Oikos: a Greek word/idea which refers to your household or the people within very close proximity of you on a day to day basis—the people under your sphere of influence.
Mark 5:18-19 (NIV)
18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
The Greek word oikos is found in the New Testament 114 times. It is found in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament used in Jesus day) 1,743 times.
In 1 Kings 6 “oikos Kirios” (house of the Lord) is the term used for the temple that Solomon built for Yahweh.
Oikos Gone Wrong
When sin entered the world rather than humans obeying God and spreading out all over the earth, humans instead gathered together under one human who ruled over them.
By the time of Jesus, “The emperor of Rome came to be viewed as a father and the state and his oikos.”—P.H. Towner
Oikos Restored
In Jesus, sin was defeated and the Powers exposed. God restored humans to be the image of God, ruling over creation. God’s oikos is being restored one person at a time from oikos to oikos.
Acts 5:42
Day after day, in the temple courts and from oikos to oikos, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
1 Peter 2:4-5 (NIV)
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual oikos to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the only hero in the story of the Bible
Jesus strategy is to restore me and for me to then be a part of his restoration project. This all happens through relationships—through oikos
1. I will think and pray this week about who my personal Oikos contains.
2. I will pray about how I should engage in the Oikos of Living Faith Church.
3. I will have a conversation with my family about how we engage our Oikos together.
