Acts 11:26 “The disciples were first called ‘Christians’ in Antioch.”
It’s not that they were first called Christians in Antioch that intrigued me, but that First Church in Antioch was faithful in their endeavors from the beginning. When the deacons arrived in Antioch, they didn’t do like the other leaders of the early church. Instead, they started their ministry by going to the non-Jewish audience from day-one. They didn’t start with the easiest group to reach, but the most difficult (and the Jews were by far the easiest to reach, since they already believed in the one, true God … so there was something to build on). Peter may have paved the way theologically, but it was First Church in Antioch that turned the orthodoxy, that is “right thinking” into orthopraxis, that is “right practice.”
One other note about this passage. In verse 28 we read of an impending famine. But the Jerusalem church had become so weakened by the mass-exodus of its members, coupled with the MASSIVE OVERHEAD of supporting the “denominational headquarters” where the apostles had decided to stay, that the Jerusalem church was no longer a viable and sustainable congregation and needed support from other ministries. This is the fate of pretty much all churches that have become inward “but what about US?” focused. Jesus said, “Go” not “Y’all come!” We are each expected to be faithful missionaries to our neighborhoods. We are each expected to “Go!” and when we do, the church will be more like thriving Antioch and less like struggling Jerusalem who “gave up their first love” for the sake of the membership.
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