front interactions with people at church, as well as our interactions within the private confines of our home. Children are very good at spotting a fraud; they can smell fakeness or disingenuousness. My goal (and holy fear) in parenting is to be consistent. My children know better than anyone else who I am. They know the real me because we are together all the time (we homeschool!) As an ambassador for Christ to my children, my goal is to give them the best version of me.

Both my husband and I and our children desperately need the grace of Jesus every moment in our parenting. Many times I expect them to do things in their flesh that I cannot do in my own and even if they did live up to my expectations they would be more aligned with the legalists we read about in the New Testament. I wish I had the same amount of self-control that I ask of them (only ONE cookie!) We all need grace. We all need reconciliation to God.

Our kids are around church culture and events all the time. My goal as a pastor’s wife and mom is to help them not compartmentalize church life and the rest of life, but to establish those rhythms of life that make it all ONE. Not separating the secular from the sacred, but like Paul tells the Athenians, “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). We do that in our language, the way we talk about God, and taking advantage of teachable moments throughout our day. In Deuteronomy 6:7 it says about God’s commandments, “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” This verse demonstrates the principles of integrating spirituality into everyday life, not just designated times. Every time my six year old daughter sees an ambulance go by she asks if we can pray. When my son sees a homeless person on the street corner, he looks around the car for something to give them. I listen to their nudgings from the Lord and help them walk in obedience. 

If I am not consistent in my public and private life, I fear my children will grow resentful towards the church and the things of God. More than anyone else in this whole world, I want them to see Jesus in me and receive the love and grace He gives me every moment. I want my children to view their spiritual life affected by all of life. I want them to know that the gospel changes everything!