Christians

And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. – Acts 11.26

Barnabas was a good man, full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. Everything we read about him backs that up. The verse before that says exactly that.

I like the simple words that say 'Barnabas was a good man.' I would be happy if that were something that could be said about me. I don't aspire after greatness or fame. I would love if it could be said that 'Roger is a good man.'

But, alas, that is not the point of today's thoughts. Saul and Barnabas spent a year in Antioch and taught a great number of people. What a blessed year that must have been. Then we read this:

'And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. '

I have always heard that this was originally a term of ridicule or derision. I am not so sure why people say that. The people of Antioch referred to the disciples as 'Christian' much as we would say 'Irishman, or Englishman, or American' today. It was simply a term of identification. The Jews called the early believers as 'Nazarenes' because they followed 'the Nazarene.' That was indeed a term of derision because of the old saying 'can any good thing come out of Nazareth?'

No matter how we got the name centuries have rolled on and the name 'Christian' is the one that we have adopted. We have all kinds of labels and denominations and appellations, but the only one that really matters is the one given to the believers in Antioch.

Germans are associated with Germany. The French are associated with France, and so it goes for nation after nation.

In the same way Christian ought to identify us only with Christ. When I call myself Christian and people see that way I live, do I do a proper job of reflecting that Name?