Preached and Lived

August/Peregrinatio

9 August 2010

Everywhere that he went the noble man preached the Gospel. And it pleased the people because his teaching was adorned by eloquence and enforced by examples of virtue...So great was his humility and that of his followers, that just as the children of this world seek honour and authority, so they on the contrary vied with one another in the practice of humility...

- The Monk Jonas, Life of St. Columban (Italian, 7th century)

Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments, from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.

- Psalm 110.3

Jonas wrote, "the Christian faith had almost departed that country," referring to the very place Columbanus and his troop began their ministry. "The creed alone remained," Jonas lamented. The Church was still staffed and members were present, but the pastors were mainly into keeping their jobs, not upsetting the royalty, and not being too hard on the people. They preached but little, shepherded even less, and, for the most part, busied themselves with keeping their little fiefdoms in tow.

Such formalism and shallowness received a shock when the Irish peregrini arrived. The manner of their lives and the power and eloquence of their preaching immediately began to result in converts to the true faith. They preached without compromise and lived in full conviction of the truth of what they preached. They turned their world upside down for Jesus Christ.

The Church is never so sick or dying that it cannot be revived. But it takes men and women filled with the Spirit, devoted to holiness, and fervent in talking about the Gospel to help the sleeping saints realize just how much they are missing. The Church in our day, in this country, at least, has become quite comfortable and content with its spiritual status quo. We're not disturbing anybody with our faith, least of all ourselves.

We're not turning our world upside down for Jesus, either. Nor does that seem to bother us - unless, of course, it bothers you. If it does, then pray for revival. Pray that God will revive His Church, renew her mission, and awaken the nation and the world to the truth of Christ and the glory of the Gospel. Live the faith of Jesus and talk about Him as often as you can. What God did through the ministries of those Irish peregrini He may be pleased to do yet again.

T. M. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.