By Joel Comiskey, The Relational Disciple
In 2007, I went with my family to Ireland. My last name “Comiskey,” is of Irish descent, so we were eager to explore the area. By far, the greatest experience of the trip for me was seeing where Saint Patrick ministered and understanding the impact Patrick had on Ireland. I had several very spiritual experiences meditating on Patrick’s life and work.
In the fifth-century AD, when Patrick was about fourteen, he was captured by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family in England. God saved Patrick, chose him to become a church bishop, and then called him to go back to Ireland as a missionary. Patrick’s ministry was so effective that not only was most of Ireland converted, but God used the church in Ireland to send missionaries around the world.
Patrick’s model of reaching out to others was highly relational, hospitable, and community-oriented. Patrick and his followers would move into a pagan area, set up shop as a team, and become a part of the community. They tried to make the church accessible. They took seriously the passage in the book of Psalms that says, “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him” (34:8). Patrick believed that the truth is first caught and then taught.
Outsiders naturally became part of the Celtic church. They were invited on a journey of discovery. Patrick and his team reasoned that as people experienced a Christian community, they would begin the conversion process. Patrick believed that belonging comes before believing. He and his fellow missionaries excelled in community outreach, having a place where the seeker could experience God and eventually participate in the church’s life.
Saint Patrick started a movement, and he did it by developing relationships with the people. Like the civilization in St. Patrick’s day, people today are hungry for relationships. They want to taste Christ in their midst and naturally grow in their relationship with Christ.
Today, people live amid information overload and can too easily tuck away the gospel information in one crevice and do nothing about it. Community must transform them.
The Triune God desires the lost to be saved and the lonely to have a community. For people to find community, they have to see community. As the disciples demonstrated unity among themselves, the world would recognize God’s supernatural work and believe that He was alive. Let’s follow the example of Saint Patrick as we open our homes to practice hospitality and show a believing world that Jesus is alive among his followers.