Today is St. Patrick’s Day. It is believed to be the death date of St. Patrick and is celebrated as his feast day. It holds special significance to me personally as my mother, who was named after St. Patrick, died on this date four years ago.
A few years ago, I asked someone to teach at our church on the “Celtic way of Evangelism.” As he was teaching, I kept hearing change rattling. Since no one else around me heard it, I believed it was a supernatural sign and the Lord was saying that we need to change the way we evangelize.
St. Patrick evangelized Ireland by establishing communities where people were able to “belong” before they believed. The way that we evangelize today is the Roman model where people believe first….then they can “belong.”
The church in the next millennium will increasingly need to relate to the longing within society for community and relationship. People who have become suspicious of words, promises and hype, are attracted to relationships and belonging.
I have been greatly influenced by a movement called Mosaic that is based in Los Angeles. They attract many unbelievers to their services. They use art, dance, and media to communicate. St. Patrick used native art forms to reach the Irish people. The Celtic evangelism model was highly effective at reaching people that the Romans thought were too uncivilized to convert.
The Celts would have had no problem with “Power Evangelism.” The Celtic Christian world view didn’t draw a dichotomy between natural and supernatural. All of creation was God’s! They talked of ‘thin places,’ places where the veil between the natural and the spiritual was slender, almost transparent, and a strong sense of the presence of God could be discerned.
St. Patrick planted over 700 churches. Whole tribes became Christians. He ordained thousands of priests. On this day, where we wear green and eat corn beef and cabbage, let’s remember the man who discipled a nation.
Revolution Church 