[Aside: I have a new article, "Techies for Jesus," available at men.ag.org/life.]
What you do for God often has impact far beyond what you can see. An excellent example of this is St. Patrick who in 431 was kidnapped and taken as slave to Ireland. He escaped his cruel master, but the time had changed him forever. Even though a Christian in name only before, the trials of his slavery made him realize his dependence on God. When he returned to Ireland in 460 as a missionary, he made a difference. By the time he died, all but one region in the south, had a significant Christian presence in the form of a church or monastery. Within a few years of his death, slave trading in Ireland ended. Within a century of his death, the final holdout region had become Christian.
That alone would make a fine legacy, but Patrick’s doesn’t end there. Many monks from the monasteries he established went on missions. Some of them went to France and helped turn around a time of dying spirituality. Others went to Scotland and made that land Christian. But would you believe that Patrick’s legacy of converting on a large scale continues?
In 793, monks at Lindisfarne, a monastery founded by Irish monk Aidan, were kidnapped by Vikings. The new slaves demonstrated Christianity for their masters in their work. Vikings began to convert to Christianity, and when the enslaved monks were deposited back in Norway they preached to their fellow slaves. Slowly Christianity spread through the Vikings lands. Viking raiders continued to plunder monasteries and take monks back as slaves. The Christian presence was established in the Scandanavian lands by the slaves, but it spread to the people slowly. And when the Viking leaders began to convert, it spread faster among the people. When Olaf Haroldsson was named a saint, Norway’s remaining pagans converted.
Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden became Christian because Patrick answered the call of God to preach in Ireland. I’m sure that Patrick never imagined how his obedience would change the northern Atlantic.
So what will you do? God has a call on your life. It may not be that you and those you teach will bring or restore Christianity to 5 nations, but it will be God’s call on your life. You may be called to teach Sunday school or preach. Or you may be called to serve God while in other service. In that service, you will have the opportunity to impact people who would otherwise not set foot in a church.
Whatever your call, fulfill it. Make a legacy.
