“And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” – Acts 11:26 ESV
What’s in a name? I recently made some jam from the schwartzbeeren I planted in my garden. The jam is a beautiful purple-black, with tiny seeds like a fig preserve. Schwartzbeeren is German for “black berries”, but these are not the blackberries you buy in the store. They look more like blueberries, and their English name is black nightshade. This is a completely different plant from the poisonous nightshade you may have heard about. Still, “nightshade” seeds wouldn’t sell too well, so the seed catalog uses their German name.
In Antioch, the followers of Christ were first called Christians, most likely by their opponents. You see, Christian is a made-up name that combines the Greek word for Messiah (Christ) with a Latin ending that means “belonging to”. “Belonging to Christ” seems like a compliment, but the connotation is “belonging to” as in “owned by” or “slave of”. In Antioch, the followers of Christ were first dismissed as “slaves of Christ”, and there was nothing lower in that society than a slave.
But soon the followers of Jesus began to wear that name as a badge of honor. They did belong to Christ. They were proudly slaves of Jesus. Peter writes, “However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.” (1 Peter 4:16 NIV). And Colossians 3:24 NIRV says, “You are slaves of the Lord Christ.”
Do you consider yourself as “belonging to Christ”? Are you proud to wear the name “Christian”? Today, most people won’t bat an eye if you tell them that you are a Christian, just as people will gladly eat my jam if I tell them it’s schwartzenbeeren. But how would they respond if you told them you are a slave of the Lord Christ? Probably about like they do when I offer folks black nightshade jam. But the jam by any name is good, and belonging to Jesus, by whatever name you call it, is even better.
In Christ,
Pastor Mark