“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also.”

  - John 15.22

I beg you to pardon me, too hurtful and rough a speaker; on such a matter I could not write otherwise. For while in all things I have wanted to agree with truth, not without knowing that I must eat unleavened bread with bitterness, I have served only God, Who is blessed for ever.

  - Columbanus, Letter to Pope Boniface, Irish, 7th century

Columbanus’ basic problem was that he had no patience with status quo Christianity.

For decades, the priests and pastors of the churches in early 7^th-century Gaul had been managing a no-risk faith, dancing around the whims and wants of local rulers, making themselves at ease and prosperous, and comforting their flocks with the idea that all they had to do was believe and come to church, and they would have the eternal blessing of God.

This was not the Gospel as Columbanus had learned it. It was not the understanding of Christianity he intended to spread throughout his Personal Mission Field.

Columbanus preached to the rulers and clerics of Gaul: What about righteousness? What about justice? What about the Good News of Christ as Lord and King? And he backed up that preaching with actions, even refusing to baptize the bastard children of the unrepentant king.

For his trouble he was ratted on to Rome, and Pope Boniface demanded an accounting. His answer? I stand for the truth, even though I know it is bitter and lonely to do so. But God knows, Whom I serve at all times, and God will bless.

Columbanus would not go along with the status quo Christianity, just so he could get along with the civil and ecclesiastical powers of his day.

Truth may not always be comfortable, beloved, but it is always truth.

Today a kind of “near Christianity” infects a great many of the churches of the land. People are happy and assured that they’re going to heaven when they die, that God loves them and wants them to prosper, but that He doesn’t get too exercised about things like sin and righteousness and (especially) keeping the Law.

The latest version of status quo Christianity has landed the Church in America on the margins of society – which, in case no one has noticed, runs perilously close to the ledge. Our moral, social, and cultural influence is waning, and our spiritual influence is hardly apparent.

So much for being the light, leaven, and salt of the earth. Or of our Personal Mission Fields.

The cost of truth is obedience, faithfulness, and courage in the face of an entrenched and comfortable status quo of let’s-just-all-go-along-to-get-along. But in our going along, if we don’t go along with the truth, we’ll have to explain that, not to some perturbed pastor, comfortable congregant, or crusty colleague, but to God.

Jesus is the truth. And He has called us to follow Him, and equipped us with manifold gifts, in order that through us He might fill all things with Himself (Eph. 4:8-10).

But He will not fill our souls, our lives, or our Personal Mission Fields if our vision as His followers is nothing more than to maintain the comfortable status quo.

Psalm 24.3-6 (Foundation: “How Firm a Foundation”)
Oh, who may ascend to the Lord’s holy place? And who may appear to His glorious face?
All they who are clean in their hearts and their hands, and true in their souls with the Savior shall stand.

A blessing all they from the Lord shall receive who seek Him and on His salvation believe.
For these are His people, the children of grace, Who earnestly, eagerly seek for His face.

Lord, am I too comfortable in my faith? Help me, like Columbanus, to stand for the truth?

The Values of The Fellowship of Ailbe
I hope you’ve had an opportunity by now to view the brief video on our home page explaining the values of The Fellowship (scroll down below the fold). The Members of The Fellowship strive to have our lives increasingly defined by these six values – calling, seeking, renewal, holiness, mission, and legacy – and to let them stretch and shape us, in the power of God’s Spirit, into useful vessels for His Kingdom. Everything we do is based on these values, including urging you to take up the work of your Personal Mission Field, so that Christ can fill all things in and through you. If you’re a follower of Christ, you have a Personal Mission Field. He has called you and gifted you the leave a legacy of grace in the “as you are goings” of your life, and we want to help you succeed in this high and holy calling. We’ll send you A Field Guide to Mission to help you map out and begin working your Personal Mission Field. For your contribution in any amount, the worksheet and three booklets in this Field Guide can be yours. Use the donate button here or at the website, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Dr., Essex Junction, VT 05452.

Don’t look at the darkness around you. Look to the light and truth which is in Jesus. And go.

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