Heartprints

A Call to Mobile Discipleship

My six-year-old hung off the cart in the big-box food store. I asked him to step down. He said no and held tightly. Hanging off the cart after I told him to stop was more than just a potential danger or distraction, it was disobedience and sin. Sometimes gospel opportunities happen at inconvenient times. I was busy shopping, but not too busy to see how the gospel applied to his words and actions. So, I stopped the cart and squatted down to have a face-to-face conversation—right next to the tomato sauce and boxes of pasta—with a calm, instructive tone. 

“When you disobey Mommy, what is that called?”

“Sin.”

“And what do we do with our sin?” 

“Stop our sin and turn back to Him.”

So, we prayed together for forgiveness for his sin while other grocery carts rolled by. And he walked next to the cart for the rest of the trip.

Idealized Morning Devotions

mobile discipleship image

I used to think that discipling my kids (now ages ten, six, and three) happened primarily during devotions at the breakfast table. However, most days when I read them a Bible story and teach them truth while they eat cereal, they only half-listen to me—as they check the clock for how long they can play before we hear the bus engine. So, I often feel defeated. Am I doing this right? Is this what discipleship looks like?

Looking back on the past decade, however, I realize that the seeds of truth planted in those Cheerio-eating moments are foundational, but they also need watering in the organic moments of our days. Discipleship—teaching my kids biblical truth and how to follow Jesus—often happens in spontaneous gospel moments as we do something routine. Deep interactions occur in car rides, chatting over Monopoly Jr., or prayers of repentance in the tomato sauce aisle. 

Discipleship is a mobile moment-to-moment opportunity. It was designed that way. From God’s instructions to parents in the Old Testament to Paul’s instructions to believers in the New Testament—scripture shows us that we all are called to mobile discipleship.

But what does mobile discipleship look like?

Read Seana’s full article at Risen Motherhood.

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