Three Times Only

And Agrippa replied to Paul, “In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian.” Acts 26:28

Christian – The disciples of our Lord never refer to themselves as Christians.  In fact, the Greek term christianos and its derivatives are only used three times in the New Testament (Acts 11:26, Acts 26:28 and 1 Peter 4:16).  Only the passage in 1 Peter suggests that the term might be applied to followers of Yeshua by those within the community.  The first occurrence in Acts is an historical remark that followers of the Way were first called “Christians” in Antioch.  The second occurrence is here, in Acts 26:28, in the mouth of Festus.  Even here it is not an appellation Paul would have used.  Festus uses the term derogatively.  “Paul, if I let you continue with this persuasive argument, you might even convince me to become mad,” is the gist of it.  Festus has just commented that Paul must be “out of his mind” to speak such nonsense.  But Festus is impressed with Paul’s rhetorical fervor.  His comment is about Paul’s persuasion, not about Paul’s message.  The point of this short investigation is this:  “Christian” was applied to these Jewish Messianic believers by those outside the community of faith.  It stuck, but it wasn’t what they thought of themselves.  Ignatius may have been the first to use the term as a description of believers and Justin Martyr was the one who adopted the word as a title.

Of course, we could examine the Greek word itself (christianos), noticing that it is derived from the christos, the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Mashiach.  It means “anointed.”  A “Christian” is one connected to the “anointed.”  If Greek were the lingua franca of the 10^th Century BC, we would have found the same term used for David’s mighty men.  They were followers of the anointed king, David, and were therefore “Christians.”  Of course, after the Church adopted the word as a title of honor, the meaning changed.  Today hardly anyone associates the word with anything except a religious affiliation.  That causes quite a bit of confusion when we read the New Testament because in general the New Testament is not about “Christians” as a designation of religious affiliation.  It is about Jews and Gentiles who accept Yeshua as the Messiah.  These people are followers of the Anointed.

Does it really matter?  After all, today we understand that “Christian” is a term used for those who accept Yeshua as savior and redeemer.  Does it really matter that the believers in Acts didn’t use this term?  From God’s perspective, probably not.  It makes no real difference what term I apply to myself if I have that vital relationship with YHWH and His Son.  But from the perspective of a witness to the world, I think it does make a difference.  Today “Christianity” is too often associated with a religion that would have been unrecognizable to believers in the first century.  Today “Christianity” too often describes a religion that has accommodated itself to forms of this world, whose passion is relevance rather than difference and whose theological outlook begins with a radical separation of Jews and Christians (so much so that Christians believe they must help Jews convert).  This doesn’t square with Scripture and on that basis the use of “Christian” sends the wrong biblical message.  I would rather be true to the text than worry about the cultural relevance.

Of course, this leaves followers of the Way in no-man’s land.  We aren’t Jewish in the ethnic or traditional sense.  We aren’t Christian in the modern cultural sense.  But we are God’s children, adopted into His kingdom.  Perhaps that’s all that really matters although explaining it to someone will certainly be difficult.  “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Topical Index: Christian, christianos, Acts 26:28