Reach Your Oikos

  • by Hoon Kim
  • Sunday, January 17th, 2010
  • Series: Supernatural Joy: The Book of Philippians

REACH YOUR OIKOS

Acts 16:25-34, “25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken.  And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.  27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.  28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”  29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.  30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  31 And they said,  “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”  32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.  33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.  34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.”
INTRODUCTION:  Last week…Fishers of Men

  • (Em Griffin, The Mindchangers)  The late Sam Shoemaker, an Episcopalian bishop, summed up the situation this way: "In the Great Commission the Lord has called us to be--like Peter--fishers of men. We've turned the commission around so that we have become merely keepers of the aquarium. Occasionally I take some fish out of your fishbowl and put them into mine, and you do the same with my bowl. But we're all tending the same fish." 
    • Mrs. Williams
      FEAR OF EVANGELISMàDISTORTED VIEW OF EVANGELISM.

How Did Christianity Spread So forcefully and consistently?  THE OIKOS
Oikos: Greek, translated house/ household.  Specifically, inhabited house, domos= building itself.

  • entire estate: Property + people: not only family, ALSO dependents, employees, slaves.

 We see this in action à Acts 10

  • Acts 10:2, "Cornelius feared God with all his oikos/household". 
  • Acts 10:24, “And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.”
  • Acts 10:27,  “And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered.”
    • oikos à members of the nuclear family, dependents, slaves and employees.

 The Oikos was the BACKBONE of the early church.

  • As OIKOS = fundamental unit of society, evangelism exploded à Mediterranean via interconnected OIKOI.
    • Communication in EC was through interlocking OIKOI; this was the backbone of communication.
    • Michael Green, Evangelism in the Early Church, "the (oikos) family understood in this broad way, as consisting of blood relations, slaves, clients and friends, was one of the bastions of Graeco-Roman society.  Christian missionaries made a deliberate point of gaining whatever households they could as lighthouses, so to speak, from which the Gospel could illuminate the surrounding darkness. [We are, then,] quite right in stressing the centrality of the oikosi household to Christian advance."

Examples of oikos evangelism in ACTS:

When Peter arrived in Caesarea

  • 11.14  An angel instructed Cornelius to send for Peter, saying "He will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household (oikos)".

Lydia’s Conversion

  • 16:15, “15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house + stay.” 

 

NOTICE: Individuals à Spiritual Stewardship: EC Xn understood stewardship over their Oikos. 

  • Acts 10:1-2, “1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, 2 a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.”
  • Acts 16:15, “15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.”

IMPLICATIONS

  • NT evangelism ≠ individual/ mass campaigns of evangelism.
  • Today, anthropologists à 3 universal social systems: kin, colleagues, + interest group.

QUESTION:  What Does OIKOS Evangelism look like TODAY?

 

  • Clarity.  People have different understanding of who God is what the Gospel is.  Truth, faith, sin, God… needs to be fleshed out.
    • Know your oikos: Unchurched, dechurched, lightly churched.
      • Bridge, 4 SL, Contagious Christian.
      • Four Ages
    • Credibility:  People understand the gospel but not believe it’s true. 

Jailer witnessed an act of God:  Acts 16:25-34, “25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken.  And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.  27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.  28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”  29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 

  • The transformed lives of people were acts of God.
    • Transformation Not Methods:  The early church spread through family members who saw old sinners à new saints, neighbor who questioned how such change had overcome his old friend, and reaching the guys @  (work+ school + sports team).
      • the restitution of wrongs, and the quality of new life drew many.
        • 2B natural + fruitful, life transformation = key to persuasion.
  • Intimacy:  People need to be ‘discovered’ for proper ‘application’ of the promises.

What HINDERS Oikos evangelism?

  1. If your life = inconsistent:  character, undisciplined, high maintenance, addictions, SELF-CENTERED CONSUMERISM.
  2. If u hide how important Jesus = 2u.  Don’t talk about Him, but plenty on other things.  Coward.

APPLICATION

  • Pray for THEIR salvation and joy.
  • Pray for YOUR opportunities: practical ways to love, encourage, etc.
    • Acts 10:36-38