And it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.“ (Acts 11: 26) This quiet verse tugs at my heart at each reading. It reminds me of the story (Acts 11: 19-26) about Christians becoming known as Christians and it challenges me to honor this identity in the living of my days.

Every event and experience of our lives has a story behind it, and every story has its own story leading up to it. In order to fully understand what is happening at any given time in the present and in the past, we need the story, for it is the story that gives to us the meaning of the facts.

So, what might be the stories leading up to the time when the followers of Christ were first called Christians?

In the decade of 60-70 AD (the suggested dating of the book of Acts in the Bible) Antioch was a thriving city of the Greek Empire. It was located in Syria, a few hundred miles north of Jerusalem. Today, Antioch is a part of Turkey.

The martyrdom of Stephen, a Jew who followed Jesus, signals an escalation of Rome’s persecution of those who pledged allegiance to Christ. The persecution became so severe that many Jewish disciples (at this point, followers of Jesus were all Jews) made the difficult decision to abandon Jerusalem. They traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, Antioch, and other cities with a large enough cosmopolitan population to provide anonymity.

Our story picks up with those who journeyed to Antioch. It tells us of two groups of Jesus’ followers who have successfully settled in Antioch. One group came from Jerusalem and the other arrived from Cyprus and Cyrene. Though they were disciples of Jesus, there was a glaring difference between these two. One group, when speaking about Jesus and his teachings, addressed only Jews in Antioch who were not followers of Jesus. The group from Cyprus and Cyrene also spoke of Jesus, but not to Jews only. They spoke also to Hellenists, people whose lives were lived under the influence of Greek culture.    

Obviously, these two positions clashed and needed a resolution. The story behind this conflict provides additional understanding. In the early years after the death of Jesus, the popular belief was that only people of the Jewish faith could properly follow Jesus. Samaritans, who were enemies of Jews, and other Gentiles, were excluded. Then Peter, based upon a vision, dared to offer the “liberal” idea that this exclusivity is not of God, and therefore Peter proposed that non-Jews be free to follow Jesus if they so choose. After considerable debate, the Jerusalem council ruled, favoring the removal of all national barriers to “church membership.”  

Apparently, the one group in Antioch either did not agree with the leadership or had not yet heard of the change. What were they to do —   split and form two separate groups, or fight it out and let the majority rule? Or, might they have revisited the teachings of Christ?  What we do know is that the barriers were removed.

Perhaps their reasoning went something like this: Whereas, Judaism extends hospitality to strangers; whereas, Jesus transformed the matter from a ritual of welcome into an attitude of the heart; whereas, rather than only welcoming a stranger, the stranger becomes a neighbor; therefore, be it resolved that in Christ, there is no Jew or Gentile. What else are we to do?

The citizens of Antioch were witnesses to these things and marveled: If this demeanor represents Jesus, then these people are more than followers. And they called them Christians.