Our World; Our Oikos

Jesus told us to be in the world, but not of it. How do we do that? Of course, we obviously live in the world. Just because we have become Christians, we don't disappear from normal life. We continue to work, socialize, live in a neighborhood -- carry on our normal lives. But, we realize that this is not all that there is. We have entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ that is more real than all that we see, hear and feel in the world around us. When we try to articulate this we sound more than a little crazy. But, it is true.

The real issue is how do we continue to really be a part of our normal world while still holding onto this new spiritual reality. We have all heard the phrase, "they are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good." If we live like this, we aren't really in this world. Well, most of us are really here -- but only a small part of the world really knows us for who we are. This is our Oikos.

I have been teaching on the principle of living fully in our Oikos for the last few weeks. What do I mean be living fully in our Oikos. First let me give a working definition of the word. Basically it is a Greek word meaning household. In the Bible, it is more that merely family -- it includes the extended family, servants, workers attached; all the people that a person relates to regularly and closely. Thus, for a working definition we say that our Oikos is that 8-15 people that we relate to regularly. These are the People that God has placed around us so that we can live out our lives as witnesses to Jesus Christ. They are really our world.

On the one hand, these are the people that we are called upon to reach, to evangelize. But, on the other hand, these are the people who really know us and can "keep us honest." The people in our church have now identified their oikos (this can change over time), they have committed to pray for their oikos daily, and to pray specifically for the salvation of those in the oikos who don't know Jesus, and finally to pray for an opportunity to share with those who don't know Jesus. I am doing the same with my Oikos.