There was brought to my attention recently in a circular sent out to Protestant chaplains in the United States Army the following helpful precepts for preachers, by W. R. Maltby, originally published in the British Weekly, London. It occurred to me that they might have a wider usefulness than to Army chaplains.
"1. Preaching without emotion is not preaching, but beware of the cheap substitute. Synthetic unction may impress simple souls, but it corrupts the preacher.
"2. Remember Peniel and wrestle with the great themes. even if they throw you. Jacob was not Israel until he shrank a sinew.
"3. Be loyal to your texts. Be aware of context; if you leave it, be courteous and ask permission. Possibly the writer had bigger thoughts than your own.
"4. There is .always water if you bore deep enough.
"5. Motorists and preachers should remember that the aim is not to cover the ground, but to see the country and seeing, love.
"6. Illustrate; but don't illustrate the obvious. One good illustration is worth ten bad.
"7. The well is deep, and you must have something to draw with. But there is no need to make people drink out of the bucket, still less to chew on the rope.
"8. In preaching—no demand without the gift; no diagnosis without the cure. One word about sin; ten for the Saviour.
"9. Irrelevance is sometimes an infirmity; usually it is a sin.
"10. Emotion arises out of the truth. Emotionalism is poured onto it.
"11. Listen before you speak. See before you say.
"12. Aim at being independent of the concordance, but do not disdain it until you are.
"13. Love simple speech as much as you hate shallow thinking.
"14. Polysyllables are not the sign of profundity. Often they are the cloak of poverty, bought at a jumble sale.
"15. Never talk down to your audience; they are not there.
"16. Beware of the abstract noun. The abstract puff eth up, the concrete buildeth up.
"17. By your consonants people will know what you say; by your vowels where you come from.
"18. Be audible, but don't shout. Clearness carries farther than clamor.
"19. Be sparing of gestures, but do not be a post or a robot. If your hands can talk, let them; if not, give them a rest.
"20. Be not like the brook; pause sometimes.
"21. One cannot always finish, but one can always stop. If the flow ceases, do not dribble.
"22. A preacher's damnation. 'He spoke of great things and made them small; of holy things and made them common; of God and made Him of no account.'"
