A Christian Guidebook: Who Is a Christian? (2)

Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Acts 11.25, 26

Not an option
I imagine that among the many study and training options churches offer each year, one of those has the term “discipleship” in it. Churches are right to offer discipleship training to their members. But in all those churches that do offer such training, one thing is clear: Very few of the members sign up.

What shall we make of this situation? I can think of two explanations, neither of which is very encouraging.

First, perhaps most church members believe that they are already fulfilling the requirements of discipleship, or getting all the training they need from the preaching, and don’t need additional training. Many may believe that, but as a reality it seems unlikely. The evidence of millions of disciples of Jesus Christ loose in the neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, and other venues of our society is sadly lacking.

The second explanation is probably more realistic: Most Christians regard discipleship as an option, not a necessity. Like leadership training. Or training for evangelism. Or becoming an officer in the church. Or taking a course on counseling or ministering to the elderly or establishing a Christian home. Discipleship training is an option, many seem to believe, but not essential to being a Christian. To be a Christian one simply believes in Jesus and, typically, identifies with a church community, worshiping and waiting for the Lord’s return.

But this explanation, like the first, is not encouraging. And neither explanation helps us in answering the question, “Who is a Christian?”.

Origin of the term “Christian”
Our text advises us that “the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” We wonder who placed that epithet upon them. Probably not themselves, since the text does not say that the disciples “first called themselves Christians” in Antioch. No, they were called Christians by those who knew or encountered or observed them in Antioch. They were called Christians because “Christ” was their way of explaining the grace that spread to and through them.

Two later texts of the New Testament employ this term. By the time Herod, listening to Paul, assumed that Paul was trying to make him, like Paul, a Christian (Acts 26.28), the term had obviously begun to circulate. Paul happily owned the term as applicable to himself. Peter explained that to “suffer as a Christian” was reason to glorify God (1 Pet. 4.16). Something in the life of a Christian can provoke opposition and even persecution; but this should not surprise or dismay Christians. They should glory in it.

So we might say, in answering the question raised by this installment of A Christian Guidebook, that a Christian is a disciple of Jesus Christ, like those in Antioch, and like Paul and all those who suffered for the Name of Jesus in one way or another. If you are a Christian, you are a disciple. The “discipleship” issue we all face, therefore, is not whether I wish to be a disciple but rather what kind of disciple am I?

But what is a disciple?

Disciple
A Christian is a disciple of Jesus Christ. The word “disciple”, in the language of the Greek New Testament, derives from a root that means “to learn.” We see this played out in the lives of the first disciples of Jesus, who spent some three years watching, listening to, rubbing shoulders with, and working alongside Jesus—learning Him, so to speak. And then, after His resurrection, they were instructed for forty days about the Kingdom of Christ (Acts 1.3). A disciple is a learner; therefore, a Christian is a learner. One cannot be a Christian without submitting to a regimen of learning. Disciples learn. And all Christians are disciples.

And learning is best done in community, as the disciples in Antioch did (Acts 11.25, 26). The people assembled “for a whole year” while Paul and Barnabas were among them, and we can imagine that they continued learning together after that, especially when we consider the evidence of Church history.

Early in the second century, the bishop of the churches in Antioch, Ignatius, was arrested and sent overland to Rome to be thrown to wild beasts. As he journeyed through what is now southern Turkey, the churches started by Paul’s mission from Antioch (Acts 13 and following) sent emissaries to visit, comfort, and provide for Ignatius’ needs along the way. Antioch was their “home church”, and they had not forgotten how the Christians there had helped them come to faith and begin their discipleship of Jesus.

Disciples of Jesus are who Christians are—people committed to living for Christ. But what are Christians supposed to learn?

Learning Jesus
Paul gives us the short answer: “learn Jesus” (Eph. 4.20). The goal of Christian life, of the life of every disciple, is to learn Jesus. Because God’s desire is to transform every Christian increasingly into the likeness of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 3.1-18); and it will be difficult for that to be realized apart from a dedicated, continuous, and lifelong effort at learning Jesus.

A Christian—a disciple—is a learner, and Christians are to learn Jesus. The goal of all Christian instruction, no matter the subject or theme, is love (1 Tim. 1.5), and loving God, one another, and our neighbors is not possible apart from knowing Jesus.

You are a Christian and a disciple if you are committed to learning Jesus.

And learning Jesus, as we shall see, begins with spending time with Him.

Search the Scriptures
1. Think about the first disciples of Jesus—Peter, John, and the others. How did they “learn” Jesus? What did they do to learn Him?

2. How does reading the Scriptures help us to learn Jesus? Can you identify one passage or book of Scripture that has been especially helpful to you in learning Jesus?

3. Read John 5.39. What does Jesus mean here? How should knowing this affect the way we read the Bible in any of its parts?

Next steps—Preparation: Review your approach to learning Jesus. How much time do you devote to this each week? What activities or disciplines do you engage? What’s the most significant lesson about Jesus you have learned of late?

Additional Resources
If you have found this study helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

Need some help learning Jesus? Our book, The Joy and Rejoicing of My Heart, shows you how to get at the Scriptures, get into them, and get with them in your life. Order your copy in book form by clicking here or in a free PDF by clicking here. And what does it mean to “learn Jesus”? Our book, To Know Him, follows Paul in Philippians 3 to answer that question. Order your copy by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.