Tiny Little Things

Hello friends,

It’s been some time since the last time I wrote here. Struggling with what material should I provide to the people I am ministering to, to help them (and myself) put our Christian faith into practice, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the first account in the Bible where the believers of Jesus were first called Christians.

How long have you been a Christian? Has it been a week ago, a month, a year or more? Or you’re probably like me that have received Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior since a pretty young age (it was more than a long 30 years for me!)? How do the people around you recognize you as a Christian without seeing you wearing any religious symbol or peeking at your profile? Do you talk about Christ in your daily convo? Does your lifestyle scream something about Christ? Is Christ being your reason for what you do in daily life?

I don’t think cross-shaped jewellery or wall ornaments were already a thing during that time mentioned in Acts 11. So how did the Antiochians recognize the name of Christ that they put the label to identify those who follow this Christ as Christians?

1. They honored Jesus as Lord

We often overuse the word “lord” and forget its meaning as master, owner, chief, ruler, someone who has the authority and power whose words should be trusted and obeyed. Christians in Antiochia had Jesus as their Lord, and that was what they talked about to their neighbors. As former Jews, the Christians knew the scripture well and now they acknowledge Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of what the prophets had said about Messiah. They lived out, no longer the law, but the freedom of doing God’s word. They lived in the love of Christ, according to the Scripture, that many Antiochians heard, saw, and be captivated by it.

Who is Jesus for us? How well do we know Him as the fulfillment of the Scripture?

These Christians brothers (and sisters) from Cyprus and Cyrene came to know Christ during (or after) the Pentecost event in Jerusalem (Acts 2 & 3). Before Christians commemorate Pentecost as the day when the Holy Spirit descended, the Jewish has it as a harvest celebration that falls 50 days after Jewish Passover (Lev 23:15).

I found Acts 11:20-21 states this story before Barnabas’ coming, “But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.” These Christian men (and women) spoke Jesus to their neighbors.

Came to know Christ during Pentecost in Jerusalem, these men and women from Cyprus and Cyrene spoke about Him to the Hellenist, Greek speaking people.

Christianity started from the Aramaic-speaking Jews in Jerusalem, went to the proselyte or diaspora Jews lived in places mentioned in Acts 2. We know that Jewish (also proselyte) used the Hebrew language as Jews liturgical language, then many Greek-speaking Antiochians came to Christ. This tells us how our fellow Christians here spoke in the “normal” language as their surroundings. They didn’t force Hebrew as their holy liturgical language they should use, but came in the way people could hear, see, and understand them. They probably dressed with the same outfit, spoke the same language, ate the same food, worked in the same field, but with a different identity known as followers of Christ.

To live as a Christian is to follow on what His Spirit guides us. The Holy Spirit has given His words through His prophets and apostles that wrote the Bible for us, and He is the One that also reminds us of what He has given in His words. To live as a Christian is to wear Christ in our daily lives, to put on the salvation He has given that it is no longer myself I wear over but Christ, the source of my salvation. To live as a Christian is to live for Him who has died for me to live, so that I no longer live for my own gain but for Him that gives me life.

The teaching has been passing on to me for not only one or two years, but the whole 30 something years! How do I live out what have been taught to me by the Holy Spirit and have Christ in my words, in my daily works, and in my presence?

As long as this life is given to us, let us use today as a chance to live for Christ and to be like Him. Have a great weekend!

Thank you for reading this article, I hope you feel blessed as I do! I would be glad to hear your story about God and all His goodness. I am currently getting back on my track to write weekly post (hopefully more in the future). Let’s connect and so I could hear your story too about the goodness of God!