The Celtic Way of Sharing Faith
The Celtic Way of Evangelism by George Hunter III looks at the remarkably effective history of evangelism, discipleship and church planting in the time of St. Patrick in the late 4th and early 5th centuries A.D. It contrasts the Roman and Celtic forms of evangelism as they grew throughout northern Europe.
Under Patrick’s mission efforts, some 700 churches were planted, 1000 priests were ordained, 30-40 of Ireland’s 150 tribes became substantially Christian. Patrick was the first public man to speak against slavery, and within his lifetime, the Irish slave trade came to a halt. His communities modeled the Christian way of faithfulness, generosity, and peace (23).
The book ends with two great quotes. First is this ancient Chinese poem:
Go to the people.
Live among them.
Learn from them.
Love them.
Start with what they know.
Build on what they have.
The final paragraph of the book reads this way:
The supreme key to reaching the West again is the key that Patrick discovered – involuntarily but providentially. The gulf between church people and unchurched people is vast, but if we pay the price to understand them, we will usually know what to say and what to do; if they know and feel we understand them, by the tens of millions they will risk opening their hearts to the God who understands them.
Thanks for reminding me about The Celtic Way of Evangelism. It was one of the first books I read on my journey into missional – incarnational – simple church in 2002. It served as a catalyst as God sent me out after more than 30 years in traditional church ministry.
One of my favorite quotes is on pages 24-25 –
“Patrick explains that he has devoted his life to helping Irish populations be ‘reborn in God’ and ‘redeemed from the ends of the earth’ because the Church is placed in the world ‘as a light among the nations’ to ‘fish well’ and ‘to spread our nets so that we can catch a great . . . multitude for God.”
Let’s keep fishing and spreading our nets!
What GREAT quotes!!!
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Dude, freakin’ awesome book. Rocked my world during college. Influenced my founding of a missional community about five years ago. Every Christian should read it.
For sure man. Thanks for stopping by and for the link to your community.