PART III. CAUSES OF MINISTERIAL INEFFICIENCY CON NECTED WITH OUR PERSONAL CHARACTER.* THE writer is well aware of the extreme delicacy, consideration, and tenderness, which the treatment of this part of his subject requires of him. He can, however, truly state, that though for his personal profit he has diligently observed the Ministrations of his brethren, yet the material for remark which will now be detailed, is drawn rather from a painful acquaintance with his own deficiencies and temptations, than from a censorious scrutiny of others: and he trusts that it will be remembered, that there is a wide difference between exposing the defects of his brethren in the pride of self-gratulation, and between observing their failures in connection with a deep searching into his own heart, and for the purpose of bringing all into a condensed view for the common good. The important influence, favourable or unfavourable, of our personal habits upon the Ministerial work is obvious. The character of the individual must have a prominent part in forming the minister, and therefore the causes that operate in the declension of the Christian life must have a considerable bearing upon this department of the subject. Particulars will now be specified. * For some valuable papers on this division of our subject the reader is referred to the Christian Observer, 1822. CHAPTER I. WANT OF ENTIRE DEVOTEDNESS OF HEART TO THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. THE paragraph (1 Tim. iv. 13—16) condenses in the smallest compass the most important body of appropriate instruction and encouragement to Ministerial devotedness" Give thyself wholly to these things that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee." This was eminently the spirit of the Apostles "We will give ourselves unto prayer and to the Ministry of the word,"--a resolution which exhibited the influence of Christian devotedness upon Ministerial success, in an important increase added to the Church.* The great Shepherd, indeed, who gave himself for, gave us to, the flock;† and there is no more responsible thought connected with our work, than the obligation of giving ourselves to our people, so that they shall be led to prize us as a gift from Christ. Oh! that we might be able to tell them-We belong to Christ, and he has given us to you; we owe our whole selves entirely to you ; we are 66 your servants for Jesus' sake;"§ we have given ourselves to the work, and we desire to be in it, as if there was nothing worth living for besides: it shall form our whole pleasure and delight. We will consecrate our whole time, our whole reading, our whole mind and heart to this service.' It will not be pre *Acts vi. 4—7. † Comp. Eph. iv. 8-12. tended that there is any favourable change since the primitive times, that render it less necessary for us than for Archippus to "take heed to the Ministry which we have received in the Lord, that we fulfil it."† Are the apostolic exhortations to unremitted diligence less applicable to us than to the beloved Timothy ? Or do we rest on the immunities of our admirable Establishment, as superseding the obligations of a Christian Ministry; as if we might "serve the Lord with that which doth cost us nothing?" We are to be labourers, not loiterers, in the Lord's vineyard; not doing his work with a reluctant heart, as if we did it not-as if we feared being losers by him, or giving him more than he deserved. The pastoral dignity is the condition of a servant: it obliges a man to devote himself entirely to Jesus Christ and to his church. 'Both the Minister and the Ministry are only for the church. He who in this state does not apply himself entirely to the service of the church, will be treated as a thief, and a sacrilegious person. Whoever has not the spirit of his Ministry renders all the talents and advantages useless which he has received to serve the church. A pastor ought to have nothing at heart but the work of God and the salvation of souls. This ought to be his delight, his meat, and his life.§ Let us remember, that as Ministers we are not only, like our fellow Christians, "bought with a price," but we are set apart, appointed, yea devoted, to this work. As entrusted, therefore, with the Church of God, we have no right to "entangle ourselves with the affairs of this life," so as to hinder an entire consecration of our services to the cause of God. So strongly was this * Col. iv. 17. 2 Tim. iv. 1, 2. § Quesnel on Rom. i. 1. Eph. iii. 1. 2 Sam. xxiv. 24. John iv. 34. obligation felt in the primitive age, that Cyprian declares the judgment of the church to be, that a presbyter should not entangle himself with the office of an executor. If, however, they unduly elevated the standard, yet the principle was excellent-that the Minister had such constant employment in spiritual affairs, that he was not, or ought not to be, able to give the necessary attention to important secular anxieties.* Our responsibilities demand an entire devotedness of spirit to every soul, as if it were the sole object of our care. 'It ought therefore to be our solemn and cheerful determination to refrain from studies, pursuits, and even recreations, that may not be made evidently subservient to the grand purpose of our Ministry. The Apostle would remind us, in our visits, journeys, the common intercourse of life, never to forget, not only our Christian but our Ministerial character. All must be stamped with its holiness: all must be a part of a system, strictly adhered to, of being constantly learning, and waiting the opportunity of imparting what we have learned in the things of God.'t Mr. Cecil used to say, that the devil did not care how ministers * 2 Tim. ii. 4. Cypr. Epist. i. † Scott's Letters and Papers, pp. 307, 308. In another place he writes to a friend in the same spirit of fervid and habitual devotedness-'My conscience never quiet or joyful, but when I am busy in some Ministerial employment, not merely in acquiring, but in communicating the knowledge of Divine things by my tongue and pen; not only by meditation endeavouring to affect my own heart, but by some method or other endeavouring to affect others, and stir them up to seek, trust, love, and serve the Lord. And after a multitude of thoughts about pride, ambition, &c. influencing me to be active, (and they will insinuate themselves,) I am persuaded Satan would have me while away my life in inactivity under pretences of modesty, diffidence, and humility, and he never is wanting to furnish me with excuses for delaying or shifting services.'-Life, p. 213. |