Christians in Antioch

You know how when you watch certain videos on Youtube or Instagram how the algorithm keeps giving you the kind of videos you like? One that I always stop on are the ones where someone is at a college, surrounded by people, taking questions. One that came up recently was a student challenging a Christian. Their premise was that white Europeans forced Christianity on the whole world through colonialism. At that moment, there happened to be a dark skinned student who stood up and said he was from Ethiopia, and the Christian church has been there far longer than in Europe. You’ll remember it was Philip the evangelist who first brought the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch, who then took the gospel back home.

When you read about the birth of the church, you’re not seeing Europeans. In fact, the very first “Christian” church, was in Antioch, which we read about in Acts 11.

MAP - This is the part of the world we’re in. Far from Europe. Super far from America. We started in Jerusalem, now up in Antioch. Antioch is in modern day Turkey.

This account of this new church comes right on the heels of Peter being shown a vision of unclean animals. Peter is told to kill and eat the animals. After Peter says he can’t because the animals are unclean, God tells him, “do you call anything unclean that I have made clean.” Peter comes to understand that he is referring to non jews. To gentiles. So now the kingdom is expanding. The promise is expanding.

The believers in Jerusalem were upset with Peter at first for going to the gentiles and eating with them, but rejoice when they find out the gentiles recieved the gift of the Holy Spirit.

So Luke has now established through these accounts that the gospel, the forgiveness of sins through Jesus, the kingdom of Heaven, is for all the world.

Which brings us to Acts 11:19

Acts 11:19 NIV

19 Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews.

MAP - Stephen was killed in Jerusalem. Saul was originally headed to Damascus. The hellenistic Jews wanted to kill Saul, so he was eventually sent to Tarsus. And this whole passage will take place up here in Antioch, which is modern day Turkey.

Acts 11:20–21 NIV

20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

Acts 11:22–23 NIV

22 News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.

Interesting factoid here. Barnabas is also known as Joseph. He is from Cyprus. So it would make sense to send him because he was a local among the believers there. Luke then writes this about Barnabas,

Acts 11:24 NIV

24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

Acts 11:25–26 NIV

25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

Barnabas was the one who in chapter 9 vouched for Saul to the other disciples. And now he has gone to get him.

This church is significant. We can wonder sometimes why things are the way they are in the church, how certain things got started. This church modeled so much of what we became. The first thing the church in Antioch modeled was this. It was

The First Large, multi-ethnic church

This city was a mix of Greek, Syrian, Jewish, and Roman. And all were welcome, and many people from every cultural background came to Jesus.

Every person, throughout all of human history, has a desire to know the truth. We so often let our differences divide us, but the kingdom of heaven, the saving grace of Jesus, the messiah, is for all people of every nation. The hope that comes through Jesus is for all people of all cultures.

One of the greatest experiences of my life was to attend a worship service in a small village in Africa, the country of Zambia. A little church surrounded by mud huts with the Koande tribe in Zambia. They dance the bible to the front of the church, and they invited me to dance to the front with them. We were united in the kingdom of Jesus. Opposite sides of the world, as different of cultures as you could get. United in Christ.

Antioch showed the world what was possible. A truth that transcended all cultural barriers. The creator of all humans, of everything, came down and loved us enough to die for us. Everything was different. We do not have to live in fear of the gods because the one true God loves us.

The church in Antioch had another first

The First “Christians”

The first use of the word Christian. It was common for Greeks to give satirical nicknames to particular groups.It’s possible there was a negative connotation to the word. At the time, it was simply that they are followers of the Christ, or the one they think of as “the anointed one.” What comes to mind for me is at the start, it probably wasn’t much different than referring to someone as a Swiftie is today. To some it means something positive, and to others it might be negative.

But here is how we can really think of it.

Followers of the Anointed One

So many who claim the title Christian simply do not know His teaching. Do not know His words and actions. If we are a Christian, we are a disciple. We are a follower. And we strive to understand every word. We desire to be changed by His words. Not to point to others and say “look, this is what you need to be doing.” But how are the words of the anointed one, the messiah, changing me? Am I walking in His footsteps?

So the church in Antioch was the first large multi-ethnic congregation. The first place where the term Christian was used. And it’s another first as well.

The First International Missionaries

Obviously people were going around spreading the gospel. We will look at it more in depth in the weeks to come, but as we get into Acts 13, it’s the church in Antioch that commission Paul and Barnabas for what is commonly referred to as Paul’s first missionary journey. This is what sets the model for what missionary journey’s can look like.

The Holy Spirit is powerfully at work in the city of Antioch. This place is an epicenter for what the Holy Spirit is doing in the church. We saw the gift of the Holy Spirit come on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. We’ve seen people coming to Jesus in the areas surrounding Jerusalem. We saw in Acts 8 the conversion of Saul. Now we have seen Saul and Barnabas investing in the church in Antioch for an entire year. Which is leading us to the spread of the Kingdom of God throughout all the earth.

There’s one more thing that Luke records for us that sets the tone for what this new church is.

Acts 11:27–28 NIV

27 During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.)

Acts 11:29–30 NIV

29 The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

One group of believers gathers their resources and sends them to another group of believers to help with things like food.

What we do here in this church community was modeled 2,000 years ago by the early church. The amount of food that has been given, bills that have been paid, children overseas that have been sponsored by just this group alone is incredible. It is foundational to who we are as Christians.

Antioch’s Example

The example of this church is both an invitation as well as a reminder. An invitation to be a part of the kingdom. This isn’t a solo thing, but an eternal kingdom that unites us.

A kingdom and a truth that is above us as individuals. That supersedes where we were born. It’s a family born of the Holy Spirit, where we have a personal relationship with Christ, just as I am an individual in my own family, and yet there is also a collective aspect to it. There is so much talk about identity in our culture. This is where we find our identity.

Because there is a reminder here of what the term Christian means. It’s not a label of a club, there’s meaning behind it. When I say I am a Christian I am saying I am a follower of the anointed one. And now I need to be able to tell you who this anointed one is. What He said. What He was all about. Inherent within that identity is that Jesus, the Christ, takes center stage in your life. He is a part of your life daily.

That is what this is all about. That’s the example we see from this early church. That is why this church meets today. To to continue on what started 2,000 years ago. And that is what you are invited to.