I do not endorse any of the politics attached to the OP.
However, there is one fact that needs to be recognized if we wish to have a powerful witness for Jesus Christ.
CHRISTIAN: Paul never once refers to himself as a 'christian', while at least five times in the New Testament he refers to himself as a follower of "the way".
That statement is true.
The oft missed point is: It was
unbelievers who derogatorily called the followers of Christ, "Christians."
How and when was the word
"Christian" first used? The term 'Christian' was used to describe a follower of Christ in terms of
the world, from
the world’s point of view. The pagans at Antioch called the apostles "Christians" first (Acts 11:26; 26:28) and used it derogatorily because the apostles didn’t follow the commercial world of the pagans. "Christian" is an adjective,
not a noun. The substance is not in the word "Christian", the substance is in the
heart of the man it is attempting to describe, and which the pagan user cannot see.
Christ never called himself a Christian, Christ never called his followers Christians. The apostles never called each other Christians. Christ never used an adjective to describe himself. So how are we to identify ourselves then? The disciples called each other, "brethren", "disciples", "apostles", "servants", "believers", "followers", "the faithful", "the elect", "the called", and "saints." We can also identify ourselves as "bondservants" of Christ.
Claiming a title of "Christian" would be a declension, a step down, from standing as a believer in or follower of
Jesus Christ. I challenge brethren often about using the name of Jesus Christ in their witness, rather than the once-removed politically-correct label of "Christian." I have even seen people manifest at the mention of Jesus. Fact is, in the Holy Bible, you will never find a man of God calling another man of God, "Christian."
Who called the disciples "Christian"? Who did the calling?
"...And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." (Acts 11:26). When one "calls" another, the one doing the calling is not the receiver of the call! To further understand what "called" means,
here are the 9 appearances of the word "called."
As the final nail in this denominational coffin, here is further documentation:
"
Christian: A follower of the religion of Christ [
Note carefully that Christ never started a religion - John 7:16]. It is probable that the name Christian, like that of Nazarenes and Galileans, was given to the disciples of our Lord in
reproach or contempt. What confirms this opinion is, that the people of Antioch in Syria, Acts 11:26, where they were first called Christians observed by Zosimus, Procopius, and Zonaras, to have been remarkable for their scurrilous
jesting. Some have indeed thought that this name was given by the disciples to themselves; others, that it was imposed on them by divine authority; in either of which cases we should have met with it in the subsequent history of the Acts, and in the Apostolic Epistles, all of which were written some years after; whereas it is found but in two more places in the New Testament, Acts 26:28, where a Jew is the speaker, and in 1 Peter 4:16, where reference appears to be made to the name
as imposed on them by their enemies. The word used, Acts 11:26, signifies simply to be called or named, and when Doddridge and a few others take to imply a divine appointment, they disregard the usus loquendi [established acceptation of the term] which gives no support to that opinion. The words Tacitus, when speaking of the Christians persecuted by Nero, are remarkable, ‘vulgus Christianos appellabat,’ ‘
the vulgar call them Christians.’ Epiphanius says, that they were called Jesseans, either from Jesse, the father of David, or, which is much more probable, from the name of Jesus, whose disciples they were. They were denominated Christians, A. D. 42 or 43; and though the name was first given
reproachfully, they gloried in it, as expressing their adherence to Christ, and they soon generally accepted it."
Richard Watson, Watson’s Bible Dictionary (1832), p. 233.
"
Cristianos, Christian: a word formally not after the Greek but after the Roman manner, denoting attachment to or adherents to Christ. Only occurs as used
by others of them, not by Christians of
themselves. Tacitus (A.D. 96) says (Annals 15, 44),
‘The vulgar call them Christians. The author or origin of this denomination, Christus, had, in the reign of Tiberius been executed by the procurator, Pontius Pilate.’"
Ethelbert William Bullinger, A Critical Lexicon and Concordance of the English and Greek New Testament (1908), p. 152.
"This name (Christian) occurs
but three times in the New Testament, and is
never used by Christians of themselves, only as spoken by or coming from
those without the church. The general names by which the early Christians called themselves were ‘brethren,’ ‘disciples,’ ‘believers,’ and ‘saints.’ The presumption is that the name
‘Christian’ was originated by the heathen."
Thomas W. Doane, Bible Myths (1882), page 567, note 3.
"The name (Christian) given by the Greeks or Romans, probably in
reproach, to the followers of Jesus. It was first used at Antioch."
Easton’s Bible Dictionary.
"Egypt, which you commanded to me, my dearest Servianus, I have found to be wholly fickle and inconsistent, and continually wafted about every breath of fame. The
worshippers of Serapis (here) are called Christians, and those who are
devoted to the god Serapis (I find), call themselves Bishops of Christ."
The Emperor Adrian to Servianus, written A.D. 134.
If you go to
Zodhiates Word Studies, he tells you that when they were called Christians at Antioch, using the word ‘
crematezo,’ it was a "
divine warning." In other words, be forewarned, avoid this word and the use of it. And that’s what the apostles did. You will
never read any of these New Testament writers using the term ‘christian’ to describe themselves.
As the takeaway to the cracking of this programmed denominational nut, I strongly suggest that when we witness, we do so in the boldness of the name of Jesus Christ and not in the cowardice of the world's politically correct denominational label of "Christian."
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