WINNING PEOPLE TO JESUS
You have to indoctrinate people in order to win them to a denomination or a business. But the local church that belongs to God seeks to win people to Jesus. And it is not as difficult as organized religion makes it sound. It is basically investing time and energy in the lives of those we are seeking to influence. It is using any means we can to teach them, in mostly conversational ways, being willing to answer their questions, be their friend and seeking to walk with them and show them the way to go. It is a type of personal coaching. Making friends for Jesus is the real evangelism.
There is very little that a person has to know in order to become a Christ follower. Thousands of people heard one sermon in Acts chapter 2 and became Christians that day. In Acts 8 the Ethiopian nobleman heard one sermon and became a Christian and went on his way rejoicing. No creeds. No catechisms. No classes. Just Jesus. Man made religion is difficult. True Christianity is simple.
Since we so often refer to the people of God as “Christians,” almost to the exclusion of every other title, it is quite insightful to recognize the term is only used three times in the Bible. And not once did any disciple claim to be a Christian or refer to a fellow believer as such.
The title first appears in Acts 11:26, some ten years or so after Pentecost. The text says the disciples “were called Christians first at Antioch.” It does not say that “they called themselves Christians.”
We may not know who called them Christians but we can make an educated guess. As this new group began to flourish and as it was viewed as a sect of Judaism, a derisive nickname was attached to them. “Christians” is what the world was calling them.
The second time the word is used provides even more evidence that it was a hateful term applied to the followers of Jesus (Acts 26:28). Paul was trying to get Agrippa to accept the Lord Jesus and the defensive response was, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” Paul’s answer avoided the term. He said, “I would to God that you would become as I am.” But he did not say, “Yes, I want everybody to be Christians.”
The third and final time it is used “seals the deal” as to who was calling who Christians. This was not a name that the followers of Christ adopted for themselves. In 1 Peter 4:16, Peter said, “If anyone suffers as a Christian, glorify God in that.” “Christian” was a cause of suffering because it was a name of scorn.
The term that the church used and Jesus used to refer to his followers was “disciple.” A disciple is a learner and a follower. Technically, the word “Christian” and the description “disciple of Jesus” mean the same thing. But there is a lot connected with the term Christian that is clarified when we speak instead of disciples.
The moment a person decides that he is going to learn from and follow Jesus, he becomes a disciple. And winning people to Jesus is referred to as “making disciples” (Matthew 28:19). It really is that simple.
Dewayne Dunaway
