St. Patrick, the Celts, & Today's Barbarians

Uncanny insights for nonplussed T-Surfers

Three leafed clovers, green beer, and chasing snakes off the island of Ireland . . . What else do you know about St. Patrick? And what does it have to do with the Sexual Tsunami? More than you might guess, actually.

Recently I read George G. Hunter III’s The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West . . . AGAIN. Perched on my shelf for eight years, it seemed providential last month to wade through it.

Just Patrick’s biography is quite amazing. Captured by Irish pirates at age 16, he lived among uncivilized tribes for six years. While being forced to herd and shepherd for months at a time, he drew intimately close to the God of his catechism. One night God told him in a dream a ship was coming for him. He awoke, stole away to the shore, and sure enough—there was the boat that would take him back to England.

After training and ordination, he was commissioned as a missionary to the “barbaric hordes” of Ireland. For the next 26 years, he and a team evangelized and planted churches, winning over a third of the tribes.

Even more important, he began a movement with a clearly defined strategy for converting the uncivilized—the very people the Roman Church had given up on.

In the centuries that followed, this movement won over much of Scotland, then England, and eventually the uncivilized portions of eastern Europe. It is the latter which seems to resemble the context of our own continent.  Consider this quote:

Irish missionaries in Europe faced the threefold challenge of converting barbarian peoples to Christianity, converting Arian Christians to orthodox Christianity, and renewing Christian populations that had fallen into laxity and immorality. (p. 28)

Doesn’t that sound a good bit like your neck of the woods? Certainly our culture is rapidly careening away from Christianity. Those who claim the faith are often lax, leaning toward heterodoxy, and dabbling in immorality.

But what about the barbarians? Who are they today? Hunter asserts the recovery community is one such group and are primed and ready for evangelism. They hold belief in a higher power and are longing for his power to find freedom. We are able to find their way more clearly. But will we?

As pastors and counselors, we can learn a few things from St. Pat about reaching those in sexual addiction. Of the many principles and strategies he forged among the Celts, the following seems most applicable for T-Surfers:

Indigeneity, Language, and Authenticity

Patrick already knew the language and culture from his captivity. He had learned to love the people and appreciate their ways. Instead of bringing the Latin Mass and other Catholic trappings, he adopted their language and adapted the Gospel message to their culture.

The Celts were fascinated with the number “three”. For them, the clover was but one symbol for this fascination. And, of course, Patrick used it as an object lesson to teach the Trinity. This is but one example of how he entered their world to reach them.

European monasteries were the Roman Church’s way of escaping the barbarians and preserving Christian and Western culture. But Patrick built monasteries right in the center of the tribal village, making them welcome centers and places of refuge. Hunter makes the point that as they demonstrated extravagant hospitality, people began to believe that maybe the God of Patrick actually cared about them.

As for teaching, Patrick appealed to the right brain more than the left. Instead of filling minds with doctrine, he provided prayers and practices which were very symbolic, episodic, and experiential. The imagery of The Prayer of Saint Patrick is a profound example of the spirituality which eventually swept through the British isles and beyond.

After about a century of this approach, the Roman Church began to intervene. Mass was to be in Latin. Church buildings were to be more than mere shacks. Monasteries must follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, and not be so open and freewheeling.

The movement became only a memory. It slowly ground to a halt.

Beautiful Downtown Beaver Falls

This September marks the tenth anniversary of the church I pastor. I started out twelve years ago pastoring three United Methodist congregations in Beaver Falls, PA. From the very first Sunday, God began leading recovery people to our worship services. In 2012, we launched a church called Ashes to Life Ministries for this segment of our community.

It seemed innovative and indigenous to some degree. But I was slow to learn the language of recovery.

Even though I began attending AA meetings, I kept speaking the language of my training: Formational Counseling. They found that interesting. But their reply was so often in code: “Ah, that’s like Step Four. Oh, and this part reminds me of the Fifth Step. And actually, the Third Step prayer in the AA Big Book kinda says that.”

Though they were impressed that I would come to meetings for alcoholics, and they were glad that I pointed out that my own monkeys were no less sinful than theirs, I think they simply figured that Pastor Mark just didn’t quite get it.

Not sure when I caught on, but eventually I worked the Twelve Steps for some of my own dysfunctions and began to speak their language. I’ve found that as they have sensed our church’s heartfelt, welcoming love, they’ve begun to take a greater interest in our Higher Power Jesus Christ.

Yes, we finally started Celebrate Recovery three years ago. I don’t try to convert them to CR language and thinking. I stress CR’s use of the Steps. And bit by bit, we are seeing people find out that the “god of their own understanding” has a name: Jesus.

Beautiful Downtown ______________

What about your location?

For a variety of reasons, addictions of all kinds will be on the rise. If you are reading this, probably sexual addiction is very much a concern in your ministry. Here are some thoughts.

Learn the language. Get familiar with the Twelve Steps. Learn some of the recovery lingo, much of which finds its roots in scripture. Intimidating? Take it “one day at a time”, my friend.

Step into the recovery world. Some AA and NA meetings are open to outsiders. You may already have such a group meeting in your building. Show up in an incarnational kind of way. Wear jeans and a hoodie and you’ll fit right in. Arrive early and socialize outside the door where they gather to smoke. If possible, keep them from discovering right away who you are. When they learn you’re not an alcoholic, simply say you are there to learn. They will smile and welcome you completely.

Open your doors.  If you are part of a congregation with a building, but don’t have a recovery group meeting there, look for a way to make it happen. Get to know key people in that community. Make an offer. See if they are looking to expand. And as time goes on, recovery groups for sexual addiction will likely be looking for meeting places as well.

Celebrate Recovery is another option. It is not “issue-specific”. That is, you can attend no matter what your besetting issue: workaholism, people pleasing, co-dependency, porn, narcotics, etc. If you are equipped to pull off another program, find out who the regional rep is in your area.

Uncanny and Nonplussed

The subtitle above? OK, just because I’m a word nerd, what are the opposites of “uncanny” and “nonplussed”? Canny and plussed? Yes and no.

“Uncanny” means mysterious, even leaning toward the supernatural. “Canny” means careful and shrewd.

There is no known opposite for “nonplussed”, but how it is used is evolving toward an opposite. Huh? The original meaning was “bewildered”. It is more commonly used to mean “unfazed” or “unimpressed”. Fascinating for us word nerds.

So, as the subtitle states, the insights from the Celts do indeed border on the supernatural, and are helpful to T-Surfers, whether you are bewildered or unfazed. Hm.

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