Happy St Patricks Day!
When we moved into our
Riverside home, we felt the house needed a name! We wanted a constant reminder of why we were
moving into this neighborhood, and we felt a name could be such a reminder. Moreover, we
wanted a missional name for this place, since we were answering a call to
mission.
And so, we chose
“Lindisfarne.”
On this St Patrick’s
Day, here is a brief outline of the history behind that name – and why St
Patrick’s story is important to us here at Lindisfarne!
Sometime around 450 AD, Patrick returned to Ireland as a missionary bishop. His
strategy in mission was simple: establish Christian communities using and
adapting local customs and habits as the means to express the Gospel of Christ.
Patrick worked with a team
of missionaries who planted a lot of new churches by sending teams to villages
where they lived among the people and grew organic church communities. The work
suffered opposition and threats, but also experienced healthy, organic growth.
Over one hundred years later, in 563 AD, the Church
in Ireland sent Columba, another missionary bishop, to reach the scary and heathen Picts, in modern day Scotland. Columba
and his team settled on the island of Iona, from where they sent groups to plant
apostolic communities among the Picts. Iona used the same model of mission they
experienced in Ireland. And new Christian communities were planted.
Then, around 633 AD, Iona wanted to send another
missionary team to another land that needed the good news of Jesus Christ. They chose Aiden to lead an apostolic group
to reach the Anglo-Saxons in
northeast Britain.
Aiden and his team
established a new community at Lindisfarne.
Aiden implemented the same model he
inherited from Iona (rooted in the Irish Church of Patrick). However, the Anglo-Saxons were not like the
Irish or Scots – there was a hardness and hesitation to hear or respond the
Gospel, at first. This mission experienced
slow growth, with many set-backs and much opposition. However, after over 100
years the church began to grow, and today, some 1300 year late, Lindisfarne is
still the site of several a faith communities.
The name “Lindisfarne”
therefore represents three important values in our missional life:
1. Live and serve in
community – doing life as Christians is not a solo-act. This is a “team effort” and requires we learn
to live with others, to love others, and to grow in grace with each other.
Beginning with Patrick, Celtic Christianity was lived out in relationship with
others, and the mission of the gospel was always pursued in groups and teams.
2. Be willing to take risks –
embracing a call to share the gospel in our culture will be counter-cultural
and therefore not always well received. Patrick’s
model of risking-it-all for the gospel is relevant for us today. Are we
trusting in God’s provision to lead and guide our lives? If so, when we try to share his good news in
word or in works of compassion, we can expect his “kingdom will come.”
3. Be patient – “making
disciples” is a long, organic process. We can’t expect over-night success or
quick results. Reaching our skeptical and broken neighborhoods will happen in
God’s time. We can be faithful and strong, but we might not see the “fruit” or
results of our work in our life time.
So,
here at “Lindisfarne,” we are seeking to live into our Celtic heritage: trusting
that God will grow his church as we plant the gospel!
