“CHRISTIAN”
INTRODUCTION
Today I would like to make the same pitch I make every year
on this 4th Tuesday in Easter. I would like to stress using the word
“Christian” as a noun and not as an adjective.
Like various things I’m off on, most people really don’t or won’t care about this issue. Still I’ll
push it - and suggest giving this some thought.
C.S. LEWIS
I got this idea from C.S. Lewis on Page 9 of his classic
book, Mere Christianity.
C.S. Lewis spells out very clearly: If you want to ruin the
word “Christian” use it as an adjective; if you want to save it, use the word
“Christian” as a noun.
FIRST READING
In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles 11:
19-26, we have a sentence, “It was in
Antioch where the disciples were first called Christians.”
Repeat that a few times. “It was in Antioch where the
disciples were first called Christians.”
Chew on that text.
Give it some thought.
“Christians” became a nickname for those who followed Jesus
and later it was adopted by them.
This was taking place in the year 59 or 60 in the city of Antioch in Syria.
It might have be a joke, or a put down,
by non-Christians. Those who idolized Nero Augustus and chanted his praises
were labeled, “Augustiani”. Nero was a
nut case.
So for the people of Antioch, those who followed Jesus were
named, “Christians.” Before that they were called, “Followers of Jesus,”
“People of the Way,” etc.
C.S. LEWIS
Somewhere along the line I began to read Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis and he
makes very early on his pitch about not making the word, “Christian” into an
adjective.
It must have made an impression on me. It must have made
sense to me. I must have made a decision to follow what he was advocating.
So in this sermon I’m making that pitch to you. Let me try
to point out what C.S. Lewis is saying and why he says it. See if it makes
sense to you. Make a decision whether to do what he advocates or not. If you
do, put it into your life. Do you buy what he says?
According to C.S. Lewis people are making a mistake, when
they make the noun, “Christian” into an adjective, “Christian”.
BILLY
For example, years and years ago, I was once talking to my
brother about something. Billy was
commenting or describing his buddy Marty who is Jewish and he said, “You know
Marty is a better Christian than I am.”
I must have bought C.S. Lewis argument, because I reacted by
saying, “No, no, Marty is not a Christian. He is a Jew. A good one at that. A
good person. But he is not a Christian.”
My brother had no idea what I was saying and why I reacted
the way I did.
ANOYNMOUS
And it’s the same point that some people make in the phrase,
“The Anonymous Christian.” That means roughly someone who is leading a good
life, but doesn’t know Christianity or is not baptized.
One of our priests commenting on that said, “Would we object to being called an Anonymous
Buddhist?” because unwittingly we were living a good life as described by
Buddhists.
C.S. LEWIS
C.S. Lewis stresses that a Christian is one who accepts the
common doctrines of Christianity.
Some people object to what he is saying with the point that
there are people who don’t accept the Doctrines of Christianity, but they are far
more truly a Christians, far closer to Jesus Christ, than some who do.
He says it may be very charitable, seem very right, be very
spiritual, very sensitive, but it’s not useful.
To argue his point, he uses the word, “gentleman.”
It used to mean someone who: a) had a coat of arms, and b)
had some landed property.
And people knew who a gentleman was. A person could be a
liar and a gentleman. A person could have a violent temper and be a boor and
still be a gentleman. A gentleman had a coat of arms and some landed property. A
person could have a Ph. D. and be a fool.
In time people changed the word “gentleman” to a term of
praise.
When that happened, you no longer knew if the person being
called a “gentleman” had a coat of arms and property. The word no longer gave
you that information.
It only tells you that the speaker has a certain attitude
towards the person he calls a gentleman.
“A gentleman” means a gentle man to the speaker. He is
someone who is polite. Or as Newman put it: he is someone who doesn’t cause
pain. But notice it can’t be applied to women.
Therefore, according to C.S. Lewis, “As a result, gentleman
is now a useless word.” (P. 10)
CHRISTIAN
People have done the same thing to the word “Christian.”
They feel they are deepening it or widening it – but they
are making it a useless word.
How do we know who is or who isn’t close to the Spirit of
Jesus?
We don’t see into people’s hearts.
We cannot judge
It would seem better to keep on using it as a noun and add
adjectives like “good” or “bad” or
“energetic” or “highly visible” or “practicing” Christian.
CONCLUSION
So that’s my pitch this morning. It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called
Christian.”
Consider C.S. Lewis’ point and make a decision on it.
And if you decide with him, join in the struggle to preserve
the word that began in Antioch and then end up more than being a mere Christian.
