The Personal Life
We should not feed the congregation husks when there are so many rich, life-giving kernels available. These kernels are in God's Word, waiting for us to discover and examine them. To be able to seek them out and grasp them we must be prayerful, diligent-students.
Only when we have really learned to commune with our God in prayer and in the study of His Word, when we have turned the searchlight inward, will we catch a glimpse of what it means to be the shepherd of the flock.
When Moses lived in Egypt he had full confidence in himself and was sure he could deliver Israel. But what a failure he was when he tried, After forty years of communion with God in the land of Midian while herding sheep, he was not so sure, nor was he willing then to attempt the task. He hesitated. He now felt a holy sense of the sacredness and the greatness of the task God was placing on him, to be leader of His people. Yet Moses did not have a full, true sense of what God could do through him. Hence his prolonged hesitation.
As preachers, we need to learn from his Source of learning, as he eventually learned. Also, we must saturate our hearts and minds with the water of life that flows out of the living fountain of God's Word. This is one of the pastor's great personal needs.
Turning from the pastor's personal study program, let us consider his pastoral program for the church. This concerns all the members of his flock. Daniel Laird wisely said, "To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart." A pastor must work for others with a warm heart.
Thomas Carlyle said, "A great man shows his greatness by the way he treats little men." Another has declared, "You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving."
Visit the Homes of the People
If, as preachers, we want to build a strong Sabbath morning program, it is necessary to visit the people in their homes. If we do this, meanwhile keeping our eyes and ears open, we shall learn what the people need. A sense of that need, kept before us, will give direction to our sermon preparation for public ministry.
While the home is a sounding board, it is most unethical and unkind to take public advantage of the fact by using the pulpit as a sniping nest from which the congregation must take our barbed arrows while we remain in our defense position.
Every sermon you preach, every article you write, may be all true; but one drop of gall in it will be poison to the hearer or the reader. Because of that drop of poison, one will discard all your good and acceptable words. Another will feed on the poison; for he loves such harsh words. He follows your example, and talks just as you talk. Thus the evil is multiplied.—Gospel Workers, p. 375.
No castigation or scolding of the people or the giving of dictatorial edicts will help them. We must refrain from doing any of these. Visitors in the congregation would not understand the motive, and from there on would lose their confidence in, and respect for, the preacher and his ministry. How sad it is that sometimes this has occurred!
In kindness, tenderness, and with tact we must do our work, bringing light and hope to erring men and women. There is a time and a place for every work. A pastor's heart must be large and kind, sympathetic, understanding, and approachable, for it is better that the members of his flock open their hearts to him than to others. No one will open his heart to another until he feels sure he will receive love and sympathy and that his burdens will be prayerfully considered. Only as we know what the problems of our members are can we minister to them.
Those who present the eternal principles of truth need the holy oil emptied from the two olive branches into the heart. This will flow forth in words that will reform but not exasperate. The truth is to be spoken in love. Then the Lord Jesus by His Spirit will supply the force and the power. That is His work.—Ibid.
Many in our congregations are desperately in need of spiritual counsel and guidance and prayer. Unless the pastor visits among the members of his flock he will not be aware of that need. Do not unburden your heart to them; only for them. You and your God are big enough to carry your own burdens. That is why you are chosen as the pastor.
When I visit I carry my Bible with me, but I seldom read my own in the homes of the people. I take their Bible, if possible, and read carefully chosen passages from it. This links the people to the Book that remains at home with them. This may seem a small thing, but it is a strong psychological factor upon which we may capitalize in our visiting program. When the preacher leaves that home, the persons visited take their own Bible and place a bookmark in it, that they may easily find the passages read. They reread these, many times.
Each day before going visiting, not knowing what that day may bring, I select a passage of Scripture to build around and give direction to the visiting of the day. Sometimes it is used, sometimes not, but it is an arrow in the quiver, ready for use. Thus with God's Word I guide the visit along desired lines.
The pastor should steadfastly refuse to make his first visit to any member of his congregation a campaign or a money visit. He should want them to know that he does not come only when he wants a material gift from them for the church. He should make this first visit demonstrate that he wants fellowship and understanding with them, that he wishes to bind them more closely to God and the church, and that he is in that church to lead them in God's way, and to help them find and observe God's truth fully. Rarely, practically never, will there be a lack of response.
Wherever possible, do not leave a home without praying with the family or at least with the individual most concerned. How it thrills them all when father, mother, and children are specifically named in prayer! Seemingly a small matter to practice, it is nevertheless vital.
When we follow this program, the Sabbath morning sermon and the prayer meeting will mean much to the people and the pastor.
There are some visits that of necessity are urgent, and they should never be postponed, such as visits to the discouraged, to those needing immediate help, and to the sick. NEVER PUT THESE OFF. Often, late in the night, when I was weary after a full day, I have gone across a large city in response to a call for help, and the effort has paid off richly. Otherwise, in the interest of time and the conservation of means, it is well to group our visits for the day in the same section of our territory.
Concerning the matter of visiting the people, we are instructed:
The duties of a pastor are often shamelessly neglected because the minister lacks strength to sacrifice his personal inclinations. . . . The pastor should visit from house to house among his flock, teaching, conversing, and praying with each family, and looking out for the welfare of their souls. Those who have manifested a desire to become acquainted with the principles of our faith should not be neglected, but thoroughly instructed in the truth. . . . But many ministers dread the task of visiting; they have not cultivated social qualities, have not acquired that genial spirit that wins its way to the hearts of the people.
Those who seclude themselves from the people are in no condition to help them. A skilful physician must understand the nature of various diseases, and must have a thorough knowledge of the human structure. He must be prompt in attending to the patients. He knows that delays are dangerous. . . . As the physician deals with physical disease, so does the pastor minister to the sin-sick soul. And his work is as much more important than that of the physician as eternal life is more valuable than temporal existence.--Ibid.„ pp. 337, 338.
The Preaching Program
We should give earnest study to our Sabbath morning program. Do not wait until Friday morning and then wonder, "What shall I preach on tomorrow?" It is well to have the Sabbath morning program planned ahead for six or eight weeks or more. Of course, such a plan may be flexible.
What shall we preach on Sabbath morning? The doctrines have made Seventh-day Adventists of the people; these same doctrines, understood, believed, and practiced, will keep them so. If we will study diligently, we shall find hundreds of angles from which to preach these precious doctrines. Doctrinal sermons can be made deeply spiritual and inspiring. The doctrines can again and again be made to live, and to move the listeners mightily. Preach them in the light of Calvary, and in the framework of some of the problems you meet in the homes. It is surprising to find how many hearts long to hear these truths as they may be applied to their own lives.
The one and only great doctrine of the Bible is that of the love of God manifested in His gift of Jesus Christ to save men. All other so-called doctrines are but different angles of that great truth. It is well for us to preach them in that setting. These make wonderful Sabbath morning sermons. "Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid" (1 Cor. 3:11).
I suggest that we throw away certain used sermon outlines. We should build up new ones from personal study and experience, and see what vitalizing power there is in them for ourselves and for our congregations. Do not throw good ideas away, hut develop them afresh and build anew around them. Old outlines grow stale sooner than we realize. Approach ideas from new and various angles. Truths that have new meaning will be fresh and inspiring to the congregation. The secret of a really stirring Sabbath morning sermon is Bible study.
The Activities of Our Members
One very important phase of the pastor's work is to see that every member has a missionary program of his own for others. Not all members can do the same kind of work, but "so vast is the field, so comprehensive the design, that every sanctified heart will be pressed into service."—Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 47.
A soul-winning member not only is an asset to the church and the pastor, but also his own heart is bound more firmly to God and the church. "Every one, to the extent of his talent and opportunity, is to fulfill the Saviour's commission."—Steps to Christ, p. 85.
Therefore, every member should be included in a well-directed missionary program. Missionary leaders should be trained. This part of the pastor's duty must not be neglected. The work of the church is too great for one man alone. In counsel with his church board or missionary council, the pastor should select key persons to assist him in soul winning, and should train them for that work. A good method is to take them, judiciously, with him in his visiting. Every pastor should conduct several Bible studies regularly week by week, and to these he may take these assistants, varying the personnel from time to time. Also, training classes in different phases of missionary work may be conducted for the benefit of these assistants, who will enable the pastor to do a larger work himself.
Remember, David could not fight in Saul's armor. Each must be himself in this work. The smooth stone was guided because he who wielded the sling came in the name of the Lord of hosts. If the pastor is consecrated, as David was, God will likewise direct his efforts, as smooth stones, to their mark. Then, when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, the faithful undershepherd will receive his own crown of glory in seeing the fruits of his labor in the kingdom of heaven for all eternity.