SERIES: “BE NEW”
“NEW NAME”
ACTS 11:19-30
What’s in a name? In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Juliet asks that very question. She follows that question with this comment: “That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.”
Romeo and Juliet’s families are feuding – the Montagues and the Capulets. But Romeo and Juliet are in love. They cannot express their love publicly because of the problems between their families. So Juliet, in her famous, balcony soliloquy, asks why they cannot forsake their names and go on with their love for each other: “O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father, and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.”
Is a name important? Several years back, Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks offered WGN- Chicago Radio sports-talk show host David Kaplan $50,000 to change his name legally to “Dallas Maverick.” Kaplan politely declined to do so but Cuban made the offer a bit sweeter. He offered to pay Kaplan $100,000 to change his name and also to donate $100,000 to Kaplan’s favorite charity if he would just take the name for one year.
Kaplan did some soul-searching. He was bombarded by e-mails from listeners to his show who said he was crazy to turn down that much money. Kaplan decided to keep his name the same. He explained his reasoning by stating, “I’d be saying I’d do anything for money, and that bothers me. My name is my birthright. I’d like to preserve my integrity and credibility.”
Last week, we started our first message series of the year: “Be New.” The first message in the series was about “New Birth.” When we commit our lives to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, we receive a “new
birth” and become “new creations”. We get “new hearts,” sing a “new song,” and also get “A New Name.”
This “new name” is the name “Christian.” It’s important to understand this name for several reasons: First, it was given by God Himself. Is. 56:5b – “God says, ‘I will give them an everlasting name that will not be
cut off.’ Second, the use of the name was accurately prophesied hundreds of years before it occurred. Is. 62:2b – “You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.” Last but not least, it identifies us with Jesus Christ – our Lord and Savior. Our scripture passage this morning shows us that this divinely promised and prophetically delivered name was first used for those who followed Jesus Christ.
Acts 11:19-30 – 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. 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. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 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. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 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. During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) The disciples, each
according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. This they did, sending their
gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
This morning, I want us to look at what the name “Christian” means and also to look at these people for whom the term Christian was first used. It’s important that we see the characteristics that marked their lives and then evaluate how well those characteristics apply to use if we call ourselves “Christian”.
CHRISTIAN
Not all names are appropriate. Maybe you’ve heard this classic newspaper classified ad: LOST DOG - $50 REWARD. Black and tan dog of poodle and German Shepherd descent. Flea-bitten. Left hind leg missing, bald in patches, blind in one eye, left ear bitten off in dog fight. Answers to the name of “Lucky”.
The divinely-given name is the name “Christian” It comes from the Greek word Christianos. The ending “-ian” designates “belonging to.”
There are three ways in English language to show possession: The first way is to simply add the letter “s” –Plato’s philosophy. The second way is to use the term “of” – philosophy of Plato. The third way way is to add the ending “-ian” – Platonian philosophy To show possession by Christ, we could say: Christ’s people; the people of Christ; and Christian people.
Our text tells us that Christ’s people were “called Christians.” The way the original language reads, “Christian” is not a term that Christ’s people chose for themselves. In fact, in the New Testament, the usual terms for Christ’s people were saints, disciples, followers of the Way, brothers, etc. It seems the term “Christian” was a name given to Christ’s people in Antioch by the people in the town.
Why? The construction of the phrase “called Christians” in the original language denotes relationship to a business or profession. Throughout history, many people were named by what business or profession in which they worked: Cooper, Shoemaker, Smith, Baker, Tinker, Carpenter, etc. The people of Antioch saw a consistent witness on the part of Christ’s people in Antioch – lives that showed them as belonging to Christ and being occupied in the profession or business of Christ.
So what was it that that marked these followers of Christ as “Christians” in Antioch? Let’s look at the characteristics of their lives both privately as individuals and corporately as the church in Antioch.
COMMITMENT
Luke has been describing what has been happening since the death of Stephen and the persecution that
followed. He tells about what happened to those who were scattered because of the persecution. This dispersion of early Christians traveled as far as Phoenicia (modern-day Lebanon N & W of Palestine), Cyprus – an island off the coast of Asia Minor and home for Barnabas, and then to town of Antioch in Syria.
Antioch was the Roman capitol of Syria. It had a population of 500,000 people and was considered to be the third greatest city in the Roman Empire after Rome and Alexandria. Antioch was famous for two things: 1. Chariot racing and the gambling that went with it 2. The Temple of Daphne.
The Temple of Daphne was located in the laurel groves a few miles outside of Antioch proper. The priestesses there were prostitutes and their job was to re-enact nightly the Daphne-Apollo myth. According to legend, Daphne was a mortal woman with whom Apollo fell in love. It was an obsessive relationship on Apollo’s part and for Daphne’s safety, she was supposedly turned into a laurel bush. The so-called “worshipers” at the Temple of Daphne would chase and catch the priestess prostitutes. The “morals of
Daphne” was an ancient phrase synonymous with loose morality.
As the church spread out from Jerusalem because of the persecution following Stephen’s death, it was their habit to carry the gospel wherever they went. Luke tells us in vs. 19b that at first, they only shared the gospel with other Jews. But we learn in the previous chapter (chapter 10) of the book of Acts that Peter has had a learning experience with Gentiles and the conversion of Cornelius. After that God-inspired experience, the church began preaching to Gentiles.
The term is used in vs. 20 to describe what was done there is the word euangelizo – “to evangelize; to carry good news.” The commitment we see demonstrated by these early followers of Christ was to do whatever was necessary to proclaim the message of Jesus to those who were lost.
CONVERSION
The commitment of the early church was talking about the good news of Jesus Christ to those who were
lost. That commitment produced conversion in the lives of those who heard and obeyed. The word “conversion” means “to change; to turn around.” It was a term used to refer to changing direction in your life.
We have a man who has just been elected to be the next president of the United States. He’ll be inaugurated in nine more days – January 20th. He was elected with the promise that he will bring change to our nation. There are those who are hopeful and those who are doubtful. I’m not sure how he’ll do but I do know one person that can bring change and that person is Jesus Christ. If you want real change, you’ll find it in Him.
It was the converted lives of the followers of Christ in Antioch that led others to want to know this same Jesus in their lives. A missionary on furlough told about one fellow he had been working with and trying to get him to make a decision about following Jesus.
As this missionary patiently explained the commitment process and talked about baptism, he pointed out that others had done just that very thing – were baptized into Christ. The fellow responded, “I will wait and see just what this means in their lives.” After many watchful weeks, the fellow came to the missionary and said, “I, too want to be baptized. I have watched those other persons who were baptized and it has made a difference. I want Jesus to do for me what He has done for them.”
Commitment to the Great Commandment brought conversion to the lives of lost people. The church in Antioch sponsored all three recorded missionary journeys of the apostle Paul. Through their ministry in their own town and through their support of missionary work, the church in Antioch contributed to the conversion of many people in the Roman Empire.
COMFORT
Another word that paints a portrait of what it means to be a Christian is the word “comfort.” One of the definition’s of this word is “to aid or strengthen”.
Aiding and strengthening was a basic task of early Christians. Acts 8:14 – “When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.” Acts 9:32 tells us Peter made pastoral visits through the cities along the coast, which put him in position for God to use him in the conversion of Cornelius. The Jerusalem church sent Barnabas, known as the “son of encouragement, to Antioch because he was someone who could build up the body of believers there. Acts 11:23 – “When he [Barnabas] 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.”
The word translated as “encouraged” comes from the word parakaleo which refers to “someone who stands alongside [for strength and encouragement]”. It’s one of the words used to describe the role of the Holy Spirit.
Ozzie Smith, a 15-time National League All-Star, is considered by many to be the greatest shortstop of all time. On July 28, 2002, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and in his acceptance speech compared his journey to the construction of a baseball:
Protecting the cork center of this ball and reinforcing it are two distinct rubber shells. For me these two
layers reflect two vital and affirming shells of my core dream. The first shell is my faith in God. With him,
I have everything. Without him, I have nothing. The second shell is the faith I had in myself which came
through my mother’s love and encouragement.…
The second part of the construction of this baseball is manufactured by the wrapping of over 200 yards of
wool around the core. I see that this is the second critical part of my journey. I refer to it as the strands of
love and faith—strands of love and faith that so many other people have wrapped around Ozzie Smith as a
person and wrapped around my dream through their love and faith in me.…
I will never forget the faith that my high school coach, Art Webb…had in me. Just about the time I was
questioning my ability and expressed thoughts of going home, Art got wind of my feelings, called me up,
and sternly told me, “Oz, you’re not going to quit. You’re going to hang in there and weather the storm!”
And because of that call and his faith in me, I stayed.
The church needs encouragers. People who say, “You can do it! Keep at it!” We’ve got too many who
grumble, complain, and find fault. Phil 2:14 – “Do everything without complaining or arguing…” Look at the effects of Barnabas – “the son of encouragement” in vs. 24 – “He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.”
CHANCE
Barnabas had a big job to do. It was a massive undertaking to disciple all these new believers in Christ.
So Barnabas went to look for help. He went to the town of Tarsus in Asia Minor to look for Saul.
The last time Saul is mentioned in the book of Acts is right after his conversion. He was sent out of Jerusalem back home to Tarsus because of the dissension he caused while he aggressively argued the case for
Jesus as the Christ with all the Jews
Barnabas knew a lot about Saul’s conversion for some reason. He even stood up for him when the Jerusalem
church refused to believe that Saul had been converted. Barnabas was Saul’s staunchest defender
So, Barnabas went to Tarsus – Saul’s hometown – to find him. Vs. 26 – “When he found him…” meaning that he had to do some searching for Saul. Saul was not seeking prominence or fame. It seems that the time
that had passed had mellowed and matured Saul in his walk with Christ.
The important lesson here is that Saul had blown it once but Barnabas the encourager saw God’s call on Saul’s life and gave him a second chance – a chance to exercise God’s call for his life. It was Barnabas who gave Saul of Tarsus to become Paul the missionary.
Our God is the God of second, third, fourth, fifth, and hundredth chances. The church needs to exhibit the same kind of graciousness to those who have blown it.
COACHING
Barnabas went and got Saul. He mentored him in ministry. He taught Saul what God had taught him. Paul would adopt this mentoring principle into his own ministry and would later write to his own protégé Timothy in 2 Tim. 2:2 – “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” Paul was saying, “I was mentored. I have mentored you. Find some people you can mentor as well.”
As Barnabas mentored Saul, they both mentored the people of Christ in Antioch. Vs. 26 says that they “taught great numbers of people.” The teaching was done not just verbally but through example as well.
One of the greatest problems in our churches is that people who make a commitment to the Lord are never mentored in their faith. Each of us has to have someone who mentors us and we each need to have someone that we mentor. We will never grow in our faith or in the grace and knowledge of the Lord if we don’t.
Bob Russell says that we should not only be obstetricians bringing new Christians into the world but that we should also be pediatricians dedicated to seeing that the babies grow up healthy.
CARING
Vss. 27-30 tells us that a famine was prophesied that would affect the whole Roman Empire. Luke notes that this famine did happen under the reign of the Emperor Claudius. The church at Antioch decided to send relief to help with this famine back to the church at Jerusalem. Vs. 29 – “The disciples, each according to his own ability, decide to provide help for the brothers living in Judea.”
Real Christianity does not exist for its own benefit. The body of Christ requires that all of its parts work together for help and aid across the world.
Owen Crouch said, “Nothing reveals a genuine conversion more than the change in one’s relationship to
money.” 1 Jn. 3:17 – “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him,
how can the love of God be in him?” One of the marks of a Christian is their care for those who are lacking in some way
CONCLUSION
True Christians create a desire in others to become like them because they are like Christ. Joe was a drunk who was miraculously converted at a Bowery mission. Prior to his conversion, he had gained the reputation of being a dirty wino for whom there was no hope, only a miserable existence in the ghetto. But following his conversion to a new life in Christ, everything changed.
Joe became the most caring person that anyone associated with the mission had ever known. Joe spent his days and nights hanging out at the mission, doing whatever needed to be done. There was never anything that he was asked to do that he considered beneath him. Whether it was cleaning up the vomit left by some violently
sick alcoholic or scrubbing toilets after careless men left the men’s room filthy, Joe did what was asked with a
smile on his face and seeming gratitude for the chance to help. He could be counted on to feed feeble men who wandered off the street and into the mission, and to undress and tuck into bed men who were too out of it to take care of themselves.
One evening, when the director of the mission was delivering his evening evangelistic message to the usual
crowd of still and sullen men with drooped heads, there was one man who looked up, came down the aisle and
knelt to pray, crying out to God to help him change. The repentant drunk kept shouting, “Oh God! Make me
like Joe! Make me like Joe! Make me like Joe!”
The director of the mission leaned over and said to the man, “Son, I think it would be better if you prayed,
‘Make me like Jesus.’” The man looked up at the director with a quizzical expression on his face and
asked, “Is he like Joe?”
The first real message of Jesus comes through people who demonstrate loving humility as they live their daily lives – especially through the tough parts of life Our goal is to let people see Jesus in us, to be a reflection of Him. Do they see in us an accurate reflection of Jesus who is described in Phil 2:6-7 as
“being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing taking on the very nature of a servant…”? Do they see the work of Christ in our lives so that they want to see His power at work in theirs?
The people at Antioch had truly become Christians. They were people who truly belonged to Christ They were truly people who conducted their lives so that they were about the profession and business of Christ.
Like the term “born again” we looked at last week, I think the term “Christian” is used the wrong way. We have confused what it means to be “Christian” but our scripture this morning has pointed us in the right direction.
