And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Acts 11:26
In his famous book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, “Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.” Though Lewis held many theological positions which I do not endorse, he absolutely set forth the correct view of the meaning of Christianity in the statement above. This concept is the heart of the Sunday morning series we begin this Sunday, Keeping the Christ in Christian. In this discussion, we search our hearts and ask ourselves if we are pursuing our true purpose. Our aim is to be sure we do not fall into the trap of checklist religion and fail to live up to the purpose for which God redeemed us (Romans 8:29).
The thrust of the series (and all biblical preaching and teaching) stems from the meaning of the name Christian. We will begin by looking at the components of the word before we consider some key biblical passages that uphold the view set forth. Of course, the root of the name Christian is Christ. Our thesis in this discussion and the entire series turns on the meaning of the suffix -ian. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines this suffix as indicating something in relation to the root of the word (Christ in this case) that is “of, relating to, belonging to, skilled in or specializing in, characteristic of, resembling.”
With Christ as the root, consider the implications of the name we embrace if we call ourselves Christians. This implies that we are of Christ, indicating He is the source of our being and essence. For this, we also belong to Him (Galatians 3:29). Furthermore, we claim to relate to Him in some special sense (Romans 8:14-17, 29; Hebrews 2:11). If these things are true, then the expectation is that we be characteristic of Him, bearing a resemblance to Him. Of course, this is a matter of our character and nature, not our physical appearance. Such takes us back to God’s purpose in creation, that human beings bear His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-28). When sin entered in, that image and likeness was marred, and the whole of Scripture details God’s work to restore His fallen image-bearers (Romans 8:18-23). Finally, in the meanings assigned to the suffix -ian, if we are to be characteristic of and like unto Him, we must specialize in and become skilled in His nature and character.
All of this is upheld in the Scriptures. In Romans 8:29, the purpose of the calling of God is that we would be conformed to the image of His Son. 2 Corinthians 3:18 describes the product of our careful examination of His glory stating that we will continually be transformed into the same image. Ephesians 4:11-16 highlights the reason God gave the apostles, prophets, etc. culminating in the point that we should “…grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ…” (vs. 15). Paul repeatedly urged his readers to imitate his conduct in much the same way that he imitated Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; cf. Ephesians 5:1-2).
This is the goal of this new series. It is so easy to get distracted from our primary purpose as Christians. When we do so, we miss our mark and fail to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16). It is not our own light we are shining, but it is the light of the Christ, the true light of the world (John 9:5). This demands we take on the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5ff) and be renewed in knowledge “…after the image of Him that created him.” (Colossians 3:10). We will see as we go through this series the lofty expectations this purpose places upon us and the tremendous blessings the earnest pursuit of the goal brings to us. Are you a little Christ?