Earnestness Manifested in the Pastorate

This must by no means be omitted. The pulpit is the chief, but not the only sphere of ministerial solicitude and action: just as preaching is God’s first, but not his exclusive means of saving souls. Different ministers have fallen into two opposite mistakes; one class have thought to do every thing in the pulpit as preachers, but they have neglected the duties of the pastor; while the others have purposed to do every thing as pastors, and have neglected the diligent preparation of their sermons. Of the two errors the latter is the more mischievous, inasmuch as no pastoral devotedness, however intense, will long keep together a congregation among Protestant Dissenters, much less collect one, when the preaching is indifferent and unattractive; while, on the other hand, good preaching will of itself do much in the absence of pastoral attentions to keep the flock from being scattered. But why should not both extremes be avoided? Good preaching and good shepherding are quite compatible with each other, and he who is in earnest will combine both. He will be a watchman for souls everywhere, and seek if by any and by all means, he can save some. He can never entirely lay aside his anxiety for the objects of his regard, and is ever ready to manifest it on all suitable occasions. His sermons are composed and delivered for this object, and he is afterwards inquisitive for the effect they have produced, and watches and prays for the result. His anxious eye is searching the congregation, even while preaching, to see, not so much who is delighted, but who is seriously impressed. He will not, cannot be content to go on, without ascertaining whether or not his sermons are successful. Like a good physician, who is minutely watchful for the effect of his medicines upon his patients individually, according to their specific varieties of disease, he will endeavor to ascertain the impression which his sermons have produced, and on particular persons. He will aim to attract to him the anxious inquirers after salvation, and for this purpose he will have special meetings for such persons; will invite and encourage their attendance, will cause them to feel that they are most welcome, and by his tender, faithful, and appropriate treatment of their case, will make them sensible that to him they are as truly the objects of deep interest, as the lambs are to the good shepherd. And though he will very naturally wish not to be too frequently broken in upon in his private studies, by those to whom he has given set times for meeting with him — yet a poor, burdened, trembling penitent will never find him engaged too deeply or delightfully in study, to heal the broken in heart, and to bind up their wounds. It is really distressing to know how little time some ministers are willing: to give up from their favorite pursuits, even for relieving the solicitudes of an anxious mind. They read much, and perhaps as the result, preach well composed, though possibly not very awakening sermons; but as for any skill, or even taste, for dealing with convinced sinners, wounded consciences, and perplexed minds, tney are as destitute oi% this, as if it were no part of their duty. They resemble lecturers on medicine, rather than practitioners; or are like physicians who would assemble all their patients who were able to attend, in the same room, and then give general directions about health and sickness to all alike, but who does not inquire into their several ailments, nor visit them at their own abodes, nor adapt his treatment to their individual and specific disease. It is admitted that some men have less tact, and a still greater destitution of taste than others, for this department of pastoral action; but some skill in it, and some attention to it, are the duty of

every minister, and may be acquired: and no man can be in earnest without it. He who can only generalize in the pulpit, but has no ability to individualize out of it; who cannot in some measure meet the varieties of religious perplexity, and deal with the various modifications of awakened solicitude; who finds himself disinclined or disabled to guide the troubled conscience through the labyrinths which sometimes meet the sinner in the first stage of his pilgrimage to the skies, may be a popular preacher, but he is little fitted to be the pastor of a Christian church. One half hour’s individual conversation with a convinced, but perplexed mind, may do more to correct mistakes, to convey instruction, to relieve solicitude, and to settle the wavering in faith and peace, than ten sermons. True, it requires much love for souls, much devotedness to their salvation, and much anxiety for the success of our ministry, to devote that half-hour to one solitary inquirer after life eternal; but surely no really earnest minister will think his time ill bestowed in guiding that single inquirer into the way of peace.

This individualizing labor is more easily carried on in some situations than in others’, and is indeed more important in some situations to ministerial success. In small congregations, for instance, especially when they are found in small towns or villages, the objects of such special attention come more under the notice of a pastor, are more accessible, and can have more time given to them, than in large congregations in large towns. To these smaller churches, individuals, though not of more importance or value in themselves, since the soul and its salvation are of equal worth everywhere, are of more consequence to the comfort of the minister, and the prosperity of the cause, than they are where a crowd is gathered. Pastors of large churches are much more occupied, both with the concerns of their own flock, and with public business, than their brethren in more retired situations, and are often so occupied and hurried, as to have too little leisure for the individual attentions now recommended; and are perhaps apt amidst the aggregate of numbers, to think too little of the units. Still some excuse may be made for them, of which the others cannot avail themselves. The accession of a single member to our smaller churches is felt to be of more importance, and produces a more reviving and cheering effect, than the addition of several to the larger ones. We have all something to learn even from the Scribes and Pharisees of ancient times, who compassed sea and land to make one proselyte; and also from the Papists of modern times, who pursue a like course: or to change the examples, we want more of the benevolent disposition of angels, who rejoice over one sinner that repenteth. No efforts would be more likely to be successful, none would more amply reward those who make them, than the selection of the most hopeful individuals in the congregation, and following them up with all the assiduities of a special, affectionate and judicious attention. Such a course of pastoral labor, though it would not altogether be a substitute for pulpit attractiveness, and should never be allowed to supersede the most diligent pulpit preparation, would enable many a minister, who may not be gifted with large abilities, to retain a strong hold upon his flock. This is a line along which almost any one may carry on a career of earnestness.

As another object of pastoral attention may be mentioned, attention to the young: and these may be divided into two classes, the young persons who belong to the congregation, and those which belong to the Sunday schools. With regard to the former, it is a matter of congratulation that the modern plan of Bible classes is not unfrequent nor unsuccessful: but even at this time, they are rather the exception than the rule. It may be feared that there are some, who, from the beginning to the end of the year, aye, and of their ministry also, take no interest in the youth of their congregations; they have no catechetical classes, no Bible classes, and even rarely preach to the young. Who can wonder that such men have to complain that their young people go off to the Church of England, or what is far worse, to the world? What have they ever done to attach them to themselves, or to their place of worship? Let no man be surprised that his congregation, diminished by death and removals, continually declines, if he neglects to lay hold of the youth of his flock. Whence does the shepherd look for his future flock, but from the lambs? And who are to constitute our future congregations and churches, but our young people?

I am an advocate also for the catechetical instruction of the younger children, and am sorry that this admirable method of imparting religious truth has fallen into such general desuetude. Even the Bible class, however accommodated to the capacity of these junior members of our congregation, is not altogether a substitute for, but should be regarded only as an addition to, the practice of catechising. There is still a great desideratum to be supplied to our denomination, whose thanks would be pre-eminently due to the man who should supply it, — I mean a set of well composed catechisms, which might be introduced to all our families, and thus set up a uniform system of religious instruction for the body. I say, which might be introduced to all our families; for it is by no means my wish or my intention to obtrude the pastor between the parent and child, and take the religious instruction of the latter from his natural guardian and teacher, to devolve it upon the pastor. It is to parents that the injunction is delivered,” Thou shalt teach these words to thy children diligently, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.’’ No pastoral attention should be intended, or can be adapted, to supersede or lighten this solemn parental obligation. But then the pastor should labor to the uttermost to keep up the parents which are of his flock, to the right discharge of their duty. There are few of us who are not sorrowfully convinced that little is to be expected from our sermons in the pulpit, or our instructions in the class room, while all our endeavors are so miserably counteracted by the neglect of domestic instruction, and the want of parental solicitude. I do not mean to justify pastoral neglect by advancing the obligations of parental duty, for I believe w e have been, and are, all verily guilty of a criminal defect of, duty in not giving more of our time and attention to the children of our congregations; — but still even the time and attention we do give is all likely to be lost, bj the low state of religion in the homes of some of our people.

We might very naturally expect that our churches would be chiefly built up from the families of our members; whereas, the greater number of accessions are from those who were once the people of the world. There is a great mistake on this subject, into which both parents and ministers have fallen; and that is, that the conversion of the children of the professor is to be looked for more from the sermons of the latter, than from the instructions of the former; whereas the contrary is the true order of things; and were domestic piety and teaching what they ought to be, this is the order which would be found to exist. There is unquestionable truth in the proverb, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” I believe that were the nature and design of the domestic constitution thoroughly understood, and its religious duties early, judiciously, affectionately, and perseveringly discharged, the greater number of our young people would be converted to God at home.** Were all religious professors, who are parents, real and eminent Christians; were they from the time they became parents to set their hearts upon being the instruments of their children’s conversion; were they to do all that prayer, instruction, discipline, and example could do for the formation of the religious character of their offspring; and were they carefully to abstain from every thing which would obstruct these ends, I feel confident that it would be within the hallowed precincts of such homes, and not in the sanctuary, that the children of the godly would usually become godly

* I take this opportunity to recommend a most valuable volume, entitled “The Domestic Constitution,” by the Rev, Christopher Anderson; anew and cheaper edition of which is lately published. Every minister should know by reading it, the worth of this inestimable book, and recommend it to his flock.

themselves. Here then should and will be an object with every truly earnest pastor, to bring up the parents in his church to a right sense and discharge of their functions He will labor to impress upon them the solemn obligations under which they live, to train up their children for God. It will be a matter of prayer and solicitude with him to excite them to their duty and keep them in it; for this purpose, he will not only make his pulpit ministrations bear much upon parental obligation, but he will make it a point of visiting the families which are in his church, to pray with them, and to hold up the hands of the parents in this godly duty. Deeply is it to be regretted that this part of pastoral occupation, as well as catechising, has gone out amidst the bustle and engrossing power of trade, and the public business of modern religious institutions. How little do the families of our people know of us in the character and hallowed familiarity of the pastor! When are we seen amidst the domestic circle as the respected and beloved minister of that lovely and interesting group, laboring by our affectionate, serious, and solemn discourse, and by prayer as serious, solemn, and affectionate, to entwine ourselves round the young hearts which there look up to us with reverend regard? Why, why do we neglect such important scenes of labor, and hopeful efforts for usefulness? What power would this give to our sermons, and what efficacy to our ministrations! These young ones would grow up to love us, and it would not be a light or little thing which would break them off from our ministry when we had produced in them such a personal attachment to ourselves. But then we must take especial can that our conduct in the houses of our people should be such as to give weight and influence to their religious instruction of the family, and to ours in the sanctuary. We must be known there as the servants of God, the ministers of Christ, the watchmen for souls; and not merely as the table guest, the parlor jester, the gossiping story-teller, the debating politician, the stormy polemic, the bitter sectarian; much less as the lover of wine. Would God that those of my brethren, who have acquired the habit of smoking, if they cannot leave it off, would abstain from this practice in the houses of their friends, and confine it to their own: would that they did not permit the young inquisitive eyes of the junior members of the families which they visit, to see the pipe brought out as their necessary adjunct. Did they know the regrets of their best friends, and consider the power of their example, they would, at any rate, so far abstain as to wait till they had reached their own habitation, before they indulged themselves with their accustomed gratification. Still, it is freely conceded, without justifying the habit, there are some who are addicted to it, so grave, and serious, and dignified in other respects, as to furnish by their general demeanor an antidote against their example in this one particular: but what antidote can be found to neutralise the mischief inflicted by the levity and frivolity of the parlor buffoon, whose highest object in going to the houses of his friends, seems to be to tell a merry story, and to excite a hearty laugh. In his hands and lips the pages of “Punch” are far more becoming, as they are, perhaps, far more frequent, than those of David, Isaiah, or Paul. Happily we have very few that go to this extreme of lightness and frivolity, but far too many, as is the case with all denominations, and with ours not more than others, of those whose hilarity is destructive at once of their dignity, their seriousness, and their usefulness as ministers of Christ. Not that I contend for sanctified demureness, and solemn grimace, or

even a perpetual sermonizing conversation; as if a pastor could not talk without violating official decorum upon any topic but religion, and were letting down his dignity, or desecrating his sanctity, if he joined in ordinary conversation, and partook of, or even helped the cheerfulness of the circle. By no means: he is not to appear like a spectre that has escaped from the cloister, to haunt the parlor, striking every face with paleness, and every tongue with silence. He is a man, a citizen, and a friend, as well as a minister; and has a stake and an interest in the great questions which occupy human minds, and engage their conversation; and provided he do not forget what is due to the latter, he need not throw off what belongs to the former. ISTay, his very cheerfulness may be made a part of his earnestness, by being taken up and employed as a means to conciliate the affections of all around him. The man who is seriously cheerful, who engages in general conversation, and accommodates himself to the innocent habits of those with whom he associates, and does this in order really to do them spiritual good, and aid him in the great work of saving their souls, will find in the sublimity and sanctity of his end, a sufficient protection against the abuse of the means. This is widely different from the unchecked levity, and unrestrained frivolity in which some indulge, and which make it difficult to imagine how they can feel the value of souls, or the obligation of attempting their salvation. Howard at a masquerade, or Clarkson at a fancy ball, would not have been more out of place, nor a physician more out of character, who had just come from the ravages of the plague, and was immediately going back to them again, who was seen wasting his time, and amusing himself with the tricks of a merry-andrew, than is a messenger of God’s mercy, and a preacher of Christ’s gospel, in the circles of folly and vanity, and he himself the Monms of the party.

But we now advert for a few moments to the scope for earnestness which is presented to the pastor, by the children of the Sunday school. By a most fatal error, too many of our ministers deem these institutions as either beyond their circle, or below their notice. They are neither. A pastor is, or ought to be, the head and chief in the department of all the religious instruction which goes on in connection with the congregation under his care. He is the teacher, the superintendent, and the responsible organ of religious knowledge for all the flock, and the Sunday school is a part of it. It is a wrong state of things that has grown up among some of us Dissenters, in which two, three, or four hundred rational minds and immortal souls are brought every Sabbath-day to our Sunday schools, and to our places of worship, for the very purpose of receiving religious instruction, and yet all this is to be carried on without its being once thought of by the pastor, that he has something to do in this business; or by the congregation or the teachers, that he has by virtue of his office a right and a reason to interfere. In most cases, the pastor has given the matter out of his hand, and has thus raised up, or has been accessory to there being raised up, a body of young instructors of divine truth, who are acting independently of him, and who, in some few instances, have confederated against him. This is not as it should be. The teachers are, or ought to be, a pastor’s special care; to qualify them for their office, and to assist them in its duties, should be thought by him no inconsiderable part of his functions. ISTor should even the children themselves be viewed as persons with whom he has nothing to do. There are always among these, some whose minds have been brought to serious reflection, who are inquiring with solicitude after salvation, and whom he should take under his own teaching and special care, and guide into the way of faith, peace, and holiness: and he should not neglect to give frequent, affectionate, and solemn addresses to the rest. In a Sunday school of two or three hundred children, there are of course two or three hundred immortal souls, exposed by their very situation in life to peculiar dangers, yet all capable of eternal blessedness, and all brought weekly under the eye of the pastor: and yet by how many of our pastors is this hopeful object of religious zeal and benevolence thrown off from ministerial solicitude, and handed over to the Sunday school teachers, as if there were no hope of their saving the soul of a poor boy, nor any reward for saving a poor girl. This obligation of attending to the souls of the Sunday scholars, while incumbent upon all ministers, is especially so upon those who are laboring amidst much discouragement, in small congregations. Many of these men are continually uttering their complaints over the smallness of their congregations, and the inefficiency of their labors; and yet, perhaps, have never thought of turning their attention to the two or three hundred youthful minds which are every Sabbath-day before their eyes, and under the sound of their voice. No minister who ever threw his mind and heart into his Sunday schools had to complain that he labored in vain, and spent his strength for nought. No part of ministerial labor yields a quicker or a larger reward. By some it is made the main pivot on which their whole system of religious instruction turns, and flourishing congregations have risen up under its potency. I have myself been the astonished and delighted witness of this, especially in one well-known instance, and am so deeply impressed with its importance, that I conjure my brethren not to neglect this means of usefulness, nor throw away the golden opportunity which the present circumstances of our country still hold out.

Nor is it Sunday school instruction alone which claims our attention, but daily education. In this we must be in earnest also. It is one of the great subjects of the day, and belongs to us, as much as to any one. We must not allow the public mind to be wholly taken from us, but must exert ourselves according to our ability and opportunity to train it up for society and God. Others know and feel the importance of this, if we do not. The Roman Catholic priests are aware of it, so are the clergy of the Established Church, and so are the Methodist ministers; and shall Dissenting ministers be behind the most zealous and devoted friends of education? I trust not.

But there are other departments of the pastorate, in which earnestness will manifest itself; such as visiting the sick, especially where the disease is chronic, and leaves the mind at liberty for conversation; and then also there is the difficult, but incumbent duty of rebuke, warning, and ecclesiastical discipline. No devoted servant of Christ can neglect the state of the church, but will be solicitous to maintain such order there, as shall be pleasing to Him to whom the church belongs. Like a good shepherd he will look after his flock, and will endeavor to avoid the denunciations of God delivered by the prophet Ezekiel: u Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? The diseased have ye not strengthened; neither have ye healed that which was sick; neither have ye bound up that which was broken; neither have ye brought again that which was driven away; neither have ye sought that which was lost.”

Impressive description of our duty! May we be found so discharging it as to avoid this fearful woe!

How appropriately may I here introduce the words of the Bishop of Calcutta, in his admirable and heart-searching introduction to the edition of “Baxter’s Reformed Pastor,” published by Collins, in his series of “Select Authors:”

“What have we been doing as ministers? Lamentably as we have failed in a general estimate of the vast importance of our office, we have failed as lamentably in all those parts of it which relate to personal inspection and vigilance over our flocks. We have confined ourselves to preaching, to ecclesiastical duties, to occasional visits to the sick, to the administration of the sacraments, to the external and secular relation in which we stand to our parishes; but what have we done in personal care and direction, in affectionate catechetical conferences, in going from house to house, in visiting every family and individual in our districts, in becoming acquainted with the characters, the wants, the state of heart, the habits, the attendance upon public worship, the observance of the Sabbath, the instruction of children and servants, the family devotions, of each house? Have we looked after each individual sheep with an eager solicitude? Have we denied ourselves our own ease, and pleasure, and indulgence, in order to i go after Christ’s sheep, scattered in this naughty, wicked world, that they may be saved forever V What do the streets and lanes of our cities testify concerning us? What do the highways and hedges of our country parishes say as to our fidelity and love to souls? What do the houses and cottages and sick chambers of our congregations and neighborhoods speak? Where have we been? What have we been doing? Has Christ our Master seen us following his footsteps, and going about doing good? Brethren, we are verily faulty concerning this. We have been content with public discourses, and have not urged each soul to the concerns of salvation. Blessed Jesus! thou knowest the guilt of thy ministers in this respect.

above all others! We have been divines, we have been scholars, we have been disputants, we have been students — we have been everything but the holy, self-denying, laborious, consistent ministers of thy gospel.”

Such, then, is a view, and but an imperfect one too, of an earnest ministry.

I would have made it more comprehensive and impressive if I could: for the reality can never be overdrawn nor exaggerated. Let any one consider what that object must be which occupied the mind of Deity from eternity; which is the end of all the Divine dispensations of creation, providence, and grace, towards our world; which is the purpose for which the Son of God expired upon the cross; which formed the substance of revealed truth, and employed the lives and pens of apostles; to which martyrs set the seal of their blood: in short, let him recollect that the end of the Christian ministry is the salvation of immortal souls, through the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ, and then say if anything less than an earnest ministry is befitting such an object, or if that earnestness can comprehend in it less than has been set forth in these chapters,