In a villa on the west coast of England during the 5th century, Irish raiders disrupted the sleep and security of a fifteen-year-old boy named Patrick. They stole him from his home and placed him in chains, taking him as their slave. They forced Patrick to tend their sheep in Ireland for six years.
Seeking escape from his captors and yearning to return to his family in England, Patrick snuck away and hiked about 150 miles from western Ireland back to an eastern port seeking a ship to deliver him home. He joined the ship’s crew sailing to England and eventually reunited with his parents at the age of twenty-one.
Patrick would not stay home in England. Dreams of his Irish captors disrupted his sleep at night. They begged him to return to Ireland and bring the gospel with him. Patrick believed these dreams were a message from the Lord calling him to serve as a missionary to Ireland.
He obeyed God’s call and became one of the most famous missionaries in the church’s history. In America, we just celebrated a day in his honor. When Patrick came to Ireland, very few Irish had heard the gospel. The gospel had spread throughout the Emerald Isle by the time of his death.
What can we learn about evangelism from Patrick of Ireland?
God uses imperfect people to do evangelism.
Patrick was a sinner saved by the grace of God. He sinned so vilely as a teenager before coming to Christ that he almost lost his status as a bishop when it was revealed in later years. Patrick knew the breadth and depth of the forgiveness of Jesus.
Often imperfect people aware of the reality of their sinful past and the magnitude of God’s forgiveness make the best evangelists. They profoundly understand God’s grace in the gospel of Jesus Christ because they’ve been radically changed by the forgiveness provided through the cross.
Perhaps Patrick possessed power and zeal as an evangelist that came from his awareness of God’s graciousness in his life by granting him salvation and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
Evangelism involves sharing the gospel with people who are hard to love but need God’s love.
While serving his Irish captors, Patrick experienced inexpressible horrors. He witnessed people murdered by them as they snatched him from his home. They forced him to live in the worst conditions the six years he served as their slave.
Yet, their need for the love of Jesus and the love that Jesus placed in Patrick’s heart for them prompted him to forgive them and to bear the gospel among them until his death. It would have been tempting for Patrick to stay home in the comfort of his father’s villa; however, Patrick knew that his former Irish captors needed Jesus.
Sometimes, we believers must remember that we were once lost and that lost people act like they’re lost. Just like we needed the gospel, they do as well. God calls us to share the love of Jesus with them through the gospel spoken and lived out.
The gospel has the power to change lives.
God used one man sharing the gospel to convert thousands of people in the Emerald Isle. Their lives radically changed as they turned from worshiping pagan idols to following Jesus. Changed lives changed their culture as they sought to live out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.
The power of the gospel has not changed in over 2000 years. God still calls disciples to speak and live out the gospel to friends, family members, acquaintances, and enemies. When we are obedient to share the gospel, miraculous change happens. The words of the Apostle Paul are still true, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16 CSB)
What lessons can we learn from Patrick about evangelism?
We learn from Patrick that God uses imperfect people like us to share the message of forgiveness found in the gospel. Evangelism involves forgiven sinners offering the forgiveness of Jesus to others.
We learn to obey the Lord when He calls us to share the gospel with the people around us. The love of Christ in us will move us to share the gospel with people who desperately need it.
Finally, we can be confident in the powerful life-changing gospel to accomplish change in people’s lives, delivering them from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of God’s Beloved Son.
I’m thankful for the story of Patrick the Evangelist.
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