Gildas, The Ruin of Britain (9)

Nor should any priest applaud himself solely because he is conscious that his own body is pure: for if some of those he is in charge of die because of his ignorance or laziness or flattery, their souls shall be required on judgement day from his hands as though he had killed them. Death comes no sweeter from the hand of a good man than that of a bad. Otherwise the apostle would not have said, when he left as it were a father’s heritage to his successors, “I am clean of the blood of all men. For I have not shirked announcing to you the whole mystery of God.”

You are drunk with the practising of constant sins, and shaken by the waves of accumulated crimes that incessantly rush upon you; seek then, as though you had suffered shipwreck, with all the striving of your mind, for the single plank of penitence that can carry you to the land of the living, so that the fury of the Lord may be turned away from you. For in his mercy he said: “I do not desire the death of a sinner, but that he may turn and live.”

May the almighty God of all consolation and pity preserve the very few good shepherds from all harm, and, conquering the common enemy, make them citizens of the heavenly city of Jerusalem, that is, of the congregation of all the saints: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to whom be honour and glory for ever and every. Amen.

Translation Michael Winterbottom, The Ruin of Britain

Gildas brings his report to an end with a prayer for the pastors of Britain, whom he considers to be the primary cause of the ruin of his country and theirs. He prays that those who are caught up in the sinfulness of the age might come to repentance and those who are not might be preserved and kept from the ruin that has overtaken their colleagues and their nation.

Gildas anticipates the response of certain priests who, reading his account, will insist they are not guilty of the sins of self-indulgence with which he charges the majority. They have kept themselves pure; therefore, obviously Gildas’ complaint does not apply to them.

That may well have been the case. But he challenges them to consider not just their own purity but their ministry to the saints in their charge. Have they been faithful in teaching, preaching, and other works of ministry, so as to keep the sheep in their flocks from falling prey to sin? Have they undertaken the hard work of study, preparation, and shepherding that caring for the churches requires? Or have they been lazy in ministry, unfaithful in study, or discouraged from confronting sinners by flattery?

Building the Church of Christ requires more than keeping oneself unstained by the world. The work of ministry is hard and risky. Equipping the saints for works of service is an ongoing task. Shepherding the flocks of God can be fraught with challenges and even danger. But pastors must be diligent to fulfill their callings despite unfavorable circumstances or contrary conditions. The fury of the Lord awaits faithless shepherds.

The remedy for sin is repentance, that sinners “may turn and live.” In Gildas’ day, and throughout the Middle Ages, repentance involved penitence (we’ll be looking at this spiritual discipline beginning in our next series). Penitence consists of a conscious, deliberate, and prolonged turning from particular sins, following a prescription given by a senior and coupled with some kind of regular accountability. As we read the manuals of discipline (“penitentials”) surviving from this period we get a better sense of the kinds of sins that were not uncommon among the clergy of that time. We’ll look at Gildas’ own manual of penance in our final installment; then perhaps we will understand more fully the urgency and tone of his report. And if the clergy were so captivated by sin, what could be expected of the people?

Pastors, Gildas reminds his readers, are culpable for the spiritual wellbeing of their flocks (Jms. 3.1). They must not only keep themselves from sin, and repent of sin whenever they fall into it, but they must labor to rescue those in their care, teaching them to resist the devil and flee from him (Jms. 4.7), and to bring holiness to completion in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7.1). He cites Paul’s example before the Ephesian elders as the standard to which his readers should aspire.

Only penitence can bring these pastors back to the proper path for their lives and ministries. It is the “plank” on which they may hope to escape the shipwreck of their faith to the solid ground of the Gospel once again. And God, Gildas assures them, is more than willing to receive them, if only they will come. He is the “God of all consolation and pity”, and He alone can help us against our “common enemy” so that we realize the fullness of our citizenship in His eternal Kingdom.

Gildas concludes his report by reminding his readers that God alone is to be honored and glorified “for ever and ever”. Those who would enjoy the eternal bliss of the heavenly city of Jerusalem should heed his words, turn from their sins, and seek the pity and mercy of the Lord, so that He might rescue them from their ruin and restore them to His presence and glory.

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