Rev.
David G. Bostick (dgbostick)
01-04-09
Is the word Christian a useless word in our culture?
How do we use the word Christian today? One of the most apparent uses for the word is found in the media concerning our politics. “For example we talk about the Christian majority in America. The polls say that 80% of Americans claim to be Christian. This term “Christian majority” is used by the media to describe the part of the 80% of Americans that claim to be Christian that are politically active. But do 80% of the Americans you know appear to be Christian; are they making a positive Christ like influence on their world? It really depends on our description of the word Christian doesn’t it?
How does the world use the word Christian or how do they perceive it? In most of the Muslim world a Christian is considered an infidel. It is important to know what the Muslim world means by the word infidel and what they mean when they use the word Christian.
We could get bogged down in a long and heated discussion about the questions asked above but perhaps there is a better way to approach the subject. If our goal is to really be a Christian then we should to go back to the original meaning of the word. We could avoid a lot of unnecessary and irrelevant argument if we knew what Christian meant when it was first used.
So, what does the word Christian really mean?
In
the Greek the word Christian is a noun that means, “from Christ.” It
is “A name given to the disciples or
followers of Christ,” it was “first adopted at Antioch. It does not occur in the NT
as a name commonly used by Christians themselves (Ac 11:26; 26:28; 1Pe 4:16).
The believers first became known as Christians as an appellation of ridicule.”
(CWS-NT)
There are only three places where the word Christian is used in the New Testament.
The first one I want to show you is found in Acts 26:28. Paul was arrested for his preaching of the Gospel in Acts 21 and has been through several trials. Now he has been brought before King Agrippa. King Agrippa knows about the prophesies of the Messiah and Paul pushes the King to believe in Jesus Christ. Paul is telling those present about the experience of the blinding light on the road to Damascus. Their reaction was that Paul was insane.
Acts
26:25-29 (NIV)
[25] “I
am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true
and reasonable. [26] The king is familiar with these things, and I can
speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice,
because it was not done in a corner. [27] King Agrippa, do you believe the
prophets? I know you do.”
[28] Then
Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade
me to be a Christian?”
[29] Paul
replied, “Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are
listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”
To
King Agrippa, being a Christian meant making a radical declaration about
fulfilled prophesy. A declaration that
would radically change his life, but the King would not accept Paul’s
invitation.
Was it the company he was in or was it the realization of the price he would pay to become a Christian? He was in the place of judging Paul and all of Christendom in front of other government leaders and family members. I am sure the pressure of the opinions of others was part of his decision. But I think more than that King Agrippa was faced with the price he knew he would have to pay to follow Christ. How many times do we allow the opinions of others or the great cost of following Christ to bring us to hesitate and shrink away? Perhaps from making a decision to become a Christian or to shrink back from doing what we should do as a professing Christian?
The next reference to the word Christian in the New Testament that we will look at is found in 1 Peter 4. Notice it is also used here in the context of persecution.
1
Peter 4:12-16 (NIV)
[12] Dear
friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though
something strange were happening to you. [13] But rejoice that you
participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his
glory is revealed. [14] If you are insulted because of the name of Christ,
you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. [15] If
you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of
criminal, or even as a meddler. [16] However, if you suffer as a Christian,
do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.
The title Christian had become a description of the followers of Jesus Christ and the benefits and consequences of what it meant to truly follow Him in a world that was not friendly to those who did so. That brings us to the last reference to the word Christian in the New Testament. It is a record of a time in the early church that was marked with great persecution that started with the stoning of Stephen. It is found in Acts 11. Notice again that it is found in the context of persecution.
Acts
11:19-26 (NIV)
[19] Now
those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen
traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to
Jews.
Scattered by persecution,
Christians told their fellow Jews about the life changing encounter they had
with Jesus Christ. Sometimes God uses very bad things to accomplish very
wonderful things. Here He uses the severe persecution of the church. These Jews
were carrying a radical message. They carried a message rejected by the
religious leadership of the Jewish Nation. It was the message that the Messiah
had come and His name was Jesus. They carried this message to their fellow Jews
under the threat of persecution for doing so. Sometimes the difficulties in our
personal lives are a message from God to a world that looks on.
The world is looking for two
things:
·
First: They look to confirm what they always expect and usually
see. They look for the Christian to fail. And then they watch to see if the
Christian will blame their circumstances on God. It is the perfect opportunity
for the world to say, “See, I told you that God is not loving and merciful. If
He exists at all, He is mean and vindictive and I want no part of Him.” They do
not see God working in your life so they walk away convinced that they can do a
better job with their lives than God can.
·
Second: And more importantly, they are looking for something
they do not expect to ever see. They are looking for hope. They really want to
see someone go through the rough circumstances in their life with praise on
their lips for a God who they believe will somehow bring good out of their
tragedy. The world is looking and they have noticed that rough circumstances
fall on everyone, there are no exceptions. They just don’t know how to make it
through their own rough circumstances. They are looking for someone who can
come through the dark days of their life with some kind of hope. A hope that
some time in the future, times will be better. They hear about this Jesus who
went through the tragedy in His life praising God His heavenly Father. They
hear people testify that they follow this Jesus and claim to hold this same
secrete of praising God in the midst of tragedy. But alas, they rarely if ever
see it.
In his book, The Shack, William P. Young tells the story of a man named
Mack who lost his daughter through a great tragedy. Young tells us how Mack
allowed God to heal him through an incredible process. Young says of Mack, “He embraces even the darker shades of life as part of
some incredibly rich and profound tapestry; crafted masterfully by invisible
hands of love.” (After Words) The world is
watching those who profess to be Christian. The world wants to see if there is
a hint of the presence of these majestic, invisible hands of love. The world is
looking to see if they can see Christ in those who claim to be His dedicated
followers. To be Christian means to be from Christ or to be Christ-like.
[20] Some
of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to
speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.
Now they begin to tell the Greeks
about this life changing experience they had with Jesus Christ. It does not
matter whether they did this because they remembered and followed the great
commission that Christ had given them, or if they were just lead by, and
followed the leading of the Holy Spirit. They began to tell about Messiah
outside of the Jewish community. The whole world had to know about this life
changing experience that had overcome them. The good news was the personal
relationship they had with God and these Jews went about telling others about
their personal experience in this new kind of relationship with God. In the
non-Christian there is a hunger to have what the Christian say is possible in
Jesus Christ. In the Christian there is a hunger to tell others about the incredible
relationship they have with the Creator. The problem is that the most effective
way of telling the world about Christ is the most neglected. The most effective
way of communicating God to the world is in the way the Christian reacts to the
up and down circumstances in their daily lives.
[21] The
Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to
the Lord.
The Holy Spirit was the active
agent working through the lives of those who were giving testimonies of their
changed lives. These were believers who just told people about the change in
their lives that had come about by their encounter with Jesus Christ. It is
important to understand that this was not just about the words describing what
God had done in their personal lives that made a great difference in those
early days of Christianity. More than what they said about their experience
with Jesus was the change in the lives of these common men and women who had
started following Jesus and His teachings. It is not as if they just decided to
live a different life because of Jesus. Jesus had sent His Spirit to live
within them. The Holy Spirit was living out His life in the world through them.
That truly is what the word Christian means. It is not conformity to a set of rules,
liturgy, and traditions. It is not just self determined good behavior. It is
not perfect performance. A Christian is one who has submitted to the Spirit of
God and allows that Spirit to live out the life of Christ in the ups and downs
of normal daily living. These early Christians lived out their submission to
God in the context of severe persecution.
[22] News
of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to
Antioch. [23] When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he
was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their
hearts. [24] He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a
great number of people were brought to the Lord.
[25] 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.
The organized church sent church
leaders to encourage, guide, and teach these new believers in a proper
understanding of the truth about Jesus as seen in the greater experience of the
church. They came to teach theology. I think we can find our best understanding
of the word Christian in our understanding of Theology.
Theology; what does the ordinary man have to do with theology? Isn’t theology for those who sit at large desks with their heads buried in books and journals all day? Isn’t it just plain practical religion that the everyday ordinary man or woman needs? I think deep down inside every man and woman who hangs their hopes for a life after death yearns to know as much about God as possible. Theology is the science or study of God and it is not reserved for the guru sitting at the top of a mountain in contemplation all day. Nor is it just for the scholar who spends most of the time in an office full of book shelves sagging with books. It is not just for the recluse that has stacks of books, journals, and papers all over the floor and desktop in an office rarely cleaned or dusted.
To know as much about God as possible should be the heartbeat of every individual who claims the title Christian. Not that everyone should become a recluse in a messy office somewhere, but that we know God in an intimate and personal way. Not just in relationship but also in the knowledge of the facts about who God is and what His intentions toward mankind are.
In Acts 11:26 we read about leaders of the church coming to towns and villages where they had heard about new converts. They came to them for the purpose of teaching and guiding them. They came to teach them the theology of the church. Not a church that was some kind of organized institution. They came to teach about a church that was a living organism, the living body of Christ on earth. But why was it important for the church leaders, those who had been apostles of Christ, to go and teach theology to these new converts?
In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis tells about an encounter he had after a talk he had given to the R.A.F.
“…an old, hard-bitten officer got
up and said, ‘I've no use for all that stuff. But, mind you, I'm a religious
man too. I know there's a God. I've felt Him: out alone in the desert at night:
the tremendous mystery. And that's just why I don't believe all your neat
little dogmas and formulas about Him. To anyone who's met the real thing they
all seem so petty and pedantic and unreal!’" (135)
Then Lewis uses what I think is a brilliant illustration to show the need and importance of theology in the life of every individual. I will not read it for you word for word but I want to tell you about it. (Lewis, 135-137)
You see the RAF officer’s
encounter with God in the desert was like someone walking up to the seashore
and feeling the cool water splash up against their legs and the sand scratching
between their toes. It is real and wonderful, especially the first time you
experience it. But when the vacation is over and you go home and dream of the
experience you had with the ocean it is not quite the same. You take your map
out and you can pinpoint the spot you visited the ocean on that map and it
conjures up memories of the experience. But on the map the land is a yellow or
tan color, and the water is blue ink on paper. There is a black dot with a name
next to it representing the town you were at, it is printed on paper in ink.
But, by no stretch of the imagination is this anything like the sand and cool
water squishing up between your toes. There is no breeze, nor is there the
smell of salt in the air. The map is not even close to the real experience you
had when you went to the ocean, so why do you need a map?
That is the objection to
theology. Why should I settle for all the talk and print about God when I can
experience Him in the desert myself in a very personal and real way? Why should
I go to a church service with a bunch of people when I can experience God by
myself? Why should I look at a map when I can go to the ocean and experience it
in a real, and personal, and wonderful way?
Now in reality, the ocean is a
much bigger place that the little beach you visited. Your visit only showed you
a very small pinpoint on a vast ocean which has tens of thousands of miles of
shoreline. If you were going to experience the ocean in different, new, and exciting
ways you would need to go to different places in the ocean. The spot where you
visited many have had beautiful tan sand with a fine smooth grain texture. But
what if you wanted to visit a beach that had beautiful white sand or black
sand? What if you wanted to see the ocean from the top of a high cliff so you
could see the rolling waves far out to sea? What if you wanted to walk on a
beach that had rounded smooth stones of any color you could imagine? Or perhaps
you want to see a beach littered with all kinds of beautiful seashells? Where
would you go to find this variety, where would you find the different faces of
the beautiful ocean you have experienced in only one way? The map shows you how
others have experienced the ocean. You would use a map to get there. Oh yes you
could just begin to walk the seashore but in all of your lifetime you could not
see the vast variety of the ocean on your own. You would need the help of
others who have experienced the ocean in different ways and have laid their experiences
out on a map for others to find and experience the ocean in the way that they
have. The map gives us a guide to the vast variety of the ocean. The map helps
us to experience the ocean in many wonderful ways. The map is a record of how
hundreds of thousands of people have experienced the ocean.
That is what theology is all
about. Listen to Lewis’ words…
“Now, Theology is like the map.
Merely learning and thinking about the Christian doctrines, if you stop there,
is less real and less exciting than the sort of thing my friend got in the
desert. Doctrines are not God: they are only a kind of map. But that map is
based on the experience of hundreds of people who really were in touch with
God, experiences compared with which any thrills or pious feelings you and I
are likely to get on our own are very elementary and very confused. And
secondly, if you want to get any further, you must use the map. You see, what
happened to that man in the desert may have been real, and was certainly
exciting, but nothing comes of it. It leads nowhere. There is nothing to do
about it. In fact, that is just why a vague religion-all about feeling God in
nature, and so on-is so attractive. It is all thrills and no work; like
watching the waves from the beach. But you will not get to Newfoundland by
studying the Atlantic that way, and you will not get eternal life by simply
feeling the presence of God in flowers or music. Neither will you get anywhere
by looking at maps without going to sea. Nor will you be very safe if you go to
sea without a map.
“Everyone reads, everyone hears
things discussed. Consequently, if you do not listen to theology that will not
mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of
wrong ones-bad, muddled, out-of-date ideas. For a great many of the ideas about
God which are trotted out as novelties today, are simply the ones which real theologians
tried centuries ago and rejected. To believe in the popular religion of modern
England is retrogression-like believing the earth is flat.” (136-37)
Theology reveals the progression of God’s plan of salvation. It started in the Garden of Eden with a promise of salvation. It continued with the children of Israel and the law that pointed toward a better way. This came to a monumental peak when Christ died on the cross and came out of the grave. He has now gone into heaven and given us the promise of further progression. There is always progression until it is complete and finished. The book of Revelation is a glimpse of what is to come. Theology is the Plan of Salvation as revealed throughout thousands of years of recorded history as presented in the Scriptures and in secular writings. Theology is the knowledge of the collective experiences of all who have come to know Christ and truly be like Him.
The early church leaders went to new converts all over the know world as soon as they heard about them so they could show them the wonderful map that contained all of the incredible encounters that others had experienced with God. They did not go to make them part of their click, or sect, or denomination. They went to tell them of the wonderful variety of experience of the many people who had come to be Christian through a personal experience with the risen Lord. We are Christian, not because we belong to the correct denomination. We are Christian because we have had an experience like the RAF officer in the desert, a personal encounter with Almighty God. But we must never forget that our experience is only a very small part of what God wants us to experience. If we are truly Christian we are part of the Body of Christ which has a rich and deep theology of experiences from evey generation and culture. Will you stand, like the R.A.F. officer in the desert all alone, or will you experience all of the wonder of what God has to offer you in many different ways, and in many different settings?
Works Cited
CWS-NT -
Complete Word Study of the New Testament.
CWS-OT -
Complete Word Study of the Old Testament.
- Both the CWS-NT and the CWS-OT are parts of the
AMG Complete Word Study Dictionary - Based on the lexicon of Edward Robinson
(as revised by Alexander Negris and John Duncan), with constant reference to
and citations from the works of John Parkhurst and Hermann Cremer.
Lewis,
C.S. Mere Christianity. rev. ed. New York: Touchstone, 1952.
Young,
William P. The Shack. Palm Reader format ed. Newbury Park: windblown M,
2007.Young