Class 
 
 Book 
 
 Copyright}* 10 . 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
W. W. STALEY, D. D. 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 A Series of Five Addresses 
 
 Bu REV. W. W. STALEY, D. D. y LL. D. 
 Pastor of Suffolk, Virginia, Christian Church, Since 1 882 
 
 Delivered at " The Seaside Chautauqua and School of Methods," 
 
 Virginia Beach, Virginia, July 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 1914 
 
 with introduction by Rev. A. W. Lightbourne, 
 
 D. D., Pastor of the People's Church, 
 
 Dover, Delaware 
 
 Published for the Author by 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION 
 
 DAYTON, OHIO 
 
 1915 
 
y <o<\* 
 
 Copyright, 1915 
 By W. W. Stalky 
 
 MAR I5i9l5 
 ©CU393972 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 n 
 
 Introduction 
 
 CHAPTER ONE. 
 The Minister in His Study 9 
 
 CHAPTER TWO. 
 The Minister in His Personal Life - - 23 
 
 CHAPTER THREE. 
 
 The Minister in His Pulpit 87 
 
 CHAPTER FOUR. 
 The Minister in His Parish - - - 53 
 
 CHAPTER FIVE 
 The Minister in His Community - - <;7 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 THESE addresses on the Christian Ministry 
 are unique in their combination of com- 
 prehensiveness and condensation. They 
 are replete with suggestion, adequate in concep- 
 tion, and forthright and epigrammatic in 
 expression. After reading these addresses many 
 far more pretentious volumes will suffer by 
 comparison. It has been my good fortune to 
 hear this subject discussed by those who were 
 themselves models of the preacher's sublime 
 art. It was my privilege to hear these ad- 
 dresses, and in my humble opinion they are, in 
 some very important respects, superior to any 
 previous deliverances on this great theme. 
 
 I desire particularly to commend the style 
 here employed. There is no rhetorical splurge 
 or garish display. Too much color is as sus- 
 picious in composition as in complexion. Here 
 
is strength rather than sheen : force rather than 
 flare. There are no trick phrases, no artful 
 alliterations, no startling antitheses, and no 
 attempt to cover deficiencies in thought and 
 argument wit'h the gloss of verbal veneer. 
 Brevity, clarity, simplicity, are here combined 
 with the deepest reflections and the most 
 striking and appropriate forms of expression 
 and illustration. In scholarship, mental poise, 
 intuitive perception, terse and luminous phrase- 
 ology, the author is one of the best-equipped 
 men to conduct such a series of didactic ad- 
 dresses for the benefit of young preachers. 
 
 The author has exalted his theme. The 
 preacher is here presented in his call, his prepa- 
 ration, his mission, his message, his methods of 
 study and work, his personal Christian experi- 
 ence, and his private and public life. One is 
 surprised to find so much included, and so little 
 omitted, in a volume of this size. May God 
 speed it upon its carer of usefulness and make 
 it a blessing and inspiration to those for whom 
 it is intended. 
 
 A. W. LIGHTBOURNE. 
 
 Dover, Delaware. 
 
CHAPTER ONE 
 
 IN HIS STUDY 
 
THE MINISTER IN HIS STUDY 
 
 I 
 
 <<f WILL stand upon my watch, and set me 
 upon the tower, and will watch to see what 
 he will say unto me, and what I shall answer 
 when I am reproved." (Hab. 2:1.) Habakkuk 
 wanted to know God's message for men through 
 him : and that is the high privilege and plain 
 duty of all ministers. His Study is the "watch- 
 tower," the "Holy of Holies" where Shekinah 
 glory illumines his soul with visions and mes- 
 sages. Paul exhorts ministers to "study to 
 show themselves approved unto God ; workmen 
 that need not be ashamed." This suggests "a 
 study;" and this study is the mint where his 
 gold is coined. Here he broods over kingdom- 
 questions, weighs soul-interests, meditates upon 
 eternal destinies, and prepares for assaults 
 upon the citadels of wrong. 
 
 The minister's study is larger than the room 
 that contains his books and in which he com- 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 munes with God in prayer. His study includes 
 all subjects, all worlds, all peoples, all ages, and 
 all of God's plans for redemption. His horizon 
 is larger than that line where earth and sky 
 seem to meet and mark the limits of the world. 
 There is no line of truth that may not run into 
 his fountain of knowledge. If he confines him- 
 self within the walls of his study, he will be 
 narrow and contracted ; yet he should have such 
 a study; and it should be the hotbed of his 
 garden, the arsenal of his warfare, the pilot- 
 house from which he looks over the sea of 
 humanity and steers the ship of Zion. 
 
 In his study books should be examined, great 
 minds consulted, information gathered, prob- 
 lems solved, and inspiration received for the 
 duties of his calling. Richlieu says "that all 
 great things are done in silence." Pilgrim's 
 Progress was born in Bedford jail ; and some of 
 Paul's great epistles were written in a Roman 
 prison. But the minister should not use the 
 forms in which he finds truth stored in books 
 outside of the Bible. He should reduce all 
 
 10 
 
IN HIS STUDY 
 
 reading in the mill of his own mind to such 
 fineness that it is meal and not corn. He should 
 break up the crystallized thought of others as 
 workmen break up granite and mix with sand 
 and cement to manufacture concrete. They 
 make a new substance out of old material, and 
 the minister can do the same. He can use 
 books, sermons, comments, magazines, and the 
 Bible ; but he dare not copy them. He must 
 make concrete all his own. He may create new 
 archways that will sustain the tonnage of a 
 nation's thought. He can rightly divide the 
 word of truth. 
 
 The study is not a place for rest or ease ; but 
 a place of prayer, research, testing, decision, 
 creation. Like the camp of the Romans the 
 work here is twice as heavy as on the field. 
 Here all the past, all the future, and all the 
 live questions of the present, converge in the 
 minister's mind like sun-rays in the sunglass. 
 Here his mind and heart mature in the silence 
 and deep reflections of his soul. Here is the 
 place of growth. All growth is under hidden 
 
 11 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 conditions. The germination of seed, the 
 development of rootlets, real contact with soil 
 and air, the forces that enter into life and burst 
 out into flower and fruit, all work in silence and 
 in darkness. Here self and God are discovered 
 in their holiest relations, and character is crys- 
 tallized in the quiet of the study. Nebuchad- 
 nezzar exclaimed, as he paced his palace floor: 
 "Is not this great Babylon that / have built?" 
 "But the kingdom departed from him." The 
 woman who was healed said "within herself" — 
 within the secret chambers of her own soul — 
 "If I may but touch His garments I shall be 
 healed." The explosion in Vera Cruz was the 
 result of the quiet loading of the shell in the 
 factory. The Panama Canal was worked out by 
 the engineer, and an act of Congress, before the 
 thousands of tons of earth were removed and 
 two oceans met and kissed each other at the 
 cost of nearly four hundred millions. 
 
 What sort of a man must the minister be in 
 his study ? Sincerity and self-surrender to God 
 should characterize the minister in his study. 
 
 12 
 
IN HIS STUDY 
 
 His heart must be engaged as well as his head. 
 He must not only seek after human wisdom, but 
 spiritual inspiration. He is not working out 
 science, he is seeking a message from God. The 
 mineral wealth of the world was fashioned in 
 the quiet recesses of the mountains or under- 
 neath the rocks of the plains long before the 
 mines were opened or the iron was wrought into 
 use. The Bessemer process fashions the steel 
 rails that glisten across a continent and bear 
 the tonnage of an empire. The chick comes forth 
 after those brooding weeks of the mother, the 
 most trying and exhausting of her life. It is 
 brooding over the thoughts in the library, in the 
 study, that brings fort'h new ideas to move 
 mankind to Jesus Christ and a new life. Ideas 
 are not born in the crowd. Great thoughts are 
 born in solitude. Jesus retired from the multi 
 tude to prepare Himself for great service and 
 ministers can do no less. He spent most of that 
 time in prayer. Napoleon spent whole nights in 
 his tent mapping out his plans for battles and 
 campaigns. Napoleon did not depend on the 
 
 13 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 inspiration of the occasion to win battles. He 
 worked out his plans in his tent. The minister 
 ought to study t'he map of his own work, of his 
 own country, of Bible lands, and of the whole 
 world. This will give him a vision of missions 
 and fire his heart with a zeal according to 
 knowledge. The field is the world and the 
 minister ought to know the field. Geography 
 is close to the Bible. It is "The Land and the 
 Book." 
 
 The study is the place of prayer. There is no 
 harder work than prayer; it is easier to read 
 than to pray ; but prayer is of more importance 
 than reading. Jesus spent w T hole nights in 
 prayer. Prayer was the only exercise that drew 
 from Him drops of blood. Prayer engages the 
 whole being and it is the only effort that does. 
 Study puts us in touch with all that is material 
 and human; prayer puts us in touch with the 
 spiritual and divine. Paul and Silas prayed at 
 midnight, in the Philippian jail, and the 
 Roman prison trembled and the doors opened; 
 and the jailer trembled and opened his heart to 
 
 14 
 
IN HIS STUDY 
 
 let the Savior in. Thought touched the mine 
 under the last ledge of rock in the Panama 
 Canal, by an electric wire from Washington, and 
 opened the isthmus between two great seas ; but 
 it was the power of God that turned the Nile 
 into blood and opened the Red Sea to set a 
 nation at liberty. Moses got out of trouble 
 every time by resorting to prayer. It was not 
 his eloquence but his faith that made him the 
 emancipator of millions. The world is slow to 
 learn that knowing the truth sets men free. 
 Daniel's habit of prayer was a power greater 
 than the king's decree, and the lion's den could 
 do him no harm. It was that quiet prayer 
 chamber in Jerusalem that witnessed the noise 
 and tongues of fire and, later, the conversion 
 of three thousand souls. The scales never fell 
 from Saul's eyes till he prayed; the prayer- 
 chamber is the dark room where the image of 
 Jesus Christ is developed in the soul. It is in 
 this chamber where the care of the church 
 weighs heavily upon his whole being, where the 
 factious spirit among members clamors for 
 
 15 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 solution; where poverty cries from rags, huts, 
 and domestic broils ; where pride and ambition 
 look in upon him with vulgar eyes; where 
 shame threatens his church; and lynx-eyed 
 jealousies and complaints fret his being so that 
 he cannot study. Then his only resource is 
 prayer. He must have a new sense of God's 
 help; that "His grace is sufficient." There is 
 no book on church methods that can tell him 
 how to deal with these grave problems. He 
 must get divine help not only for himself, but 
 for those lives that fret his own. It was fasting 
 and prayer that saved Esther, and the Jews in 
 the hundred and twenty-seven provinces in the 
 empire of Ahasuerus; it was prayer that held 
 out the golden scepter and granted the queen's 
 request. The study is the altar where the 
 minister offers his sacrifices, makes his vows, 
 communes with God, and renews his strength. 
 The spirit said to Ezekiel, ' ' Go, shut thyself up 
 within thy house * * * * but when I speak with 
 thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say 
 unto them. Thus saith the Lord." 3:24-27. 
 
 10 
 
IN HIS STUDY 
 
 There are times when the minister must retire, 
 and keep silence, till God unlooses his tongue 
 and puts words into his mouth and power in the 
 words. His study is his waiting place for 
 orders and a message. 
 
 He stands between the living and the dead. 
 His library is peopled from the past — Abraham, 
 Moses, Elias, Paul, Luther, Elizabeth, Mary, 
 Florence Nightingale, Victoria — a multitude 
 which no man can number, who have come up 
 through great tribulation and have washed 
 their robes and made them white in the blood 
 of the Lamb. Moses and Elias appeared with 
 Jesus on the mount of transfiguration ; a mighty 
 host surrounds me in my library. Peter, James, 
 and John did not see as much nor hear as much 
 as the minister in his library. Jesus is here, 
 too, in the Bible and by the Spirit. There are 
 more people in my library than in my church. 
 They speak to me, they kindle the fires of my 
 imagination, they quicken my faith, humble my 
 pride, rebuke my wrong-doing and wrong- 
 thinking, warn me against sin, and point my 
 
 17 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 soul to the living Christ. I find tombs with 
 angles, deserts with fountains, gardens with 
 Saviors, prisons with praises, and crosses with 
 crowns. Above the roar of the tempest, the flap 
 of the split sails, the creak of the breaking 
 timbers, and the cry of endangered men, I hear 
 Jesus say: "Peace, be still." I hear Nebuchad- 
 nezzar say: "I see four men loose, walking in 
 the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; 
 and the form of the fourth is like unto the Son 
 of God. ' ' I hear Paul in the midst of darkness 
 and the raging sea, say, "There stood by me 
 this night the angel of God, whose I am and 
 whom I serve, saying, Fear not." The past is 
 a mighty host, their thought, faith, love, and 
 lives still speaking to our own. The library is a 
 transfiguration scene, crowning lofty summits, 
 silently and sweetly speaking to the minister 
 so as to inspire him with renewed strength and 
 satisfaction that arms him for the good fight 
 of faith. Beyond this teeming past are the 
 living millions moving to and fro, loving and 
 hating, helping and hindering, neglecting age, 
 
 18 
 
IN HIS STUDY 
 
 crushing childhood, desecrating the Sabbath, 
 greedily preying upon their fellows, preparing 
 for war and killing the flower of the age. The 
 study should be the tower from which the 
 minister looks out upon this age of living 
 humanity, with all of its progress, religious 
 movements, charity institutions, educational 
 forces, its pleasure-loving and pleasure-seeking 
 peoples, that he may come forth with a message 
 of rebuke for sin, of hope for the despondent, 
 and life for the lost. The minister should seek 
 to interpret the present age in the light of the 
 gospel and past civilizations. From his study 
 as a tower, he should get his vision of mankind 
 and God and then go forth to preach salvation 
 to a sinning world. His sermon should be a 
 message from God, supported by His word, 
 fired by His Spirit, and delivered in the spirit 
 of love. Lectures and tirades may have their 
 place on the platform, but they should not 
 come from the minister's study in place of a 
 message from God. His study is the mint for 
 purer gold. 
 
 19 
 
CHAPTER TWO 
 
 IN HIS PERSONAL LIFE 
 
THE MINISTER IN HIS PERSONAL LIFE 
 
 THE Minister is a distinct personality from 
 the personality of the MAN. Jesus was 
 a man ; but He was more than a man ; he 
 was the Son of God. He said and did much as 
 a Son that He could not have done as a man. 
 As God manifest in the flesh He said: "I am 
 the light of the world. " As a man He said : " I 
 am a man of sorrows and acquainted with 
 grief." Two distinct personalities were in 
 Jesus Christ. Two distinct personalities are in 
 the minister. He is a Man and a Minister. Jesus 
 was man last. He descended from the highest 
 to the lowest; the minister ascends from the 
 lowest to the highest. Minister is higher than 
 man, though man is only a "little lower than 
 the angels, crowned with glory and honor." 
 The minister is more than a man, and, therefore, 
 he should be more in his personal life than a 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 man. His ministerial personality should repre- 
 sent his high calling. 
 
 The chief thing in the gospel dispensation is 
 the personality of Jesus. "/ am the truth." 
 "Come unto me." "He that believeth on we." 
 "This is my son." The cross stands for the 
 "crucified one." The old dispensation was 
 legal, ceremonial, sacrificial, and symbolical; 
 but, in the fulness of time, God sent forth His 
 Son. The personal element in the gospel is the 
 vital force in salvation. No matter what the 
 theological concept of this personality may be, 
 the spirit of Christianity would disappear, if 
 this personal Savior were left out of the equa- 
 tion of salvation. This same personal element 
 is involved in salvation. "Son, daughter, give 
 me thy heart," i. e., thyself. 
 
 Jesus distinctly says> "As the Father hath 
 sent me, so have I sent you." That must 
 include a personal ministry. Pulpit ministra- 
 tion is only one function of the minister. His 
 personal life is the largest thing in his ministry. 
 His personal character, habits, influence, attain- 
 
 24 
 
IN HIS PERSONAL LIFE 
 
 ments, constitute the largest value in his 
 ministry. In gunnery the rule is, that the gun 
 should be a hundred times the weight of the 
 projectile. In preaching the minister should be 
 a hundred times weightier than his message. 
 Jesus was always larger than His message or 
 His miracle. What He did was never as large 
 as what He was. No wonder Jesus spent thirty 
 years in preparation and only three years in 
 His public ministry. The most important thing 
 in a minister is to prepare himself, We are all 
 conscious that our ministerial weakness is in 
 ourselves and not in the gospel. "The word of 
 God is quick and powerful, and sharper than 
 any twoedged sword, piercing even to the 
 dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of 
 the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the 
 thoughts and intents of the heart. " Yet we 
 know that we are slow and weak and do not 
 reach the hearts of men. Our sermons are often 
 better than ourselves. The need of the age is 
 not good sermons, but good ministers. We are 
 wise enough but not harmless enough. We 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 have not fully appreciated the importance of 
 ourselves in the ministry. The personal value 
 appears most plainly in the personal fall of a 
 minister. A brilliant ministry may collapse in 
 the personal indiscretion of the minister. The 
 majesty and glory of the ministry of Jesus was 
 in His spotless personality. They attacked His 
 teaching but found no fault in His personal life. 
 The least attention is given to personal train- 
 ing, though most important of all. Literary 
 aod theological training are stressed in school 
 and before committees, while personal life is 
 left to the result of forces that work without 
 direction. The minister's normal habits are 
 the indexes to his real character as expressed 
 in his outward life. Whatever others may do 
 'he is not at liberty to indulge in games that 
 waste time and contain no element of recreation. 
 Keeping busy in good service satisfies the public 
 mind and his own conscience. His habits 
 should express his interest in people and in the 
 gospel. "On the job" is a modern phrase that 
 expresses what the public demands. No one 
 
IN HIS PERSONAL LIFE 
 
 objects to recreation and the minister might 
 well take one day out of seven as his day of 
 rest. Saturday or Monday seem to be the 
 natural days from which to make his selection. 
 He must cultivate the habit of sincerity among 
 the people. There is no room for specials : he 
 must indulge in no hard feelings: his normal 
 attitude must be that of impartiality. His dis- 
 position must not be churlish. He must not be 
 grouchy. While he should be pleasant, he must 
 not drop below the dignity of his high calling 
 in Christ Jesus. 
 
 Dress is more important in personal life than 
 people imagine. Dress indicates stages in 
 human progress. Trace British progress from 
 the time when naked savages lined the shores of 
 the British Isles till the present time and it will 
 appear that dress is no mean part of that 
 empire's greatness. Even in our own day sav- 
 agry appears in our dress without the virtue 
 that goes with savage stages of society. The 
 tendency downward always appears in the 
 fashion plates and the styles that force police- 
 
 27 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 men to arrest women on the streets. The 
 minister and even his family must set a 
 standard of modest dress that common judg- 
 ment approves. The minister himself must 
 strike a medium ground in dress as well as 
 other personal habits ; he must not dress in too 
 clerical a fashion, and he must not put himself 
 in the class with the dude, the sport, or society 
 man. Simplicity, neatness, comfort, should 
 characterize his dress. Gay colors, latest cuts, 
 jaunty style, are out of place. Spotless linen 
 is always in taste and a personal asset for the 
 minister. Moreover the minister must not be 
 led into the danger of "gay clothing. " Jas. 
 2 : 3. His dress and his manner will go together 
 and both should be inconspicuous. 
 
 Business enters into the minister's life as well 
 as all others. Here is a field of danger and 
 opportunity. His life should be exemplary 
 in this field as well as others. Business with 
 the minister should come to him, in the necessi- 
 ties of domestic life, and church enterprises. 
 He should not court business nor seek wealth ; 
 
 •?s. 
 
IN HIS PERSONAL LIFE 
 
 but in all his business duties he should be 
 honest and fair in his dealings. It is a mistake 
 for ministers to think they must keep pace with 
 the styles and luxuries of the age. If possible, 
 debt must be avoided. It is the peril of all 
 men, but especially of the minister. Men will 
 overlook almost everything sooner than an 
 unpaid bill. His example here will mean much 
 to the community. There is no better place for 
 the minister to "deny himself and take up his 
 cross" than here. He needs clothes, he needs 
 books, he needs furniture, he needs food for his 
 family. He is tempted to get them. Anybody 
 will trust him till he quits paying. Remember 
 Jesus "made Himself of no reputation, and 
 took upon him the form of a servant and was 
 made in the likeness of men. ' ' Phil. 2:7. It was 
 this self-denial that made Jesus; though He 
 * ' had not where to lay His head. ' ' The combi- 
 nation of personal poverty, decency, honesty, 
 and manhood, is the most valuable asset in the 
 minister's life. Nowhere has a rich and stylish 
 minister been of great value. "They left all 
 
 29 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 and followed Him" is the greatest comment on 
 the early apostles. We are not doing it now; 
 but we ought to do it. The world never needed 
 it more than at the present. Crowns bejewelled 
 above the British crown in the tower of London 
 await the families of ministers who live with 
 him in the plain and simple life that helps the 
 poor to be honest as well as pious. Extrava- 
 gance is one of the dangers to religion of this 
 age, and the minister's personal life counts for 
 more t'han pastoral visit or sermon in this 
 danger field. Extravagance in expenditures 
 leads to extravagance in every line of life. 
 Those who overspend will overspeak — overlive 
 — and overpromise. No minister can preach 
 with the incubus of debt upon him, nor with his 
 family leading in the fashions of the day; 
 downright honesty crowns learning, piety, and 
 personal character. The minister cannot excel 
 in business, or luxury, or even learning; his 
 only field is to excel in personal life ; and here 
 is the field of largest opportunity to represent 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 30 
 
IN HIS PERSONAL LIFE 
 
 The minister is no less a social being than 
 other men and his associations and affiliations 
 will enter into his value among men. Jesus 
 attended places of worship, funerals, marriage 
 feasts, dinners, and suppers in private homes, 
 and entered into the social life of His day, with 
 all the ardor and sincerity of His nature. Min- 
 isters may follow His example in all the rela- 
 tions that represent the real life of their age ; 
 but their ministerial value is reduced when 
 they seek popularity through doubtful associa- 
 tions in social entertainments, political contests, 
 or sporting games. Paul entered the theater, 
 but not as a spectator; "when the city was 
 filled with confusion, they caught Paul's com- 
 panions, Gaius and Aristarchus, and rushed 
 them into the theater. When Paul would have 
 entered in unto the people, the disciples suf- 
 fered him not. " Acts 19 : 29, 30. The minister 
 need not spend all his strength in war on danc- 
 ing, card-playing, and theater-going from his 
 pulpit ; but his social life must be a rebuke to all 
 wrong-doing and an example for all sane living. 
 
 31 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 No rule can be fixed for his social relations 
 except he must not subject himself to adverse 
 criticism by the pious nor be used as an excuse 
 by the godless. Jesus identified himself with no 
 sects, held Himself aloof from no class, lived 
 worthy of the imitation of all and taught purity 
 of speech, purity of thought, and love un- 
 feigned. The minister may exercise his 
 political rights as a citizen, but should avoid 
 partizan controversies and associations, lest he 
 divide the flock. His patriotism should never 
 obscure his Christianity and his political views 
 should not destroy his spiritual influence over 
 men. His personal rights and ministerial duties 
 do not conflict; but in all social relations his 
 ministerial obligations are the largest of all. 
 Paul was a great scholar, and a great Roman, 
 but he was greatest as a minister. "What 
 things were gain to me, those I counted loss for 
 Christ." Phil. 3: 8. Political, educational, and 
 reformatory opportunities should have no 
 attraction for the real minister of Christ. 
 There may be ministers called to these fields ; let 
 
 32 
 
IN HIS PERSONAL LIFE 
 
 every minister weigh that question well. Paul 
 exhorts Timothy not to participate in "other 
 men's sins" in the selection of ministers. He 
 would thereby adopt the sins he overlooked. 
 Then Paul exhorts him, "Keep thyself pure/' 
 The personal life of the minister is the real 
 asset in his ministry. The winebibber cannot 
 teach temperance, the fornicator virtue, the 
 debtor honesty, the spendthrift economy, nor 
 the despondent man hope. The gospel runs 
 through the minister as the city water through 
 the earth and its purity will be determined by 
 the minister's life. Amos came from the vine- 
 yard; Elisha from the plow; Peter from the 
 fishing smack; Matthew from the receipt of 
 custom; and Paul from the office of a perse- 
 cutor ; but they all represented personalities of 
 great strength and loyalty to Jesus Christ. The 
 schools cannot make ministers; they can only 
 educate them. We think of armies, navies, and 
 forts as our national defenses; but the real 
 strength of the nation is in the shops, stores, 
 fields, schools, churches, and homes of the 
 
 33 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 interior where the arts of peace move on in 
 regular activities, and souls fill temples with 
 quiet praises. It is not the outward utterances 
 from pulpit and platform that represent the 
 real power of the ministry; but away back in 
 the domain of 'his inner thought and affection, 
 where character is crystallized and life is 
 fashioned, that the minister becomes mighty in 
 influence over men. The wealth of the world 
 is not in the rumbling volcano sending forth 
 smoke and fire ; but in the quiet mountains 
 where God fashioned the coal, the iron, the lead, 
 and the gold. The volcano attracts the 
 reporter, the mine the investor. Ministers need 
 not court popularity nor the applause of multi- 
 tudes; let them, rather, furnish thought, exam- 
 ple, devotion, and character worthy of appro- 
 bation and imitation. Men who have under- 
 taken to give us the ministery of Christ have 
 called their writings "The Life of Christ." All 
 biography follows this example. It is "The 
 Life of Cromwell," "The Life of George 
 Washington," "The Life of Luther," "The 
 Life" should be the largest, the best thing of 
 
 the minister. 
 
 34 
 
CHAPTER THREE 
 
 IN HIS PULPIT 
 
THE MINISTER IN HIS PULPIT 
 
 THE minister's study and personal life 
 enter into his pulpit ministrations as 
 seed and cultivation enter into the har- 
 vest. The pulpit is not the place where 
 sermons are made, but the place of their deliv- 
 ery. The minister in his pulpit is more than 
 preacher, though that is his chief function. 
 In his pulpit he is the leader of devotion, the 
 director of worship, the representative of all 
 the activities of the congregation. The prayers, 
 the reading of the Scripture, the music, the 
 attention and reverence of the people, all enter 
 into the ministrations of the pulpit. The min- 
 ister in his pulpit is the conductor of all forces 
 that pray, sing, preach, offer gifts, and worship. 
 Old Testament preachers had messages from 
 God to the people. Jonah was instructed to 
 ' ' preach unto Nineveh the preaching that I bid 
 
 37 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 thee." 3:2. The prophets were preachers of 
 righteousness to the people. John the Baptist 
 preached after long retirement and great prep- 
 aration. Jesus Himself spent most of His life 
 in preparation for His brief ministry. Pulpit 
 is used once in the Bible. "Ezra the scribe 
 stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had 
 made for the purpose ; and Ezra opened the 
 book." Neh. 8:4, 5. John and Jesus spoke 
 often in t'he open and Jesus used Peter's boat 
 for a pulpit. The pulpit now stands for the 
 whole ministry of the Kingdom. The minister, 
 in his pulpit, stands at the center of his minis- 
 try. What he utters there determines his value 
 in the kingdom. Here the public hears him, 
 weighs him, and renders its verdict. 
 
 The minister should be himself in his pulpit. 
 He is neither an actor nor an elocutionist. He 
 should not try to ape other ministers in thought, 
 manner, or style. His own individuality is the 
 only usable quantity for the Holy Spirit. 
 Unless God utters a message through Him that 
 could not be uttered by any other, he is self- 
 
 38 
 
IN HIS PULPIT 
 
 deceived or a deceiver. His personality is 
 noVhere more conspicuous or more potent than 
 in his pulpit. You may not be able to define the 
 strength of his ministry. You cannot tell 
 whether it is in the man or the message. It is 
 really in both ; and the one would be powerless 
 without the other. The name of Paul is power- 
 ful. He was a distinct personality touching not 
 only his own time, but all times. The printing 
 press cannot eliminate the minister, gigantic as 
 the printing press is. "It pleased God by the 
 foolishness of preaching to save them that 
 believed." 1 Cor. 1:21. Paul says: "My 
 preaching was not with enticing words but in 
 demonstration of the Spirit and of power.' ' 
 1 Cor. 2 : 4. Preaching differs from all other 
 human utterances in the source of the message 
 and the character of the minister. Scientific or 
 historic truth may be found and delivered with- 
 out reference to the character of the author. 
 An orator may portray great historic characters 
 or events and be an atheist ; but a sermon must 
 be uttered by clean lips. It is this high quality 
 
 39 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 of character that makes the pulpit stand for all 
 that is purest, highest, and holiest. Job asked : 
 "Who can bring an unclean thing out of an 
 unclean?" "Not one." Isaiah speaks of him- 
 self as a man of unclean lips, dwelling among a 
 people of unclean lips. Then he speaks of a 
 seraphim bringing a live coal from the altar 
 and laying it upon his mouth saying : c ' This 
 hath touched thy lips and thine iniquity is 
 taken away and thy sin is purged." Then 
 Isaiah was prepared to say: "Send me." The 
 pulpit is not so much a place as a ministry. In 
 coining money the metal must be of a certain 
 fineness, a standard required by government. 
 It must have the stamp of the nation that coins 
 it. "Whose image and superscription is this?" 
 The mint is the coining and stamping agency 
 of government. The minister is called of God 
 and ordained by the Spirit. In his pulpit he 
 is himself called and ordained to this high 
 office of preaching. No human society can 
 make ministers. Counterfeiters never use pure 
 metal, and man-made ministers are spurious 
 
 40 
 
IN HIS PULPIT 
 
 because man is not clothed with authority to 
 call men into the ministry. Amos says : ' ' As I 
 followed the flock, the Lord said unto me, Go 
 prophesy unto my people." Isaiah was 
 associated with kings and courts and God called 
 him through a vision in the temple and said: 
 "Go and tell this people." Saul's conversion 
 and call to the ministry seem to have been 
 almost simultaneous. Eemaining with the 
 disciples a few days in Damascus, ' ' straightway 
 he preached Christ in the synagogue. ' ' All his 
 previous history pointed in an opposite direc- 
 tion. The minister is, therefore, a unique per- 
 sonality, differing essentially from all others in 
 his call, his qualifications, his work, and his 
 influence. 
 
 In all ages men have respected their priests, 
 followed their teachings, imitated their exam- 
 ple, and feared their rebukes and warnings. 
 This is conspicuous in all pagan religions — 
 Confucianism, Mohammedanism, and Mormon- 
 ism illustrate this. Roman Catholicism confirms 
 this claim. Protestantism is less so because of 
 
 41 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 the democratic ideas that dominate it; though 
 the Protestant pulpit largely fashions the moral 
 and social ideals and activities of the age. 
 Hardly any institution can stand against the 
 combined pulpit of Protestantism. Louisiana 
 lottery disappeared under pulpit protest, and 
 the saloon is doomed if the pulpit continues its 
 "cry against" all wrong-doing. Jonah's 
 method is not antiquated — it is the 
 most modern pulpit utterance because it 
 is God's method. The pulpit must 
 
 "cry against" all wrong-doing. It would be a 
 shame on the nation and a disgrace to the 
 pulpit to make war on flies and mosquitoes and 
 leave the saloon and the brothel. The minister 
 in his pulpit can "cry against" all evils in 
 terms of scripture and by authority of the Holy 
 Ghost. He may say a "sinful nation," a "peo- 
 ple laden with iniquity," or "thou art the 
 man. ' ' The pulpit is no place for trivial speech, 
 personal complaints, petty lectures on small 
 questions; but the place for exposition of God's 
 word, the treatment of great moral themes, the 
 
 42 
 
IN HIS PULPIT 
 
 appeal to the 'highest in human hearts, the 
 comfort of those in trouble, and the invitation 
 to all to come to Jesus for pardon and life. 
 The pulpit is the place of authority; here the 
 minister can say : "Thus saith the Lord," as the 
 judge on the bench can say: "This is the law." 
 It is this association of the minister and the 
 pulpit that adds the weight of divine authority 
 to his message. What the judge says in the 
 store does not have the weight of what he utters 
 on "the bench" in the courtroom. 
 
 The minister should have "his pulpit" — the 
 jmlpit that is open to him and for which he is 
 responsible. His place is not in commerce, 
 politics, the market-place. His ministry should 
 not be subordinate to some other avocation ; all 
 other avocations should be subordinate to his 
 pulpit. Paul was a tent-maker; but preaching 
 was his business. His pulpit was not in one 
 house, one place, or even one nation. His whole 
 life from his conversion was pulpit ministra- 
 tion. Prisons became temples, wrecks became 
 pulpits, scourges anointing for wider fields of 
 
 43 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 usefulness. His learning put him before kings 
 and philosophers, and his courage enabled him 
 to speak to the mob from the stairway in the 
 castle in Jerusalem. His religious convictions 
 and utterances opened the way for his great 
 messages. If beaten and dragged out of the 
 city and cast upon the garbage heap on the 
 dumping hill, he would come back by the grace 
 of God and go on his way preaching the gospel. 
 Paul calls this ministry a "high calling of God 
 in Christ Jesus;" Phil. 3:14, or, "heavenly 
 calling." It is difficult to conceive of one called 
 into the ministry and not called into a pulpit. 
 Jonah was called and sent to Nineveh; Amos 
 was sent to his nation; Nathan was sent to 
 David; Moses was sent to Egypt; Peter was 
 sent to Caesarea ; Paul was sent to many cities 
 and countries. It would seem a contradiction for 
 the United States to call men into the navy and 
 never assign them, when prepared, to a ship. It 
 seems reasonable that men called of God to 
 preach will be called of God to a field. Is it not 
 possible for ministers to defeat God 's plans and 
 
 44 
 
IN HIS PULPIT 
 
 their own welfare by choosing a field or waiting 
 for a "good opening. " Is not the smallest field 
 large enough for the largest minister! Corne- 
 lius and Peter were both under the direction of 
 the same Spirit. Do not churches decide what 
 sort of a minister will suit them without asking 
 God to direct them in their choice f The pulpit 
 is commercialized, socialized, and educated 
 away from God. Minister and people are mak- 
 ing contracts, and trying to run the church on 
 "business principles. ' ' What do they mean by 
 "business principles !" Do they mean surren- 
 der to the will of God, or do they mean that 
 which will satisfy their own notions and carry 
 out their own ideas? The pulpit is nothing 
 unless it represent God. 
 
 The minister in his pulpit should never court 
 popularity nor fear criticism. These are the 
 Schylla and Charybdis between which ministers 
 must pass after escaping other Sirens of the 
 world. Popularity is a giant monster that 
 greedily devours the worldly-minded. How 
 often have we heard of the ' ' popular minister. ' • 
 
 4fi 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 Can that be said of any of the prophets or 
 apostles? Was not their ministry a keen knife 
 in the sores of men and of nations? Is it not 
 said that "the blood of martyrs is the seed of 
 the church ?" Is not popularity the dream of 
 vanity? To court popularity is to court a phan- 
 tom and to lose out in the end. Sincerity 
 endures longer than popularity. All popular 
 fashions and popular men are short-lived. 
 Criticism is the other rock of danger. Some 
 ministers resent it: others are overwhelmed by 
 it. The best way is to profit by it. It may 
 enlighten the wise minister, show him his weak- 
 ness, reveal his opportunity. It may be the 
 result of green-eyed envy, ignorance, selfish- 
 ness, or ambition. No matter what the source 
 of criticism, it may be treated in such a good 
 spirit, answered in such a faithful life, contra- 
 dicted by such useful service as to really 
 develop the stronger powers of fhe minister. 
 "Jesus was oppressed, and He was afflicted; 
 yet He opened not His mouth/' 
 
 46 
 
IN HIS PULPIT 
 
 Pilate said to Jesus: "Hearest thou not how 
 many things they witness against thee?" "He 
 answered him to never a word. ' ' Jesus did not 
 court the best nor fear the worst. His pulpit 
 had a cross in it, but He never left His pulpit. 
 A crossless pulpit leads to a crownless life. 
 "God forbid that I should glory save in the 
 cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Paul did not 
 glory simply in the fact t'hat Jesus suffered on 
 the cross; but that he had Ms cross: for he 
 said: "I am crucified with Christ." Gal. 6: 14, 
 2 : 20. He gloried that he was counted worthy 
 to suffer in His name. The minister must have 
 his cross in his pulpit and if cruel criticism nails 
 him to it, he may glory in it ; but he should not 
 challenge criticism any more than he should 
 court popularity. His ministry should strive to 
 do the will of God without reference to flattery 
 or complaint. Sincerity and impartiality will 
 add much to the pulpit. 
 
 The minister's pulpit should speak the word 
 — Paul's advice: "Preach the word, be urgent 
 in season, out of season: reprove, rebuke, 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching." 
 2 Tim. 4:2. ' ' All Scripture is given by inspira- 
 tion of God and is profitable for doctrine, for 
 reproof, for correction, for instruction in right- 
 eousness ; that the man of God may be perfect, 
 thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 
 2 Tim. 3 : 16, 17. Modern preaching is often 
 lacking in the WORD. Fads and fancies, reforms 
 and social service, charities and endowments, 
 political problems and scientific questions, the 
 topics of the day, furnish themes for pulpit 
 treatment. These may all be used to illustrate 
 the Word, but not to substitute for the Word. 
 The Word is the only thing "that is quick and 
 powerful, and sharper than any twoedged 
 sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of 
 soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, 
 and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of 
 the heart." Heb. 4:12. Other topics pierce 
 the head, the word the heart; never mind that 
 the "time will come when they will not endure 
 sound doctrine ; but after their own lusts will 
 
 48 
 
IN HIS PULPIT 
 
 heap to themselves teachers, having itching 
 ears ; and they shall turn away their ears from 
 the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But 
 watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do 
 the work of an evangelist, make full proof of 
 thy ministry. ? ' 2 Tim. 3 : 3-5. The pulpit needs 
 the genuine minister in this age. Any man can 
 run with the crowd, drift with the current, 
 respond to the tendency of the age. It takes 
 an Amos or an Isaiah to rebuke the sin of the 
 age. No intellectual sword can conquer the 
 evils of the age; only the sword of the Spirit 
 can cut to the vitals and win men to God. The 
 pulpit is not a show window to be changed with 
 every new fashion that invades society ; it is a 
 lighthouse sending forth rays of light the same 
 in every age. No matter what weather or what 
 ships pass the light is the same ; this is the one 
 institution that must send out rays of spiritual 
 light. The lighthouse tower stands on a firm 
 foundation, surrounded by shifting sands or 
 changing waters, and sends out its light over 
 
 49 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 calm or raging seas; so the pulpit is not 
 changed by the evanescent movements among 
 men ; but holds up the word of God to light up 
 the pathway of safety for voyagers over life's 
 sea amid storms and darkness. 
 
 50 
 
CHAPTER FOUR 
 
 IN HIS PARISH 
 
THE MINISTER IN HIS PARISH 
 
 THE minister is more than a preacher. His 
 work is not Sunday service; it is all 
 week labor. It is no small task to per- 
 form the duties of a minister. Jesus came into 
 contact with large groups, small groups, fam- 
 ilies, and individuals. Jesus was a minister. 
 There are some preachers who are not minis- 
 ters. Men who teach, or edit, or manage insti- 
 tutions, or fill diplomatic places. Some of them 
 are great preachers — great occasion preachers. 
 But this address is dealing with ministers, not 
 preachers only. A good minister is larger than 
 a great preacher, because he deals with more 
 phases and needs of humanity. The great min- 
 isters of the world have been great teachers and 
 great burden-bearers. Jesus was the great 
 example. He said Himself: "I came not to be 
 ministered unto, but to minister." Paul's 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 description of his experience in 2 Cor. 11 : 23, 
 ' ' Of the Jews five times, received I forty stripes 
 save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once 
 was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a 
 night and a day I have been in the deep: in 
 journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils 
 of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, 
 in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, 
 in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, 
 in perils among false brethren; in weariness 
 and painfulness, in watchings often, in cold and 
 nakedness. Besides those things that are with- 
 out, that which cometh upon me daily, the care 
 of all the churches." The modern minister 
 is not exposed to the same kind of perils as 
 Paul ; but as large a variety ; and the care of his 
 parish is an everpresent weight that tries his 
 strength of body, mind, and heart. Opposition 
 to the gospel is less than in the past, but indif- 
 ference is almost as perilous to the kingdom. 
 Pride, vanity, self-indulgence, and luxury, 
 stand in the way of spiritual progress. In fact, 
 ministers themselves are in danger of loss of 
 
 54 
 
IN HIS PARISH 
 
 spiritual vitality by reason of the ease by which 
 they are surrounded. If any worker needs 
 robustness, a little hardship, it is the minister. 
 Parishioners often think more about the minis- 
 ter's dress than his sermons; more about his 
 manners than his character: more about his 
 living than his life. 
 
 Ministers ought to identify themselves with 
 their congregations so as to enter into all their 
 experiences. Jesus " emptied Himself" and 
 took upon Him the form of a servant." But 
 this is not the modern idea ; it is that the minis- 
 ter must be a "good mixer." Jesus was no 
 mixer. Light does not mix with darkness. 
 Right does not mix with wrong. The doctor 
 does not mix with diseased ones. Jesus came 
 close to all sorts of sinners ; but He maintained 
 His matchless purity. His sympathy was so 
 genuine, His love was so great, His life was so 
 helpful, that the common people heard him 
 gladly. The minister should come close to men, 
 but not mix with men in the sense of a "hail 
 fellow well met." There is a dignitv and a 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 gentleness, a loftiness and a humility that goes 
 with every true ministry. The minister should 
 not be so high as to make the lowest stand in 
 awe of him ; nor so low as to make the highest 
 feel no moral fear of him. The best should love 
 him and the worst should respect him ; and all 
 should feel at home in his presence. 
 
 You have seen the cart going about the city 
 gathering up the waste and unsanitary heaps 
 piled up on streets and back alleys. There is 
 much accumulation of trouble, doubt, and mis- 
 understanding in every congregation. Heaps 
 Gf gossip, piles of imagination, pools of bad 
 feeling, thoughts and hates that poison the 
 social atmosphere and sicken church members. 
 The minister is a " carter ' ' going among his 
 people to gather up this waste and this deleteri- 
 ous matter. Sometimes he need say but very 
 little. His value is in his ability to listen sym- 
 pathetically, to load up his mental cart with 
 what overloaded lives will tell him. Men can- 
 not carry their own burdens alone ; that is the 
 reason Jesus "carries our sorrows." Many 
 
 56 
 
IN HIS PARISH 
 
 people have troubles they dare not tell their 
 neighbors; it would make matters worse like 
 throwing bones, cans, feathers, and egg shells 
 into the neighbor's yard; but it is safe to tell 
 it to the minister; and the minister should be 
 so near his parish that all will feel like telling 
 their inner life to him. When he leaves the 
 house he "carts away" their troubles. If he 
 dumps it out in the neighborhood it only makes 
 matters worse ; his dumping-ground should be 
 beyond the pale of his parish. There is no 
 better and no larger work than this for the 
 minister to perform. Many a troubled life has 
 been relieved of burdens and sorrows, in this 
 way, by the minister who did nothing but listen. 
 Broken-hearted mothers with drunken hus- 
 bands, wayward sons, disgraced daughters, 
 have found the friendly and sympathetic min- 
 ister a source of sweet comfort as they have 
 poured into his ears woes enough to crush life 
 out of them. Pastoral calls in elegant parlors, 
 teas and dinners in mansions, where intelli- 
 gence and hospitality feast the minister, are not 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 the only places where the minister's life counts 
 in his parish ; though these furnish him an 
 opportunity to extend help to hearts that carry 
 burdens sometimes larger than their fortunes. 
 
 But his ears may be open to other than tales 
 of woe and current topics. Many men in t'he 
 church, and out of the church, have views and 
 experiences which they love to tell to the min- 
 ister. They have brooded over some passage of 
 scripture, some personal vision, some business 
 or domestic experience, until it burns in their 
 being. The minister is the one to whom they 
 love to tell their story. It may help the man to 
 be more religious and the minister to preach 
 more effectively. His teaching is broadened 
 and deepened, his power over men is increased 
 because they have led him into new fields and 
 new opportunities. No experience has much 
 force till it is told to others. Witnessing for 
 Jesus Christ strengthens the believer. "Go 
 home to thy friends and tell what great things 
 Jesus has done for thee." Even telling objec- 
 tions may lead to acceptance. Causes win in 
 
 58 
 
IN HIS PARISH 
 
 debate by allowing the opposition to speak. It 
 will make an angry man friendly to allow him 
 to abuse you in his own angry way. He talks 
 of his anger. The mouth speaks out of the 
 abundance of the heart ; and hot words are like 
 pus from a wound — let t'hem out and get relief. 
 Do not undervalue ear service ; it is not like 
 "lip service" an abomination. Jesus always 
 permitted the afflicted, the troubled ones, to 
 tell Him their story. He even permitted the 
 men to tell on the woman; but they went out 
 ashamed of themselves and He said to her. ' l Go 
 and sin no more;" and the presumption is that 
 she did not. 
 
 The minister in his parish should be benevo- 
 lent, not only 'helping the destitute, but in 
 bearing with peculiar people. Some good peo- 
 ple are eccentric and almost every parish has 
 this class. They are always suggesting what 
 the minister and the church ought to do. They 
 have some pet plan that no one could work. 
 They hold strange views of certain passages of 
 scripture. They tell you why the church fails. 
 
 m 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 They know certain bad things that they cannot 
 tell. They have been ignored or mistreated by 
 a leading member. They contribute nothing 
 but words. They come just before preaching 
 with new tales of calamity. They stuff you with 
 stuff. Now the minister must use benevolence 
 in judgment, discretion in treatment, and love 
 within. This quality in the minister has to be 
 cultivated. He must be all things to all men. 
 Not do as all men do, but be adequate to all 
 men, adjustable to all men. The hardest task 
 for the minister is in his parish. The com- 
 plaints and pessimism, the excuses and indif- 
 ference, the immorality and stinginess, the 
 domestic infelicities and dishonesty, continually 
 fret his righteous soul; but he must endure all 
 for the gospel's sake, and not his own. In order 
 to meet these conditions in patience, sweet 
 spirit, and hope, he will need much prayer, 
 much spiritual help. 
 
 He must have no pets, no partial feelings, no 
 special friends. His parish should be his minis- 
 terial family ; and he should love and treat all 
 
IN HIS PARISH 
 
 alike. Their sorrows become his sorrows, their 
 joys his joys, their adversities and prosperities 
 his own. His real life should be a model for 
 their life ; he should not walk on stilts nor wear 
 any mask. Partiality is as bad as neglect. His 
 life teaches as well as his sermons; and is 
 understood better. He is no dictator, making 
 rules for life; but a guide pointing the way 
 along which each one must walk in his own 
 way and on his own feet. He is nobody's con- 
 science and everybody's light. His spirit is 
 more than his acts. The parish watches nothing 
 so close as the minister; quotes no other so 
 often; and chooses no other as exemplar for 
 their children and themselves so naturally. 
 They watch his life and follow that more than 
 his words. One of the most striking things in 
 the ministry of Jesus was, "Follow me." Any 
 minister who can say that has reached the high- 
 est place in his ministry. It is easy to say, l ' Do 
 this;" it is harder to say, "Follow me;" but 
 that is the ideal minister in his parish. 
 
 61 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 The minister should not only touch the life of 
 his parish but the property of his parish. He 
 need not tease and urge individuals to give for 
 things he deems of most importance; but he 
 might lay great and worthy objects before 
 them in such fashion as to increase their sense 
 of stewardship and their obligation to worthy 
 causes in need. This may be done by his own 
 example, his pulpit ministrations, and his per- 
 sonal intercourse with his people. AVhat the 
 minister does counts above what he says. He 
 can do nothing that will interest and enlist 
 liberal donations from all, but he can do 
 enough to secure ample support for causes and 
 institutions dependent upon the church. He 
 should avoid requests that provoke denial, for 
 that will lessen his power over wealth. It is 
 easy to blame the rich and pity the poor. The 
 principle of giving is the lesson to impress, and 
 the manner of giving left to the individual who 
 gives. Do not provoke the unjust criticism that 
 the preacher is "always after money/' Sensi- 
 ble men know that money is essential to the 
 
 H2 
 
IN HIS PARISH 
 
 maintenance and extension of the gospel and 
 the cultivation of a sensitive conscience and a 
 worshipful soul will bear fruit in due time. 
 
 Human distinctions often bar the way of real 
 ministerial help. The rich embarrass the min- 
 ister by their surroundings and the poor excite 
 a morbid sympathy; both, alike need spiritual 
 sympathy and help ; and that is the very thing 
 the minister can give. Jesus set a good example 
 when He went to the house of rich Zacchaeus. 
 That man had no friends; and it is too often 
 true of the rich ; but Jesus went as a minister 
 and 'his heart surrendered and salvation came 
 to his house. Put the ministerial visit to the 
 rich in place of the social call. Their hearts 
 long for genuine spiritual interest. Do not 
 think the poor want bread; they want the 
 bread of life ; they want soul-touch, human- 
 touch, a friendly interest in t'heir life. Nobody 
 can give this so well as the minister. The poor 
 should never be embarrassed in the presence of 
 the minister, and the minister should never be 
 embarrassed in the presence of the rich. Human 
 
 63 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 fear and human taste have marred many a min- 
 ister's usefulness. He is not dealing with con- 
 ditions and environments alone; but with 
 souls ; and ' ' all souls are mine ' ' saith the Lord. 
 It is this soul-power and this soul-touch that 
 carries influence in the parish for good. Many 
 can resist argument who dare not resist life. 
 Many reject appeals who surrender to love. 
 The minister's love wins where his learning 
 fails. The heart is the center of being, while 
 mind is onlv a function of life. 
 
 CA 
 
CHAPTEE FIVE 
 
 IN HIS COMMUNITY 
 
THE MINISTER IN HIS COMMUNITY 
 
 THE minister's sphere is larger than his 
 own parish. "The field is the world,"" 
 and he is related to the whole field. It 
 would be as illogical as it is unscriptural for a 
 minister to care for his own parish and leave 
 the regions beyond to the missionaries in for- 
 eign lands. But this address deals chiefly with 
 those near-by relations that involve the minis- 
 ter's visible life. 
 
 His relation to other ministers is one of 
 equality. No matter what education and what 
 forms of ordination induct them into church 
 relations the highest position is that to which 
 ministers are called and ordained by the Holy 
 Ghost. Any superiority claimed by one class of 
 ministers, above another class of ministers, is 
 of human origin and unsupported by Scripture 
 or historic facts. The highest call and the 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 highest ordination is by the Spirit of God. 
 Paul was never ordained by the church ; in fact, 
 the church refused to accept him at first. This 
 principle of equality should be recognized by all 
 ministers. The question of a closed pulpit 
 might be justified by church polity, but not by 
 the word of God. Jesus went into Jewish syna- 
 gogues though the synagogue was not orthodox 
 in the gospel sense. It is not a question of 
 intellectual orthodoxy, but of spiritual life. 
 Other ministers should be accorded genuine 
 recognition in our hearts and in our churches. 
 The one should be as open as the other. 
 
 The presumption is that this subject includes 
 ministers of one's own denomination as well as 
 other denominations. It includes all ministers 
 of Jesus Christ. The minister's relation to them 
 should be fraternal, frank, co-operative. Con- 
 gregations follow ministers more than either 
 knows. Unbrotherly ministers estrange congre- 
 gations and weaken Christianity. It is not the 
 divisions of Protestantism so much that weaken 
 its force as the ignorance and unbrotherliness 
 
 68 
 
IN HIS COMMUNITY 
 
 of ministers ; and that sometimes inside the pale 
 of the same denomination. Petty jealousies, 
 unholy ambitions, political scheming, and 'hos- 
 tile attitudes have defiled the ministry and 
 reduced church efficiency. Fraternal relations 
 must not be feigned, but frank, growing 
 out of heartfelt genuine brotherly love. 
 This feeling may be cultivated like any other 
 Christian grace ; and no minister should wait 
 for others to make the advance. If snubbed, do 
 not recognize it. Persist in brotherly advances 
 and win out in your own soul, if you do not 
 with other ministers. Jesus did not agree with 
 all men, nor was He well received by all ; but He 
 was genuinely fraternal and affectionate 
 towards all men. Ministers should be known, 
 as the early Christians were known, by their 
 love for one another. Co-operation is a law of 
 nature, a law in modern business, and should 
 be a law among ministers. The Federal Coun- 
 cil of the Churches of Christ in America has 
 undertaken the Herculean task of cultivating 
 this principle, not only among ministers, but 
 
 0!) 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 among denominations; and wonderful results 
 are flowing from this movement. In every 
 community, ministers should co-operate in all 
 common interests of the kingdom : such as tem- 
 perance, Sabbath observance, social virtue, 
 charity. Some things are too large for one 
 minister, yet easy for all. In some communities 
 ministers are less cordial than business men or 
 society women; but it should be remembered, 
 always that ministers are responsible for the 
 unbrotherly feeling, unrighteous treatment, and 
 unchristian spirit among churches and people. 
 Negative wrong often counteracts positive good. 
 Individual churches lose as well as whole com- 
 munities by ministerial aloofness or antago- 
 nism. The gospel lived is more potent than the 
 gospel preached. This is seen in the life of 
 Jesus who came to fulfil the law. His personal 
 life was more than the ten commandments or 
 the Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 Ministerial association is essential to these 
 conditions. It is not time wasted for ministers 
 to meet and exchange views and cultivate per- 
 
 70 
 
IN HIS COMMUNITY 
 
 sonal attachments. They will learn from one 
 another and inspire one another. It will har- 
 monize their pulpit ministrations and justify 
 their association. 
 
 Churches watch ministers in their relation to 
 other churches than their own. Proselytism is 
 one inexcusable fault in ministers. Were it 
 right to win members from one church to 
 another, it would add nothing to the Kingdom. 
 It is ecclesiastical gambling, one gains, another 
 loses; nothing is added. Besides this, it dis- 
 gusts intelligence not to say piety. The min- 
 ister who enters another's flock and wins 
 members is a thief and a robber. If members 
 change, for reasons of their own, it is their 
 matter and no blame attaches to the minister. 
 It is the minister's business to look after the 
 lost and all know there are many of them. His 
 w r ork is to save sinners ; membership is second- 
 ary. This remark is made because it is one of 
 the hard lessons to learn and harder to practice. 
 In revival results it is difficult for the minister 
 to be willing for converts to go to another 
 
 71 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 church, but let him grow in that direction. The 
 difficulty is not in winning members, but in 
 holding and developing them. 
 
 Consideration for other churches, in planning 
 for one's own, should enter into the equation 
 of relation to them. It would be discourteous 
 to hold some great social or musical affair in 
 the midst of a revival in another church, in the 
 same community. As far as possible all plans 
 outside of regular services should include other 
 churches. Churches should be neighborly insti- 
 tutions. Even social courtesy would call off a 
 dance next to a home darkened by a death. 
 Churches are really in a position to set stand- 
 ards of social courtesy and to do it in such 
 genuine fashion as to teach great lessons by 
 great kindnesses. Ministers should keep in 
 touch with other churches and set an example 
 worthy of imitation. 
 
 The minister can do much good by visits to 
 services in other churches. Congregations 
 appreciate it more than ministers imagine. 
 AYhile modern opinion feels that ministers are 
 
IN HIS COMMUNITY 
 
 not. held in the same respect as in former days, 
 yet that view is not sustained by facts any more 
 than that religion is declining, because people 
 do not shout in meeting. Intelligence reduces 
 noise and distance. Ministers are closer to the 
 people now, but not less regarded, if their lives 
 represent real ministerial worth and fraternity. 
 A visit to a funeral, a special service, a mar- 
 riage, any meeting is almost a personal visit to 
 the individual members. The church is ignorant 
 of herself and this multiplies the spiritual rea- 
 sons for such visits and intercourse. The min- 
 ister is more than an individual and must do 
 most of his service in a public capacity. 
 Exchange of pulpits, where church polity does 
 not bar the way, has value in this matter of 
 enlightenment and fortification. Business 
 associations look to the common good and 
 churches need this for progress. Any man or 
 institution that lives within itself becomes case- 
 hardened. Even crabs throw off their shells 
 to grow larger ; and the chick comes out of the 
 shell to grow in the barnyard. We might intro- 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 duce interchurch lines as well as interurban 
 lines. The ocean flows toward the rivers and 
 the rivers toward the tides; a stagnant sea 
 would mean a dead sea; and a stagnant river 
 would mean a river of death; flowing together 
 they enrich the valleys and give health to conti- 
 nents. When a minister turns a good current 
 into another church that church meets it with a 
 purifying tide and good feeling. Never extend 
 ministerial courtesy for popularity: do it 
 because it is Christian. 
 
 The minister is related to the community as 
 well as to churches. The community is the 
 largest body near by him. There is nothing so 
 keen-eyed and so heartless as the public. It 
 never nails its victims to the cross with tack 
 hammers. It wields a sledge hammer with the 
 arm of a Hercules and drives great spikes 
 through its victim. But the gentleness of giant 
 strength is the tenderest of all. There is no 
 water so gentle and so graceful in its move- 
 ments as the thin wavelets of the mighty ocean 
 as they smoothe the tiny grains of sand on the 
 
 74 
 
IN HIS COMMUNITY 
 
 white strand. A baby may paddle in the gentle 
 waters. The sun would consume the world as 
 your stove the paper you throw into it ; yet his 
 beams touch the tiniest flower with a gentleness 
 that dries up the dewdrop in its bright face and 
 fills its life with sweetness. The big fireman 
 lifts the babe from the burning house with 
 hands that might grace an angel: though with 
 those same strong arms he seizes the resisting 
 burglar and leads him to prison. That huge 
 thing we call "the public" passes judgment on 
 ministers and judges Christianity by them. The 
 public reads papers, men, current events. The 
 public does not read the Bible. Ministers, Sun- 
 day-school teachers, invalids, and decrepits 
 read the Bible. The public reads the "living 
 epistles read and known by all men." The 
 ministers are the pages read most thoroughly 
 and most often. Here is the minister's largest 
 opportunity. He is the latest edition of Chris- 
 tianity. He circulates in society. They discuss 
 him around the fireside, in the political meeting, 
 in the saloon. He is not simply a clergyman, he 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 is a man of God. The minister cannot preach 
 to the community from his pulpit. Many people 
 never enter church. He cannot visit every 
 home, the task is beyond any one person. How 
 shall he reach the community? By a life that 
 contains all the essential elements of Christian 
 manhood. Is he lazy? The community knows 
 it. Does the ledger show him in debt? Every 
 body knows it. Is he socially indiscreet? It is 
 the community gossip's feast. Does he neglect 
 the poor and ignorant? The air is full of it. 
 No matter what he is, or what he is not ; he is 
 known and many estimate the gospel and the 
 church by him. Here is a field large enough for 
 all his power of influence. He need not know 
 more about any one thing than anybody else, 
 but he should know about more things than any 
 other person in the community. His life must 
 interpret his teaching, and his experience must 
 touch God and humanity, not a few people. 
 Jesus saved but one man in Gadara, but He 
 touched the whole community. 
 
 7<; 
 
IN HIS COMMUNITY 
 
 The minister may visit the sick, bury the 
 dead, and help the destitute outside of his par- 
 ish, with the same sympathy and willingness as 
 he ministers to those in his own congregation. 
 Respond to all calls of real need and do it in 
 the name of Jesus Christ, and not in the interest 
 of your own church. 
 
 The minister does not have to own property, 
 do business, hold office, or belong to lodges to 
 fill his true relation to the community. He is 
 called to the task of living before the commun- 
 ity all the virtues and graces that can cleanse 
 the heart, purify politics, make honest business, 
 expel evils from society, and cultivate a sensi- 
 tive conscience. He deals with individuals ; but 
 his largest work is for the community. A nega- 
 tive view of his relation to the commuity will 
 more clearly express his value. Eliminate the 
 minister entirely from the community; let him 
 fail in honesty, virtue, industry, or humility, 
 and see what remains. He is a moral force, a 
 spiritual personality, a divinely chosen teacher, 
 a living example in the community. Every 
 
THE MINISTER 
 
 working man ought to do better work, every 
 home ought to be happier, every business house 
 ought to be more honest, every neighbor ought 
 to be more neighborly, every life ought to be 
 purer, because the minister lives and moves and 
 preaches in the community. His value is not in 
 what he has, what he does, or what he says, but 
 in what he is. A live horse has a value all his 
 own. A dead horse does a damage all his own. 
 The minister need not get rich himself, but the 
 community ought to be richer because he is 
 in it. 
 
 78 
 
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