IF THERE ever was a time when preaching was a necessity, it certainly isn't now." This insolent observation was made to a minister by a minister's son, and it is reflective of a growing attitude on the part of men and women of all age groups. The essential role of the minister does not stand out as clearly today as it once did, and many churchgoers attend out of loyalty and custom rather than as a result of any flaming passion to be present at a given worship service.
It will be argued with some justification that competition from worldly sources takes its toll of unwary worshipers. Add to this the paralyzing effects of personal apostasy and we have a clearer picture. But in all honesty, how much laxity in church attendance is due to the above-listed causes and how much may be attributed in truth to the lack of challenge that church attendance presents? It is to this latter problem that we turn our attention, for something can be done about it here and now. The saints should not be left to lament the good old days when the hymns pulsated with joy and hope and the sermons fired their zeal and fed their dreams of a better life here and in the world to come. Yes, the good old days when there were few clock watchers and the minister was not a prisoner of his congregation.
Thank God, many are free today, but some have surrendered their God-invested authority and are no longer the voice of God to the people but are, in fact, an expendable sort of middle man, a tool of the establishment, of certain influential members of the church. The ideals and goals and pronouncements of the Christian faith deserve much better than this, for Christianity is a spiritual philosophy that has captured life in its finest expression. In no other literature or philosophy is the best that is possible to man so clearly delineated. The clear lines of Christian concept were fashioned by its Creator to arouse the best that is within us under the influence of Christ and His teachings. Sin-paralyzed impulses for good are as literally aroused as was Lazarus from the dead.
There is no area of human delinquency that the gospel bomb does not treat. Sin is a depressant. The gospel is a stimulant. There is no more effective instrument of arousement available to man. It is significant that wherever the gospel has gone it has awakened in man a new sense of his own dignity and his worth in the sight of God. History records that during American slavery when men were under the bitterness of the galling yoke, the faint flame of faith feebly flickered in the growing darkness when the Bible was made available to the oppressed by the oppressor. And it was from its poetic phrases and its apocalyptic teachings that a sense of humanity and dignity and confidence and hope was restored, and the spirituals that have become a part of America's heritage began to take on a new note of expectation of ultimate deliverance and triumph. They progressed from "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen," to "Keep inching along, Master Jesus is coming by and by." Yes, they progressed from the passive "Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home," to the aggressively hopeful "You'd better run, for Somebody's calling you," and "I feel like the time ain't long."
This story may be retold a thousand times. It was only when Christianity was driven into Europe from the Middle East that the humanizing effect of Christianity brought about a civilizing of the people, and the basic concepts of justice and liberty embodied in Western law have their roots in Judeo-Christian concepts. Wherever Christ has gone Asia, Africa, Europe, America, and the islands of the sea there is seen an improvement of the human lot; and the recipients of Christianity become the natural enemies of disease, filth, sin, crime, and hopelessness. It is the Christian who sees beyond the dark veil of the immediate to the shining glory of the ultimate. It is the Christian who sees in the mangled form of a soldier on the battlefield an opportunity for service, who sees in the seemingly hopeless illiterate a chance to enlighten. Who but the Christian can look at death realistically and face it for what it is and yet not be cowed by the grave, because He who is the author of Christianity has conquered death, hell, and the grave and will ultimately assert His mastery over all. The Christian is indebted for this view of life to the gospel of Christ, for in it lies the seed of the only immortality available to us.
With a message like this and the spirit and faith to proclaim it, could the church ever become a dying institution? Could the pulpit become "an antiquated piece of lumber"? The sad answer is: It can become just that, and in some instances this is already taking place.
The life of the church depends in a large measure on the life of the minister. In this discussion we will divide this into three parts: (1) His spiritual life and ministry as it relates to the internal church operation, (2) his administrative life and ministry, and (3) his evangelistic life and ministry. A church as well as its minister can prosper and become of itself a source of strength and life or it can literally be impaled on this trinity of ministerial expression. Let us consider each division separately.
1. The minister's spiritual ministry. He is by definition the shepherd of the flock and the spiritual leader of the congregation. His personal devotions, then, are of primary importance to him and to the flock he leads and feeds. His study must not be only for exposition but for the internal feeding of his own soul. Much of his time should be spent in prayer. As a matter of fact, someone has suggested that we carry watches to remind us to pray to God within every waking hour. There is a build-up in spiritual strength that comes from the reading of the Word of God and prayer. Insights on the Bible are also gained from a study of the Spirit of Prophecy, and I may add that power attends the ministry of a man thus fortified.
The church member beleaguered by a week of problem solving sits in the pew striving to catch some glimpse of the Master and to get some note of courage and hope with which to face another week. Those who listen to men who tend their own spiritual vineyards do not go away disappointed. Such men always have a message from God, and where Christ is lifted up, people come eagerly to church as if hurried along by some invisible power.
Most of us have had the experience of arriving at the place of meeting and seeing worshipers literally pushing past one an other into the auditorium in search of a seat, and we knew that a divine power was at work. Also most of us can remember leaner times when audiences were avail able and every form of advertising known to man was used, but all to no avail. The only person rushing into the auditorium was the minister himself. We may blame an assortment of things for such paucity of response---the weather, television, or some interest-getting occasion sponsored by the community, even "poor Bible work"---but in our inmost souls we know that none of these is the reason. The reason may more likely be lack of watchfulness, prayerfulness, study, or lack of use of common sense in advertisement approaches. A little more time in the pastor's study can remedy most of this.
But the cardinal error in our spiritual ministry lies in none of the above-mentioned things. Rather it lies in our willingness to preach week after week and year after year to idle, nonwitnessing saints. It must be clear to us that church members are getting more difficult to manage these days in the transaction of the King's business. Perhaps the problem lies in their own guilty consciences, based on their knowledge of the will of God and their fear of communicating it personally to their neighbors. It should be clear by now that the saints are willing to do almost anything more readily than to walk up to another person and talk to him about Christ. To permit this state of affairs to continue constitutes treason against Him who has called us to do His work. Our ministry must do more than inspire people emotionally and lead them into a deep sense of divine appreciation; it must move them to involvement with the spiritual, physical, and temporal needs of the people. Preaching that motivates to service and involvement is earth's crying need now.
2. Administrative leadership. It is no secret that many an apostate who walks the streets of our large cities cites as his number one gripe the fact that he was "programmed out of the church." This is no argument against the necessity of an institution, spiritual or otherwise, to employ the logistics of survival. The teaching of the Scriptures is crystal clear on this point. The church and its ministry must be supported. This is a spiritual obligation based on the love of the believer for his Lord. However, it is no secret that many of the money-extracting schemes conceived and executed by some of the local pastorate has resulted in havoc among the saints. Some have indulged in everything from rummage sales to "Tom Thumb weddings" to exact from the saints the utmost farthing. Diligence in the King's business must be the watchword of those engaged in pastoral administration, whether it be the raising of funds or the administering of discipline. We must be eminently fair and merciful as well as just. And the end purpose, even of our discipline, must be the restoration of a soul. At no time should self-righteousness characterize our behavior toward the saints, and certainly great care must be exercised to show to those who have been disciplined that it was done out of a heart of love and that they are still wanted in the church.
I know of one pastor who when he has had to discipline a member assigns a committee to visit with that member until such a one is restored to the membership of the church.
3. The evangelistic ministry. The primary purpose of the church and of its ministry is the winning of souls to Christ. We construct a sermon that we may reconstruct a man. Whatever form the evangelistic endeavor should take, whether it be the public preaching of the Word or through Bible studies or through the mass communications media, certainly the Christian minister must engage in some form of individual contact with the lost with a view to winning them to the Saviour. For the fulfillment of this three-fold ministry, he is indeed in deepest need of the presence of the Spirit of God in his life. Thus enabled he must be prepared to face the multitudinous problems that beseige him day-by-day, and he will learn the significance of the statement: "It has done me good to be somewhat parched by the heat and drenched by the rain of life." And he will agree with Epicurus:
"The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests. And he will agree with Young who said, "Most of our comforts grow up between crosses." And the words of Philemon the philosopher will certainly constitute his philosophy: "In this thing one man is superior to an other that he is better able to bear prosperity or adversity."
Ministers are God-called, God-actuated messengers of Jehovah. Like our Master before us we must not fail nor be discouraged. Before our pathway, faggot, cross, and sword cast their baleful shadow but beyond the edge of darkness may be seen the unshaded glow of the triune shekinah glory. This, fellow minister, is what we must see though the present may be wrapped in a darkness approaching that of a thousand midnights. We must be exhorters of faith, hope, and charity amidst the fear, doubt, and hate that enshrouds the human family. Jehovah must find voices for the proclamation of His saving message for this time. Let Him find in you a willing instrument yielded to the fullest equation of humility, and it shall be that faith, scorned by scoundrels, will rise from the grave of human ignorance, assert its neglected strength for the help of all mankind, and miracle of miracles, the blind will see, the deaf will hear, and the lame man will leap like a frolicking roebuck.
Yield Him your life, and it shall be that hope, that guiding star eclipsed by the long dark shadow of human doubt; hope that experience unknown, a virtue scorned, its shame concealed if held; yes, hope will come into its own and vindicate its stub born possessors, who in spite of dungeon, faggot, and sword dared hang on midst inky-black midnight darkness. Yield Him your lives and it shall be that charity, the essence of truly being, the brightness of light, the refreshment of the cooling breeze, the strength of the hills, charity, will be the tie that binds. Blessed be faith, hope, charity, these three; and long live the greatest of these.
