State of the Church: The Celtic Revival (19)
For great harm has been done and is done to the church’s peace by difference of character and diversity of practice; but yet if, as I have said, we first hasten by the exercise of true humility to heal the poison of pride and envy and vain glory, through the teaching of our Savior, Who says for our example, Learn of Me for I am meek and lowly of heart, and so on, then let us all, made perfect with no further blemish, with hatred rooted out, as the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, love one another with our whole heart.
– Columbanus, Letter to Pope Gregory
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
– 1 John 4.7, 8
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
– Romans 12.21
A plague of self-love
When Columbanus and his troop began their ministry in Gaul, around the turn of the 7th century, there were already plenty of churches there, as well as people hungry to know more about Jesus. The problem was not so much with the churches as with their shepherds. Many—perhaps most—of them were sick with “the poison of pride and envy and vain glory”. That is, they had succumbed to self-love as if it was a plague.
These shepherds regarded themselves not as servants of the Lord’s flocks but as their masters. They expected deference, unquestioned loyalty, and a comfortable lifestyle. Their deportment was as far from “meek and lowly of heart” as one could get.
And they resented and hated the Irish missionaries, both because young people flocked to them and because they refused to kowtow to the Catholic bishops. The peace of the Church was compromised by those self-loving priests, and Columbanus wrote to Pope Gregory, calling on him for help. He urged the pontiff to have them take the mantle of true discipleship—love for one another. They would not, however, and, in the end, worked for the expulsion of Columbanus and his friends from their midst.
Where there is no love
The apostle John is clear: Where self-love outweighs neighbor-love, the knowledge of God is absent. Love for God and neighbors is the whole teaching of the Law and the Prophets—the Old Testament (Matt. 22.34-40). Jesus affirmed this and further demonstrated the nature of such love as self-denial, bearing our own cross, serving the people around us, and keeping God’s love-defining Law. These are the marks of true Christian faith.
We can imagine that the prideful priests of Gaul were a shock to Columbanus. Born, raised, educated, and having served in Ireland through the high-water-mark days of the Celtic Revival (ca. 430-800), he had never seen—or had seen very little of—such selfishness and disregard of God’s flocks. His approach was to confront it, expose it, and seek help in redressing it.
This is good counsel for us whenever we find we are lapsing into self-love and failing to love our neighbors as we should. Confront such selfishness in prayer, calling on the Holy Spirit to search your soul and reveal any areas where self-love is beginning to arise or any places where it must be checked. Confess and repent of the sins of pride and envy and vainglory, as well as of any neglect of love where it is due. Seek the help of God’s Spirit for revival and renewal in your soul.
We must not be like the hard and self-centered priests of Gaul, denying we are in sin and throwing out the nuisance that insists we are—the Word of God and His Spirit. God can enable us to overcome all evil, self-serving ways to make us true disciples who love Him and our neighbors as ourselves. But we must be willing to face up to and repent of self-centeredness, and seek the Lord to help us chart a new course of love.
Confession, repentance, change of course: Let these disciplines continue to serve us that we may be true disciples of our Lord.
For Reflection
1. How frequently do you seek the Lord to reveal any sin in your life?
2. Why is it so important we do this regularly?
Psalm 139.23, 24
Ripley: Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah, O My Soul
Search my heart, O LORD, and know me, as You only, LORD, can do.
Test my thoughts and contemplations, whether they be vain or true.
Let there be no sin in me, LORD, nothing that Your Spirit grieves.
Lead me in the righteous way, LORD, unto everlasting peace!
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 Such a Great Salvation. It’s free in The Ailbe Bookstore.
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.
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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.
