First Called Christians

Introduction

Why are we called Christians? In Acts 11 the good news spreads beyond Jerusalem and the church at Antioch is born — young, diverse and dynamic. Barnabas and Saul spend a whole year teaching there, and it is at Antioch that the believers are first called Christians: a name, once an insult, that tells us exactly who we are.

What is in a name? Surely it’s just a word. And didn’t Shakespeare say that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet? I don’t know how you feel about your name. Has it been a blessing to you? Or has it been a burden that you have to carry? I think names matter a great deal. They convey something of who we are, of where we come from. And well-named people and things — I think that’s a real blessing.

We are continuing the story of how the church began and how it came to spread throughout the ancient world. But also, we are telling the story tonight of how Christianity got its name, and the brilliant young church that inspired it. But it begins in a dark place. Our reading began in verse 19: Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch. This story begins with a wave of cruel and often violent opposition. People would have been forced to flee from Jerusalem, often carrying only what they could carry on their backs. It would have been an awful experience, terrifying. And yet, as is often the case, God is able to use even this for good. And perhaps it’s worth saying at the outset: if you think that life should be easy or trouble-free, you haven’t been reading your Bible. The purposes of God never go unopposed. But like a dandelion seed in a storm, God’s people are scattered, but wherever they go, they take root, and the good news is spread.

However, they had a problem at the beginning, and that was that they had a tendency, wherever they went, to talk to people who were just like them. I don’t know if you have the same tendency. We just feel more comfortable talking to some people rather than others. So verse 19 says that they spread the word, which is wonderful, but they did so only amongst Jews like them. But of course, as we’ve been talking about in these last weeks, God has been showing them that he has no sense of favouritism, that the good news is for all people. It’s just that people were finding it hard to catch up with that. However, some people had got the memo. Verse 20: Some of them, however, from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks, to Greek speakers also. So Antioch is this really significant place. It’s where the gospel very seriously first starts to take root amongst a kind of Gentile community and audience. And I think it’s notable that the people who did this were outsiders to begin with. They were from Cyprus and Cyrene, so they were more used to inhabiting this kind of diverse, cosmopolitan culture. They speak to Greek speakers, and Greek is the international language of trade and culture and learning. And so this place, Antioch, which is north of Jerusalem, just at the point at which the Mediterranean Sea turns the corner — there, this starts to happen in seriousness for the first time. And they tell them the good news about the Lord Jesus. You know that the word “good news” is the word “gospel”. And the good news that God is reconciling the world to himself in Jesus Christ, that he’s not counting people’s sins against them; the good news that Jesus is Lord, that God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And that good news finds an audience, and they discover that God is at work. Verse 21: The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. Do you see how significant it is that this good news isn’t just to be heard? It requires a response. And God is with them. When they share this good news courageously, God blesses them, and that bears fruit in people’s lives being changed. They believe the good news and they turn to the Lord. That’s what we call repentance and faith. That was what Jesus was calling for from the very beginning, and that’s a response that is required of all of us. Jesus says we must not be simply hearers of the word. We must act on it too. And if this is true, it matters more than anything else. And then in this place, this fascinating town of Antioch, a new church takes root. You know, that’s what church is, essentially. It’s just what happens when people encounter the good news of Jesus and want to deepen that and learn more about it. The Greek word for church is “ecclesia”, and it simply means “the gathering”. And that gathering, that ecclesia, takes root in this place called Antioch. And it’s a really significant church. So it’s there, north of Israel, and it’s at a real crossroads of the world. The Silk Roads go east, roads go west to Rome, there are roads north and south. It is a thriving, crowded, dynamic, cosmopolitan city. And the church here is going to be significant. It will be a powerhouse, a centre of learning, a model of what church should be. But part of the reason why it’s able to become that is because people invest in it. Verse 22: News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. The Jerusalem church hears the good news about what God is doing, and they rejoice, and they send one of their best young leaders to go and help. I think Barnabas is wonderful, actually. I think he’s one of the unsung heroes of the early church. There’s a lovely description of him in verse 24: He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. Isn’t that a lovely picture of a godly man who builds the church by selflessly doing what is needed most? He doesn’t push himself forward. He goes to serve. That’s the kind of leadership that Jesus calls for. And when he arrived, verse 23, and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad, and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all of their hearts. That was Barnabas’ message to them, and it’s his message to you too. Have you caught a glimpse of the grace of God at work in your lives and in your community? Then be glad and rejoice. Have you seen the good news being preached, people’s lives being changed, new communities of faith being built? Rejoice, and remain true to the Lord with all your hearts. So he’s a good man. He comes to build up and encourage. But in fact, one of the most significant things that he does is he puts good leadership in place. Verse 25: Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. Now this is fascinating, actually. I don’t think I’d quite noticed this before, but Saul, who is to become Paul — you remember — was converted on the road to Damascus, who’d been one of those people persecuting the church. It seems that where he had ended up is back home in Tarsus. And he was just, I suspect, plugging away, faithfully preaching the gospel and speaking good news to people. But he hadn’t sought position or status. There’s a good humility to him. It’s also likely that he was still viewed with suspicion by the church, naturally so, because of his previous life. But Barnabas knows how important leadership is, and realises how gifted Paul is and the way that God is using him. And so he goes to where Paul is in Tarsus, and he comes to bring him to Antioch. Barnabas recognises the priority of leadership. I think we have a problem with this. I think there is something in our culture, in our western individualism, which is suspicious of all leadership. And we sort of have this sense that we ought to do things by ourselves. I think our pride gets in the way. But the New Testament is really clear that one of the gifts that God gives to the church is good, humble, Christlike, godly leadership. And the gifts he gives are in the form of leaders: apostles and prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. And they have this job of equipping the church and bringing them to maturity. We need to take seriously good leadership. I don’t think it’s enough to accept our society’s kind of criticism of all leadership. We should have a model of what leadership should look like, and we should be seeking to raise up people who fit that model. Barnabas goes and finds Saul, and what a leader Saul becomes in the early church. Verse 26: For a whole year, Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. You know, if they need this kind of year of discipleship and training, so do we. To be a disciple of Jesus is to be a learner. And good teaching is transformative. All of us need to be taught. We need to take our learning seriously. Don’t think you can do this by yourself. You were never intended to. Seek out good leadership and good places to learn, that you might grow to maturity.

So this is Antioch. It’s fascinating and wonderful. It is this young, diverse, dynamic church. It’s growing rapidly. It becomes a centre of learning, and it will be a springboard for the spread of the gospel throughout the Roman world. In a year’s time, they will send off Barnabas and Paul on the first of their missionary journeys. But back to the question we asked at the beginning: what is in a name? Did you see in our reading, The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch?

Where does the name come from? Well, you know that up till now Christianity — well, the movement which becomes Christianity — didn’t really have a name. It was sort of known as “the Way”, which I think comes from Jesus saying that I am the way, the truth and the life. But now, as it moves into a bigger world, it sort of needs something distinctive. And there is a sense, whenever we see the word “Christian” used, that it was intended — it was given by others and intended to be an insult. But as is so often the case in history, those who receive that sort of take the insult, pick it up, dust it off, and embrace it. What does it mean? Well, “Christos” is the Greek word for Messiah. And so you see that it is a name for a Greek-speaking world. But it also has this other sense of meaning sort of like “little Christs”, little Jesuses. And can you see there’s a sort of diminutive to it, a sort of slight insult to people? And you can imagine that the early church would be like, “Great, feel free to call us little Jesuses. That’s what we would love to be.” And then there’s this other really interesting sense. So the word is actually “Christianos”, and it seems to stand in contrast to “Caesarianos”, which is the word for those who worship Caesar. And there is, I don’t know, the empire seems to be increasingly dominated by this kind of fake religion of emperor worship, this cult of personality that elevates the Roman emperor to godlike status. And people will have gone along with it because, well, you don’t mess with the emperor. And Christians, Christianos, were known as those who refused to worship the emperor. How brilliant is that?

What’s in a name? This is who we are. We are Christian. We proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. We build Christ-like communities, and we live like Jesus. But let us also be known as those who reject the false gods of this world, and instead, in the words of this lovely unsung hero of the early church, Barnabas, we remain true to the Lord with all our hearts. Amen. Let’s just be still together, shall we?