Parenting Is a Mission

Parenting is a call to mission, not management. Jake Frost reflects on what God wants for us and for our children. 

Parenting is a call to mission, not management. 

The world we live in now is a hard world to grow up in. Our kids are being exposed to all sorts of things, all the time. From the screens they carry around in their pockets, where they see and hear ... well, we know not what. Which is part of the problem. ... To television, movies, music, school, billboards as we drive down the roads. 

Everywhere, all the time, distractions, temptations, and terrible lies are trying to burrow their way into our children’s thoughts and minds and hearts. 

To come out on the other end of childhood and be an adult who is strong and kind and engaged in the struggle of the narrow way, the narrow gate, which can only be entered by striving, will not happen by accident. 

We want our children to know and love Jesus Christ and serve Him here in this world and be happy with Him forever in the next.  

God warns us this won’t be easy. Any who would serve the Lord must be prepared for hardship, adversity, and struggle, as we read in Sirach 2:1-6. 

The first problem our children will face is even coming to know Jesus and what it means to serve Him, to know right from wrong. 

To learn that, amid all that is working insidiously and constantly to undermine our children and lead them away from Christ, requires more than management. Getting them to school on time, dropping them off at practice, an hour of church on Sunday, a catechism class once a week, won’t get it done. 

But there is good news: our kids hunger to know the truth, to know what to make of all the noise, of all that is unceasingly bombarding them, to know right from wrong. They hunger to know Jesus. 

The Mission 

That is our mission. And Jesus has given us an example of the way to do that.  

When Jesus undertook to form disciples, He invited them to come and stay with Him, saying:

“Come, and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. (John 1:39) 

To learn The Way, The Truth, and The Life, to come to know Jesus and how to live the Gospel, takes time. Immersion. Seeing it lived. Being part of living it. Day by day, In moments large and small.  

It takes a family, living and working and talking and playing and praying together.  

It takes parents investing themselves in their family and their children. 

Reading the Gospels, it’s surprising how much of what the Apostles remembered and passed on came from experiences that happened in the course of daily life with Jesus, on the way from one place to another, doing their daily tasks — whether fishing, walking on the road, or having dinner. That is where fig trees were withered, questions were asked, alabaster jars were broken, and tears were shed and hearts changed forever.  

All In 

Take to heart these words which I command you today. Keep repeating them to your children. Recite them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them on your arm as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9) 

Our mission does not call for half measures, for managing things so we can give a little to our kids but make sure we’re keeping some aside for ourselves. Because God does not call for half measures. Our mission as children of God is to “love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). 

 Our mission as parents is to bring our children to the Lord so they can do the same. 

This is total commitment territory. 

Not Alone 

It is hard, as any great mission, any mission worthy of a life, always will be. But we are not alone. God tells us:

Be strong and steadfast! Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD, your God, is with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9) 

And the rewards for a mission performed well? Immense. Greater than eye has ever seen, ear has ever heard, greater than man has ever imagined. For us, and for our children.

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Copyright 2025 Jake Frost
Images: Canva