State of the Church: The Celtic Revival (23)
Then, since according to the Lord’s warnings the blood of so many will be sought for at the hands of their shepherds, careful watch must be kept, that is, the Word of the Lord must be often preached, and preached by the shepherds, by the Church’s bishops and teachers, that none may perish through ignorance; for he perishes through lack of heed, his blood will be on his own head.
– Columbanus, Letter to Pope Boniface
Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
– 2 Timothy 4.2
False shepherds
Columbanus complained to Pope Boniface about the “carelessness” of the bishops, priests, and teachers of Gaul. They had left off preaching the Word of God and were merely going through the motions of religion. They were not fulfilling their callings and thus were false shepherds.
We need to remember that, in those days, no one would have had his own Bible, and most of the people would have been illiterate. Any feeding of the Word they might have received would have come from those appointed as shepherds over them. It was careless, Columbanus insisted, that these men were not preaching the Word of God to their people.
The Irish missionaries who were with Columbanus were raised in an environment where the Word was “often preached by the shepherds”. This was their heritage, passed all the way down to them through Palladius, Ailbe, Erc, Patrick, Coemgen, Colum Cille, and more. The Roman Catholic priests and bishops cared not—perhaps we should say “could not have cared less—for the people who looked to them for guidance in the faith. They were too busy with worldly occupations (as we shall see in our next installment).
Columbanus did not regard himself as a subject of Rome or under the authority of the Pope. But he knew the Roman structure and, since his direct appeals to the bishops and priests of Gaul had borne no fruit, he wrote to their higher-ups in Rome on behalf of the perishing flocks in Gaul.
Carelessness today
We need sound preaching today as much as the people of Gaul did in Columbanus’ day. But we need not “perish through ignorance” of the Word of God. We all have Bibles. Probably gobs of them. We know that God expects us not just to hear the Word preached but to read it day by day, meditate on it frequently, and put into practice all that it teaches. If we do not heed the Lord on these matters, we will “perish through lack of heed, and [our] blood will be on [our] own head.”
We must not be careless about our time with the Lord. His Word is living and active, more powerful than a two-edged sword, able to penetrate to the depths of our being and cut out all that is sinful and wicked at the same time it heals and restores us to greater degrees of life in the Lord. There is always more to learn from the Word of God. More to show us the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. To convict us of some unrecognized sin. Fill us with the joy of God’s Presence. Equip us for good works of ministry. And more.
And let us encourage one another in this high privilege (Ps. 147.19, 20) and daily nutritional delight (Jer. 15.16). Let us teach one another by sharing from our reading and study (Heb. 5.12) and stimulate one another to love and good works by what we are learning from God’s Word (Heb. 10.24). Thus, we will enrich ourselves, our fellow believers, and our churches with the power of God’s Word, working with His Spirit to make us willing and able to do that which is according to God’s pleasure (Phil. 2.12, 13).
Let us banish all carelessness where time with God is concerned, that we may be diligent to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior and to seek His Kingdom and glory in all we do.
For Reflection
1. What do you like best about your time with the Lord? Have you shared that with anyone lately?
2. What might you do to improve your reading and study of God’s Word?
Psalm 119.105, 106
Slane: Be Thou My Vision
Your Word a lamp is to brighten my way.
LORD, from Your pathway let me never stray!
I give my word now as I have before:
Your righteous Law I will keep evermore.
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
For a good complementary study to this, check out Pray for Your Church. It’s free in The Ailbe Bookstore. And download our ReThinking Church Appraisal Tool by clicking here. And to refresh and deepen your time in God’s Word, order a copy of The Joy and Rejoicing of My Heart while you’re there.
Other columns of interest: This week: In our ReVision series on “The Church” we consider the question of how to “church”. Our Read Moore podcast is working through our book, The Kingdom Turn. The focus of our Scriptorium daily study is on “Matthew: The Coming of the Kingdom.” Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
