“Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” Acts 11:25-26
I did it again. I started a post with a passage of scripture – is this a trend? Well, maybe so. I’ve been thinking recently about the church that gathered at Antioch. That church and it’s impact is what inspired this blog in the first place. It’s identity was the energy that launched the gathering that I lead on Sunday nights. Recently, I went back to Antioch and decided I needed to look again at this city and see what God was doing there and what I might be “missing.” So, I’m assuming that the next few posts will be about this city, though, I usually let God’s stirring in my mind directly influence this blog – so who knows?
Syrian Antioch was one of 16 cities built by the Greek General Seleucus I Nicator and named for his Antiochus, another Greek general. Syrian Antioch became a jewel in the middle east. Josephus named it the 3rd greatest city in the Roman world – behind Rome and Alexandria. It was large and it was a cultural salad bowl where east and west met, mingled and flourished. It had culture, economic development, and religious diversity and openness (at least to a degree). Because of it’s mixture of eastern and western philosophies, Antioch was a place for many mystic religions to find a nursery to grow and find a following.
Antioch was also known for it’s humor. Maybe it was because of it’s size and make up, but the city took itself only moderately serious. They enjoyed life and they like to poke fun at what was going on around them. They teased all types of groups and followers. During Nero’s reign of increasing madness, and even under the constant unrest that comes with a crazy emperor, they would willingly make fun those who ascribed a little too much adulation for the emperor. They were mocked much like a “king of fools” would be mocked during later medieval days of revelry.
So when followers of Jesus began to make their presence known in Antioch and were growing at an alarming rate (so fast that Barnabus had to get a young pastor by the name of Paul to come and help lead), it doesn’t surprise that the Antiochians started poking fun. They began calling the followers of Jesus “Christians.” It was a joke for the Antiochians. Christians means “little Christ’s” or we might call them Mini-Christs. The Antioch people saw the “christians” as little representatives of their leader. What makes this designation even more interesting is the word “called”.
In the Roman world to “call” someone something – to give them a designation like this one of “little-Christs” was more than just a name giving. To “call” in this sense is a legal term that indicates that the group “conducts business” in a certain manner. So, the followers of Jesus were conducting their business in a manner that reflected the one called Christ. Their coming and going, their interactions with believer and pagan were mirror images of the one they followed. The Antiochians were saying that these people were behaving, living and treating others just like Jesus treated people, and they meant it at a joke.
The early believers would have known that the Antiochians were a bunch of practical jokers and it’s possible that the attention probably was offensive at first. However, it didn’t take long for the church to see this as a badge of honor. To be called a little Jesus was a thing to aspire to not something to avoid. It was a honor to have your actions, the way you conduct your business, associated with the one that you were following. It obviously was a reality because the church in Antioch, with all it’s religious pluralism and mystic engagement, was growing at such a rapid rate that the pastors couldn’t keep up. The people were so enamored with Jesus that they were letting themselves be changed into his likeness – not just in word, but in deed, or as some have said in a spirit of “holistic liberality”. That can’t be defined as we would define liberality today (especially in the western church) but at it’s base level it means a full engagement – mind, body, soul, finances, etc. – in the way of Jesus to the world around them.
I’ll plan on talking about this “holistic liberality” more next week but today, I’m stuck on the “called” part of being a “little Jesus.” Is the way I live my life so radically different that people who have just met me, or who are aware of my life and job, a reflection of Jesus’ life? Do I “transact my business” – may daily routine – in such a way that Jesus just kind of radiates from who I am? If that were the case, then I don’t think that becoming “living proof of God’s love” would be that big of a challenge. I think I’d be doing all I could do to develop that love relationship with Jesus and to become more and more reflective of his nature and passion and calling. Does it mean I won’t have off days? Yeah right! I’m a mess, but a mess that is honest and is working toward something is very different than a mess that just sits and gets worse by the second. Does it mean I have to go stand on the corner with a bullhorn and preach? Absolutely not, unless that’s already a part of my business. It does mean that I conduct myself and all I do in a way that I’m aware of who I want to reflect.
Who are we reflecting today? I pray that sometime this week, someone may look at you and see Jesus. I pray that you’ll be aware of the scent of Christ that comes off of you as you go about your business. I pray that we’ll see it in others and we’ll say something to them as a way to encourage. And I pray that in so doing, our cities will experience the community of Christians that make a huge difference – even it means were teased for being such a beautiful example!
Grace and Peace…