When I was asked to become a religious liberty worker for the General Conference, I hesitated to accept the call, fearing I might become a one-track hobbyist, and thus destroy my usefulness in the general work. A hobbyist is almost always an extremist, and is liable to regard his own special work as the cure for all evils.
A minister called to take charge of a certain work may have to specialize in that field of endeavor, yet if he really desires to preserve a proper balance and true perspective of the whole work, he will never allow himself to become so one-sided in his interests as to impair or destroy his efficiency in general ministry. He should always be prepared to preach upon all phases of the message. If a minister limits himself to the specific work for which he is primarily responsible, and so narrows his vision that he can see nothing else, and can talk of nothing else, he will soon become a narrow-gauge man.
Many a preacher has destroyed his general usefulness in this movement by specializing on one particular phase instead of keeping his mind and heart open to its manifold interests. We know in advance what some ministers are going to talk about, because they always speak upon the same subject. I am fond of potatoes; but if the meal is composed only of potatoes, I would not relish them so much. And one such meal might be passed without complaint, but if the cook served every meal of potatoes alone, I would soon find a new boarding place. So It is with spiritual food; we prefer and need a variety of good things rather than the same thing in every sermon.
Our general workers should lay stress upon the whole message, rather than on any one specialized phase. Responsibility for some special departmental endeavor does not absolve one from responsibility in the building up and strengthening of the work as a whole. While we may deem one phase of our message more important than another, yet we must remember that the whole message is necessary to make all-round Christians. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you. When one part suffers, the whole suffers.
The minister who rides a hobbyhorse all the time is likely to ride him to death. The preacher who harps continually upon one doctrine or phase of the message to the neglect of the whole, is bound to become one-sided, and will ultimately weaken his ministry and lessen his influence. Let us aim to proclaim the whole message, and be all-round ministers. Our work will suffer tremendously unless we all pull together, giving our full strength to every phase of this great message. General efficiency is better than partial efficiency.
Washington., D. C.
