What’s New?
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
In thinking about new things in the opening weeks of this New Year, Theology 101 has called attention already to a New Covenant, a New Commandment and a New Creation. This week the focus turns to a New Name. The impetus for this stems from the statement in Acts 11:26: “And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”
Until this notation, other names were attached to those associated with Christ. One such name was disciples. This designation, of course, came to have a distinctive use for the 12 who were called apostles. However, the term disciple also had the broad meaning of a student.
Often in the Gospels the persons who crowded to hear Jesus are referred to as disciples or interested learners. Luke 6:17 speaks of “a crowd of His disciples.”
Followers
Another name for those who associated with Christ was simply followers. This designation applied to many interested or intrigued individuals who gathered around Him as He moved from place to place preaching and teaching the good news of God’s kingdom. Of course, it fit at a deeper level those who embraced and embodied Jesus’ message about being “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6).
Two other terms also became apt designations for those followers, namely friends and servants. Jesus Himself applied both of these terms to His followers in John 15:14–15: “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends.”
Christians
It was years later that Jesus’ friends and followers began to be called by the new name Christians. Having taken note of the transformation of Christ’s followers in becoming new creations in Christ, onlookers labeled them as Christ-followers or Christ-like ones. This new name was an apt description of what was happening to those who chose to commit themselves to Christ as the promised Messiah and Savior.
This new descriptive term took hold and has continued to be used for these two millennia.
Sadly, some labeled as Christians bear very little, if any, resemblance to Christ. If following Him at all, they are doing so only at a great distance or somewhat half-heartedly.
Perchance we need in spirit to revisit Antioch and recapture that older name so today’s Christians become known as committed disciples.
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