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THE MINISTR Y OF A LIFE- WORK
OUNG gentlemen, I enjoy a privilege
this evening to which I have looked for
ward ever since coming into the old
North State. I am sure that I am to
night at the fountain of religious in
fluence in North Carolina so far as Bap
tists are concerned, and I have wished
to come and get a sip from this spring
that it might get into my blood, and I
might feel something of the noble spirit
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that pervades this place, and characterizes all who
have been nourished at this stream.
Your distinguished president sent me a note of
cordial welcome as I was coming into the State, in
which he informed me that no man could get natu
ralization papers, as a Baptist, in North Carolina
until he had touched base at Wake Forest, hence I
have been quite anxious to present myself at this
font of Baptist authority and receive my baptism
and the hand of fellowship. I am ready to make
my profession of faith in the glories of the Tar
heel State, and of repentance for ever having lived
anywhere else on earth. In extenuation of such
guilt I plead ignorance. Bill Nye was introduced to
a stranger, who asked the humorist where he was
from. On being told, the stranger said, “I did not
know there was such a place,” to which Mr. Nye
replied, “I didn’t either until after I was born
there.” I really did not know how near the center
of civilization North Carolina is until I came within
her borders, nor did I know how much the Baptists
had contributed to her greatness until I came among
them.
I am glad, young gentlemen, to address you on
the subject assigned me. It is one of general in
terest today, for there has been much discussion of
the depletion of the ministerial ranks. But it is not
mainly on account of the interest in the subject
that I have pleasure in speaking to you of The Min
istry as a Life-work, but rather because I may even
hope that God may use my message to awaken in
some noble soul among you the holy ambition to be
a mighty power among men as a preacher of that
Gospel which made Luther and Cary and Judson
and Spurgeon and Wesley and Moody men of his
tory and of illustrious memory.
I shall discuss the subject in two divisions: I.
The ministry as a calling. 11. The call to the min
istry. The first is the human or professional side
of the ministerial office, while the second is the di
vine or spiritual side of it. Let us consider then:
I. The Ministry as a Calling.
Looking at the preacher’s office as an occupation,
or profession, we may observe two things: the at
tractions and the detractions. This is true of every
calling—they all have advantages and disadvan
tages.
We will observe:
1. Some of the attractions.
In the list of its advantages the ministry com
pares favorably with any of the learned professions.
I shall mention only three of these advantages.
(1) It affords large opportunity for culture of the
highest order.
Indeed, it demands such culture, on penalty of
failure if the demand is not complied with. I think
none will deny that as a class the clergymen of
every country possess the highest culture of any
class of men. I do not except even the teachers.
They may have the same amount of school training
—seldom more —but they lack that finer cultivation
of the moral faculties, or spiritual nature, which
the minister must acquire. Teachers, lawyers, doc
tors, men of all other callings, are specialists in a
sense in which the preacher is not. They must
devote their faculties and energies to their particu
lar lines of thought and activity in order to achieve
the largest success, whereas the preacher must pur
sue all lines in order to win the same degree of
success. It may be thought that theology is the
preacher’s specialty, but not so- It is only a part
Os his intellectual equipment. Many of the ablest
ministers have been poor theologians, while pot a
•few preachers have won renown in the fields of
science, history, philosophy, poetry and fiction.
But perhaps the largest, and perhaps the best,
part of the preacher’s culture is received from the
study not of books, but of people. Pope wrote an
axiomatic sentence in that verse, “The proper study
of mankind is man.” Not man in the abstract; not
the science of anatomy, nor that of psychology, but
men, The occupations, relations, conditions and
Address to Students of Wake Forest College—Subject Assigned Adel J. 'Moncrief.
dispositions of people make up the most extensive
and profitable subject for study that can be found.
The political, social and religious problems of the
race are to be studied to best advantage in the lives
of people, and no other classes of men have quite so
good opportunity for this as the ministers. They
are in constant contact and intimate relation with
all classes of people, and their offices are sought as
advisers, instructors, arbiters, peacemakers and
sympathizers, in all manner of cases and under all
circumstances. Thus they acquire at first hand their
knowledge of human life.
It is written of Socrates, the noted Greek phi
losopher, that he acquired his great learning not
from books, but from men. It was his custom to
lead every man with whom he conversed to talk
about himself, his vocation, his beliefs and his prob
lems. In this way he acquired a knowledge of al
most every subject of human interest, and men
wondered how the wise philosopher had learned so
much.
The next attraction of the ministerial office is
that:
(2) It is a position of large influence.
It is true that the extent of the preacher’s in
fluence depends largely on the preacher—the meas
ure of his power is his personality—yet it is equally
true that the pulpit—the preacher’s throne —is a
seat of power in the community and State. We
sometimes hear that this power is waning. To be
sure that slavish fear of the priesthood which once
possessed the masses, and that superstitious belief
that the priest has power to eternally absolve or
condemn the souls of men is passing away as the
masses become enlightened. But on the other hand
there is a growing sentiment in favor of the preach
er’s having a voice in all public affairs. The old
puritanical restrictions of the pulpit are being re
moved, and the progressive modern church not only
approves, but demands that the minister shall in
struct and exhort the people on all questions of
public interest and moral import. In the forum and
the marketplace today the preacher may participate
in the discussion of public issues, and advocate re
forms.
The preachers of a generation past—God bless
them —wore a solemn mein and funeral garb, and
held themselves aloof from the activities of the
world. There was the musty smell of the monas
tery about them, and their discourses gave excuse
for the inadvertent reply of a good old sister whose
pastor had been caught in a rain as he was coming
to his appointment. He expressed fears lest his
wetting should give him cold should he go on with
the service in that plight, whereupon the sistei’ re
plied, “Never you fear, you will be dry enough when
you get in the pulpit.”
But it is quite different now. The preachers who
are leading in the forward movements of the church,
and society today are men of broad minds and lib
eral culture; of sunny countenance and sympa
thetic heart —plain, sane men who mingle with the
masses, wear clothes like other men and take an
active part in the affairs of life.
But. we notice one other attraction:
(3) It is the center of purest and best associa
tions.
The pastor’s relation to his people is most beauti
ful and delightful. If he is a true pastor he has a
hearty welcome in every home and a cozy chair in
every family circle. His public offices, outside his
own parish, bring him into contact with men of all
stations and gain him access to all circles. He is
the spiritual adviser, and, therefore, the intimate
friend of men prominent in business affairs and
affairs of state. He is favored guest at all the
social functions in his parish, except such as the
host or hostess has reason to think a spiritual
minded pastor would not approve, and it is to his
praise that he is slighted when invitations to such
functions are sent out.
The extent of the minister’s acquaintance, and the
circle of his friends, is larger than that of most
men, for if he gains any prominence at all he is in
demand for addresses, sermons and other services
near and far, so that his acquaintance extends be
yond local bounds. Not only is his circle of friends
large, but it is formed among the noblest and best
peoplp.
But there are some disadvantages about the min
ister’s office, and in order to be fair we will consider
The Golden Age for May 6, 1909.
the more weighty of these before passing from this
professional side of the subject.
2. Some detractions.
There are not more disadvantages to the minis
try than to other vocations, but there are some that
are peculiar to it. I shall mention only two:
(1) The moral burden of the office.
Emphasize the word moral, for herein is the pecul
iarity of the preacher’s burden. The lawyer may
feel a sense of responsibility for the fortunes or
even the honor of his clients; the doctor may feel a
sense of responsibility for the health or even the
lives of his patients, but the preacher whose heart
is in his work feels responsible for the souls of
the people to whom he ministers. He carries the
sins of his entire flock upon his heart, and in the
average parish that is a considerable load. It is
true, therefore, that the nervous strain of the min
istry is greater than that of any other profession.
Many good men have proved unequal to it, and
have been compelled to turn aside from it to take
up other work. The labor and nerve-energy ex
pended* in the preparation of sermons is beyond
computation. Cardinal Logue was once asked how
many sermons a preacher could prepare in a week.
He replied: “if the preacher is a man of extra
ordinary ability he can prepare one; if he is a man
of average ability he can prepare two; if he is a
blockhead he can prepare ten or twelve.” Tne
preacher who goes to his pulpit without a message
may spend there an uneasy hour, but he who goes
there with a message will have spent days in anxious
preparation. An old Scotch preacher had a habit of
crying a good deal while preaching. One day a
stranger asked the old sexton what made the min
ister weep so much, to which the sexton replied:
“Mon, if ye war up there wi no more to say ye
' would weep yersel.” The man whose heart is sur
charged with the feeling of responsibility for the
proper use of those hours will weep in solitude
while he pours his life into the message he is to
deliver.
Another detraction from this human viewpoint is
(2) The inadequate remuneration.
It is a generally acknowledged fact that preachers
are the poorest paid class of men. That is, they
receive the smallest pay for the class of work they
do of any professional men. This has been com
monly assigned as one of the causes of the deple
tion of the ranks of the ministry. The material re
wards of other vocations are much larger, with
shorter hours and lighter labors.
But this condition is improving and will improve.
It is largely within the power of the preachers them
selves to adjust this by raising the standard of ex
cellence in their service. A parishioner said to his
minister one day that he thought the preachers
ought to be better paid. “Ah, I am glad to hear
you say that,” said the preacher, “it does me good
to hear such expressions from you laymen.” “Yes,”
replied the layman, “1 think they ought to be better
paid; then we would get a better class of preachers.”
The perquisites and concessions to the minister’s
office are considerable, and are of double value in
that they are an expression of appreciation as well
as material aid. Yet these perquisites do not amount
to as much as a great many people imagine. A
preacher and a lawyer were discussing the finan
cial rewards of the different professions. The
preacher asserted that those of his profession re
ceived far less for their services than men of any
other. The lawyer disagreed, and remarked that
the item of marriage fees was considerable. “How
much,” asked the preacher, “do you spupose the
average fee will amount to?” “I would say not less
than $20,” replied the lawyer. “That is too high,”
said the preacher. “We marry a great many poor
people.” “Well,” said the man of tfie legal profes
sion, “I will give you $lO for half of your next, mar
riage fee.” “Agreed,” said the clergyman, The
next day a green young farmer and a blooming
country lass came to the preacher to get married,
After the ceremony was over the rustic bridegroom
said, “Parson, I haint got no money, but I fetched
you a fine pup that will make a nice pet for your
chil’en,” and opening a little box he dumped out a
cur pup. The preacher thanked him, and was soon
enroute to the lawyer’s office with a little box un
der his arm. The lawyer was in, and the preacher,
scarcely able to conceal his mirth, said: “I have
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