Acts 11:26 And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
What distinctions define you? That is a question we have asked here before because you find this question in the Bible a number of times. You may define yourself by your gender, your race, your nationality, or your social standing. These are not unimportant things. In fact, some of them are given by God. Your gender and ethnicity are of God, and because they are of God, they are good. I’m a male and that is what God made me. I need to be thankful for that. You may be a different nationality or gender than I am, but those distinctions are from God Himself, so how can they be anything but good!
There are other designations, things that distinguish us, that are choices we make. You find a very important one in Acts 11:26 where the Bible says, “And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” What defined these people? They were Christ-ones. This name was not given them by other believers, but by pagans. They had been disparagingly called Nazarenes by Jewish unbelievers. Others, Grecian pagans, called them Christians after Christ.
Now, what we learn here is that we need to let Jesus be the One Who defines who we are. We ought to be thankful for whatever God has made us, but what is important is what you make of yourself when it comes to decisions. The most important decision is what you do with Jesus. You see, people were coming from a place where they realized that the question was not “Jews only” but “Jesus only.”
In verse 19, for instance, it says, “Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled… preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.” Well, that is what Jesus had said, to begin giving the gospel where you are first. If you want to win the world, win it beginning where you are right now. For these believers, it meant giving the gospel to other Jewish people first.
In Acts 10-11, over and again you find that God also granted to the Gentiles repentance unto life. Verse 20 says, “They… spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.” It does not mean Jewish Grecians; it is talking about Gentiles. So, whether you are Jew or Gentile, the difference for eternity is what you do with Jesus.
In chapter 10 it says that “God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation.” The Bible says that Jesus Christ is “Lord of all.” The Bible says that “whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” The Bible says that “on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.” So, what you find is that it is not Jews only or Gentiles only, it is Jesus only. Let Jesus be the One Who defines who you are.
This was brought home when Peter went to the home of a Jewish centurion. Peter and this centurion had a different social status, economic status, and nationality, but the thing that mattered most was that both of them decided to come to Jesus on God’s terms.
Today, you may be Jewish or Gentile, man or woman, from this country or that, but what is most important is what you decide about Jesus. Let Jesus be the One Who defines who you are.