At my church, we’ve been talking a lot about oikis. No, it’s not a brand of yogurt. No, it’s not what the Greek family kept yelling in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding (that’s opa).

Oikos is the Greek word for household. Or family. It can mean the people in your life, the people with whom you live and work and play. Those people God has put into your life so that they can see Jesus in you.

I have two questions for you: 1) who is in your life right now that needs to know Jesus? and 2) what are you doing about it?

I have to confess that I’m asking the question to myself more than to anyone else. I also have to confess that it doesn’t bother me very much most of the time that I know people who don’t know Jesus. I can go long periods of time without praying for them.

I don’t say that to beat myself up or so that you can feel sorry for me. I say that to let you know that if you feel that way, you’re not alone. I say that to let you know there’s hope even for slackers like us.

I know that one thing I can do better is to pray for the people around me that I see on a regular basis. That’s a start. And maybe I could pray for opportunities to share my faith with others.

I was reminded again of something I learned a while ago. God doesn’t call any of us to be lawyers and prove Christianity. He calls us to be witnesses, to share what we’ve seen and heard, of what Jesus has done in our lives. And you can argue theology and politics all day long, but you can’t argue with what God has done in someone’s life, especially if it results in a life thats visibly transformed.

As always, I believe, Lord. Help my unbelief.