I learned something interesting about the word “Christian.” Of course this word originated in Scripture, “and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”- Acts 26:11. The word is only used in the Bible a handful of times so it is relatively easy to understand it was defined as “follower of Christ” or my favorite “Little Christs.” Bottom line: Ownership by Jesus Christ which was a prerequisite for this moniker and those upon whom it was dubbed were “so owned” that they appeared as “Little Christs” to everyone they encountered…. Let me say that again, they appeared to be “Little Christs” to everyone they encountered.
If we ponder what the word Christian means today, how we hear it used, and look into the modern definition, we get a bit of a different picture. The definitions vary from the traditional to “showing a loving concern for others; humane,” “all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like,” and “the hero from Bunyon’s Pilgrims’ Progress.” Even the outspoken atheist Dr. Richard Dawkins considers himself to be a cultural Christian. Let’s face it, today we have a different definition (lifestyle, values, appearance) of the word “Christian” than when it was first used in Antioch. There is no avoiding the fact that there are millions of people claiming to be Christians without adhering to anything remotely resembling what we see in the Bible. There is also much industry in music, movies, books, and the like which all fall under the “Christian” label but do not glorify God at all. We all know this is true…matter of fact, to go into more detail on these things would be an exercise in unnecessary verbiage.
So what do we do? Fight back for our word? Get bitter about the way the world is besmirching it? Go about and attempt to prove wrong everyone who has ever misused the term?
Nope… I believe this can be solved if we ask ourselves one simple question, “Am I a Christian or am I a ‘Little Christ’?”