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What’s in a name?

Every person has a name. Everyone has a name that they would prefer to be called by. Some of us also have names that others give to us, such as a nickname. We may or may not like the name or names people call us, but we cannot control how others refer to us.

Like people, every identifiable movement of God has a name.

The early followers of Jesus chose a name for themselves. They described themselves as followers of The Way (Acts 9:2, Acts 22:4, Acts 24:14). This is the name the believers preferred.

But the name that others gave them was first used in Antioch. Acts 11:26 says “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch”. The word Christian means "Christ followers" or "those of the household of Christ". It is used three times in the New Testament. In Acts 26:28 ‘Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”‘ Peter observes “However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.” (1Peter 4:16) For the early believers, being known as a Christian was not easy.

The Jewish religion was legally protected by Rome. Being known as Christians meant that they risked losing that protection. They were not just a sect within Judaism. They had much in common with the Jews but they appealed to non Jews as well.

It is quite possible that the name “Christian” was a term of derision when first used, but in the providence of God it was the name that stuck.




The Primitive Methodists chose their own name on Feb 13, 1812. They decided on “The Society of the Primitive Methodists”. But like the early Christians they had another name not of their own choosing.

For the pioneer Primitive Methodists their “Antioch” was the village of Belper in Derbyshire in 1814. It was there that they were first called “Ranters”. It was definitely not a name they would have chosen for themselves.

In fact the name Ranter was most often used as a term of derision, scorn and abuse. Many a young convert experienced verbal assault as their persecutors and opponents mockingly called them a Ranter.

However, there was an upside to the name. When word got round that a Ranter preacher was coming to town, a curious and sometimes hostile crowd would gather. It meant that you could not ignore the Ranters. You were either for them or against them.

Ranter preachers often faced a barrage of eggs, rotting vegetables, mud and worse as they preached in the open air. Violence and opposition was part of the package for the early pioneers.

The name Ranter was providentially used of God.

So … what’s in a name? A great deal, but it may not be the one we would choose!

Related posts

1. Why 'Primitive' Methodism?

2. How the Primitive Methodists got their name

3. What's in a name?

4. The Ranters are coming

5. Opposing the work of God is a risky business

Persecution is part of the package

One characteristic of Christian movements throughout history seems to be that of persecution. As a general rule of thumb persecution is used by God to shape and deepen a movement. Earlier this week a group of us met to pray and as part of that we read the dramatic story in Acts 12 where Peter was imprisoned by Herod. James, the brother of John had been executed previously and Herod, thinking he was on to a good thing was preparing to put Peter on trial for his life. Earlier, Stephen had been stoned, which initiated a great persecution resulting in believers being scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.(Acts 8:1b)

It also appears that God will limit persecution when it is contrary to his divine purpose. Hence the miraculous escape of Peter from prison. As it was for the church in the New Testament, so it was for the Primitive Methodist pioneers. Their preachers faced the anger and violence of unruly mobs and injustice from magistrates. In 1818 John Wedgwood was the first in a long line of preachers to be sent to jail. Many a Primitive Methodist faced jeers and insults, not least of which was to be called a Ranter. Their motto, printed on their membership tickets was taken from Acts 28:22 - "we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect".

It may well be the experience of contemporary Christian movements to experience some form of persecution, as our Western society moves from a post-Christian outlook and becomes increasingly anti-Christian.

John Wesley

December 14th, 2010 by Bob Logan

As many of you who know me are aware, one of my personal heroes is John Wesley. I love it that not only did he lead evangelistic meetings that brought thousands to Christ, but that he also created a follow-up system for the post-conversion period. In doing so, he retained a much larger share of the harvest than had he simply left his converts to their own devices after conversion.

One of the other elements of Wesley’s ministry that I appreciate so much is his reliance on lay people to carry out the important work of the ministry. I recently ran across this quote: “Give me one hundred… who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell.”

When I read that I felt an internal sense of “yes.” That’s what matters—the heart of a person, not the degree or the seminary or the training. The heart for God is what will shake the gates of hell.

This is a post from Bob Logan's Leadership blog. Used by permission and well worth following. Here is the RSS feed

Praying through the storm

When her friend, fellow preacher and future husband, Thomas Russell was in prison for preaching the gospel, Elizabeth Smith a Primitive Methodist pioneer evangelist prayed this prayer:

Thanks be to God, the storm which distresses us helps us towards the shore;

Though there are changes, it is but one journey, and we soon shall be at the end.

Though there are many conflicts it is but one battle;

And we shall soon shout VICTORY! through the blood of the Son of God!

Quoted in The Life and Labours of Elizabeth Russell, from The Writings of Thomas Russell, page 198 Tentmaker publications.

Thomas Russell (1806 – 1889)

Thomas Russell was an evangelist and missionary of the Primitive Methodist movement in England and Ireland. He was born in Middlewich in Cheshire, and first came into contact with the Primitive Methodists in 1817. He became a full time travelling preacher (or missionary evangelist) in 1829. He endured persecution, hardship and personal tragedy with courage, perseverance and fortitude.

In 1830 he was falsely accused and unjustly imprisoned for preaching and sentenced to hard labour for three months, in default of payment for a £10 fine. For ten hours each day he and other prisoners had to endure rigours of being forced to push a large mill wheel to manually grind corn in half hour stints. For thirty minutes they were covered in sweat and every bone in their body ached. Then for the next half hour the prisoners pulled old ropes to pieces with their fingers and thumbs. And so the cycle repeated, half an hour on, half an hour off.

In prison he was hungry. In his journal he writes “hunger pinched severely, so that I often wondered why a human being could not eat the ground to pacify the cravings of hunger”. Soon he became ill, and was unable to stand at the mill wheel. The prison doctor was called, who simply exclaimed “Here he came to be punished, and here he must be punished.” So Thomas Russell was ordered to the wheel again, and he wrote that “I found that the scripture was true, ‘The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel’.” It was rough justice.

Thomas Russell was instrumental in the missions to Berkshire and Hampshire in 1830. He was passionate in prayer, and a powerful preacher whose hearers were often moved to tears. He preached courageously, facing stones, other missiles, and vehement opposition. The mission was highly successful and soon spread to neighbouring counties.

He was engaged to and married Elizabeth Smith, a female preacher in 1831, and they had a baby, Julia who died in 1835. Four months later his wife died, at the early age of 30. Nearly 2000 people attended her funeral. He writes “Thus I was deprived of a child and wife in a few short weeks … But in a few days I returned to my labours, though with nearly a broken heart”. As he processed his grief he continued in effective evangelism in the Staffordshire Potteries.

In 1838 after three years as a widower, he married Elizabeth Duke, a Primitive Methodist convert from the Weymouth mission. By July 1847, he was stationed at Guernsey in the Channel Islands when his second wife died leaving him with four children, the youngest of whom was very ill. He writes “Her mother had made a most triumphant end; yet I dreaded the loss of the child”. He found practical sympathy and support from friends in the islands of Jersey, Alderney and Guernsey.

In 1849 a cholera epidemic swept across England, and people died of this dread disease within days or even hours of the onset of symptoms. In one instance after preaching in Hartlepool market place, a woman was converted through Thomas Russell’s preaching, and died just twelve hours later. The epidemic was a significant factor for the increase in conversions across the country. Thomas Rusell and his fellow missionaries visited the sick and dying at great personal risk.

In 1855 he was sent to Portadown in Ireland. It was the last place on earth he wanted to go and his four daughters cried bitterly when they heard of the posting. They moved as a family to live in Ireland and, in spite of initial misgivings, he had a vibrant ministry there. Seven years later he was posted to the Yorkshire dales, but in the meantime his daughters had married in Ireland. He recalls that “though I went to Ireland with reluctance, I left it with regret”. He ministered in the Yorkshire dales for three years until 1865 when he transferred to St. Albans.

During his life the Primitive Methodist movement grew from a small revivalist group based in the English midlands, to a worldwide movement that had a significant impact on the lives of working class people and their communities. Thomas Russell was one of a second generation of preachers who continued what had been started by the pioneers, Hugh Bourne and William Clowes. Thomas Russell died in 1886, and is buried at Englesea Brook in Cheshire. We need men and women of faith, courage and perseverance like him today.

Quotations from The Writings of Thomas Russell, originally published in 1869 and republished by Tentmaker publications 2005.

Persecution

The fourth parallel between the church in Acts and the Primitive Methodist movement is persecution.

After the stoning of Stephen, a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the surrounding regions. (Acts 8:1). Paul and his companions met with persecution in Antioch (Acts 13:50), Iconium (Acts 14:5), Lystra (Acts 14:19), strong opposition from Jewish groups and violent mobs in Philippi (Acts 16:22), and in Thessalonica (Acts 17:5), and there was a great riot in Ephesus on account of their message (Acts 19:23).

The early Primitive Methodist pioneer preachers faced two particular forms of persecution – the mob and the magistrate. Violent mobs of angry men and women pelted their preachers with stones, rotten eggs and vegetables, mud, excrement, as well as verbally and physically assaulting them. Some preachers were lucky to escape with their lives. Verbal assault apart from the usual cursing and swearing also included calling them “Ranters”, a term of derision and offence.

Many a preacher found himself in court or in prison as the result of trumped up charges, such as obstructing the highway, or intention to cause a riot. It was not infrequently that they picked up “the Go to Jail” card.

It is the experience of many preachers of powerful Christian movements to go to jail. Examples include Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Nazi Germany and Martin Luther King in Birmingham jail. It often seems to be part of God’s plan. As our western society moves from being post-Christian to being increasingly anti-Christian, it may be the lot of modern-day preachers to be sent to prison for preaching the Gospel, as well.

See also Five Characteristics of a Church Planting movement