Satan’s Craft

State of the Church: The Celtic Revival (28)

There is more need in this for tears than words, how the enemy of the Christian name has increased after the living words of the Son of God, after the fulness of the gospels, after the apostolic teaching, after the recent writing of orthodox authorities, who from the Old and New Testaments have expounded in varied speech the mysteries of the faith. To divide the Body of Christ and separate His members and part the vesture, which means unity, of the very Son of God, the Saviour of the world—yours, Satan, is this craft, but may Christ our peace, Who has made both one, defeat you.

  – Columbanus, Letter to Pope Boniface

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

  – John 17.20, 21

… walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

  – Ephesians 4.1-3

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity!

  – Psalm 133.1

The Body divided
The Roman Catholic clergy of Gaul were not a little put out with Columbanus. As they saw it, not only had he drained away the best of their youth to his monastic experiments, and not only had he refused their summons to repent of his barbarian ideas and submit to their authority, but he had also ratted them out to their boss, exposing their luxurious and lascivious ways for all the world to see.

The bishops and priests of Gaul were determined to deal with Columbanus and his Irish lackies. So they turned to the civil authorities—local kings—and spread lies about these foreigners who were turning their world upside-down. They needed to be dealt with. Sent on their way. Booted out and barred from returning.

Rather than seek reconciliation or try to learn from the Irishmen, the Catholic clergy chose to divide the Body of Christ in Gaul. And, while they succeeded in having Columbanus and several of his companions exiled, the two monastic foundations they began in Gaul would remain. They were proving too valuable to their parts of the country for the kings simply to shut them down.

Columbanus was astounded. How could these clergy not work at the unity of the Church, for which Jesus prayed and which Paul regarded as a solemn duty? There is but one Church, one Body of Christ, and all who truly know and love the Lord would weep tears at the mere prospect of His Body being divided or the unity of the Church in any way neglected.

Times haven’t change much.

Unity? What unity?
A divided Body of Christ is just these days de rigueur. Not even local churches experience perfect unity of God’s Spirit in the bond of peace. Not within their own congregations, and not with other Bible- and Gospel-believing churches in their community. We have no unity because we don’t share Jesus’ desire for it and we’ve never been encouraged or led to work hard at it. Disunity of the Body of Christ is just the way we choose to do church.

How’s that working out for us?

Jesus prayed that God would establish rich unity among His followers. We couldn’t care less about unity. Paul said we must all “work hard” (“endeavoring”—NKJV) at keeping the unity of the Spirt in the bond of peace. But we don’t work hard at much of anything in our churches. That must be somebody else’s remit.

We must not give up on being one Body of Christ. And each of us, as members of that Body, must resist every satanic ploy to downplay our unity or to distract, divert, or discourage us from seeking it. Satan does not want one united, visible, worshiping, working, and witnessing Body of believers in your community. But Jesus does, because He knows how good and pleasant and God-honoring such a miracle is for all who participate in it.

For Reflection
1. How would you describe your own desire to see more unity in the Lord’s Body?

2. Could you begin to make such unity of the true Body of Christ in your community a focus of your daily prayers and conversation? Will you?

Psalm 133.1-3
Tryggare Kan Ingen Vara: Children of the Heavenly Father
O behold, how sweet, how pleasant, when the brethren dwell together;
all in unity abiding find God’s blessing there presiding.

Like the precious oil of blessing flowing down on Aaron’s vestment,
God’s anointing rests forever where His people dwell together.

Like the dew of Hermon’s fountain falling down on Zion’s mountain,
so the blessing of the Savior dwells where unity finds favor.

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’re looking at the Church’s hope. Our Read Moore podcast is wrapping-up 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.