The apostle Paul set forth a helpful principle when he wrote to Timothy, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." In that exhortation to study lies the secret of a successful life. Every successful man, whatever the pursuit he may be following, must study continuously. It is by study that he is enabled to outstrip his fellows.
Napoleon the First is acknowledged to have been a great general. His ability to maneuver the men and means at his command in such a successful manner as to make him the acknowledged dictator for half of Europe was due, not so much to his superior natural gifts, as to application of mind and constant study. Probably no man understood the map of Europe—the roads and their condition, the location of the rivers and the place and condition of the bridges for crossing them—as did Napoleon; and no other man was so familiar with the fighting forces of each nation, and its equipment and resources in finance and man power. How did Napoleon acquire such mighty and renowned power in so short a time?—Only by constant application of his mind to the situation in hand and by hard study.
Very few of the men who have acquired large fortunes in these days have been inheritors of vast estates. They have built up their fortunes on an entirely different basis,—a basis of concentration of thought, and study by night and by day of their particular line of business; and success has been the result.
The great preachers of modern times have been men who have followed Paul's injunction to "study." In that one word lies the secret of increasing power and success. But it is not books alone that the successful preacher must study. Books are of value only as they teach concerning God and man,—the two subjects that deserve the minister's close study. The more the preacher knows about God, —His ways and His laws,—not alone in a theoretical way, but by personal experience, the better he will be able to understand man, and find the avenues for reaching his heart and bringing him to Christ. Of Jesus it was said, "He knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man; for He knew what was in man." The study of human nature is essential for the preacher who would be successful in his work. To know God is the highest knowledge which can be sought for. The more we study Him, see Him in His works, and perceive His Fatherly love and care for sinful men, the greater our faith and confidence in the fulfillment of His promises to men. And the more we study men, the better we understand God's way of dealing with them. So the minister's field of study is God and man, the boundaries of which are unlimited.
The dead line in a minister's life is reached when he ceases to grow and improve mentally and spiritually. Such a stage cannot be reckoned alone in years. Some men reach the dead line during the early years of their ministry, soon after their ordination. In other men, it may be postponed to the ripened years of a full life. In every life this dead line looms up as a danger signal sooner or later, and all need to fear and shun it. Only a comparatively few clean, godly, and good men keep the dead line ever ahead of them, refusing to step over into the restricted domain.
To keep from reaching the dead line in middle life necessitates the toil and sweat of strenuous mental effort. Most people have a sympathetic interest in the young minister, and appreciate his efforts, however weak they may be; but when middle life is reached, and the charm of youth has gone, it requires real worth—gold, silver, and, precious stones—to withstand the test of storm and tide of public opinion. The man who succeeds in his life must grow.
"When men cross the dead line under seventy, it is ordinarily because they have ceased to develop new cells in the gray matter of their brain. They have been students once, but their early studies cannot save them. A parish soon discovers when a minister is trusting to his diploma and has put his mind to bed. . . .
"To be a preacher and a preacher whom the years cannot wear thin, a man must be a painstaking, indefatigable, everlasting worker. He must have a genius for toil. He must be willing to drudge and dig and grind. He must lay out his lines of study, and pursue them doggedly and unconquerably through the years. He must forsake cheap papers and beware of books published for mental babes. He must trounce his mind whenever he catches it dawdling or slouching or lounging. He must quit pottering over incidentals and conundrums, and wrestle with the great doctrines and dragons. He must give himself, soul and body, to his work with the devotion and fidelity of a slave whose heart has been redeemed by a Master who renders to every man according to his work, and creates a heaven for every soul to whom He says, Well done!' "—"Quiet Hints to Growing Preachers," C. E. Jefferson, pp. 44-48.
Corpses of intellectually or spiritually dead ministers strew the highways of life wherever one goes. In that stage of life running between fifty and sixty-five, many "has-beens" are to be found. Discover from these men, if you can, the reason why they have been "shelved." They will lay the blame on others. Not one is willing to believe that his case is one of ministerial suicide. Committees, church boards, conference shortages, et cetera, are cited; but whoever heard a man say, "My failure is wholly my own fault! I grew mentally lazy. I never loved books, and as I grew older I ceased to grow mentally. I find myself now, at fifty-five years of age, strong and well physically, but across the dead line of mental efficiency. It Is my own doing"? Yet this is often the true fact. Such a tragic situation calls for prevention rather than cure; and prevention lies in constant and diligent application of the mind to the study of God's word and the principles of its application to the hearts of men.
Washington, D. C.
