What do you know about the ancient city of Antioch? I had heard that this was where Jesus’ followers were first called Christians, but I didn’t know all these fascinating details. It’s amazing how God works!
"As a refuge for persecuted believers, Antioch also produced one of the most vibrant and diverse churches of the first century. It was here that the earliest followers of Jesus Christ were referred to as ‘Christians’ for the first time, a name that has been applied to faithful believers and those belonging to Christ ever since."
Read more here.
Antioch feels like a reminder that the Church’s identity wasn’t born in a quiet corner, but in a multicultural crossroads.
Jewish believers, Greek speakers, traders, refugees, and somehow a new name emerges there, not from branding but from recognizability.
What stands out is that the word “Christian” wasn’t self-applied first — it was observed.
The life they lived in community made the label obvious.
Makes me wonder: if the name first came from watching how a people lived, what does that suggest about how identity is meant to be recognized now?