lifeasmission

Missional Home Makers

March 25, 2007

Here’s something I posted over at meremission. 

For a variety of reasons, there are many Christian families in which one spouse or parent spends the bulk of their time at home.  I am not talking about a spouse or parent who works out of the house, but rather single-income families where one adult plays the role of “home maker.”  Stereotypically, this person is in charge of keeping a clean home, preparing meals, organizing and managing life’s little details, and if there are kids in the picture, checking on homework, coodinating schedules, and fulfilling other parental responsibilities.  I am among the first to recognize these as vital areas of family life to steward well and respect families who operate out of this paradigm.  I want to suggest, however, that for those who aspire to missional living, the role of the stereotypical home maker ought to be transfigured.

It is so easy to let the “good of our families” consume our time and attention.  In a society saturated by the powerful influences of consumerism, materialism, and individualism, what is actually the “good of our families,” can become quickly distorted.  A well kept home, time-consuming meal preparation, and breaking ones neck to get the kids to any and every thing they can possibly fit in, can easily become distractions from truly missional living.

I am in no way saying these are bad things, I am am simply saying we need to think through these things theologicaly and missiologically (yes, I said it, we need to think theologically about cleaning our homes!).

Having a spouse or parent who stays at home is a tremendous opportunity to cultivate relationships with and be a blessing to neighbors.  To be a missional home maker, in my opinion, would mean looking to share time, resources, and stories with those we live near.  It would mean concerning yourself as much with others in your community as your own family.  It would mean opening your home (clean or not!) to others for the sake of building relationships and cultivating an environment of familirity and comfortability.  If kids are in the picture, think of the message this would send about your priorities – loving people and making them feel welcome by offering to share our time and resources is more important that having everything just the way we want it.

Missional churches are such on account of the missional lives and practices of those who comprise the communtiy.  All I am trying to do here is offer some suggestions for a particular kind of family to live out that mission on a paractical level.

Posted in: church, community, consumerism, culture, missional, suburban, theology