Call me “Christian!”
Martha Olawale
“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.” Acts 11:26
When people called the disciples Christian in Antioch, it was because they saw they looked, talked, and behaved like Christ. It simply means “Christ-like.” When Christ walked on earth, His focus was Heaven and His purpose was to restore man back to God. Because we share His identity, our focus must be on Heaven and our main drive in life should be for us to attract the world to Him. Christ’s love was absolute and despite the thrills and pulls of the world, He didn’t miss His mark.
Being a Christian comes with a great sense of responsibility to the kingdom we represent. It means we heed the call of Paul in Philippians 2:5-11, to adopt the mindset of Christ. He writes in verse 5, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Although the world was totally different from the Kingdom He came from, Jesus was not swayed by the “acceptables” of His time. He lived righteously and laid a path for us to follow, having walked it Himself, lining it with rays from Heaven to help us through.
I love the identity I share with Jesus and my name says it all—"I AM A CHRISTIAN,” which means I bear the likeness of Christ. It’s not a name I carry with levity or carelessness. It’s a mark of the highest honor and dignity because it is tied to Christ. With the name, I represent the most privileged group of people to walk the earth and my entire identity is summed up by it. I don’t speak for any group or affiliation other than the scripture and the Lord Jesus. In a world where everyone is expected to pick a side, my choice is constant because I picked mine, once and for all when I accepted to be called Christian.
As Christians, we follow Heaven’s script. Every page and every chapter of our life should be written by God and for God. Our nature is defined in the legacy Christ left for us. Except we look to Him, we will miss the mark because He is the perfect mirror through which our life should reflect. When we declare “I am a Christian,” it should be enough to show people what Christ lived like when He walked this earth.
