Get Your Pretense On!

Chapter 6: The Oikos Factor • 135

One of the most basic traits of our global societies today (and especially so in our modern urban poor neighborhoods) is the reality of distrust and suspicion. The ongoing theme is: “Don’t get played by others! “Everybody’s got a game, and if you don’t watch out, they’ll play it on you!” Our world is dramatically fractured today. Many nations and regions are openly hostile to the Gospel, refusing to let missionaries and evangelists do the work of Christ in their countries and provinces. It is difficult (and can be dangerous) to cross barriers of race, gender, culture, class, and ethnicity within many neighborhoods, which look on “outsiders” with great suspicion and distrust. Our urban neighborhoods, too, make it difficult to penetrate new relationship networks. Our family units tend to be broken and disjointed, our economic situation is underserved and underdeveloped, and many of our residents suffer from alienation and loneliness. Many of the urban poor communities are plagued with violence and crime, with problems with relations with the police and law enforcement, and many households are caught up in the system of the courts, prison, and the law. Add to that the overall general sense of despair and distrust, and you have a perfect recipe for communities unlikely to listen to or relate to strangers for any reason , let alone for issues of “the church.” As an ambassadors for Christ and his Kingdom, the question for you and me will always be the same. How do we connect with people in their own setting with credibility and openness, when the general environment where we live and work alongside each other is saturated with distrust, fear, and alienation? I believe that the Lord has given us a solution, a solid answer that we can follow, which was significant in the times of the apostles and can be so today as well. We can share the Good News of life with others as we naturally relate with people through the oikos networks we already have with our friends, neighbors, associates, and family!