Recently I was blessed to be able to take a trip to Scotland to visit one of our missionaries there. Following this, I went Lindisfarne Island to take a seminar in "Exploring the Celtic Heritage," a class offered through Fuller Theological Seminary, taught by John and Olive Drane.
This was a seminar that I had long wanted to take, and it was quite an experience. In this series of blog posts I hope to share some of the lessons that I learned from the experience, seminar, and the reading. I will begin sharing with the conversion of the Irish to Christianity. I had been interested in this mission history and its application for today ever since reading the book The Celtic Way of Evangelism by George Hunter some ten years ago (a book that has recently been updated and still well worth the read).
First, however, a note about the use of the term "Celtic." There was no one Celtic people or one Celtic church. The Celts were a diverse group of peoples held together primarily through a common underlying Gaelic language. In around 400 c.e., the time of "St. Patrick," as he was later known, there were the Irish Celts, the Picts or Scottish Celts, and the Briton Celts. The Irish Celts invaded modern day Scotland, creating the similarity in language and accents between these two peoples. And the Britons were invaded by the Anglo-Saxons (the Angles were one of the Saxon tribes, which were Germanic in origin). This pushed the Britons mainly into Brittany and Wales (creating the Welsh people), while the rest of the Britons mixed with the Anglo-Saxons.
Patrick, later known as St. Patrick, was born a Romanized Briton. Rome had conquered modern day England, and had built Hadrian's Wall to keep the barbarian Picts (Scottish) separate from the Britons. Rome never conquered Ireland, however, and this allowed the rise of a distinct, though not separate, expression of Christianity in the first few hundred years after Patrick's missionary efforts.
Patrick had been a nominal Christian, even belittling the faith. When he was sixteen, however, a band of Celtic pirates from Ireland capturing him and some of his friends, took him back to Ireland, and sold him to a tribal chief (and Druid) named Miliuc. He spent time as a slave both with the Irish Celts, as well as working as a cattle herder/shepherd. As Hunter relates, this brought about three things: 1) Patrick came to appreciate nature and how it revealed God; 2) Patrick came to know the Irish Celts; and 3) Patrick came to love the Irish Celts.
Patrick, however, escaped from Ireland by following the instructions that he received in a dream to walk along the coastline for a ship that would carry him away. Then, many years later, he received another dream in which he felt the call to go back to Ireland and seek to convert his former captors. He was appointed a bishop and sent on this mission to the Irish, becoming the first "missionary bishop."
There are several aspects of Patrick and his companions' missionary approach to be noted:
This missionary approach was hugely successful. Within Patrick's lifetime, some 30 to 40 of the approximately 150 Irish tribes were converted to Christianity. It is estimated that he planted 700 churches. And later generations would send Aidan down to Lindisfarne Island to convert the Anglo-Saxons.
Patrick and his missionary band's approach to mission clearly has much application for today. What application do you see for today?
Comment
Thank you for the great post Brother
Thank you, Jason! I am glad that the article encouraged and refreshed you. The seminar that I took in Celtic Christianity was refreshing for me as well.
I am glad to hear about your "missionary band." As I will share in the next post, we far too often seek to do mission individually, rather than in twos or in groups--which have much more appeal to others. More on this soon. Thanks for sharing, and God's blessings on your ministry!
What a great post, James! I feel refreshed and commissioned when I am reminded of those missional movements among the Irish Celts. Thank you for taking the time to put it succinctly on what, for me, is a hectic day.
The application for me, I recognise I need to work with in a band. I've seen it applied like this:
Last year my family and I went on a short-term mission in collaboration with others. It was successful, I believe, because for the most part the band lived in Christian community and also were familiar with what Christ means for daily living, anxiety, and so on for ourselves and for the children we were serving who don't have a lot of money and whose families have been broken up through generational oppression. Our "band" would, every night, sit together and simply check-in. We went around and simply listened to each other. It was a debrief of the day and a prayer knowing God was there.
there is a whole lot of what you and I are saying tthat is the same thing in different words. I was raised in the heart of the legalism belt, out in west texas. It took me years to shed a whole lot of that doctrine from my attitude, I am still kind of stuck in the middle. I believe that we should follow the bible in all things, I believe that none of us are good enough to be perfect in anything and that without the blood of Christ and the Grace of God, we would have no access to salvation. I am probably one of the weakest of all, i have to pray for forgiveness every day. I have all kind of obstacles and hindrances and so on in my life and my walk with God. But so does most everyone else. I count all things for Jesus but Loss. I cannot do anything on my own, I have to have God's Grace and the strength that I find through prayer. I also am heading for the so called "golden years" I have a tendency to speak much more bluntly and directly than I did in younger years. I may not get another chance to share these things with you James and I feel that they are important for me to say and for you to hear. please consider my words without the usual combative bent of the apologist, but as sincere thoughts and feelings and opinions shared honestly with you by an old guy that cares a whole lot that we all make it to Heaven. like I said, I wouldn't have said anything if I didn't feel very strongly that you needed to hear it. Most folks, even Christians are hesitant to say anything negative, most folks would not have researched you and your writings as thoroughly as I have. Believe it or not, I am not your enemy, I am a brother in Christ that has some concerns that happen to apply to you. I believe completely in the all Saving Grace of God, I also believe that it is not a carte blanche to go in whatever direction that you wish once you have been baptized. I believe that there is a real path in the bible that tells us how to worship and how to live a christian life. I gotta say good night now, I do think though that it would be good if we could continue our discussion some more one day. Good night and have a wonderful Lords Day
Don, Satan uses legalism and the doctrine of being saved by having everything correct far more in the church than just about anything else. Making the claim that anyone other than Christ has never "added to or taken away" anything in the Bible is a claim to have perfect practice of doctrine and belief. And if that is what saves you, or that plus Christ, that is legalism, which is strongly condemned in Scripture. This is the "other gospel" that Paul speaks of in Galatians. It is seductive, and it has passionate supporters. But it is not the gospel. The gospel is that we are saved by Christ and the grace of God. Yes, that is the scandal of grace, that people who are not perfect are saved. And I am glad of this, for I am in need of this grace. I do not pretend to claim that I have perfect understanding or practice. I gladly accept that Christ is the perfect one, and I am a poor sinner. I throw myself at the mercy of God's grace, and rest assured in his sacrifice.
First of all,, I was not asking for your forgiveness, I was just pointing out that I can't say anything in a few words.
As far as any ability to look into your heart, I do not make judgements, I did express opinions. I stand by those opinions, as for where I got these things, I have read in detail everything that I can find that you have written that is available. I accept that I have spoken bluntly in places, I would that I did not so fervently believe in what I stated, I developed any thoughts or opinions regarding your direction and motivations simply by reading the words that you have written through the years as well as by association, some of the mentors that you have embraced as sources of learning and inspiration. Now. you are a very personable, likeable person, you are also very intelligent and well educated. I didn't believe then and I don't believe now that you would have written articles and published them when they didn't say what you intended and that the actual words in them were reason for much concern. I would not insult your lintelligence or integrity that way. I believe that you are very sincere in your walk and your efforts for God. I also believe that your training and education have led you in such a liberal direction that the purity and simplicity of Christianity and the wishes of our Lord have escaped you in favor of growing huge works and baptizing great numbers and counting everyone that is baptized by immersion as among the numbers of God's folks, regardless of their direction beyond those acts I am just trying to say that it ain't rocket science, you don't gotta have clowns and snowcones and movies and popcorn and stuff, the true unadulterated word of our God has the power to save and if we have to use all of the bells and whistles, why are those folks coming to church anyway. I am growing old, I love the Lord, I do not lie or attempt to sugar coat things like I might have in my younger years. I don't mean to attempt to assassinate you, as I said, I believe that your heart is good, just had too many folks directing you in ways that are not biblical in all respects. You can do all of the studies that you can handle, all of the one on ones , all of the neighbors, all of the sharing and teaching in the world. and be sincere about it. you just gotta be sure that your authority is always the bible and not the writings of some scholar or the other. If it ain't in the bible, it don't count.
Don, I have been studying with people one on one for years. I have 3 different studies going on right now, training others in how do these studies, am speaking on baptism tomorrow, and I am constantly praying for those I am studying with. Today I spent most of my time with my neighbors, seeking to show them the love of God. I am meeting someone at 7:45 AM tomorrow to study about accepting Christ and being baptized. My life is devoted to sharing Christ with people. The people who really know know that that is my life.
And yet you have accused me of simply wanting to be a "big shot," saying that I need to accept that "I am just a man" (as if I claimed anything else!), that "my sights are set way too high"--and that I am working for Satan. Wow. I am studying with people all the time, seeking to share Christ with them and lead them to faith. That is a terrible charge.
Where did you get the ability to look into my heart and make these kind of judgments? I will pray for you.
I do not know if you are asking forgiveness for not being able to speak short, or for what you have said. We are always called to forgive others, so of course I offer any forgiveness that is asked for. And I ask God to forgive me everyday. I am so glad that we are saved by the grace of God, because I need this grace. I cannot save myself. I cannot be right enough or good enough to save myself. I need a Savior. I need Christ Jesus.
James, you asked me my opinion, I gave it to you as honestly as I know how. those are not attacks, they are statements by me of the person I see when I read your writings and see the things that you value most and hold most dear. Daddy used to tell me to not ask a question if I didn't want to hear the answer. as for your other questions, I copied them here for the sake of my tired old fingers.
Do you believe that a person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God and is baptized into his name is a Christian? These early Christians believed that Jesus was the Son of God and were baptized (immersed) into his name. Are we saved by grace, or by getting everything right? Are you confident that everything that you believe, practice, and interpret is 100% correct and completely free of error? Is this how we are saved? Or are we saved by Christ and his grace?
You know that I do believe that if we hear the word, believe it, repent of our sins, confess before man and our father our belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and are Baptized by immersion for the remission of our sins that we are added to the Church that Christ Established. It is not about the name of the church, the example we have in the bible is The Church of Christ, from there, If I do my best to live my life in accordance with the teachings of the Bible, I believe that God's Grace is there to take me home. By grace are we saved through faith, yes I believe that we are saved by grace, and none of us get everything right, I pray that what I believe and practice is correct, to the best of my ability, if I got it all right, I could earn my own way into heaven and wouldn't need grace. but I am just a fallible man so I pray for and rejoice in the Grace of God every day. These questions that you present below are no brainers for most folks, there are a few legalists left that think that you gotta be perfect, they may have a problem there. we all sin and fall short of the glory of God, but I also believe that we are to study and to pray without ceasing and to do our best to rightly divide the word of truth and to not add to or take away from the word. The bible is the same, yesterday, today and forever, If society changes due to whatever, video games, loss of morals in our homes and our country, embracing alternative life styles, whatever, there are the same teaching in the word of God that were there before our society turned away from God. We are still Christians, there is no provision for changing course and saying well, folks don't like our God so let's modernize and liven things up and make it more fun for them to come to church. don't call it worship, that;s what their parents and grandparents did, so we gotta entertain them to get them in. my bible don't allow for all of that changing stuff. we still have the same commands to follow that we always did. I don't want to spend the night here on this, I will if you feel motivated, I feel strongly about the simplicity and oneness of the church and have a real problem with anything that violates the bible way of doing things or the autonomy of the local church.
forgive me brother, I can't speak short
Good Night
yes James, I did know that the Celts practiced baptism by immersion. and I did know that they did not embrace the doctrine of original sin. those are two things in their favor. And, another thought from my twisted mind. I realize that from the original church and their meeting in caves and homes and what have you and that their singing was more a chant similiar to what you described below that was taught to the Irish. there was very little written down, it was very basic. All it was was a group of Christians coming together to sing and pray and worship God. I bet that they never considered whether to set up a kitchen in the next cave so they could invite the pagans to worship and feed them so they would feel welcome or to entertain them so they would have fun and come back. All it took back then was for what you call a seeker, I have no problem with that word except it seems to have grown legs and become part of a movement. They were humble christians, they were always willing to share God's word and they grew in numbers. It still is so simple, My grandfather had a fifth grade education and drove a milk wagon, he was plenty smart enough to figure out how to obey and to serve and to worship and he was a member of the church and a devout Christian for 70 years, anyway. he raised his family as Christians, he shared the Gospel with his friends and fellow workers, he did what his bible told him to do, to the best of his ability. he never added anything to the words written in that book not did he ever take away from them. a solid "Thus Saith the Lord" was good enough for him. That is what Christianity is all about, One on one, One by one. Adding them to the church daily, such as should be saved. simple, uncomplicated, no big show, just loving people loving God and his son, loving each other, and sharing that Love one by one with the community around them. We live in the mission field, we enter it every time we walk out of the doors of the church building.
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