This morning I was surprised by my reading a bit. I am sure that I knew this as I have been in the passage at least a couple of times, but I had not put it together until now.

“²⁵So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, ²⁶and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” – Acts 11:25-26 (ESV)

It was here in Antioch as a result of the teaching of Christ by Saul and Barnabas that those followers, or disciples of Christ were first labeled as “Christians”. I guess I had not really considered that these disciples were the first Christians on record.

How and what does this mean to me? Well, I see this as a telling example of what actions I should have as a follower of Christ. I determine myself to be a Christian thanks to my following of Christ, and as such I should be a disciple of Christ as well. I have to be more vested in my relationship with Christ than just labeling myself as a Christian.

You see, the disciples of Christ in Antioch did not call themselves Christians, they were called Christians by others. “The unbelieving public in Antioch” gave them the label as they “were beginning to have an identity of their own apart from other Jews” as noted in the commentary of my ESV bible for verse 26. Their actions spoke volumes as to who they followed and it was obvious to those around them that they were in fact different.

So we should be visibly different in our work for the Father. We should be disciples of Him to the extent that the people will label us Christians and not that we label ourselves. It is not what I think of myself and how I label myself that matters. It is how the LORD sees and labels me. Yes, I am a child of God and a brother of Jesus, yet it is my being a disciple that is where I should be striving to be with Christ. Remember our commission:

“¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teahing them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV)

We are to be disciples first for the LORD and teach others to be disciples of the Father. We are not labeling folks as converts or Christians or any other name. We are working for Christ to teach so they will “go” and teach others. If the outside world would label us as Christians, then so be it. We are disciples of Christ and Christians as seen by others.

What is your identity with Christ? Are you looking to have a label according to the world? What if you focused on being a disciple of Christ and allowed others to see you and not be concerned with the label they place on you?