Patrick's Hope: Ireland and Christian Unity

We just completed the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and I can't help but wonder: what would happen if we actually did get along and were united in fellowship, mission, and worship?  How could we transform this world into a better place and how many more people would know the Gospel?

Unfortunately, we have too many examples of the opposite--of what happens when Christians do not get along; when they treat each other with fear, contempt, and hatred.

No where has this been more true than in Ireland.

Ireland has long been synonymous with the Roman Catholic Church.  This was not always the case and is not today.  Today, in the wake of the scandals within the Catholic Church, a stronger secularism, and an awakening from the history of conflict, Ireland is fast becoming one of the most secular countries in Europe.  Many people's ears are closed to the gospel because they have experienced first hand the failure of the Church on a whole host of issues.

Christianity in Ireland began to take root around the year 300 or so.  Even before St. Patrick began his pilgrimage there, Christian missions existed. After Patrick, Christianity flourished, but often times with a distinctive 'Celtic' flair that emphasized the goodness of nature.  But as Roman Catholicism grew, it became entrenched in the Irish culture.

This created problems during the era after the Reformation, and not always for religious reasons.  Protestant England had always had eyes on its western neighbor.  When the English began to invade, they took their religion with them.  As a strategy to to bring the Irish under their control, they outlawed the mass and executed Catholics and made war against them.

And war has been the reality between the Protestants and Catholics for centuries.  And unfortunately this has been the reality of Christianity that many people have experienced in Ireland.  Christianity has not been a religion of peace nor a comfort to the soul...rather...it has meant terror and power grabs and a  political tool to be used by the ruling class rather than a liberating exercise of the Spirit.

Today we see the results of this.  People are leaving the Church.  The Catholic Church has been importing priests from Africa in order to fill the pulpits.  There has been some growth in the Protestant Church, but by and far, Ireland is becoming a secular nation.

The Irish people are tired of the fighting, and they hold out hope for unity.  The Irish flag is a symbol of this.  The green in the flag stands for the Catholics, the orange for the Protestants, and the white is for Unity.

Imagine if the Catholics and the Protestants had taken a different course many years ago.  Instead of fear and hatred and war, what if the Christians had come together for a common purpose in order to take the message of Christ to all the people of Ireland.  What if instead of being fearful of each other, they had discussed and debated.  What if they had agreed to disagree on certain issues, but worked together for the common good, allowing both branches of Christianity to grow and flourish, each as the Spirit led them.

That really is the question that stands before us today.  We live in a world very similar to the world the early church lived in two thousand years ago.  We have an opportunity to work together again between the Protestant and the Catholic church.

In this effort, we do not mean to assume that Catholics and Protestants will agree with each other on everything...indeed that is probably impossible.  But we share enough of the same doctrines, enough of the common values, and enough of a shared vision, that we can work in union and in tandem with each other to help each other accomplish these goals.

A man like Patrick can easily symbolize this effort.  Even though he existed 1000 years before Protestants emerged in the scene, Patrick demonstrated that he could work well with others.  He worked with the existing tribes and tribal leaders to spread the message of Christianity.  We can assume that he worked with the established missions as their Bishop.  He had a heart felt desire to see all areas of Ireland united under Christ.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is a beginning of this goal, but it is only just a beginning.  Efforts like ECT were perhaps promising, but we need more.

The key to accomplishing is for individual churches to work with individual churches.  As always, the most successful movements happen at a local level and build up.  We need churches to start caring for one another, encouraging one another and working with one another.  The days of disunity must be a thing of the past.

Towering above the land of Ireland is the figure of St. Patrick.  His vision of a united Ireland hearkens us to a vision of a united church.