What’s in a Label?

Who are Christians really?

So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. (Acts 11:25-26, ESV)

This is the first of only a few times that we see this word “Christian”. It is a common belief that believers were basically being mocked by those around them as they tried to be “little Christs”. So, probably not a term of endearment. If one were to take the time to study the book of Acts, it wouldn’t take long to realize that these believers, followers of “The Way”, were truly different than those around them. They were found to be kind, compassionate, loving, giving and so many more traits. They were also human and we see that borne out in complaining, lying, and even legalistic. The apostle Paul wrote several letters to these believers, commending them for their good characteristics and chastising them for their faults. Today, the church is the continuation of this journey as we move towards the day that Jesus calls his own home. So, in other words, Acts is more of a …, the story is still being written.

When we look at this label, “Christian”, we should understand that it isn’t really the proper term to describes believers. Believers are the church, followers of Jesus. Paul uses the idea of “the body”. Jesus introduces us to this term in his conversation with Peter.

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:15-18, ESV)

Jesus introduces the disciples to this concept of believers coming together to form the church. Church isn’t the building that we find on many street corners (in the South, nearly every street corner, it seems). It is the body, the fellowship of believers. It is to be a unified group of people who have done just what Peter did and confess who Jesus really is. What about “Christian”? How do we resolve this label and how it should be applied to followers of The Way? 

I think the answer is easy to find and hard to accept. We should back up a little bit and look at the beginning of the church. After Jesus’ ascension into heaven, we find a small group of about 120 gathered in Jerusalem, waiting for the promise that Jesus had told them about earlier. On this day, the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on these believers and at that moment, they began their new work. Peter preaches his first message and 3000 people believe and come to faith in Christ. Not everyone that heard this message believed, still the church was born and a movement began. As you are reading this, provided you got this far, you may argue that I am dancing around the point. Not really, I am just laying out a foundation to better understand what Christian really means. There are three basic things I want to look over as we move forward. 

1.       God is love

2.       Works are not enough

3.       Self-denial is imperative.

Nearly every person in this country is, at the very least familiar with John 3:16. It starts out “For God so loved the world” and most will cling to this either to support their belief in Him or to deny His very existence. That is a whole separate conversation that we may tackle later. 

God is love. Paul writes, in His letter to the church at Rome, God’s demonstration of His love is shown in Jesus’ death for our sins, when we didn’t even believe. Peter reminds believers that God isn’t willing that any should perish but all would come to faith in Him. Looking at Peter’s words leads to the idea that there will be those who perish but, God is granting mankind time to repent and turn to Him. Today, people want to believe in this idea of “God is love” while rejecting His Son so they believe that they just have to be good and do good things. Jesus speaks to this in His sermon on the mount. Remember that He is speaking to the crowd that gathered around. 

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23, ESV)

Many people have wrestled over this and like them, to me, these are some of the most haunting words Jesus ever spoke. This tells me that there are so many people that will find themselves on the wrong side of judgement, regardless of their “label”. Jesus is saying that even though they did all these “good things, even in His name”, they never believed in Jesus for who he really is. We can give a lot of money and time to show our compassion for people. We can rally around causes, go to disaster locations, donate everything, even be church members and later get to hear those same haunting words that Jesus uses to warn the crowd. It is interesting that Jesus follows up that with the analogy of the two houses built, one on the rock and one on the sand. Quite often we miss the point of this analogy, it isn’t building the house, it is hearing and being obedient to the commands of Jesus. We want this God of love and do good things but our hearts are darkened because we miss the key that make the first two points even work. Again, we must look at the words of Jesus. 

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. (Luke 9:23-24, ESV)

Jesus tells the crowds that if they truly want to follow him, they have to give up everything. This is contrary to what the world wants us to think about God. After all, God desires for us to be happy, right? (yes, I have heard this before). What God really demands of us is that we love Him above all else. Jesus says to follow him means losing our life. Later Luke records the worst “recruitment” tool ever. Jesus, again speaking to the crowds, closes this thought with these words,

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:33, ESV)

Jesus explains that our love for him should be so strong that our feelings towards those that are closest to us appear as hate. This is not the best way to get bigger numbers in our churches and flies in the face of the “peace, love and happiness” crowd. Jesus was challenged by the question “what is the greatest commandment” and his response was simple. First, love God with everything that makes us up and second, love our neighbor as our own self. Based on what Jesus expect of his followers, I can’t help but conclude that our ability to love each other is predicated (I used a “big” word) on our love for God. We are to love Him completely.

Wow, that is a lot of ground to cover only to arrive at this conclusion. Being “Christian” is not beating our legalistic chests and pronouncing judgement on the world. God will do just that. We need to separate conservative values from living for God. Peter and Paul both teach believers, Christians, to live in peace with the world. This does not mean we water down the message Jesus has given us to share or ignore injustice (again another topic for another day). We are to live in such a way that those who are not believers will want to know what drives us. The believers in Antioch were living in just this way. They impacted everyone around them and became the mission center of their day. But it doesn’t stop with just peaceful living. The Gospel is offensive, too. Just doing good things does not translate into salvation. Jesus tells the crowd to “count the cost” of what it means to really follow him. It is not a simple path. It is not an easy path. Believers will be hated, even by their own family.

So here are the real questions. Are you willing to sacrifice eternity? Are you going to strive to just get along with everyone to the exclusion of following Jesus? Are you willing to ignore His commands? Are you willing to “flaunt” the label “Christian” in other people’s faces? Are you going to be legalistic to the point that God’s love can’t shine through?

One of my favorite statements in God’s Word comes from Paul. I really believe that it speaks to all these questions and what God intends for those that believe in His Son, for those who would be called “Christian”. I will close with those words.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10, ESV)

In His Name,

Scott