“The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.”
And what were they called before that? It was nearly twenty years after the commencement of the Christian movement before this name was invented. Our text says, “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” They were called disciples before they received the name of Christians. You know what it means: learners or scholars.
One of the characters in which our Lord appeared on earth was that of a teacher, who gave utterance to thoughts of extraordinary originality; and those who followed Him for the purpose of hearing His teaching were called His disciples. This is still a mark of His true followers–they are learners. They are interested in such subjects as Jesus came into the world to speak about: God and the soul, sin and salvation and eternity.
But the relation of discipleship implied more than mere learning. Disciple is a manlier name than scholar or pupil. We do not speak of the disciples of a schoolmaster, but of a thinker or philosopher. Those who were the disciples of Socrates or Plato frequented those great teachers, not so much for the purpose of acquiring knowledge, as for the inspiration that is received from contact with an original mind. It is good to be near a big soul; there is nothing better than to feel the pressure of a noble character. This, too, was the secret of Jesus; and this is what it means be a disciple of Christ. Those who got near Him said to each other, “It is good for us to be here.” And this is still the higher blessing of discipleship; those who behold the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image.
Another name that was given to the followers of Christ before they were called Christians was brethren. As long as the Master was present the name that prevailed was the one that expressed their immediate relation to Him; but when He had departed, they began to use the name that expressed their relation to one another. Brethren are, of course, literally the sons of the same father; and this tie of nature is a very strong one. Even brothers who fall out among themselves, will rally to one another’s aid against a common foe. But outside the circle of the family it is difficult to get men to acknowledge the claims of their fellowmen on their love and help.
Many attempts have therefore been made to make men feel more kindly to one another by forging new bonds among them, and men have called each other brethren because of these relationships. But in comparison with the tie of blood most of these relationships have been but figures of speech. But when the early Christians called each other brethren, it was no mere figure of speech. This is the foundation of the love between Christians–it rests on a life which is common to them and derived from the same Father.
I may mention also two others which occur frequently in the New Testament although perhaps they came into vogue subsequently to the invention of the name Christian.
When we get into the Epistles of Paul we come pretty often on the name believers. The word “believer” means one who has faith. Faith was what Christ demanded in all with whom He met; and when it was forthcoming, He welcomed it with irrepressible joy. He came among men with infinitely greater claims and promises than anyone has ever ventured to make; He promised to save men from their sins. Some denied that He could do anything of the kind; those who credited His testimony, and acted accordingly, were believers. Jesus Christ is still going about through the world; He comes to your door and mine; He offers to confer on us the greatest boon in existence–to save us from our sins and lead us back to God. Have you credited this offer and closed with it? This is what it is to be a believer.
There is another term which Paul uses still oftener than believers: it is the word saints. Thus, in writing to the Romans, he addresses himself to the saints at Rome; and in the same way he commences his Epistles to the Corinthians, and to the Ephesians, the Philippians, the Colossians; indeed, this name abounds in all his writings.
Saints are possessors of sanctity or holiness; and this implies three things: (1) separation, the first meaning of holiness in Scripture–separate from the common or unclean. Then it also implies (2) purification. To separate oneself from others is an idle thing if it be a mere outward standing apart. It is because the followers of Christ have been purified from the sin of the world that they separate themselves from the world, so that they may be kept pure. But there is (3) consecration: he who has been purified and separated from the world is sent back into it again, to pervade it with the spirit of Christ. All these elements are united in sainthood.
In the Church of Rome, it is applied only to a few of the dead who have been deemed worthy of canonization; and among Protestants it is rather a nickname than a name. Of all the signs that mark the followers of Christ, holiness is the most august. A single holy life assures hearts made skeptical by the worldliness of an unspiritual society that there still exists on earth the power of God. I express only my own opinion when I say that in my belief that a saint, the humblest saint, is more precious to the Church than ecclesiastic, orator, or scholar.
Such then were the names for members of the Church which prevailed in New Testament times–disciples, brethren, believers, saints. But our text commemorates the invention of the name which was destined to top them all. In every clime to which the gospel of Christ has penetrated, Christian has come to be the standing name for a follower of Him.
In view of its universal adoption, it is singular to note that it was not originally invented by the Christians themselves, and did not for many years after its invention come into common use among them. It occurs only thrice in the New Testament; and every one of them it is applied to Christians by non-Christians. In fact, it seems it first to have been a term of reproach. In the very circumstances of this name’s bestowal, indeed, there may seem to have lain a prophecy of its universal diffusion.
“The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.”
Antioch, a city on the Orontes, was in those days the common mart where East and West met; and in its streets representatives elbowed one another of every nation under heaven. The Roman ruled it, the Greek directed its commerce, and the Jews’ synagogue had its modest place among its temples. A name originated in Antioch might easily be blown over the earth.
Still more clearly did such a prophecy seem to lie in the structure of the word. It certainly did not come from the Jews, for the idea of the Christ embodied in it was to them too sacred to be put into a nickname, or connected with a sect they hated. Their name for Christ’s followers was Nazarenes, a word derived from Nazareth, out of which, according to their proverb, no good thing could come. Yet there was a Jewish element in the name, for it was in Israel that the great hope of the Christ arose. There was a Greek element in it too, for the Jewish term, Messiah, had to be translated into Greek, the universal language of the ancient world, before this new name was coined out of it. And there is a Roman element in it also, for the word Christian, while having a Greek root, has a Roman ending. We may guess that it was invented by a Greek-speaking Roman to characterize the strange new Jewish sect that was making a stir in the city. But little did he imagine how long this child of his lips would live, and how far it would travel beyond where Rome’s eagles ever flew.
Thus, just as the inscription in Hebrew and Greek and Latin on the cross of Christ was an unconscious prophecy of the universal significance of what was being transacted on that tree, so too Hebrew, Greek, and Latin elements in the word seem to have foretold its universal use. But it has owed its diffusion chiefly to the fact that it is a better name than any one of those which precede it. It emphasizes what is most central and vital in all other names.
Are Christians disciples or students of truth? The name Christian emphasizes the fact that Christ is the center of all truth. Are they brethren? It shows that they are connected with one another by being first connected with Him. Are they believers? He is the prime object of faith. Are they saints? Likeness to Him is the standard of sanctity, and union to Him its source. Thus this name includes all the rest, and besides, it contains the name that is above every name.
Are we Christians? What is your answer? My answer is this: Oh! for more of the disciple’s thirst for truth, more of the love of the brethren, more of the faith of the believer, more of the holiness of the saint; Oh! for more, far more, of Christ!