The Celtic Revival: State of the Church (1)
Britain has priests, but they are fools; very many ministers, but they are shameless, clerics, but they are treacherous grabbers. They are called shepherds, but they are wolves all ready to slaughter souls. They do not look to the good of their people, but to the filling of their own bellies. They have church buildings, but go to them for the sake of base profit. They teach the people—but by giving them the worst of examples, vice and bad character…They do not reprimand the people for their sins; indeed, they do the same things themselves.
– Gildas, The Ruin of Britain
“Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.”
– Acts 20.28-31
Time to speak out
Gildas was not some upstart young dissident when, at the age of 43, he put his pen to parchment to decry the state of the churches and their pastors in his native Britain. Writing early in the 6th century, Gildas was already in touch with Christian leaders in Ireland, including Finnian of Clonard, the great disciple-maker. He was stunned by the reports coming his way of the rapid spread of the Gospel, the sacrificial lives of monks, abbots, and pastors, and the ready conversion of many of the Irish to faith in Jesus.
This led him to look at his own country—Britain, birthplace of Patrick—and consider the state of the faith in the churches there. The picture was not a pretty one, and it had not been since before the time of Patrick. We recalled that his own pastors refused to bless his mission to Ireland and then tried to squelch it. In Gildas’ day, in the generation after Patrick, churches in Britain were in decline everywhere. Those who claimed to be followers of Jesus lived worldly and indulgent lives. And their pastors were no better. Indeed, Gildas laid at the feet of the pastors the deterioration of faith which he observed.
At some point, Gildas decided to speak out. He penned The Ruin of Britain to provide an historical overview of the Gospel’s coming to that country and an assessment of the present state of the faith.
Which was not encouraging. And which made it for Gildas a time to speak out.
We can hear in his opening salvo the warnings of Paul in Acts 20 and Philippians 3.19. He determined to hold up the plumb line of Scripture to the pastors and churches of his day, which he would detail in an unrelenting pummeling.
Pray for your church and pastor
It’s no secret that the Church in this country has been staggered by blows of secularism and wrong belief which have put her in a corner and are slamming away. We are at least partly to blame for this situation because we have not kept the faith as fully and purely as we should. As individuals, we have not been all that serious about the Word of God. Our prayer lives are mostly meager. We have left off bearing witness to Jesus. And love for our neighbors has nearly shrunken away. We prefer secular powers to do the work of making things right in our nation and back the worst examples of moral decency to lead us.
In pugilistic terms, we have let down our guard, thinking we could absorb the blows of our enemies. And now we’re stuck in a corner, buckling at the knees.
As churches, we have opened the doors to all manner of worldly ways which, looking like faithful means of shepherding the flock, have instead shown themselves to be worldly wolves. We focus more on gaining church members than on making disciples. We run programs rather than shepherd the flock. Build new facilities rather than strengthen the souls of God’s people. Try to build our church on a business model rather by shepherding. Cast off our rich Christian heritage of music and liturgy and turn our worship services into religious shows. Do everything we can think of to persuade the world to come to church and almost nothing to equip God’s people to go to the world. And we make an idol of preaching, like starving little birds, opening our souls to gobble down whatever pastors offer as the last and best word on their topic.
“So, how do you really feel about this, T. M.?”
I feel like Gildas. I know there are many faithful followers of Christ and sincere shepherds. But friends, we are losing ground. Worse, we as the Christian community are on a slippery slope to irrelevance, annoyance, and worse. We need to open our eyes and look into our souls. God is calling us not to continue the present status quo efforts at being Christians and churches, but to seek revival and a return to older, truer, sounder, more fruitful ways of being disciples. “Thus says the LORD: ‘Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls.’” In Jeremiah’s day, as in Gildas’, the answer was, “We will not walk in it.” (Jer. 6.16)
What about in our day?
The Celtic Revival overflowed into Britain shortly after Gildas’ day. Did his tirade pave the way? I think it surely must have. Let’s pray that God will wake us up to our need for revival today, and that we will seek it earnestly, beginning in our own souls.
For Reflection
1. How can you encourage your fellow believers to “ask for the old paths” once again?
2. What evidence do you see that we as a community of believers are losing ground against secularism?
Psalm 119.25-32
(Festal Song: Rise Up, O Men of God)
My soul clings to the dust; revive me by Your Word!
My ways I have declared to You; teach me Your statutes, LORD!
Make me to understand Your precepts and Your ways,
as on Your works I meditate with wonder and with praise!
My soul weighs down with woe, I need Your strength, O LORD!
Remove from me all lying ways; grant me Your holy Word!
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).
Other columns of interest: This week: In our ReVision series on “The Church” we consider what the Church is and why we need it. Our Read Moore podcast continues through our book, If Men Will Pray. 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.
