Half century messages to pastors and people

Foreword

My reason for offering the following papers for publication is the importance of the subjects presented. They are none of them new, but, as I believe, are not as fully and as frequently introduced in public discourse, and in Church literature as their relation to Christian life demands. No attempt has been made to discuss any of the topics exhaustively ; I have the hope that they are presented suggestively. If the book shall help some to greater expectations of faith, and others to deeper searchings of heart, the prayer of the author will be answered.

University Place, Nebraska, July 6th, 1904.

Contents

Chapter Page

I. Some Causes of Ministerial Un-

ACCEPTABLENESS, - II

I. Some; Causes of Ministerial Unaccept

ABLENESS.

"Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?" — Acts xix, 15.

From an observation of several years, we note the following as among the causes of ministerial unacceptableness, so far as the causes have existed in ministers themselves :

1. An appearance of indolence. (1) Physical indolence — waste of time in unnecessary or trifling matters; neglect of preaching from house to house; spending much time in a few homes, supposed to be specially agreeable, and little or none in many others ; performing ministerial duties generally in an indifferent or perfunctory manner. (2) Mental indolence, — seen in stale or unstudied sermons, and threadbare illustrations. In narrowness of thought, and lack of variety. In loss of creative or in- 11

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ventive power in sermonizing, and in consequent tendency to hobbyism. In failure to carry out any system of daily study.

2. Affectation. Seen in the conscious or unconscious imitation of some other person in voice or manner. In having a voice or tone in the pulpit which is unnatural, and which the preacher uses nowhere but in the pulpit. It is seen in the effort to speak at all times in the language and with the gestures appropriate to a climax only. Among its most hurtful manifestations is the simulating of deep feeling — a manufactured tremor of the voice, and an effort to command tears which are not prompted by depth of solicitude nor suggested by the point in hand. The learned and the unlearned will with equal readiness interpret this as practicing upon their emotions. His manners will be most acceptable who is strictly himself. Tears and quivering lips are never offensive when they are begotten of deep convictions, and brought forth in the painful apprehension of the interests involved. They are never normal when they become habitual.

3. From all that is artificial in the pulpit, congregations will recoil. They expect it in

Causes of Ministerial Un accept ableness.

the theater ; they despise it in the pulpit. Artificial excitement, however generated, is only loss to the preacher of the gospel. It may produce a temporary ease in speech, though this result is by no means certain. It generally leads to extravagance in expression and exaggeration in statement. The average hearer will quickly distinguish between this man-made unction and the fervor of a soul moved by the Holy Spirit. It savors of insincerity. It weakens conviction in the preacher, and leads his hearers to regard his manner as a pretense. There is a homely jingle which runs thus :

"Begin low ; Proceed slow; Take fire- Rise higher; Be self-possessed When most impressed."

This was once repeated in the presence of a number of ministers, to which a lady responded, addressing herself to her husband : "Now, my dear, I see what is your trouble ; you rise higher before you take fire."

4. Want of sustained ministerial spirit. When the minister is one man in the pulpit and

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quite another out of it, he will not long be acceptable to his most thoughtful hearers. If after presenting important truth with apparent seriousness, he throws himself at once into a trifling attitude, the good effect of his sermon is lost, and he will be regarded by many as a make-believe. In a consciously sustained consecration, the man is always the minister.

5. Want of refinement in manners has sometimes rendered ministers unacceptable. Untidiness in personal appearance, engaging in conversation which parents would prefer that their children should not hear. Egotism, displayed in demanding special consideration from the homes which they visit, subjecting their hosts to additional labor for their convenience. Treating advice or friendly criticism as offensive. Monopolizing the conversation of the social circle by talking principally of themselves. Indulging in habits which are offensive to persons of good taste. No minister has any reason to expect to be acceptable to an intelligent congregation who uses tobacco in any form, either in his study or out of it.

6. A selfish ambition has rendered some ministers unacceptable to their Churches.

Causes of Ministerial Unacceptabi^ness.

When they exhibit dissatisfaction with their fields of labor, and are looking and longing for something more to their liking, they will soon become unacceptable. When they seek the advertising of the newspapers, and court the favor of the world at the expense of their Churches; when they become prominent in their connection with outside societies, and seem ready to accept anything which will bring them a higher salary than they receive as ministers, is it any wonder that they are unacceptable? When they carry with them the spirit of complaint, preach funereal sermons the year around; when they criticise severely those whom they regard as more favored than themselves, and exhibit on all occasions an undertone of discontent, it is time they were unacceptable.

7. The want of serious cheerfulness. There is an extreme reserve which is understood to mean haughtiness or indifference towards others. There is a self-absorption which fails to see and properly greet all classes. There is a religious self-consciousness which borders upon Pharisaism, and there is a morbid righteousness, a legalism which is cold and cynical.

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Any of these types in a minister will render him unacceptable. Martin Luther's rendering of Matt, vi, 1 6, is suggestive, "Thou shalt not look sour." A good advice to ministers for all days as well as those of fasting. A good man once said of his minister: "I think our pastor is anointed, but I am afraid it was done with vinegar."

8. Preachers have been unacceptable from a manifest lack in education. Bad English in the pulpit; singulars and plurals hitched together; modes, tenses, and persons indiscriminately mixed; carelessness in historical references, and blunders in scientific allusions. Worse still when a minister indulges in a wholesale berating of science and scientists, as if they were the worst enemies of God and man, and talks of the Holy Spirit as though spiritual power could be best realized along with ignorance and laziness. Indiscriminate denunciation of "higher criticism" from the pulpit has prejudiced more people against Christian teaching, and disgusted more thinking men with ministers, than all that is called higher criticism.

9. Long sermons have made ministers un-

Causes of Ministerial Unacceptableness.

acceptable. Much of the criticism upon long sermons may be unreasonable, but it is true that few men are able to hold the attention of an audience for an hour. If the sermon is made long by repetitions of the same thoughts in different language, by the multiplication of adjectives, or by illustrations made wearisome by minute detail, it will seem to the hearers to be excruciatingly long. If the preacher thinks that the exhaustive treatment of his subject is of more importance than the continued interest of his hearers, he will soon become unacceptable. If he stops just when his audience wishes him to go on, they will not lose their interest in his sermons.

10. Irreverence on the part of ministers has rendered some unacceptable. When they use the name of God with unnecessary frequency, and with a familiarity which to some seems to savor of profanity; when they inject into their discourse, "for heaven's sake," "for God's sake," etc., they are shocking the feelings of some of their devout worshipers. Saying queer things, playing off puns with Scripture language, repeating stories which excite laughter, — these may win them the applause 2 17

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of the rabble, but by their thoughtful hearers they will be regarded as unbecoming a messenger of Christ.

1 1. The home life of the minister has much to do with his acceptability. If the relations of the members of the family are unpleasant; if there is ill temper in the atmosphere of the home*; if there is no family government, or if the government is of a harsh and legal type; if the piety of the home is superficial or Pharisaic, and if the preacher is better everywhere else than in his home, he will be justly unacceptable.

"Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder; yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility, for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." — Peter.

"Be kindly affectioned one to another ; in honor preferring one another. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits." — Paul.

"It is no more the duty of the boy to study physiology, in order that he may know how to train each member of his body to perform its part, than it is for each member of the Church to study the needs of the times, that he, as a member of Christ's body, may know how to do his duty." — Rev. A. G. Upton.

"What would Christ have accomplished had He come from heaven every morning, brought His lunch, and gone home at night? It was because He dwelt among men, and was one of us, that He won our hearts. So the Church must not strain out a congenial class. It must not skim the pool ; it must dip to the bottom, even to the miry bottom of society. It must embrace all if it is to save all."— Parkhurst.

*9

"Some who consider themselves reasonable men will set a whole Church in a blaze about the merest trifle. Meeting after meeting will be called, and angry discussions provoked, and holy work overturned about the smallest mistake of a preacher, or the minutest fault of a deacon. Societies which were doing great service have been broken up by the whims of good brethren, who made much ado about nothing, and did great harm in trying to do a little good." — Spurgeon.

"The times demand Church members who are loyal to principle. The devil no longer goes about, seeking whom he may devour; he has found that the roaring business puts people on their guard. He has put away the smell of the forest, and taken on the perfume of the city. He comes in stylish and insinuating forms to entice from moral rectitude. The world is cutting the corners on all moral questions. The times demand Church members who stand four-square and straight-edged on all those questions." — Rev. A. G. Upton.

II. Good Church Members

"So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of another." — Rom. xii, 5.

The; apostle compares the mutual relations of Christians to those of the different members of the human body. All together they constitute one body, and each in his proper place serves the interest of the whole. He evidently believed in Church organization — "congregations of faithful men" and women — and he evidently knew the great value of piety, and of harmonious activity on the part of Church members.

Now there are good people in the world who are better Christians than they are Church members. They mean well, but seem incapable of blending their lives and efforts with others. It must be admitted also that there are others who, in some respects, are better Church mem-

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bers than they are Christians. The deficiencies in both these classes are much to be regretted ; the Churches are all in need of members who possess that, most excellent combination of qualifications, — spiritual life joined with efficiency in the duties of Church membership.

I. Some Characteristics oe Good Church Members.

i. Good Church members are, first of all, Christians. They are repentant and regenerate, and hence possess some degree of spiritual life. They aim to be right with God and man, and while it is true that some who are thus Christian are not the best of Church members, the fact of Christian experience and character must be put down as the most essential and fundamental qualification for Church membership. All other endowments of mind or estate can not constitute a good Church member in the absence of these. Great defects and many blunders will be regretted, and at the same time overlooked, in professed Christians if the evidences of a consecrated life and a Christlike spirit are recognized. Gifts, learning, liberality and professions do not in themselves 22

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make a good Church member in the absence of solid piety.

2. Good Church members will place great value upon their Church relations. They will appreciate the fact that, with all its faults and shortcomings, the Church is a divine institution, and includes the best of earth. They will treat their connection with it as an exalted privilege, and they will hold as sacred the responsibilities arising out of their membership. They will regard their Church homes as next in value to their own family circles, and the obligations of their Church covenants as binding as their marriage vows. They will not remain in the Church to dishonor it, nor separate themselves from it for trivial reasons. They will seek in all legitimate ways to preserve the good name, and increase the influence of the Churches into the fellowship of which they have been received.

3. Good Church members have right motives in uniting with the Church. They do not join the Church altogether for what they hope to receive from it. They do not come into the Church as into a railroad train, in order to secure transportation to some desirable destina-

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tion. They may well desire to place themselves and their families in the fellowship and under the watch-care of the Church, but they will also have the higher purpose of helping as they may in the work of the Church for the benefit of the world. They take their places in the Church in order to be where Christ wants them, and in order to render to His cause the most effective service. They join the Church for the purpose of bringing their homes under the best possible influences, and to unite their efforts with others in promoting the kingdom of Jesus Christ in the most effective way. They wish to be in line with gracious means, and to stand with others where Christian character and life are expected of them.

4. Good Church members will seek to inform themselves concerning the Church — its history, its doctrines, and its work in the world. They will study Christian movements to "note what God is doing in the world." They will give some time to the study of the Bible, a duty never more needful to the Christian believer than now, and as opportunity allows, they will read up in Christian literature. Fathers and mothers will see that their homes are furnished 24

with the productions of those who think well and write well upon religious themes. The religious paper will be brought in as an educational necessity in the family. Good Church members will give to their children the best educational advantages within their power in order to fit them for the highest and widest usefulness, and as far as possible they will select Christian schools for the education of their sons and daughters.

5. The business and citizen life of good Church members is religious. They will be as truly religious in the store, the shop, and the counting-room, as in the Church or the prayer-meeting. They will regard themselves as representing the Church everywhere and at all times. Their politics will be Christian politics. They recognize the fact that they are as really witnesses for Christ in one place as another, and that what they say and do in their daily intercourse with their fellow-men constitutes the chief element in their influence for or against religion.

6. Those who rightly regard the responsibilities of Church membership will maintain a consecrated social life. A social life they will

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have and should have ; it is in the arrangement of God. It furnishes large opportunities of good, and equally large possibilities of evil. It is by the tone and manner of their social life that the piety of Christian people is most frequently judged. It is here that they either gain or lose religious influence over others. Those who make the governing motive of their social life that of personal pleasure only are not good Church members. They can not be true to their Church till they aim at doing good, and honoring Christ in this as in all other departments of life.

7. To be good Church members Christians must consecrate their gifts. The "spiritual gifts" 1 of the New Testament have their counterpart in those now in the Church. Some have by nature the gift of "teaching/' 2 and this native gift is quickened by an experience of saving grace. Some are blest with marked ability in public discourse — they can "prophesy." 3 The gifts of others are in "exhortation," or in "ruling." 4 To others is given ability in financiering, quite above that of their brethren, and they are to "wait on their min-

» 1 Cor. xii. 2 Rom. xii, 7. *Ibid. vs. 6. *Ibid. vs. 8.

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istry." 5 Whatever the gift, whether its rank be that of one talent or five or ten, there is a place for it in the Church, and it will render substantial benefit to the cause of Christ if it be constantly offered to Him in willing service. Every Church member should study to know his own gift, and not idly covet that of another. He should "stir up the gift of God which is in him," 6 not envying his brother his more conspicuous endowments, and neither neglecting nor boasting of his own.

8. All Church members who meet their obligations will avoid individualism. They will not regard their duty as always marked out by their technical rights, or their personal preferences. They will not always insist upon having their own views carried out, nor upon having their own advices heeded. They will not become sour and turn their backs upon the Church in case others have their way instead of themselves. Up to the point of conscientious convictions they will waive what is personal to themselves in order to act with their brethren. They will do all in their power to preserve harmony in the life of the Church, and

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will sacrifice to the last degree rather than become the occasion of a Church quarrel. No man, however rich, and no minister, however gifted, is worth the cost of a Church strife.

9. A good Church member will do all in his power to protect the good name of his Church. He will seek in all legitimate ways to increase its influence. He will not tolerate known iniquity in its members, but he will not be hasty in believing evil of his brethren. He will "support the weak, and be patient towards all men." 7 He will not impugn the motives nor harshly criticise the conduct of those who differ from him. He will not "think of himself more highly than he ought to think." 8

10. A good Church member will, as far as possible, sustain all the services of his Church. He will not neglect them because the pastor happens not to be the man he wanted, nor because he thinks some members of the Church have wronged him, or have slighted him or his family. He will not attend Church for the entertainment which he can get out of the service, nor will he insist that the preacher shall always preach upon the subjects concerning

7 1 Thes. v, 14. 8 Rom. xii, 3

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which he is most pleased to hear. He will not find fault with the pastor if he does not hear his own belief exactly stated and defended in every sermon. He will go to Church to worship God with his fellow Christians, and to sustain by his presence and his offerings an institution ordained of God for the salvation of men. He will brave some bad weather, and subject himself to some degree of hardship and inconvenience in order to be with his brethren in Sunday and mid-week services. He will "contribute of his earthly substance, according to his ability, to the support of the Gospel and the various benevolent enterprises of the Church." 9 He will never stay away from a service from the anticipation of a public collection. In a word, good Church members are just all-around Christians.

9 Methodist Discipline.

"Increase appointments for public meetings only as there is demand for them. Have the interest compel the meetings, and do not appoint extra meetings to get up interest." — Rev. Herrick Johnson.

"Opposition or neglect of needed reforms will prevent revivals of religion. The Holy Spirit is a reformer, and where Churches will not co-operate in the promotion of greatly needed reforms, they need not expect a revival of religion." — Finney.

"There are special harvest seasons in the spiritual as in the natural world — times of great ingathering when, as round about Ephesus, mightily grows the Word of God and prevails." — Revivals, Their Place and Their Power.

"It is a mistake to suppose that aggressive spiritual work can be successfully accomplished by setting apart a few weeks in the year for it, without the most careful preparation for it during the rest of the time. Yet this is largely the habit." — Perren's Revival Sermons.

"Be watchful against placing dependence on a protracted meeting, as if that of itself would produce a revival. This is a point of great danger, and has always been so. This is the great reason why the Church in successive generations has always had to give up her measures, because Christians had come to rely upon them for success." — Finney's Lectures.

3 1

"Among the evils to be avoided is the recognition of any particular ministers or class of ministers as revivalists. There is no such distinctive class known to the New Testament. ... It is giving countenance among the people to the idea that certain ministers on wheels have a kind of monopoly of the Holy Spirit, and can command His services on call. It is disturbing and dishonoring to the pastorate."

"Avoid the notion that any excitement is pernicious and is therefore to be studiously resisted. . . . There is an excitement that is wholly or chiefly animal. It is not grounded in rational conviction. It is fostered by rubbing of hands, tones of voice, chorus of song, affecting stories, mere hortatory appeals and social bodily contact. It can be worked up any day in a crowd by a skillful leader." — Revivals, Their Place and Power.

"Avoid adopting the idea that a revival can not be enjoyed without a protracted meeting. Some Churches have got into a morbid state of feeling on this subject. Their zeal has become all spasmodic and feverish, so that they never think of doing anything to promote a revival only in that way. When a protracted meeting is held, they will seem to be wonderfully zealous, and then sink into a torpid state until another protracted meeting produces another spasm." — Perren's Revival Sermons, p. 50.

III

"Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?" — Matt, xvii, 19.

Revival efforts have frequently proved unsatisfactory and disappointing. This has been true at least of many in quite recent years. (1) In that they have failed to bring to the services, in any considerable numbers, the non- Christian elements of communities. (2) In the small numbers of conversions among those who have attended. (3) Unsatisfactory in the fact that the work has often proved transient rather than permanent. (4) In that the feature of personal reformation of life has not followed such efforts in the degree which revival promises. (5) In that such efforts have sometimes closed, leaving the Churches no more spiritual or influential for good than

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when they were commenced. (6) In that they have sometimes produced in Churches and communities a feeling of prejudice against what are called revival meetings.

I. Some: Causes of the Unsatisfactoriness of Certain Revival Efforts.

i. They have sometimes been ill timed. Revival, meaning by that term a general religious awakening in the Church and community, is a spiritual harvest. It follows the work of planting and cultivating. It is an ingathering of the results of faithful preaching, as well as much personal work on the part of pastor and people. Where the preaching has been of a character to please and entertain, rather than to produce conviction ; when those who should have been active workers have been indifferent or religiously idle, the time for harvesting has not come. Revival efforts begun without regard to conditions are likely to fail of satisfactory results. Such an effort on the part of a Church is a matter of too serious moment to be toyed with as an experiment, or to be commenced and ended by the phases of the moon, or the pressure of business.

Unsatisfactoriness of Somd Revival Efforts.

2. Genuine revival is the work of the Holy Spirit in and through human agency. Ministers and other Christian workers are not "mere instruments" in this work; they are coagents. Perfection in the work of the human agents is not to be expected, but it is all important that they seek just what the Holy Spirit seeks. If worldly, selfish, or unworthy aims are allowed to enter into revival efforts, they correspondingly fail of the Spirit's presence. It is well to seek converts; but if this be done chiefly to add to a Church rather than to save the lost, the movement is out of sympathy with Christ, and must be wanting in Divine energy. A misguided sentiment has sometimes demanded of ministers a reputation as successful revivalists. Under this pressure the temptation to aim at building up such a reputation is very great. Churches have sometimes looked upon revival efforts as the means of carrying them up to the point of paying off Church debts, building new edifices, or enabling them to offer increased salaries. In revival efforts, whatever alloys the motives of minister or people with a self-regarding aim, to that extent renders the movement worldly and weak. "We 35

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are workers together with God." 1 We are to seek the end which He seeks. We are to seek this end for the same reason that He seeks it. This makes room for God.

3. We fear that in some revival efforts the secret of failure has been in the fact that the Holy Spirit has been dishonored. He has not, excepting in theory, been sufficiently relied upon as the all-essential in the work. Have we not treated Him as an impersonal influence, rather than as the Personal God? Have we not treated Him as distant, rather than as always present ? Have we not entreated Him to come and help us do our work, instead of asking Him to receive our service in the accomplishment of His work? Do we not place reliance upon the abilities, the reputation, the gifts, or the tactics of men which we should place upon the Spirit of God only? In the Church as in the Nation, when we have "the man who can do it," the man fails us. "The Egyptians are still men, and not God ; and their horses are flesh, and not spirit." 2 False trusts are but the reverse side of unbelief; they are

1 2 Cor. vi, 1. 8 Isa. xxxi, 3.

Unsatisfactoriness of Some) Revival Efforts.

equally effectual in preventing the many mighty works of Jesus.

4. Certain methods of advertising revivalmeetings have been unfavorable to their highest success. The use of the newspapers has been often carried to an unhealthful extreme. When this plan has descended to the thin art of "puffing," it has usually awakened the suspicion of self-glorying or of insincerity. Announcements of special attractions in music, and of the expected presence of distinguished persons who are to take part, may for a few times gather the crowd, but it will be a crowd already prejudiced by the feeling that a plan is laid for catching them. All such attractions are in the end generally distractions, and often detractions. A crowd is not absolutely indispensable to a successful revival effort, but confidence in the simplicity and purity of the motives which guide the movement is essential to real success. Concentration of thought upon the truth which leads men to know themselves sinners, and Christ as a Savior, is first of all to be desired. The attempt to awaken and save men by attractive indirections generally dissipates religious feeling, and diverts the thought

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from the very truths which the revival meeting is supposed most deeply to impress.

5. "Altar services" are venerable for their age and usefulness in revival efforts. They are still to some extent helpful. But it is also evident that the more common methods of conducting these services are regarded by increasing numbers as in some respects unwise and unprofitable. ( 1 ) In some Churches their frequency, and the fact that they are attended with little or no apparent result, have served to destroy their meaning, and greatly to impair their effectiveness as special means. (2) "Coming to the altar" is sometimes treated as a universal test of penitence. Those who respond to the invitation and come forward, are accepted, without further evidence, as penitents, while those who decline the invitation are treated as willfu 1 ly rejecting Christ. We do not think that the leaders of altar services generally mean all this, but they often leave this impression upon their audiences. The effect of this is unfortunate in the extreme. It may not be wholly pride or conscious impenitence which leads some persons to decline the invitation to the altar. There are those who think they have