I noticed that in Acts 14 verses 20, 21, and 26 the word “disciples” is used to describe believers in Jesus. You may recall that in Acts 11:26 we read that “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” Why didn’t Luke, the writer of Acts, refer to these believers noted in Acts 14 as “Christians?”
In fact, online I found the following quote: “The word ‘Christian’ is actually found two times in the book of Acts, and once in 1 Peter. What’s interesting about all three of these occurrences is that the word ‘Christian’ as a title or identifier doesn’t seem to be self-applied.”
Also, online I found the following: “The noun form of disciple occurs about 260 times in Scripture, and at least 230 times the word ‘disciple’ occurs in the four Gospels (the remaining 28 times in Acts), but apparently—and this is an amazing thing—apparently, nowhere else in the New Testament.”
Why do we call ourselves Christians? Let’s call ourselves disciples!
For information about being, making, and multiplying disciples as a part of Network 20, contact Carlos Holguin at carlosholguin@n20i.org.
Gary Wybenga
Executive Director
Network 20 International
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