A CHRISTIAN IS ONE WHO BELONGS TO CHRIST

It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called by the name "Christian." The people of Antioch named the followers of Christ by what the Antiochian's saw in them - they saw in them the Lord Jesus Christ! They knew that these persons who were dubbed “Christian” belonged to The Christ. Their love, their lives and their labors were absorbed by their loyalty to Jesus.

Antioch was 300 miles north of Jerusalem, located on the main route of travel and trade to the rich Mesopotamian Valley. It was the capital of Syria, the third-largest city in the Roman Empire with approximately 1/2 million population. It was a great commercial center and also a center of heathen worship. There was the grave of Daphne, where heathenism appeared in its most tempting and debasing form. This was the setting in which the disciples were first called "Christians" - not in religious Jerusalem, but in wicked Antioch.

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Here in this city of sin, the disciples light brightly shone. Here, where they dared to be different, they received the name "Christian". The name identified those who followed Christ as belonging to Him. These people were different, their speech was different, their lifestyle was different, their pursuits were different and their purpose in life was different from the general citizenry of Antioch. Although the name "Christian" may have been given initially as a derisive nick-name, it nevertheless, correctly described them.

The trouble today is that the average Christian does not like being different. This is an age of conformity. Separation, or the Bible word “holiness”, is not popular among professing Christians who want the best of both worlds. The stock excuse is, "Everybody is doing it” - whatever the sinful “it” is! They do not like to be conspicuous and so they just go along with the crowd. Many are Christians in name only and those among whom they live and work would hardly recognize that there is any difference between them and those who are not the people of the Lord.

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Matthew Henry said, "I reckon him a Christian indeed that is neither ashamed of the gospel nor a shame to it." How many who call themselves Christian are sneered at, ridiculed and/or reproached because they choose to follow the Lord and refuse to go with the crowd? How many who belong to Christ Jesus dare to openly live godly lives and are not ashamed of Him? It is of little consequence if church members call each other “Christian”; the more significant matter is: does the sinful society in which we live call us Christian? Is it obvious to them that we belong to Jesus Christ?

Illustration: Some inner-city derelicts from skid row were hired by a restaurant to carry signs advertising the restaurant. The signs told of the splendid meals served there and invited the public to follow the sign-bearer to the restaurant. But, the men who were carrying the signs were shabby and hungry looking in appearance. They were such poor advertisements of the restaurant they were advertising that no one followed them.

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Many there are who wear the name "Christian" but are poor advertisements for such a high calling. The devil is willing for a person to profess Christianity just as long as he does not practice it. Evangelist D. L. Moody said, "The Christian is the world's Bible, and in many cases a revision is necessary."
My Neighbor's Bible
"I am my neighbor's Bible
He reads me when we meet;
He reads me when I’m idle,
He reads me in the street.”