Back in the good old days!

Of recent times I have been reading a little about the work of St Patrick and his amazing success in converting the ‘barbarians’ of Ireland during the 5th century. Patrick had all of the odds stacked against him as despite his being a Briton and connected to the Celtic peoples his family were aristocrats, who had converted to Christianity and his first language was Latin and he was therefore more Roman than Celtic.

In a book that I have enjoyed by George C. Hunter called ‘The Celtic Way of Evangelism’ there is a marvellous quote in the Preface:

‘In the face of this changing Western culture, many Western Church leaders are in denial; they plan and do church as though next year will be 1957.’

Beautiful!!

Having been about this new church stuff for almost twenty years now and finding the journey ever more lonely as I continue to head along the road, I am always finding myself in a quandary. You see, while I believe deeply in reaching to people outside the life of the church, the easier way forward is to go back to 1957! Dare I say this to my own flock? It is not the pagans / barbarians that make me nervous it is the Christians.

The one regular part of the life of our local church community over the past three years has been the regular departure of Christian people. Oh, we have also lost a good few people on our outer edges who have tasted for a while and then seemingly spun off; but almost without exception these people remain a part of us in some way or other, whereas ‘the believers’ just disappear?

One of the key aspects of Patrick’s work was that he simply went and spent time amongst the various tribes of Ireland. He didn’t impose his views without first listening to those with whom he was visiting. Patrick did not bring a church structure with him; he created an indigenous church in the form of the particular village / community where he was based. The early church was less an institution and more a movement.

Patrick formed monastic communities but these were not birthed to lock people out; rather they were designed as a haven of grace, care and hope for the people of the district. It was the openness of the Christian way that attracted the people.
Here is the problem. If you are a church that is open to all, the ever present temptation is to close it down just a little bit, and then a little bit more and then.. As I say, 1957 is a very tempting option. Provide the ‘customers’ with the right stuff and build from there. Gosh, get a few more good and solid Christians in and we might start paying a few more bills!? Does the term ‘good and solid’ make you a little nervous when related to the church? It does for me. When I hear someone described as being a pillar of the church I get this picture of something very large, heavy and totally immovable.

Mind you this way is probably much easier than seeking to find out what God might be up to among the great unwashed of the community and then perhaps even allow them to be part of the shaping.

I found it really encouraging that in the case of Patrick those who supported his great journey to Ireland eventually were offended by him. Patrick maintained a passion – a call he believed that was given him by God – to give the best of his time and effort to those on the outside of the church. The Church of Rome and his immediate chiefs in England had instituted a faith that looked after the saints first and foremost. Once the pagans were ‘civilised’ and ‘Christianised’ then look after them so that they stayed that way!

My naïve theory is that followers of Christ are much better equipped to look after themselves than those who are not a part of his community. We have the Scriptures, we have the Holy Spirit and we have the church to encourage and equip us. Some one told me recently that while I speak of our community being different to other churches, in reality we are no different. I figure that we might not look too different (that is a deliberate ploy) but I still think that we are very different underneath. Don’t judge a book by its cover!