What Does It Mean To Be "Christian"

I recently did a word study on the Greek word for "Christian" (Christianos) and I thought it would be fun to share some of my findings. While this is an extremely popular title for believers in the modern day church, this title is only found 3 times in the New Testament (twice in Acts and once in 1 Peter).

Long story short, the title of "Christian" was a term originally give to the early church believers by non-believing Gentiles as a term of scorn and mockery. Whereas today being a Christian is a overpopulated title, back then the church had no name, and while today we consider the term "Christian" to mean "little Christ," back then it was a means of persecution of the early church.

The Gentiles used this term in mockery of their persecuted Messiah. The early church was called "Christian" as a derogatory term pertaining to the suffering and execution of Jesus. To the Gentiles, Jesus was a failed Messiah who was kill by man, and the early church believers were just as delusional as their Messiah. To the Jews at large, the teachers of Jesus were still largely controversial, and to the Greeks it was foolishness, so being called a "Christian" was like being called a fool and was followed by persecution.

In 1 Peter 4:16, Peter writes to encourage those who are being persecuted for being "Christian." Never in Scripture did the church propagate that term or refer to it as an adopted title. Every time it shows up in the first century, it was a derogatory term used by the Gentiles.

So what happened? In the second century, as persecution and martyrdom became even more prevalent, the testimony of the martyrs was a testimony of honor in sharing in the sufferings of Christ. Therefore, being a "Christian" was associated with persevering under persecution and having faith in the resurrection/eternal reward. It wasn't until the second century that the Gentile meaning of the word turned on itself and suddenly being a Christian was a honorable life of sacrifice unto death (martyrdom). It was then that the church actually did adopt the term as believers who shared in the sufferings of Christ.

Obviously, the 2nd century definition is greatly different than today's definition. Today, being a Christian is a casual belief system and worldview, whereas in the early church, being a Christian meant enduring hardships and persecution. This gives us a little bit of perspective into the heritage behind our title. Being a Christian is not just believing in Christ, but it is being born into an eternal family of persevering believers who will receive their just reward with Christ.

Selah