My Favorite Musings

Teaching a Bible Class at a 
High School in Korea

It's been intersting over the years that it is sometimes not the longest sentences or even sermons that grap our attention, and give focus to and bring change to our lives. It is that simple phrase, those few words which get seared into our minds and our souls that make the difference. Is it not a reality that great teachers do not take the simple and make it complex but take the complex and make it simple. If what is true can be easily remembered it has a much better chance of making a difference in our worlld
 Over the years I have tried to find simple ways to say profound things. This post although not having a consistent theme does in fact do so. The consistent theme is learn to say the profound simply. Many if not most of these quotes are mine and do not have an author assigned and I have included the source where i have  known the source and borrowed the musing from another.. Enjoy these and add your own favorites in the comments section of the blog..

With a wonderful Christian brother
the Vice President of Kenya

• A failure to envision the future is a decision to forfeit the future
• Tears are liquid prayers - Charles Spurgeon 
• To conquer oneself is the first and best of all victories.  --Plato
• You never know how important something is until you know how important something is! 
• When the Lord is your shepherd it really doesn’t matter what you’re going through, you are going through. 
• Has it ever occurred to you that when you pray, what God has to say to you is a lot more important than what you have to say to Him.
• If you don’t like the crop you are reaping you have to change the seeds you are sowing
• If you keep doing what you have always done you’ll simply get more of what you’ve got. Can you live with that? 
• Having counseled 1000s of people as a pastor I've observed that the first 100 years of life are the toughest. Rick Warren
• If you want to multiply your ministry to many learn how to intensify your ministry to a few 
• What happens to you is not nearly as important as to what you do with what happens to you.
• It’s not what you go through that matters, it’s who goes with you through whatever you go through that matters. 
• It’s God’s will that His church grow and his lost children be found! Donald McGavran
• There are really two primary reasons people don’t become Christians; one they have never seen a Christian, and two, they have seen a Christian. Thom Wolfe
• If it’s God’s will, it’s God’s bill! He still supplies!
• When we pray and answers come it’s easy to think it was just a coincidence. Just reflecting, I’ve noticed that when I stop praying I stop having coincidences. 
• The pathway through our trials doesn’t so much define us as deepen us
• "What lies behind us, and what lies 
before us are small matters 
compared to what lies within us." 
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
• The problem with the church in the Western world is that we are a mile wide and an inch deep. Dallas Willard
• “People come to church to be built up, not beat up.”
• “The result of an increasing gap between our knowledge and behavior is…. guilt.”
• “Pastors should spend more time on the church that could be, than on the church that is.” 
• “You can’t get by with a low quality product in a society with high quality expectations.” 
• Television has had 2 impacts on the church, first it has increased the expectation of quality, and second it has shortened the attention span of the attendees.
• The impact of the iPod culture: “A church is more likely to grow with good music and average preaching, than average music and good preaching.”
• It’s not inscribed in the annals of unchangeable theology but we do have a tendency to assume the eternal childhood of the believer. 
• When as an individual or a church you begin to believe you’ve arrived it’s amazing how the problems start to immerge
• The abundant life Christ promised begins at the end of my comfort zone
• When you walk on water it doesn’t matter how deep the water is 
• Just thinking… there were 4 men in the fiery furnace. We know the 3 who came out by name. Why did the 4th man stay in the furnace? We also know his name. Maybe he knew that it was not a matter of if but when we would be in the fiery furnace and needed someone to protect and deliver us.



Some friends and I with Dr. Cho in his office.

• It’s called the Great Commission for a reason and that’s because it is not to be subjugated to the many good things we must also do. The danger in business and the church is to cherish the good instead of the great.

• Stupidity consists of doing what we have always done and expecting a different result
• The Church exists for mission as fire exists for burning. Llyod Ogilve 
•  The problem is always leadership, and the solution is always leadership. John Maxwell
• We are too near the crown to lay down the cross. 
• I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Jesus 

Your World Is Smaller Than You Think

The Oikos Principle

The Oikos Principle is of such critical importance to the fulfilling of our Lord's command to make disciples of all peoples that I have wrote and published from others articles and insights about the Oikos principle. 

In this post my friend Pastor Tom Mercer writes about his life's passion of seeing the oikos principle lived out in his world and the worlds represented by every believer in his and every church.

Pastor Tom Mercer
Senior Pastor
High Desert Church

Pastor Tom pastors one of the finest churches in America, the High Desert Church a plus 14,000 person congregation in the High Desert Community of California. Not only is this church very large but I know of no other church anywhere in my experience that is as large in that small of a community. They are literally transforming their community with the Gospel.

Pastor Tom has not only written a great book on the subject but his church has released him to travel to help individual churches and regional bodies both in America and overseas understand and apply this principle. We were privileged to have Pastor Tom come to our seminary and teach this principle to the students. One pastor who came to the sessions is seeking to transform the largest African American Church in Pomona to function under this principle. 

If you would like to have Pastor Tom speak into the life of your leaders I encourage you to follow the links in this post which will connect you to the many resources developed by Pastor Tom for churches everywhere who want to become intentional practitioners of this wonderful principle.

HAS OUR FASCINATION WITH OUR PROGRAMS COMPROMISED OUR FAITHFULNESS TO OUR PURPOSE?

Tom Mercer

Senior Pastor, High Desert Church of Victorville, California

HighDesertChurch.com

Author of Oikos, Your World Delivered

OikosChurches.com

In his Mission Frontiers Journal, Rick Wood notes how it took 1,800 years to grow to 2.5 percent of the global population, the Evangelical church picked up the pace by moving from 2.5 percent to 5 percent in a mere seventy years and, then, from 5 percent to 10 percent in just over twenty-two years. Jesus is a Man of His Word—in spite of everything Hades has thrown against Him, He has methodically been building His church. Yet so few local churches have jumped into the fray! Hiding behind the security of good intentions, the greatest initiative of history, for many believers, remains simply the greatest idea in ministry. 


I was blessed to be raised in a God-honoring ministry family, grew up in great churches led by gifted leaders and was privileged to attend Bible college and Seminary. Through it all, I learned the same theological principles and participated in the same ministry programs that you probably did, but there was still something missing. The people around me were committed to church like I was—but none of us were having much impact in the communities we lived in. It wasn’t until I was introduced to a simple principle that Jesus both taught and modeled that I discovered the key to changing the world. The idea didn’t change those things I had grown to appreciate about my faith—it ignited them.

• oikos n, extended household (Gr.), a group of eight to fifteen people with whom you share life most closely, your sphere of greatest influence 
• oikocentric adj, having evaluated purpose through the lens of oikos

That principle is already active in your ministry—just ask any and every group within your church for the hands of those who received Christ primarily because of the influence of one or more oikos relationships—a parent, friend, co-worker, etc. You’ll quickly and powerfully define for those in attendance what primary strategy God has always used to build His Kingdom! As doors have opened for me to share this principle with hundreds of audiences around the world, the response is always the same! Different hemispheres, different cultures, different languages, different traditions, different generations—but always the same response!


Everyone pastor should lead a church that creates impact in the community. The problem is, not every pastor actually wants to! For some, the price for impact is too high—the requirements too controversial. But for those who are willing to challenge the status quo, the results can be startling! So how can a local church move from just maintaining a congregation to actually transforming a community?

Change the Church

The general takeaway from every church leadership conference is pretty much the same—“Here are strategies that can dynamically change your church—apply these principles and you’re on your way!”  The problem is that most of those conferences are hosted by leaders whose spiritual gifting is off the charts, a fact that is consistently understated. Frankly, some leaders are so highly gifted they would probably be leading an impactful ministry by utilizing most any strategy! But, the truth is, none of us are gifted enough to change a church—that role is unique to the Holy Spirit. A church changes when and only when He decides to change it. The primary role of leadership is to mold the kind of church culture that facilitates that type of divine transformation.

Change the Culture

Jim Collins writes extensively about creating a culture of discipline. “A culture of discipline is not just about action. It is about getting disciplined people...who engage in disciplined thought and...who then take disciplined action.”

Tom Mercer Teaching
Korean Churches the
Oikos Principle

Most churches do more than they are capable of doing well. A culture of discipline avoids structures and strategies that are less productive in preparing people for world-change. Dave Browning uses the term minimality, encouraging a reduction in the scope of our efforts.  It’s not that we should try to reach fewer people, but try to reach more people by doing fewer things. By doing fewer things better.


A few years ago, our leadership team wondered what would be a realistic expectation for people in the church to participate in our ministry systems. Through a variety of interviews and surveys we determined that the average parishioner—even those most committed to following Christ—could not regularly participate in church events for more than five hours a week. (That was our threshold, not necessarily the number that any other church should use.) By the way, those five hours did not include daily personal disciplines or time spent with their oikos, but only time spent within the context of our ministry process. Knowing that we would only have access to them for five hours, the next question was, “What are we going to do with them?” That is, what ministry strategies should fill those five hours? What strategies would best prepare them to engage their unique mission within their oikos?


That exercise didn’t just create new windows for ministry, it showed us how many other windows we had to close! We began to recognize how many programmatic options we had provided our church family—options that siphoned their time and energy into less productive environments. None of those options had been evil, in fact, they were all good! But, for us, as Collins said, good truly had become the enemy of great.


When we were nearing the completion of a new ministry facility, our paint contractor caught up with me as I was walking from the worksite back to my office. He handed me a color chart and said, “Pastor Tom, in a few months we are going to need to order the exterior finish for the building, so I’ll need to know what color the church wants the building to be!” I looked at the chart and said, “I think we’ll go with this one.” “Fine,” he responded, “when you make the decision, just let me know.” I thought he hadn’t heard me. “This is the color we want to go with.” He looked at me with a startled look and said, “Are you telling me you have the authority to choose the color for the building?” I smiled and nodded. “Pastor Tom,” he continued, “Do you realize what would be involved in that decision at my church (he attended a large church in another community)? The Color Committee would have to meet and then make a recommendation to the Building Committee, who would then have to meet to make a recommendation to the Trustees, who would then have to meet to make a recommendation to the Elders.” He was impressed, to say the least. I told him, “Kit, why would I want to waste any of our members’ time for an exercise as mundane as choosing a color?” Which, being interpreted, means they all have better things to do with their five hours.


As a shepherd of God’s people, a pastor has the primary responsibility of protecting the flock—from heresy, yes, but more often from distractions. Generally, churches reflect the people who attend—we try to do too many things. We’re not trying to do too much—just too many things.

Pastor Tom Mercer

I’ve often reminded pastors that they will never truly introduce the oikos concept to a church family, because up to ninety percent of every church family already came to Christ that way, through an oikos relationship. But, by elevating the oikos concept within a congregation, we can accelerate it through intentionality. More often than not, though, pastors and parishioners alike view the oikos challenge through a “programmatic” set of lenses, getting all “geeked up” about the idea, enjoying the “campaign” as it runs it’s course and then eventually allowing the idea to be discarded on the pile of other well-intended programs that continue to litter our lives. Accelerating to breakneck speed during the last generation, church programs have replaced the church’s purpose. Which is why, without a change in church culture, it is virtually impossible for people to see the oikos principle as anything but a program. 
Church leaders can change that. Only God can change a church. But we can change a culture within a church. But, first, something else must change.

Change The Conversation.

At an oikos training seminar, I commonly say, “Only God can change your church, I can help you change the conversation, but only you (pastors) can change the culture!” But when we show them our training materials, they immediately perceive a program. And, as we have already established, oikos is not a program, an evangelism emphasis or a ministry department—it’s a set of lenses that clarify the mission of the church; lenses through which we will forever view Christian life and ministry; lenses that will even change the way we read the Scriptures. It’s not a process that quickly transforms a church in a couple of weeks, but a paradigm that guides strategic ministry decisions over the long haul. 


Here are some ideas for generating that conversation:

• Beat the drum in every message. Provide at least a short "how this applies to our oikos mission" component to every sermon. Certainly, it should not be the main point of very many sermons, but always the directional arrow that sends people out the door. And when you do, don’t just use the word, but provide a very short explanation for the sake of any visitors. For example, typically follow up the “O” word by saying something like, “…your oikos, those eight to fifteen people whom God has strategically placed in your life.”
• At least twice a year, make the oikos principle the only point of a sermon. Over time, people are impressed with the value of any idea that we are willing to relentlessly pursue.
• Use the word “oikos” in your in publications. I smile every time a pastor says, “Loved the book—I’m using the ideas from it, but I’m just not using the word, “oikos.” I take no offense at those comments because I understand the veiled concern—that a congregation would be confused by such an “out of the box” word. But there aren’t many missional terms that your congregation aren’t already familiar with. I would argue that it is precisely the non-familiarity of the word that gives us the edge in communicating the concept. For example, when we use terms like, “relational evangelism,” people bring along contextual baggage into the conversation. They already have a unique perspective on what the words “relationship” and “evangelism” mean—and their particular context may not necessarily be the one you’re trying to create. Introducing a word like “oikos” provides us an opportunity to actually create context, which is always easier than recreating it!
• Make sure oikos prayer cards (listing those eight to fifteen people) are always referenced and available. It will seem like most people will actually fill-out and discard eight to fifteen of them before they recognize the oikos principle’s power!

(http://oikoschurches.squarespace.com/storage/oikosprayercard.jpg)

• Give a detailed explanation of oikos to every newcomer or new member through a gift brochure or book, or by simply committing a section of your new members class process to the principle—but always bring newcomers up to speed.
• Bring a team to an Oikos Workshop at HDC. Intentionality at every level accelerates momentum. Unilaterally developing strategies to create oikocentric children’s ministries, student ministries, small group ministries, men’s ministries is possible, but brainstorming with other church leaders will be both catalytic and enjoyable. (http://www.oikoschurches.com)

My belligerence about emphasizing the oikos principle has frustrated some, but I continue to insist that, if the Kingdom is to function on all cylinders, there must be synergy between Christ, the Church and the Christian—because…

• IF Christ died to save lost people;
• AND IF Christians have been surrounded by lost people;
• THEN Churches exist to facilitate strategic partnerships with a local group of Christians, enhancing their success in delivering that message of the cross and displaying the glory of God to the people with whom they do life!

For information about
Oikos Workshops go toOikosChurches.com

Leith Anderson recently observed: “I actually have more confidence in the people that do evangelism (making disciples) than I do the people who primarily emphasize discipleship (making evangelists). That’s partially because the people that are most effective in evangelism are usually the most recent converts who often have the broadest network of unbelievers. But discipleship often drives people more deeply into the church culture, which means their network of friends and acquaintances are believers. They are therefore less able and less effective at evangelism. This is the current mood in my take. What I think I need to do, and what I would like to see others do, is to make disciples. That is the mandate of the Great Commission. But maybe we should emphasize evangelism in a way counter to the Christian culture: evangelism must always be our priority.” 


Any sincere commitment to effective evangelism actually requires a renewed commitment to discipleship. Every prayer I pray for someone who is unchurched is also a prayer for personal growth—that I would become the kind of person through whom God would effectively reflect His glory. My take is that the biblical model for the church is neither a discipleship paradigm nor an evangelistic paradigm—but a partnership paradigm, elevating this primary strategy for changing the world and then partnering with God’s people to help them become really good at it!

Sources:

Rick Wood, Frontiers Bulletin
Jim Collins, Built to Last
Dave Browning, Deliberate Simplicity
Leith Anderson, The State of Evangelism in 2010, Published in The Cutting Edge, Reaching the Unreached

Philosophy Of Ministry

Teaching A pastors/Leaders
retreat in Singapore

Philosophy Of Ministry

Many time in ordination councils and in congregational search committees when they are looking for a pastor its not unusual to ask about the persons philosophy of ministry. These are the bedrock principles that guide the leader in how he or she functions within the ministry context. Having seen many attempts at it where the key principles are not clearly articulated it is no surprise that many leaders fail to get traction in leading their churches. 

I wrote this and hopefully will begin your thinking on this foundational issue.  Any person seeking to be an effective missional leader must know not only what needs done but must be grounded and understand why they do what they do.

Philosophy Of Ministry

1. I believe we are co-laborers together with God. The important part of that partnership is that we get onto God’s agenda and stay there. For unless He builds the house they labor in vain who build.
2. I believe that “big Christians” build great churches. There is no substitute for being grounded in and applying the word of God.
3. I believe what God does in the life of leaders gets replicated and structured into the life of the church. As leaders, professional and lay, taking our own walk with God seriously and modeling the walk of a fully devoted follower is critical to developing a spiritually strong church. The church will not grow spiritually to a level above its leaders
4. I believe Christians thrive in community and having every Christ-follower as part of a small group is an essential part of personal growth. It is in the context of this community that true life transformation happens.
5. I believe the deployment of spiritual leaders multiples Kingdom impact. As a pastor a significant portion of my time will be invested in the development,discipling and deployment of leaders.
6. I believe God has gifted and wired every individual differently and maximum kingdom growth occurs when we minister in the way God has wired us under a common purpose (mission) and shared vision
7. I believe a Collegial Style of Leadership where the joint collaboration of Spiritual leaders, prayerfully discerning and doing the will of God is necessary for a church to thrive
8. I believe the pastor is God’s “point person” and has a primary role to see that the vision God has given the church is accomplished. This is accomplished best by empowering people to find their place in the wonderful redemptive call of God.
9. I believe the institutional church of the post war period must become a missional church in order to reach today’s culture with the gospel
10. I believe the values about evangelism erode over time and it takes diligent hard work on the part of all those in leadership to keep the main thing the main thing.
11. I believe our true values are seen in what we do. Honest evaluation of what we are doing and the results we achieve keep us focused on results not effort
12. I believe the Vision is the what, and the Values are the why. The most common reason the vision doesn’t become a reality is because the deep seated values are incompatible with the vision. 
13. I believe change is necessary for growth. I believe that the end goal of reaching and growing people is what should drive the change and is the only valid reason to consider change.
14. Spiritual health and disease are a reality. Churches with an unholy sickness do not grow. Healthy churches grow.
15. There is no limit to what God will do with people completely surrendered to Him.  We as individuals should be, and the church should be, those fully devoted followers and should be our and my heart passion.



With my friend Karen Hurston one of
the finest Christian Leaders in the World.
In this picture she was helping a
 number of our students on
a recent trip to Korea

16. I believe any church can grow if

         o    It really wants to grow
         o    It will pay the price for growth
         o    It will be united in mission PSALM 133
         o    It will apply principles rather than be locked into methods
         o    Will persevere

Feel free to add your comments or even your personal Philosophy of Ministry or things you've learned about this issue in you time serving the Lord

The Most Important Thing We Have To Do Before Its Too Late

Margaret and I with the pastors of a new
church in a Leper Colony

This poem from an unknown author has been a reminder to me that of all the things we should be doing while we sojourn here on earth nothing is more important than winning people to Christ.

Specifically, as we have been emphasizing in the last few posts, each of us has 6-15 people supernaturally and strategically placed in our lives by the Lord of the harvest and that place is called our "oikos" or our world. These are the folks that will hear and see the gospel though us, You or I may not always be the final link in that chain of events and encounters that finally brings a person to Christ but we must by what we do and say be the missing link for them at this time. Doing nothing if we believe in the value and benefits of being a Christian and the reality of hell is not an option. 
There is a video widely distributed on the internet that I am including in this post by Penn from Penn and Teller of Las Vegas show fame. He makes the point better than I ever could that if we really believe there is a hell and we don't tell the persons around us we really are expressing hate. We would never tell our friends to "go to hell" but our failure to tell them the good news has the same effect.

      A LETTER FROM HELL

My friend, I stand in Judgment now

And feel that you're to blame somehow.

While on this earth I walked you day by day,

And never did you point the way.

You knew the Lord in truth and Glory,

But, never did you ever tell the story,

My knowledge then was very dim,

You could lead me safe to him.

Though we lived-together here on earth,

You never told me of your second birth,

And now I stand this day condemned,

Because you failed to mention Him.

You taught me many things, that's true,

I called you Friend and trusted you.

But I learned, now that it's too late,

You could have kept me from this fate.

We walked by day and talked by night,

And yet you showed me not the light.

And you let me live, love, and die,

And all the while you know I'd never live on high,

Yes, I called you friend in life,

And trusted you in joy and strife.

And yet in coming to this end,

I see you really weren't my friend.

SCRIPTURE: Mat 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8;  Romans 10:14, 15

As Ezekiel said God is looking for people to "stand in the gap," and the question to you and me is "Will I stand in the gap for those that God has brought into my world?"

Dr. Dale Salico, Dr. Larry Richards
and myself. These friends have been
instrumental in launching our
new Seminary

Charles Spurgeon put it this way; "If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay.
If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.


Dear Lord of the Harvest; Grant that we, your children and ambassadors may be found faithful, so that on that great resurrection day we will not enter heaven alone but bring with us those you have used us to reach. 
May your heart of compassion for the lost sheep of your pasture be burned deeply in our being so that we, each day, will be found faithful, May it be so for Your glory, Amen

Deeper Thoughts On Oikos Evangelism

Dr. Thom Wolf

I first met Thom Wolf when I was working with Dr. Win Arn at the Institute for American Church Growth. Dr. Thom was the pastor of the Church on Brady an exciting church in East Los Angeles where he served 25 years as the Senior Pastor. The church today has become Mosaic one of the bright lights in contemporary American church life.

Seeing Thom’s ministry as this racially diverse and conflicted community in East Los Angeles was transformed by the gospel using this simple “oikos” principle was amazingly remarkable. So great was the impact of this church on the community in this the most unlikely of circumstances both he and it were featured in the film "...and THEY SAID IT COULDN'T BE DONE!"

Thom continues his ministry by continuing to develop leaders who will change their world as Thom has done with his. 


Dr. Thom Wolf is international president and professor of global studies of University Institute, New Delhi, India, an Asia-based learning group in, servicing South and East Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. He is an International Fellow of Canyon Institute of Advanced Studies, Phoenix. Arizona

OIKOS EVANGELISM

THE BIBLICAL PATTERN

By Dr. Thomas A. Wolf

Several fundamental insights from contemporary anthropology help us understand more clearly the biblical pattern of evangelism that flowed so freely, fearlessly and forcefully through the early church across the Mediterranean world.

Peter B. Hammond

Peter B. Hammond, professor of anthropology, Indiana University, observes; "in most cultures the social systems of greatest importance are based on kinship. Human beings everywhere are born into some sort of family. And almost always this family is important in giving them-literally and figuratively-a start in life: producing them, feeding, clothing, protecting, and educating them, and eventually establishing for them a 'place' in society...In most cultures the kin group plays an even more important role [than in America], lasting throughout life as the principal source of the individual's emotional, economic, social-and frequently supernatural-support, and providing the basis for community organization."

David G. Mandelbaum

David G. Mandelbaum, professor of anthropology. University of California, summarizes his findings: "Whatever diversity there may be among social groupings the world over, there are at least two types which are found in every human society. The family is one of them—In every land, among every people; the child is ordinarily raised and nurtured within a family. The other type of group universal to humanity...is the local community. Just as no person normally lives all his life alone, devoid of any family, so does no family normally live entirely alone, apart from any local group...of neighbors."² Mandelbaum goes on to point out a third group-the clan-which is also a cultural universal, if one allows for its evolution in the contemporary Western setting. The clan has developed into "...the social units which are extensions of the local group...voluntary associations based on common interests...ranging from trade unions and medical associations to bridge clubs and parent-teacher associations. Each of these groupings is held together by a common interest, an interest arising from mutual participation in the same trades, the mutual enjoyment of a game, or mutual problems in relation to a set of children."

The three universal units of societies worldwide, according to anthropological research, are social systems based on

Dr. Thom Wolf

1) Common kinship,

2) Common community and

3) Common interests.

Now let us go one step further. Since this trinity of social systems is a part of present-day human life, would we be so surprised to discover the same central characteristics in the human matrix of social life in the times of the New Testament? In fact, that is exactly what we find. For this phenomenon is not only transcultural, it is trans-historical, reaching across centuries.

The apostolic church used the interlocking social systems of common

kinship/community/interest as the backbone for communicating the Gospel. The basic thrust of the New Testament evangelism was not individual evangelism, it was not mass evangelism; and it was definitely not child evangelism. The normative pattern of evangelism in the early church was OIKOS EVANGELISM.

"Oikos Evangelism" What is it? Oikos is the Greek word most often translated house or household evangelism. But be careful. Don't just assume you know what those words mean. Of course, we know their basic meaning in English. But what was their original connotation?

Under the old Attic law, oikos was the whole estate, while oikia was the physical dwelling only. However, that precise distinction was lost in later Greek. In the New Testament there are several places where oikia actually means the inhabitants of a house (Mt. 12.25; Jn 4.53; I Cor. 16.15; Phil. 4.22)

Oikos means a house. Specifically, it means an inhabited house in contrast to domos, the mere building itself. Thus, one can understand the significance of a house being a dwelling. Oikos was sometimes used to specify a certain kind of inhabited building such as a temple, a palace, or even a grave. ²

It was common in Egypt to call a temple the oikos of the deity. The papyri refer to "the oikos of Ammon" in the main temple of Hephaestus. The anthropological literature records the basic animistic practice of consecrating an image or shrine to a spirit and inviting the spirit to come and indwell the shrine. Such is the significance of Micah's oikos/shrine for the spirits during the times of the Judges (Judges 17.5)

The oikos of the Lord of Israel was the chosen place for His presence (Judges 18.31; 2Sam. 12.20), though there was continual clarification that the Lord of all the earth does not dwell in buildings made by man (Is. 66.1 -2; I Kings 8:12-21, 27-30; Jer. 7.1 -11; Acts 7:46-50).

Jesus spoke of His Father's oikos, sometimes meaning the earthly temple (Jn. 2.16) and sometimes the heavenly dwelling (Jn. 14.2). Spiritually, the body becomes the real oikos/dwelling place of God (I Cor. 3.16; 2 Cor. 6.16). Even demons will claim men's bodies as an oikos to inhabit when conditions are appropriate (Mt. 12:44; Lk. 11:24) I Timothy 3.15 makes it clear that the Oikos of God "is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth."

In a broader sense, oikos referred to one's entire estate, people and property forming one family, a household, as the usage of oikos applied to the church would imply in Israel, the oikos included not only wife and children, but also servants and resident aliens. Thus, the command of Deuteronomy 12.7, "You shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household", is explained by 12.12, "You shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and daughters, your menservants and your maidservants." (See also Deut. 14.26)

Dr. Thom Wolf

This same concept of oikos was just as basic in Graeco-Roman society and thought. Acts 10 has a casually given, though faithful, definition of oikos. It says that "Cornelius feared God with all his oikos/household" (10.2). An angel of God instructed Cornelius to send for Peter, saying "He will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your oikos" (11.14) When Peter arrived, "Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his kinsmen and close friends " (10:24,27).

An oikos is a social system composed of those relate to each other through common ties and tasks. The New Testament oikos included members of the nuclear family, but extended to dependents, slaves and employees. Oikos members often lived together, but always sensed a close association with each other. And note this carefully, the oikos constituted the basic social unit by which the early church grew, spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ, the risen Lord.

Michael Green, Evangelism in the Early Church,3 confirms that "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 loikosi household to Christian advance."

Michael Green

By thus cleaning the lenses of our socio-historical spectacles, we can see what an Oikos meant to the early church. An oikos was the fundamental and natural unit of society, and consisted of one's sphere of influence-his family, friends, and associates. And equally important, the early church spread through oikoses-circles of influence and association. With only a moment of reflection, we begin to realize a significant difference of thrust, tone, and tenor between much contemporary evangelism and early church outreach. The first church does not appear to have had a fanfare of mass campaigns for evangelism. They would have considered it foolishness to organize camel caravans for growth, bringing kids to Timothy's Children's Church with the promise of Bithynia Burgers after the services. (Tell me now; can you honestly imagine Silas and Titus as camel captains vying for the grand prize going to the camel team averaging the most children at the 1st Ecclesia of Ephesus??) But, joy of joys, the early church was not encumbered with the wholly unnatural (unnatural then and unnatural now) experience of forced evangelism; going reluctantly, flinchingly and embarrassingly door to door to encounter people they did not know, to explain a message which the first time often did not make sense, to an audience totally uninterested or unfriendly.

As Michael Green reminds us, an oikos for the New Testament church consisted of "blood relations, slaves, clients, and friends. Christian missionaries made a deliberate point of gaining whatever loikos] households they could as lighthouses, so to speak, from which the gospel could illuminate the surrounding darkness." ⁴  An oikos corresponds to what contemporary anthropologists define as the three universal social systems of common kinship, common community, and common interests.

OIKOS EVANGELISM is the God-given and God-ordained means for naturally sharing our supernatural message. The early church spread through oikos evangelism-evangelizing family members who saw the old sinner become the new saint; sharing with the neighbor who questioned how such a difference had come over his old friend, and reaching the guys in the local trade union or the oikos that played tennis together.

It is here, also, that we catch an eye-burning hint of the key to oikos evangelism:

Life transformation. If oikos evangelism is God's key to the natural and rapid spread of the Good News, the life transformation is the key to oikos penetration and persuasion. Life transformation. Maybe that is why some adults are forced into evangelizing only children. Could it be that the children do not yet see what the adult peer groups so clearly perceive-that one has become religious without becoming radiant? And could this also be a clue to why, all too often, the persons who are so gung-ho on doorbell evangelism seem.-.er, uh, well, not to offend anyone, they just seem a little strange? Now, don't get me wrong. They are sincere, unquestionably so. And they are enthusiastic, embarrassingly so. And yet, so help me, I've met a lot of them, and well...Could it be that some of us in the contemporary church who are so bold to evangelize "out there" fall fruitless "right here" in our own oikos? In the early church, it was the restoration of balance, the restitution of wrongs, and the fragrance of an enchanting new life that drew so many to the fledgling oikos of God.

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved, you and your oikos." (Acts 16:31) That is the apostolic answer to .the question, "What must I do to be saved."

The spread of the faith is included in the reception of the faith. Oikos evangelism is God's natural means to spread the Good News, for everyone who has ever, or will ever receive Christ. And the key that opens every oikos is life transformation through the indwelling of the living God.

FOOTNOTES

1. Hammond, Peter. Cultural & Social Anthropology: Selected Readings. 1964:145-46. MacMillan: New York. 
 
2. Mandelbaum, David. "Social Groupings" in Hammond M Cultural & Social Anthropology (see above). 

3. Green, Michael. Evangelism in The Early Church. 1970:210. Eerdmans: Grand Rapids
4. (For additional 
Comments see pp. 207-223.)

The Silver Bullet for Disciple Making

In my last post I wrote an article on the "oikos" principle and its role in the growth of the church. Dr. Charles Arn, his father the late Dr. Win Arn and myself had the privilege of leading seminars to help churches intentionalize this principle. This week Dr. Charles Arn sent me this article, as he thought and I agree it would make a great post for all the readers and followers of this blog.

My self and Dr. Larry Richards on the
 Frank Pastore Radio Show

As you read this article let me give you a simple suggestion of something you can do as a pastor. In a Sunday service ask people this question; " If you would say that the primary reason you are a Christian today is a result of the influence of a friend or relative please stand." You will find that  85%-95% of the persons in attendance will be standing. This will be true whether your church has grown in the past years or not. This makes a wonderful way to introduce the 'oikos" principle to your church.


You could follow this up in a number of ways;

1. Preach a message or series of messages on this subject
2. Continually encourage and facilitate people taking time to develop relationship with their oikos.
3. Have your leaders study either of the books listed in the previous post
4. Plan special activities especially designed to allow people to bring their oikos to a church event that has been designed with the oikos in mind.
5. Have Dr. Charles Arn come to your church for a weekend seminar to train your people and help light the fire that will see your church explode with new life and vitality. email him at chiparn@aol.com

The Silver Bullet for Disciple Making (Charles Arn)

“Silver bullet”— Any straightforward solution perceived to have extreme effectiveness; a phrase that typically appears with an expectation that a particular practice will cure a major prevailing problem.[i]

Dr. Charles Arn

Based on my 30+ years in studying the process of evangelism and church growth, I can confidently say there is a “silver bullet” for fulfilling Christ’s command to go and make disciples.  Here it is:

The most effective evangelism—by far—occurs through meaningful relationships between Christians and non-Christians.

Did you know that over twice as many non-Christians come to Christ through relationships with Christian friends or relatives than all other reasons combined?

Many times in his ministry Jesus talked about and modeled this “disciple-making silver bullet.”  To the demon-possessed man (Mark 5:19) he said, “go home to your friends and tell them what wonderful things God has done for you…”  When Zacchaeus believed, Christ told him that salvation had also come to his friends and family (Luke 19:9).  After Jesus healed the son of a royal official we learn that the Centurion, and all of his family and friends, believed (Mark 2:14-15).  Jesus was teaching about sharing God’s love with the people we already know.  It is the way the Gospel travels!

In your next devotion time look up that word “household”.  You will find it not only in the references above, but in many other verses, as well.  In the original Greek, the word is oikos, and it has a fascinating meaning.  Oikos referred to the people in a person’s social network. It included a person’s immediate family (father, brother, wife, etc.).  It included a person’s extended family (cousin, brother-in-law, grandparent, nephew, etc.).  Oikos referred to the servants that stayed in the living compound of the first century home.  It referred to the servants’ families who also lived there.  The word oikos referred to a person’s close friends, as well as their work associates.  When the tremendous earthquake caused the Philippian jailer to desperately cry out: “What must I do to be saved?” Paul responded, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved…you and your oikos” (Acts 16:31).  Michael Green observes, “The early Christians knew that when the message of faith was heard and demonstrated by friends and family who were known and trusted…receptivity to the Gospel increased tremendously.”[ii]

A Problem with Shooting the Silver Bullet

"Chip" Leading A Seminar

But, there is one essential requirement for reaching friends and neighbors: we must be close enough to unbelievers for Christ to be observed and experienced through us. And there’s the rub.  The problem is that the longer we are in the church, the more friends we have who are also in the church…and the fewer friends we have outside the church.  Let me repeat this important problem-statement, because it is one of the major obstacles to the spread of the Christian Gospel today:  Most Christians have very few close friends who are non-Christian. Without such relationships, it is impossible to be Christ-like.

One reason that 85+% of today’s churches are not growing is that the social networks of people in these churches are almost entirely within the church.  Worse yet, churches frequently program to encourage this relational isolation.  Church activities are geared toward existing members.  “Successful” church events are when a high percentage of members attend.  Small groups are formed primarily for church attenders.  As a result, not only do church members have few non-Christian people with whom they associate…non-Christian people in the community have few or no close friends in the church!

The Solution…

So, how do we enter into a non-Christian’s world to be Christ-like (incarnational) if we don’t really know any non-Christians?  The answer is easy.  We need to become more like Jesus—we need friends who are “…tax collectors and sinners!” (Matt. 11:19)  Or, if you prefer Eugene Peterson’s version, Jesus was spoken of as “…a friend of the riffraff.”

The Oikos Principle is that lever
long enough to change our world

From Christ’s point of view, I think having no non-Christian friends is a serious problem. How can Christ’s missional task be accomplished if His people are not in the world?  “My prayer,” said Jesus to His Father, “is not that you take them [Christ’s followers] out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one” (John 17:15).  In fact, Christians are supposed to be in the world, just not of the world. Paul knew that he needed to connect with “the riffraff” before he could communicate with them:

“I didn’t take on their way of life.  I kept my bearings in Christ.  But I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view.  I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life.  I did all this because of the Message.  I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!” (I Cor. 9:19-23 The Message)

We are to be the salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13).  And salt does not season itself.  So, let me encourage you, as seminarians who are spending time to be a better leader of Christ’s Church, to also spend time with the riffraff.  It is those lost people, after all, for whom Christ came to “seek and to save” (Luke 19:10).

^[i] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_bullet

^[ii] Michael Green.  Evangelism in the Early Church. Grand Rapids: Eerdmanns, 1970, p. 210.