TUSKEGEE TALKS
inisterial Training
and
Qualification
by
H. T. JOHNSON, PH. D., D. D.
Press of International Printing Co.
Philadelphia
Copyright, 1902,
by
H. T. JOHNSON, Ph. D., D. D.
CONTENTS.
Page
Preface v
Introduction vii
Chapel Address to Tuskegee Students i
Office, Duty and Rewards of Christian Workers 9
Ministerial Danger Signals 15
Ministerial Proprieties 19
Sermon Building 24
Delivery of Sermon 29
Some Organic Demands 33
The Preacher an Industrial Factor 38
The Preacher a Race Man 42
The Minister a Moral Factor 45
Hi
PREFACE.
T^HE author's justification, in adding another to the
many volumes on the Christian ministry, is the
importance of the subject. Although, in each genera¬
tion, much is said and written on it, the subject is far
from exhausted.
That there is a place for such a work no one will
doubt. That there is a crying need for more and
better Christian ministers, the increased avenues of
wickedness and the indifference of the masses concern¬
ing religious matters, plainly show.
The substance of the following pages was pre¬
pared as lectures to the students of Phelps Hall Bible
Training School, an institution connected with the
Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, Tuskegee,
Alabama.
The author's personal presence added much to the
force of his lectures. It was an inspiration to listen to
him.
But the printed page speaks for itself; no one will
regret the time given to the perusal of the chapters of
the present volume. Dr. Johnson is a man of wide
experience and culture; a preacher, author and editor.
He has prepared his lectures to meet the wants of the
times. They are not only readable, but are based on
sound philosophical principles.
EDGAR J. PENNEY,
Dean, Bible Training School.
Tuskegee, Alabama. November 1901.
V
INTRODUCTION.
HE ministry of the A. M. B. Church, indeed the
race that constitutes its membership, needs books
on all the subjects whose consideration and study-
shape and direct life to its greatest good and best end,
written especially with features of adjustment to that
ministry. The theories of those whose heritages and
advantages are far in advance of the stage occupied by
us, fail often to serve us as they do those of higher
attainments and greater advantages. The books with
those theories were all written without the least
thought of, or reference to ministers in our' case.
The exclusive study.of such books is responsible for
much of the overshot pulpit work and the under¬
shot pastoral work of our "educated" ministers, which
serves as a ground for the longing for the " old-time"
preaching. In reality, it is not that the pulpit is too
learned for the people, nor that the people want igno¬
rance in the pulpit; it is their way of asking for
an accommodating adjustment, which many educated
preachers fail to make.
The work of our bookmakers has been largely
the style of biography, story and history ; the pictorial
greatness of the Negro is the most winning and most
read subject. Quite a dozen large books of this class
may be found, while for the Negro's ideas and direc¬
tions regarding ethics, theology and pastoral practice,
there have been few books only, produced for us or
by us. A score of points of state, conduct, style of
utterance and mode of pastoring, never treated by
vn
viii
those who write, not for the freedmen, but for the free¬
men, must be treated and observed in respect to our
ministry. The present work includes some of these
points, and treats them as they have not been treated'
by others, and as we require.
Originality and character is to be found in this
little work, and that is all that makes a book worth
buying or reading, but then only, if in its trend it is
right and in its constitution strong. Such is this in
many respects.
B. F. LEE,
Bishop, Third Episcopal District.
Wilberforce, Ohio, November, 1901.
CHAPEL ADDRESS TO TUSKEGEE
STUDENTS.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :
The privilege of visiting Tuskegee lias been a
long coveted one on tlie part of your platform guest.
Your immense undertaking, extensive capacities and
astounding accomplishments are sufficiently over¬
mastering to sweep a timid man from his feet. The
suggestion of the late John B. Gough that the timid
speaker fancy his audience a congregation of cabbage-
heads as a means of overcoming his embarrassment is
a good one and would be helpful to the present speaker,
were the risks involved less grave. I wish to present
on this occasion "Some Suggestions on the Race
Problem as Prompted by Samson's Riddle."
The familiar narrative of " Samson's Riddle " is
known to most of us from childhood.
A young Jewish athlete discovered a bewitching
maiden of another race, and was unable to overcome
the magic of her charms. Quite contrary to
twentieth century methods he related his romantic
sorrows to his father and mother and solicited their
good offices to help him out. Strong and herculean of
body, instead of storming the castle of the Philistine
home and capturing the prospective bride, he was so
faint-hearted or enslaved by the conventionalities of
his time that he yielded to the inexcusable baby-act of
having his parents pop the question while with bated
breath he held his palpitating heart. Alas ! it has ever
been that Cupid, like conscience, makes cowards of us
2
all. In proof of Samson's native mettle, lest we censure
him for lack of bravery, lie displayed a valor which,
with other feats, has immortalized his name. On the
road to Timnath a lion's roar was heard to threaten
the party's safety, and the yonng man turned aside to
grapple with the ferocious forest king. The roar of the
awful beast was soon hushed in death, and with mother,
father and son in quest of the bridal prize, the wed¬
ding march was renewed. Some time after this eventful
first trip this Israelitish giant returned to claim his
bride. Fatigued and well-nigh famished from his sol¬
itary pilgrimage this time, he yielded to the curiosity
of exploring the point of his tragic encounter and dis¬
covered a treasure of luscious dripping honey-combs in
the carcass of the beast he had dispatched. The slain
man-eater, whose skeleton the bees had selected as an
impromptu hive, supplied refreshment to the jaded Her¬
cules who derived philosophy as well as food from his
conquest.
The suggested momentousness of Samson's Riddle
does not appear upon the surface of the social pastime
which gave it life. Its serious import did not become
manifest until those who accepted its challenge appre¬
hended the hopelessness of its solution. The contest
between the claims of ethics and the prompting of
avarice and race pride was but momentary, and the
balance fell in favor of the latter. By cajolery, intimi¬
dation and intrigue, the mystery of the occult puzzle
was laid bare and the reward of the thirty garments
changes secured according to the terms of the riddle
wager. But there was a major as well as a minor term
implied in the proposition stated, and the former did
not enter into the calculation of the jubilant victors
for the time. Being outwitted, the honor-bound but
3
aggrieved Israelite retired from the social arena, de¬
termined to avenge his insulted honor no less than
meet the conditions of the mutual pledge. He accepted
the proffered answer to his brain-racking riddle, but
reminded his mirthful victors of their futile guesses
but for their discovery through his help-mate. He
gave the thirty changes of covenanted raiments, but
slew a score and ten of their countrymen to obtain the
garments. His further destruction of the Philistine
fields and vineyards by incendiary foxes, with a slaugh¬
ter of a thousand of the dominant race adversaries by
the formidable weapon of a donkey's jawbone, at once
illustrate the vindictive resources of Samson and the
cumulative penalty of organized inj ustice and chicanery
as well.
Before entering upon the discussion of the subject-
matter of the race question, let us be reminded of its
forbidding aspects as suggested by the enigma of
Samson to the young Philistines. We are quite aware
of the various statements and re-statements of this
question again and again by those posing as oracles
on the subject, but as serenely as Banquo's ghost
does it bob up ever and anon, mocking the guesses of
its all-wise diviners every time. Though sometimes
neither amusing nor disgusting, yet at all times it is
quite interesting to note these ever-buzzing fireflies as
they turn their phosphorescent head-light upon so
mighty a subject as the What and Whither of ten
million human beings. At one time we are arrested
by the owl-like gravity and hawkish audacity of a
disciple, of science like Hoffman, who, after thumping
the chest, feeling the pulse and noting the respiration
of the few abnormal race specimens, hoists the alarm
signal and declares to the world that the Negro will
4
soon die out. The other end of the telescope is taken
by another specialist who sees in the phenomenal
increase of the race the nightmare of Negro domi¬
nation unless checkmated and frightened away by the
hue and cry of race extermination which he sets up.
At another time, the findings of the anti-educational
wiseacre make it difficult for a sober man to maintain
his centre of gravity. Like the monkey in the fable,
he takes the Negro's cranium and turns it on every
side and, after looking in, exclaims, " How beautiful;
but such a pity there isn't any brains in it."
In the category of noxious emissaries whose in¬
fluence is to be escaped, it would be well to note the
insidious hydra of gratuitous and adverse race theories.
Whether looming up as portentous grounds in our
history past or weaving weird draperies across our
present and prospective skies, these birds of hostile
theories bode but ill and should be caged or
kept on wing. Nefarious in instinct and mission the
danger-freighted creatures circle in gregarious flocks
at one time, then scatter in mischievous freaks again and
anon. Like harpies with beaks and talons sharpened
for the prey, they rest on anxious perches with foul
and folded wings eager to alight on helpless victims.
Whether seen in the nooks of tradition, the leaves of
history, the branches of scriptures, the limbs of logic,
the features of art, or the frown of caste they bear the
image of the beast and mar the visage of unsuspecting
beholders. At one time these hostile theories would
exclude the race from the platform of one common race
origin, at another, admitting its humanity, they deny
equality on the grounds of an interdicted subjection
and quote the curse on Canaan in proof. They deny
the colored man a soul in one breath and a head with
5
brain in the next. They liold at one time that he can
memorize but not analyze, that he is at home in the
basement, but a clown in the attics, that he is a monkey
in music, and an elephant in mathematics. Were
these imputations true, as they are not, it would be
the course of wisdom to turn them into the best account
possible, rather than chafe or become dejected because
of their depressing value. In the light of the lessons
of history which shows that adverse conditions have
again and again been transformed into stepping-stones
to triumph, the wise and manly Negro with stout-
winged resolutions will brush the clouds of adverse
sentiment from athwart his sky path and soar on to the
inviting heavens above him. From the gallery of the
great of his kind he will select those shining heroes
who have plucked laurels from the brow of fame, or
have left legacies of virtues to stimulate other compet¬
itors for life's shining prize.
Addressing myself, as I do, to the advanced
couriers of the coming race who with flying banners
of books and formidable weapons of ideas, and armor
of brain and muscle, are preparing for the final grand
crusade against the common foe, I would remind you
in the onset that you are expected to occupy a higher
vantage ground than your ancestors or the motley
inhabitants of the vales below. Between the quagmire
of disenchantment or the dizzy highlands of optimistic
dreams there is a royal highland which, in the name of
wisdom, I bid you traverse. Looking the landscape
o'er from the Dan of Yankee theories to the Beersheba
of Southern malpractices towards us, let none exclaim
on the behalf of the Afro-American Negro. It is all
barren ! It is all barren !
Should we consult the dust-crowned heroes of the
6
world's history as well as the opening chapters of this
century's volume, we may take great comfort from the
general lesson contained that neither humble ancestry
nor hostile environments are necessary barriers against
a people's highest excellence or greatness.
While it is universally conceded that our bonds¬
men bore the yoke of servitude for two and a half
centuries with marked fidelity and long-suffering, our
neighbor descendants of the British may be slow to
admit that the necks of their ancestors once chafed
more gallingly than ours with iron yokes bearing the
names of their masters while they were reproached as
being too ignoble for vassalage by the proud Latin
rulers who subjugated them. The ancestral reference
is employed to invalidate the apprehension that we
have no brilliant future simply because our past night
has been so dark or because portentous clouds still at
times drape the heavens above us. To the doubting
Thomases on the race question who are in danger of
incarceration by Giant Despair, it may be consoling to
know that science vies with history in extending its
torchlight in the direction of a passageway toward a
higher evolution of our race branch.
What says Darwin in his "Origin of Species " or
Drummond in his " Ascent of Man," or Huxley in his
" Man's Place in Nature," or Spencer in his ki Genesis
of Species," what but that the highway to evolution
and progress beacons individuals, races and nations
alike, and that to the prince in purple there is no more
royal road than to the peasant who plods a tow path
or swings a maul.
If we could persuade ourselves to believe that in
the great struggle for race as well as individual
mastery, color cuts less of a figure than condition and
7
that character plays a heavier hand than environment
it would not be long before the Canaanites in the land
would be reduced and the promised land be seen to
swing its inviting portals to the millions of our
pilgrim race.
The Afro-American youth, unlike the youth of
other nationalities, has his pathway beset with stubborn
and- well-nigh insurmountable obstacles as he presses
towards the triumphal, arch of success. I,et him turn
his footsteps towards the goal of mercantile engage¬
ments, of legal profession, of industrial pursuits, of
medical service, of professional vocation of whatever
kind, and his progress is challenged at every step.
Against his aggressive and manly march the raw head
and bloody bones of the monster prejudice will spring
and wave its threatening, gory locks straight in his.
face. It will say to him: "This side for Negroes,
thus far but no farther," or, if like the ghost of Banquo,
he will not down at its bidding, it will elbow him aside
or resort to more stringent methods.
But, is there no plan on which the ambitious Negro
youth can find a casteless footing. Are the sons and
daughters of my people to be forever handicapped and
slain ? Happily for all such there is a highway and
beckoning land of promise where the dragon hoof of
race hate is never stamped. To the inviting region I
would urge the coming race to press its pilgrimage-
The voice of censure or of praise is never heard in this
goodly realm except as merit may decree. Here the
inhabitants are ruled by but one constitution and
moved by but one common spirit. In the boundless
park of that country all can roam at leisure. Its fields
are not fenced in with barbed wires, nor its lands posted
with signs : " No Negroes allowed to enter."
8
It is on the hopeful and more inviting side of the
race question that the aspiring and more heroic Afro-
American should ever look. Amid the din and
darkness of the social and political night, whose folds
may girt his hearers, let his footsteps be guided by
the twin angels, Faith and Hope. Though the
rough hand of cruel adversity seize him, let him not
be held a hopeless prisoner by Giant Despair, but amid
the surges of misfortune let him chant the inspired
refrain :
For every evil under the sun
There is a remedy, or there is none.
If there's one, go and find it;
It there's none, never mind it.
OFFICE, DUTY, AND REWARDS OF CHRIS¬
TIAN WORKERS.
HK transcendent attribute which, commands this
opening century above its predecessors, is its
utilitarian spirit and tendency. If other ages have
chiefly concerned themselves in' the pursuit of the
true, the' beautiful and the good as intellectual diver¬
sions, the one on which we are just now entering
would add, as its distinguishing impulse, concern¬
ment in things practical and useful, as a means of
conveying the greatest good to the greatest number.
The popular and pressing challenge, " What do you
know," or " What do you own? " is being drowned by
the ever thundering demand on every side : " What do
you wish," or u What can you do ? " These vital in¬
terrogations address themselves to the candidates for
success along every line of human activity, but to no
one do they appeal with such tremendous emphasis, as
to the man who deems it his mission to labor for the
moral and religious uplift and betterment of his fellow
beings. He who has heard the summons from the
divine husbandman, " Son, go work in my vineyard,"
need not once doubt his ability to succeed, if he but
see that his scythe is well whetted in the matter of
preparation for service, and that he himself is well
tempered for the task assumed.
The scope and urgency of this preparation will be
found to depend largely upon the period of one's enlist¬
ment into service, as well as upon the condition and
character of the field to be occupied. In Moses and
9
IO
David under the prophetic, and in Peter and Paul
under the apostolic dispensations, we have types and
standards of God's workmen whose characters and
competency attest the fact of their divine call and
commission.
To emphasize the divine at the expense of the
human element in the call of the lay or ministerial
laborer, is to pay a tribute to superstition endorsed
neither by reason or revelation. If love to God be de¬
manded as an essential outfit of his human ambassador,
love to man is the passport by which his authority is
to be made known. In the sense of general fitness for
this peculiar service, a twofold demand must be met.
There is a divine side to this demand, which theology,
it is thought, can supply. But since theology is more
speculative than practical, dealing less with things at
hand than with matters more distant, not much is
promised in the way of practical results to those whose
visions fail to project beyond its indefinite borders.
The spirit which promises greatest yield to the Chris¬
tian worker, along with the Bible student or man of
lofty ideal in this realm, is that fellow-feeling which
enables any such to behold in fallen or unfortunate
mortals, brother beings whose welfare it is his Good
Samaritan mission to seek. The Almighty is mirrored
forth far less in theology and the things above us, than
in anthropology and the things about us. Therefore,
it is with ethnic as well as with ethical duties and
questions that the practical Christian worker should
concern himself. Before every one who would climb
up some other way to the golden steeps of success is
the appalling Scriptural challenge, u How can a man
love God whom he hath not seen, if he love not his
brother whom he hath seen ?" Of the Petrine,
11
Pauline and Johnanine types of Christianity you are
special representative of the latter.
The office and work of the minister is not simply
a high calling, but the highest calling. All other
vocations are earthly and involve only temporal issues.
He who is called of God may well turn a deaf ear to the
most flattering notes of earthly promises. The grass
withereth, the flowers fade and die, crowns and sceptres
with those who possess them must turn to dust, but the
word of the Lord endureth forever. Whether prophet
of old or as apostle of the present, whether evangelist at
home or missionary on distant shores, the preacher be¬
longs to that excellent and heavenly commissioned
fellowship of whom it may be said, "How beautiful are
the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and
bring glad tidings of good things."
By scanning the busy ranks of successful human¬
ity or by observing that elect number who have achieved
most for their fellows or posterity, it will be discovered
that their lives or courses were regulated by the plumb-
lines of adaptation and fitness. On the other hand
where short-coming has been notorious, and failure the
outcome of otherwise promising individuals, it will be
seen that this prime consideration was undervalued;
that the square pegs had wandered into round holes,
and that the latter had become usurped by square pegs.
To make sure proof of one's ministry, it is of prime
importance to know that the ministry is one's place.
In this high calling the alien subject may perchance
hope to assume the aspect of the lion only to betray
the proclivities and short-comings of his real asinine
nature in the end. He may don the professional
ermine and incase himself in the regulation collar and
Coat, but these will be no symbols of inward corres-
12
pondence or adaptation. Like Saul's armour ou David,
tlie ministry to the uncliosen incumbent will prove an
unwieldy, bungling instrument of fatal hindrance
rather than material aid.
The work of the Gospel toiler for the sake of
practical suggestiveness may be considered under a
two-fold division, having the ministerial activity of our
Lord as its standard. For convenience and helpfulness
we may regard his earthly labors as embracing specific
and general types. His ministry of public teaching
and doctrine includes the one, while informal engage¬
ments, such as his labors of love, also his miraculous
and merciful deeds, include the other. As a great
teacher and exemplary preacher he challenges uni¬
versal interest not only in his temple discourse and
sermons on sea-shore and mountain side, thereby dem¬
onstrating his ability to hold vast assemblages of men
with unflagging attention, but in his midnight audience
with Nicodemus and the noonday discourse with the
Samaritan woman.
The inaugural of the Master's public life as a
preacher takes us back to the synagogues of Galilee
while his valedictory preaching labors ended in the
porch of the temple at Jerusalem. As a preacher he
eliminated, when he did not subordinate, those functions
usually associated with the office he sustained. Unlike
his forerunner the great preacher John, he did not
baptize, nor, though priest in the highest sense, did he
officiate with offerings or sacrifices save in an exclu¬
sively spiritual way. The sum and culmination of
his pre-Calvary mission was ''preaching the Gospel
of the kingdom of God and saying the time is fulfilled
and the kingdom of God is at hand ; repent ye and be¬
lieve the gospel."
13
Conformable to the more specific and more general
character of his ministry our Lord associated with him
two groups or classes of disciples. He first called the
twelve apostles and afterwards sent forth the seventy.
For special work the performance of which depended
upon personal contact and the experience of discipline,
he organized a college of apostles or disciple training
school.
Beyond the Divinity of Christ's mission and a
basal knowledge of his kingdom, the progress of the
twelve was little more than nominal and strikingly
inadequate to the demands of the farther and loftiei
service which awaited them as his immediate successors
and messengers. Gross and misleading were their
conceptions of duty and the reward involved despite
his constant teachings and the most sublime object
lessons of unselfish devotion. Ambition, temper,
cowardice, incapacity and sundry carnal shortcomings
marked their Christian ministry, until transformed by
the ordeals of Calvary and the resurrection and en¬
dued with power by the Holy Ghost as the direct rep¬
resentative of the Master. The impetuous Peter
swings the sword and draws blood, while the loving
John would command lightning from heaven to execute
vengeance upon men unyielding to the sceptre of Gos¬
pel truth. Others among this supposedly model
group, betray petty jealousy and inordinate ambition,
applying carnal standards to spiritual concerns.
Strong and deep-seated susceptibilities to considerations
of personal interest are ingrained in most natures and
grace-gifted human nature is often no exception to the
general rule. But as there can be no self-conquest
without self-knowledge, how important it is that this
first principle of victory be understood. The import-
14
ance of this law and mode of procedure, tlie Great
Teacher emphasized in the parable of the tower builder.
Said he to those contemplating discipleship in His
service: "Which of you intending to build a
tower, sitteth not down and counteth the cost, whether
he have sufficient to finish it ? lest haply after he hath
laid the foundation and is not able to finish it all, those
that behold it begin to mock him saying 1 This man
began to build and was not able to finish.' " The
superstructure you would rear is a spiritual edifice. It
is loftier by far than the towers of Siloam or Babel or
Eifel. Its base is the Lord Christ Jesus and its sum¬
mit towers beyond the clouds.
Question—Why are Christian ministers and workers not endowed
with the gift of performing miracles, as the men in the Apostolic Age ?
Pinkston Howard.
Answer—One of the strongest, if not the strongest, grounds on
which any course or movement in its infancy can establish a claim in the
confidence of men is the divine backing to which it can appeal. In its
infancy, Christianity needed such credentials, and they were amply supplied
in the miracles performed by Peter, Paul and others. Now that the infant
has become a giant it is able of itself to maintain its own ground and go on
from conquering to conquest.
MINISTERIAL DANGER SIGNALS.
T^HB criticism is not infrequently heard that there are
* more preachers than their ratio to the masses
justify. The claim is said to have special force and
truthfulness when applied to the colored population in
some sections of this country, in the South more par¬
ticularly. Whatever truth is contained in the charge
on a surface view of the case, the conclusion cannot be
sustained from a survey of the underlying facts in the
case. No less is it true to-day than when our Lord
uttered the words, "The harvest truly is great, but
the laborers are few." Rather than exceeding, the
supply falls far below the demand for laborers of
the requisite type. Imposters, hirelings, wolves in
sheep's clothing, Scribes and Pharisees occupying
Moses's seat there may be too many, but of honest
Christ-commissioned toilers there is nothing like a
sufficient quota. This outrage upon the church, and
travesty upon the ministry so rife in the wholesale
licensing of those who not only misrepresent both, but
degrade the race and retard the progress of the gospel,
is among the most grievous and alarming evils of the
times. Unless this evil be dammed at its fountain-
head as soon as possible, it will be impossible to
describe the flood of judgments that may issue in its
wake. The churches and prophetic schools set for the
defense of the gospel have it in their power to curtail
and checkmate the danger as no other agency can.
When the schools and ministerial councils shall exer¬
cise the courage to say to the giant intruder: " Thus far
IS
i6
Shalt thou come and no farther," there will be a speedy
shrinkage in the market value of its stock in trade.
There are sundry considerations, which need never
claim the serious attention of the candidate for religious
service. Still it is to be regretted that with too many
these negative considerations are granted prime im¬
portance. With not a few, the actuating motive for
engagement in ministerial service is to acquire emin¬
ence, with others emolument, with others still, the
desire to obtain a livelihood. It is needless to sa}^ that
all such motives are of the earth, earthy, and will win
success for their possessor under no possible circum¬
stances. In rare cases any or all of the results men¬
tioned may crown the labors of the evangelical worker,
whose aptitude and eyesingleness to this service be¬
speak him a chosen vessel.
"Are honors, riches and distinction not to be
cared for by the man who devotes his life to the good
of others ? " asks one. " By ignoring the temporal
rewards which follow in the wake of the faithful dis¬
charge of conscientious duty, you would muzzle the
ox that treadeth out the corn, a procedure quite con¬
trary to the injunction of the Scripture,11 replies another.
As hard as the saying may seem to the zealous aspirant
for the laurels indicated, they are neither to be sought
nor despised. When tempted to covet gold or silver
in order to avert the fate of Achan or Ananias or
possibly Judas, it would be well to recall our Lord's
declaration. v' How hardly shall they that have riches
enter the Kingdom of Heaven," or the fate of Simon
Magus, or the saying of St. Paul, "For love of money
is the root of all evil."
To avoid the Scylla of ensnaring riches is not to
founder one's vocational craft upon the Charibdis of
17
grinding poverty. The laborer's worthiness of his hire
being a generally accepted principle in religious eco¬
nomics, the faithful toiler in the Lord's vineyard, other
things being equal, need never fear distressing howls
from the wolf of hunger or poverty. The spirit that
best fortifies God's servant against the fatal extremes
of affluence and deprivation is best expressed in the
prayer of Agur, "Give me neither poverty nor riches."
Nevertheless, when its possessor is sensible of his trust
as a steward of the Lord, the snare of riches reaches
the vanishing point, and its possession is a blessing in
disguise.
A common snare into which the amateur minister
is liable to fall is the . delusion of popular favor. By
such it is usually thought that in order to succeed, it
is necessary to be favored with the commendation of all
men. He who starts upon his career as a worker for
God, seeking the praise of men, will more than likely
cherish this as his ultimate joy. If there is one failing
which marks the ministry above another it is that time¬
serving, man-pleasing spirit, which prompts the aver¬
age preacher to pursue a bee-line of policy, rather than
the plumb-line of duty. The man or minister who sets
out to be popular may easily succeed in the venture,
but not until after reckoning with two gigantic question
points which hail him from the wayside. It is a ques¬
tion whether the popularity coveting candidate can
please God and whether he can do the good he might.
To become lionized it is only necessary to trim one's
sail and catch the shifting winds, observe the drift of
public sentiment, note the movement of the procession,
quicken the gait, get to the front, and run up one's
standard with the blazing motto of " Leader !" unfurled
to the breeze. Is wrong trampled under foot, or is truth
i8
wounded or lies it bleeding by the wayside ? Don't see
it or simply heave a sigh and pass on with the triumphal
procession. Let error muster her angry forces, let her
darken the skies, let her mutter her thunders, let the
elements war with each other, the man with an eye to
personal renown looks not at such unbidden ordeals, it
is his to cater to the freaks of the populace, and pursue
the even tenor of his way. To him the life of the
Nazarine has but little charm, save in its lessons of
self-surrender sometimes, but in self-assertiveness,
never. He thinks of his possible mission as a reformer,
but shudders as he meets Luther at Worms in fancy,
or hails John the Baptist in Herod's prison, or later on
sees his headless trunk. His ideal is mirrored in Tal-
mage rather than Moody, or in characters of the Sam
Jones type, perhaps, rather than in such royal historic
landmarks as Socrates, who drank the hemlock toast
to immortality, or Latimer, who welcomed the martyr's
torch.
Question—Was Paul fully converted before he went to Ananias ?"
William Miles.
Answer—Ananias recognized his conversion in addressing him as
" Brother Saul." Paul's praying prior to this is a striking evidence of his
conversion ; also his address to Jesus as his Lord, and his asking what
would he have him to do.
MINISTERIAL PROPRIETIES.
C VERY calling lias its implied if not stated code of
'' conduct. Kacli profession distinguislies itself
from all others by certain regulations of'speech, duties
or actions known as the proprieties governing its mem¬
bers. In military circles, in the legal profession, in
ranks of statemanship, in the healing art, in mari-
nal, agricultural or commercial service these regula¬
tions carry with them the sanction of immemorial
usuage and are disregarded with impunity by 110
related subject possessing self respect and of mental
saneness.
That the utterances, bearings and actions of the
minister should be subject to regulations no less
lofty and uncompromising than those of other mortals
is a fact too obvious for discussion. That the pro¬
prieties associated with ministerial life and service
are either unknown or are indifferently regarded by
multitudes of amateur and experienced clergymen is
an alarming truism and its faithful discussion is
among the prime and vital duties of our preacher's
training schools. The dress and address of the
preacher, his pulpit and public conduct, his speech
and manners toward the masses are fields which offer
pertinent and promising helpfulness on the subject of
ministerial proprieties.
The preacher's wardrobe or the clothes he wears
is entitled to more than casual attention. If the tree
J9
20
is known by its fruits and the man by the apparel lie
wears, to command prestige or indicate fruitfulness
tlie minister's raiment should, like Caesar's wife, be
above suspicion. While they may suggest poverty
they should never betray a foppish or slovenly
person in the wearer. Preachers whose ambition is
to attract by their shining attire on Sundays or out¬
strip their brethren on annual church gatherings in
costly or stylish suit outfit, very seldom take premiums
for character, excellence, fruitful service or mental
endowment. On the other hand, indifference to the
requirements of taste or righteousness is to be deplored
in any instructor in public morals. Inappropriate
neckgear or headgear, maltreated footwear or soiled
garments have caused more vacant pulpits than pov¬
erty or precarious tenure to their careless lessees.
Why it is so difficult for some preachers to secure
or maintain a hold upon a community or win the
respect of the parishioners they serve is due no more
to their defective or superfluous dress than to their
slovenly carriage and thoughtless address. Let the
people once get it into their heads that they are to look
down upon, rather than up to their called or appointed
standard-bearer, and it will be but the question of a
short time before they will seek some sturdier or more
exalted guide. When the bearing of the new minister
is such as to raise the question whether he is in touch
with his engagement or in love with the world, he
need not long halt between opinions as to his calling.
Whether he has tarried long enough to have outlived
his usefulness and should face about in his bearings, is
a matter which requires neither ability nor hesitancy
to decide.
2 I
By address, no reference is made to physical or
constitutional shortcomings which the subject cannot
possibly remedy or improve upon. Because a man does
not embody the grandeur of a Saul or Apollo Belvidere,
is no reason why his stand or carriage should be un¬
graceful. By having a careless or undignified poise,
he loses an element of power, though perhaps uncon¬
sciously. A man of imposing physique or striking
graceful mien is an irresistible subject for proper
admiration. People regard him with apish interest
which materially retards his usefulness. From the
danger line of this temptation most of us have happily
been delivered by nature. Howbeit, what is termed
proprieties, good taste, address, etc., are graces to be
sought by cultivation. Those who enter our homes
we like to have recommended by good manners and
some sense of the properties, and what we require in our
parlors we certainly have a right to expect at church.
The ecclesiastical bulwarks, popularly known as
pulpits, are open to censure in that they tempt indif¬
ference to posture and other sly habits in the preacher,
under the apprehension that the people will not see
them.
The art of gesticulation claims attention to the
category of ministerial deportment. Preachers there
are who make but few gestures and yet these are
frequentl}' made without reference to grace or the
fitness of things. Impulsive gestures or those result¬
ing from a superabundance of emotion are usually
awkward and inappropriate. Those who are oratoric-
ally or dramatically inclined by nature are naturally
in sympathy with the things they describe and should
for that reason drill themselves and practically well-
22
nigh, incessantly, less they offend good taste by making
wild and inappropriate gestures. It is sheer folly to
go to the elocutionist for gestures or rules by which
they are to be created or regulated. The learning of
attitudes, gesticulation and the like, from the profes¬
sional elocutionist is belittling and should make the
preacher feel ashamed of himself. When it is known
that such instructors or teachers of emphasis and
gesture have become public speakers it will be time
to risk their tutelage and not until then. Some of
them are excellent public readers, few have ever
excelled as actors, nevertheless, they are of greater
service to those who wish to read or become actors.
Aside from the- preacher's dress and address and
among the proprieties which help or impair his use¬
fulness, the preacher's words and actions should be
characterized by a lofty, benevolent disposition. This
is at variance with a sensorious, belligerent spirit which
makes the pulpit a breastwork, and those who are so
unfortunate as to have displeased him, targets for the
preacher's censure. Justly merited, admissible re¬
proofs fail to come under the heading referred to. It
is when the criticism is purely personal or is untimely
or is unlikely to result in greater harm than good,,
that ministerial etiquette would require its repression
for the time. Nothing is more natural than that
snubs or insults should at times be the lot of the
minister. In such cases nothing but magnanimity
and forbearance should be exercised. His eye may
observe, and his ears may report intended affronts,
but seeing, he should not see, and hearing, he should
not hear such affronts. He should bite his lips or
grunt, and bear a thousand and one real and imagin-
23
ary ills. By being well seasoned with grace and
charged with the benevolent spirit of the Master,
there will be little danger of stumbling or violating:
the code of ministerial amenities.
Question—What effect have gestures on one's sermons or lectures ?
Benjamin Franklin.
Answer—They may add to or detract from their impressiveness, ac¬
cording to the individuality and genius of the speaker. Men of strong
feeling usually gesticulate more than those whose intellectual lives are in
the ascendency. Appropriate gestures are to speech what good seasoning
is to food. Though a few eminent speakers have been noted for their lack
of gestures, the great majority of them have been eminent in the use of
gestures. Booker T. Washington is a splendid example between the
extremes of speakers who gesticulate too little and those who gesticulate too-
much.
Question—Is a short coat suitable for a minister to wear on the
rostrum ? I- T. Whitaker.
Answer—For a short man much more than for a tall man, I think.
Question—Should preachers make stump speeches and take part in
politics? S. T. Pompey.
Answer—Not unless necessary, which is not often the case.
Question—Should a minister visit a member of his church when the
head of the family objects ? P. Howard.
Answer—Most assuredly he should not.
Question—Can a man keep all the commandments written in the
Bible and live here on the earth ? J- E. Benson.
Answer—It appears that Enoch did so for over three hundred years
before his translation.
SERMON BUILDING.
SERMONS are not creations of chance, nor spon.
taneous self-productions. Like well-appearing,
well-appointed houses, they must be built and con¬
structed according to design and scientific requirements.
The day for pulpit effusions which are more topsy-
turvey than Topsy-like in character and composition
is to be numbered among dispensations outlived, in
which the preacher was supposed to know next to
everything and was privileged as a sort of law to him¬
self and in his own way permitted to open wide his
homiletical mouth with the assumption that the Lord
would assuredly fill it.
There was a time when men were contented to
live in caves, huts and mud cabins, but the world has
. * . .
grown in wisdom and men have improved in taste since
then. It is difficult to travel a day's journey nowadays
even in less favored communities without beholding
impressive object lessons in architecture. The city or
village that has no Corinthian, nor Doric, nor Queen
Anne's cottage style of buildings to give it a boom, is
not likely to attract immigration or escape degeneracy,
but not more so than those pulpits whose sermonic
standards are neither fixed by law nor sanctioned by
intelligent usuage.
In sermon as in housebuilding your highest suc¬
cess depends upon a proper regard for three funda¬
mental facts, to wit : Its plan, material and construc¬
tion. A passing thought with reference to each of
these essentials, as time nor propriety will permit more
than a casual survey of the topic.
25
T° ignore or under estimate the plan in sermon
making is to ignore both scaffold and tools in the effort
to build a house. Or, think of the mariner who would
attempt an ocean voyage without chart or compass or
•of a general who would pitch a battle without a forecast,
and you have the most striking illustration of the
preacher who would attempt a sermon without a ser-
monic plan. To make such an experiment is like
attempting the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out.
We seldom fail to admire a well-dressed person, and
instinctively pay tribute to the tailor who succeeds in
giving us the proper outfit. But no tailor or seamstress
could hold their customers or become paragons in the
needle art without a fashion plate or pattern sheet to
guide them.
The first thing that a wise builder does is to con¬
sult an architect. Before doing so, he may have, and
usually has, some general but vague ideas of what he
wants, and these ideas may all do well enough as far
as they go, but it is no difficult matter for the master
of such work to improve upon his suggestions. Why
do men study law, why not begin to practice as soon
as they can use the language or secure a diploma ?
They study in law schools or read law under able
jurists in order to become acquainted with important
forms of law as much as to possess its substance. The
physician's formula is as much a covetable part of his
professional outfit as his medicine case or his cabinet
of instruments. In consulting nature, one becomes
readily impressed with the universality and sovereignty
of design and regard for form, and the prospective
sermonizer will do well to take lessons from Nature
and Art as well.
The plan of the sermon may be said to embrace
26
its principal parts. These parts are, briefly, tlie Intro¬
duction, . Body and Conclusion of tlie sermon. Tlie
point and value of the introduction in sermon-making'
again find striking illustrations in the object lessons
of house-building. Bvery habitable stucture, from a
millionaire's mansion to a peasant's hut, requires an
entrance way. What the step or porch is to the
tenement, that the opening words of the discourse
should be to every well organized sermon. To have
no introduction a discourse would be as bald and
uninviting as any dwelling devoid of step or doorway.
For the preacher to thus address his hearers would be
just as polite or tolerable as to waive the formality of
an introduction or bow on meeting strangers or those
with whom business or social intercourse is to be had.
To show deference to the congregation in the shape of
the sermon introduction is to invite its sympathies,
which gives right-of-way to the hearts of the listeners
during the progress of the discourse. The step and
doorway symbolize, as it were, the key-note to every
house and a similar office to the sermon is sustained
by every well-articulated introduction.
Long introductions are never in order. Who
could be favorably impressed with the architectural
botch-work which gives undue prominence to doors
and windows and leaves the main building without
suggestions of importance. Aside from the weakness
of covering too much space, many introductions betray
the short-coming of having no vital connection with
either the text or sermon. As well build the steps
several yards from the dwelling, or attach the porch
to the roof and call it up-to-date architecture, as to
harness an irrelevant introduction to a pulpit discourse
in the name of modern homiletics. The introduction
27
should be a natural evolution of the text, and should
not fail to strike fire during the first few minutes of
the discourse. If properly prepared the introduction
will not fail to pave the way for the message in the
shape of the sermon.
The most important part of the sermon is its body,
in contradistinction to its introductory or final part.
In considering its most important details, we pass
from the steps and doorway into ,the building itself.
Thus also in constructing sermons, the body or main
building claims prime and paramount consideration.
Yet, still, as in architecture, an especial eye is directed
to the appointments and divisions of the edifice, so
must differentiation and diversity be observed in
sermon building. To divide the sermon will be seen
to be advantageous in several particulars. As already
suggested, such divisions are in keeping with the
order of nature, whose object lessons universally
indicate variety coupled with uniformity. If it be a
truism that nature abhors a vacuum, it is equally true
that human nature is averse to monotony. Most
truths, to be palatable, must be administered in broken
doses, and all truths, to prove interesting and bene¬
ficial, must be shorn of repulsive parts and features.
The lines marking the sermonic boundaries should be
both striking and strong, not unlike those grand
divisions in nature, so impressive and memorable for
their significance and suggestiveness. Long-drawn
and ephemeral divisions should be avoided, as they
are painfully cumbersome to the hearers or positively
expressive of the speaker's lack of piety or wisdom.
Whatever else the sermon builder lacks or neglects in
the way of homiletic dutifulness, he should not fail to
rigidly divide the word of truth. Divisions should not
28
be manifold ; in general, they might be limited to four
or five parts.
The application or conclusion of the sermon is
like the roof of a dwelling, its crowning point and
defensive armor, as it were.
Question—Can all possess a good moral character without believing
in God ? P. Howard.
Answer—The very idea of God precludes the possibility of morality in
any estimable man without a belief in his Being. The term expressive of
God is but another or abbreviated word for goodness, which is the basis
and culmination of all morality.
Question—How can a man best know himself? R. C. Crawford.
Answer—By making himself a subjective and objective study. There
are three standards by which men in general may be studied. He applies
a certain standard to himself which is generally a flattering one. He is
estimated by others, which is generally undervaluing or misleading. He is
seen in his true light and taken for what he is only when judged by the
impartial verdict of an all-knowing God. By a careful and prayerful study
of one's self, it is possible for one to know much of his strength and weak¬
nesses, his wisdom and folly.
DELIVERY OF SERMON.
nTHERE are several things requisite to an effective
and sermonic delivery. Among tliese requisites
I would accord tlie leading place to a consecrated pur¬
pose and persistent will on the part of the preacher.
It would be as easy for a ship to make port across
perilous seas without a rudder or compass as for the
sacred speaker to reach and hold his hearers without
a sense of the weightiness of his message and a dogged
determination to convey or enforce the same. No
matter how richly gifted or otherwise endowed, no
preacher can be an effective speaker who feels lightly
his mission or is out of key with the high service he
assumes. There is no class of public speakers who
should think less of failing as the preacher. It is said
that actors are more successful as speakers than
preachers, which greatly discredits the sacred calling
and should cause every preacher of conscious uncon-
quered defects to hang his head in shame. Between
the preacher and stage-trained speaker it is obvious
who deserves to succeed and who to fail. The latter
deals with artificial things and truths second-hand,
while the former has eternal realities as his basis and
is the direct mouthpiece of the Almighty.
The actor who when asked why he was able to
move his hearers when the preacher could not and who
replied that the secret lay in the fact that he spoke lies
as if they were the truth, while the preacher spoke
the truth as if they were lies, has given us a volume
of philosophy in his facetious reply.
29
30
Next to the invaluable weapons of a clear head
and warm Heart the preacher will find a good voice an
essential associate and valuable antecedent in deliver¬
ing the message of truth. This may seem a discourage¬
ment to those not endowed with this facility, but a
moment's reflection may suggestthe hollowness of such
discouragement. Those who have only poor voices to
begin with should not fail to bear in mind that the
most inadequate voice can be improved upon • and that
some of the world's most celebrated speakers were
handicapped with feeble and unpromising voices in
the infancy of their career. By patient persistent study
and practice the poorest voice can be developed and
transformed into an instrument of extraordinarj7 power
and efficiency. The practice of loud and sustained
tones is an excellent means of improving the voice.
A most important element of expression is the
proper modulation of the voice after it has become
what nature or art has made it. In pitch and quality
of tone it should be thoroughly susceptible to the
different shades of thought and emotion. Without
such variation there can be no expressive delivery.
Unless the sermon is distinctly heard its main
purpose is largely defeated. Hence the necessity of a
clear articulation and deliberate enunciation on the
part of the preacher. As a public speaker his most
useful form of ability is audibility. Indistinctness is
fatal, while distinctness is vital to him. The former
is a physical defect and quite as natural as it is common
and injurious. It is a part of that natural elocution
which comes to the average speaker when he gets
upon his legs before an audience. It is a great en¬
dowment to be exempt from this adversity of speech,
but it is a great fortune that falls to the lot of
3i
exceptionally gifted characters and not tlie common
lot of speakers. The late John B. Gough, Frederick
Douglass, Mr. Spurgeon, with Bishop Turner, Bishop
Hamilton, Bishop Derrick and Booker T. Washington
belong to that favorite class of orators not handicapped
by the defect mentioned. Chatham was noted for his
distinct articulation, which attainment was cultivated
with assiduous pains. His full voice was overwhelming
and his whisper penetrated everywhere. The celebrated
Whitefield also towered as a model of oratorical excel¬
lence. So masterful was his command of voice and
enunciation that he could make his hearers weep by
the mere pronunciation of certain words.
Like every other habit, that of a sloven delivery will
grow with the growth and strengthen with the strength.
Karnestness is a salient virtue in the sacred speaker,
but it does not guarantee distinctness. A more ap¬
propriate name for this widespread disease of public
speakers is inarticulate earnestness. Frequently is
it the case that those who are most in earnest, most
intense, most absorbed in their subject, are the most
inarticulate, indistinct, precipitate and slovenly in
-expression.
The profoundly earnest preacher will sometimes
burst into tears in the process of uttering inarticulate
sentiments which have affected him so deeply. To
make others weep the speaker must weep himself to be
sure, but for the hearers to know what he is weeping
about the speaker must tell them. The preacher's
emotion should be as intelligible as his thoughts and
will be, provided he is not so dreadfully lost in his
.subject as to secrete its substance by an overworked
lachrimal gland.
The ability to compel the lips to form the words
32
and the throat to make the tones is indispensable to
good articulation. By self-discipline and self-culture
rather than by dramatic elocutionary practice, will
the defect of inarticulate utterances be remedied. The
disorder is a fatal one and, if you believe me, it will
not be cured by any dramatic or elocutionary quack
remedy.
Its only panacea is by directing the will against
it, by turning the ear upon the voice, by watchfulness,
by carefulness, drill and discipline to obtain unques¬
tioned conquest over the pernicious and dogged
disorder.
Question—Howcan the self-called preacher be disposed of?
Wm. Miles.
Answer—If a Methodist, ask the presiding elder not to license and the
Bishop not to appoint him. If a Baptist, oppose his call, both with your
vote and influence. If a Presbyterian, Congregational or Episcopalian, the
committee on studies and orders will take care of him.
SOME ORGANIC DEMANDS.
IN all the vast range of subjects bearing upon your
1 success as pastors in a practical way none is more
vital than that of health. It is necessary to enlist
your interest in this tremendous subject because of its
two-fold bearing and importance. First, as regards
yourselves, and, secondly, as relates to those among
whom you are to minister.
Let it not be thought that the subject is to be
lightly regarded because it appeals so largely to com¬
mon sense or because considerations of personal wel¬
fare will meet its demands. It should be borne in mind
that among rare things nothing is more uncommon
than common-sense and that though self-preservation
is a universal instinct, multitudes die daily from
suicide, and the most usual form of that suicide is that
bewailed by the prophet of old in reference to the
Jewish people.
If Israel was destroyed by lack of knowledge in
a general sense, the people of our time and variety are
victims of a specific mortality due to their ignorance
of or disregard concerning certain prime and funda¬
mental laws of health.
Of the pastoral laborer it should never be said,
" Physician heal thyself," and so it is highly proper
that the health of the shepherd be guarded as well as
that of the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made
you superintendents.
33
34
What a well-built locomotive or complete engine
is to the most effective train service in point of speed
or endurance, that the physical mechanism is to man's
capacity for valid work or length of service. Neglect
the machinery in any way and it soon becomes inca¬
pacitated for service. You have seen an engine side¬
tracked or untracked, weather-beaten and rust-eaten,
and you needed no one to tell you that its days of run¬
ning service were at an end. Were such material
servants expected to continue their wonted tasks, the
first invasion of decay or negligence would have been
arrested by avoiding the first appearance of the
threatened evil. It is not reasonable to believe that
men would exercise such care over a piece of human
mechanism when the Almighty's incarnate shrine,
personified in the human body, is so sadly neglected.
" If any man defiles the temple of the Holy Ghost,
him will God destroy," was no idle assertion of the
inspired writer of old. Its potential force is as much
meant for the priest who is ignorant of or mute con¬
cerning the laws of his own or the people's health as
for the latter who know little and care less about the
laws which condition their lives and hygienic well-
being.
If health of soul or whole-heartedness is everthing,
health of body is next to everything. You cannot over¬
estimate the virtue of the " Sound mind in a sound
body " adage. I would best define this elixir of life,
the thing we call health, by using the familiar object
lessons furnished by pure water and a faultless look¬
ing glass. A true mirror is so perfect that it hides
itself in the reflection it gives of the obj ect presented
before it. In looking into such a glass the beholder is
35
conscious only of his other self, whom he meets in open
gaze, face to face. As nothing intervenes between the
objective beholder, the subjective image and the ideal
mirror, so with regard to the physical organism of
man and the medium whereby it best serves itself and
ministers to others. An infallible test of perfect water
is said to be that which, when applied, prevents the
discovery of its identity by the sense of sight, taste or
smell. Whenever it has color, odor or taste, some¬
thing else it may be, but pure water it is not. In like
manner that health whose determinating attribute is
the consciousness of any appreciable defect of sense or
feeling, may be depended upon as being at fault to a
greater or less degree.
The general health of the religious worker is of
prime importance, and its care depends upon the
attention bestowed upon a variety of little things.
Bating, sleeping, work and exercise, universally re¬
garded as commonplace elements in the problem of
life, require more than passing attention, as they con¬
dition health, success and happiness. The law of diet
will be found to be subject to the greatest tension in
your experience as pastors. In your rounds of visita¬
tions, table temptations will entice you, and that, in
proportion to your established appetite for good things
on the one hand, and your obliging, social disposition
on the other. Eating should be enjoyed as a means
rather than an end of human existence, and the preacher
should train himself and teach others to combine tem¬
perance with appetite.
Food is intended to be to the body what fuel is to
an engine—the source of animation. Well assimilated
food produces blood, which furnishes motive power to the
36
human locomotive. An overfed body not only interferes
with, its own momentum and capacity for work, but clogs
the mind and so fetters the intellect that mental effort
becomes a drudgery and burden. The brain-worker is
altogether different from the brawn-worker. He who
labors manually may feed to the extent of gorging
himself, without fatal consequence perhaps, for he
may soon work off the surplus outfit in sweat and toil.
With the brain-worker the outcome is otherwise.
Distressed with its abnormal burden, his stomach
demands all the blood available to do its work, so that
the brain is deprived of its requisite supply.
When profound and lofty thought-productions are
desired great care should be exercised in the selection
of the mental worker's bill of fare. The food that
builds muscle and adipose tissue will naturally min¬
ister to animal vigor, .while the intellect will be left to
dwindle as an impoverished dwarf. When heroic men¬
tal or spiritual results are to be attained, discrimination
should be coupled with abstinence and self-denial.
Daniel in royal captivity, our Saviour in the wilderness,
and John the Baptist in the desert, offer valuable
suggestions in the directions noted.
That class of workers, whose brain is their in¬
strument of toil—I refer to preachers and evangelical
workers particularly—will find sleep an invaluable aid
to their staff of service and longevity. Various con¬
stitutions and divers ages do not require the same
amount of this restorative balm of nature. While some
natures demand much sleep and others require a less
supply, every person should have the quantity his
nature calls for. Especially is this true of those who
employ their thinking powers most actively. Persons
37
who work their brain over book and paper through the
livelong day, who push their labors into the midnight
hours, cannot be too forcibly reminded that their candle
is liable to early extinction, for it is being burnt at
both ends.
Question—Is not the weaknesses which cause such tremendous death
rate among the colored race inherited to a large extent ?
W. C. Cleland.
Not more so than to prevailing insanitary conditions and ignorance of
the laws of health.
THE PREACHER AN INDUSTRIAL
FACTOR.
T^HKRE is a widespread and pernicious fallacy which
1 has ever stamped labor with the hoof-mark of the
fall. Of all manual service is this derogatory estimate
ventured, and in proof of its validity is frequently
quoted the Adamic reproof, "In the sweat of thy /ace
shall thou eat thy bread." Had man not sinned and
forfeited the pristine favor of nature, according to this
conjecture, not only would mortality have been forever
barred from the earth, but peace, rest and plenty had
reigned as copiously in the terrestrial realms as in the
realms supernal. Strange anomaly that which in one
breath would trace all the ills humanity is heir to to
the tragic act in Bden, and in the next would from that
self-same act unfold the highway to ten thousand joys.
As to the issue of man's original misdeed there need
be speculative sword-crossings. By meeting on the
half-way grounds there may be no room for challenge
or conflict. Through the microscope of revelation let
nature be seen quivering beneath the death-blow of the
fall. Through the telescope of faith and reason she
may be seen brought back to life with man the un.
sceptred monarch on the throne. Faith in the restora¬
tive virtues of his stricken parent was the sovereign
arm that lifted him to power once more and gave him
strength to become the architect of his own fortune on
water, land or in mid air.
The dignity and nobility of labor is a moral tru¬
ism whose transparency becomes more obvious as the
veil of superstition is lifted from the surface and the
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operation of things take form and hue from the
uncolored glass of reason or spiritual analysis. This
organic law of nature is inherent throughout the
domains of creation and its unyielding fiat at once
arrests the attention of each traveller at the threshold
of life's gateway. It was not the Pauline injunction
exclusively nor primarily which said " If a man work
not, neither shall he eat." Over nature's entrance,
uNo idlers here," swings out in bold relief, catching
the eyes of humanity from Adam's day and onwards,
and Paul but translated the classic, world-worn order
into the vernacular of his day and ours as well.
If the fact, impulse and necessity of labor be in
keeping with the constitution of nature, no one should
escape its claims, while its servile and forbidding
aspect should be allowed to prey no longer upon the
credulity of men. The wide-spread prejudice and
ignorance which impute drudgery to this noblest
among creative functions must, by-and-by, yield right-
of-way to the eternal truth, that work is essential and
glorious among men on earth as among celestial kings.
Among the countless accusations which have been
laid at the door of the Bvil One, indolence or disbelief
is without a footing and is not as much as mentioned.
Beelzebub nor his emissaries can be credited with the
bread of idleness, however much others may be per¬
suaded through their influence to deny the claims of
labor. By incessant toil the Prince of Darkness has
achieved conquests of astonishing magnitude and it is
only necessary for those who resist his inroads and
aspire to scale the heights of ultimate victory to
buckle on the harness of bravery and march to the
music whose invincible spell is the labor omnia vincit
refrain of the ages.
4°
That idleness is the vantage ground of the Evil
One is strongly intimated in the familiar adage, "An
idle brain is the Devil's workshop." However, not to
associate evil consequences with an inactive body as
well as indolent mind is to deny the relationship
between cause and effect or between the stream and its
fountain-head. In the contention that the mind and
muscles should both be engaged in wholesome service,
it is not meant that each is to be equally exercised, or
that the one or the other may not be devoted to the
employment best suited to its capacity or organization.
In the physical and moral economy of nature the
stamp of eternal disapprobation has been placed upon
inertness, and there is no surer pathway to death in
either realm than the existence whose chief expression
is sloth or aimlessness.
In obedience to the command to subdue the^ earth,
God's children have tunneled mountains and converted
wild and worthless planes into royal highways. They
have wooed such deadly forces of nature as electricity,
wind, water, fire and various gases, and made them
obedient agents of human needs. At the sound of the
voice of industry the sea has yielded up its hidden
treasures, and the mines and fields and forests have
poured unspeakable bounties at the feet of man In
the crude outlines of a marble boulder Michael Angelo
saw the sleeping visage of an angel and called it to life
by persistent will and work. But for putting forth
these same energies upon the plastic form of nature,
the savage eye of man might forever stare without
seeing aught but the crude outlines of water, air and
earth.
As the apostles of truth and the advance couriers
of progress, it is the minister's duty both by precept
41
and example to teach the nobility, yea, the divinity of
labor. This should be done not only upon the
authority of reason and arguments drawn from earthly
and human sources, but upon the supreme sanctity of
Divine example as well. The first syllable uttered by
Revelation represents the Almighty as operating
within the circle of His Sovereign Infinitude of Will
and Omnipotence, leaving the heavens and the earth as
a result of this Deific activity. That there has been no
cessation of this activity, except in a creational sense
and with reference to the sphere involved, is likely to
be denied only by the assumptions of an overcredulous
fancy. He who created all things has not yielded the
reins of Omnipotence, but displays the same infinite
energy by upholding it perpetually by the Sovereign
word of His power.
THE PREACHER A RACE MAN.
IT is not the preacher's mission or business to con¬
cern himself with sin or wrong-doing in the abstract,
but rather in the concrete and in a practical way. In a.
general way he will more than likely admit its reality
and magnitude, but in order to checkmate its ravages he
must appreciate its exceeding sinfulness and under¬
mine the foundations which give it power and play.
Not only is the evil and deadliness of sin to be recog¬
nized in the world at large, but especially in the career
of nations and peoples as effecting their weal or woe,
their fate or fortune. More and more is stress and
emphasis to be placed upon the inspired declaration
that righteousness exalteth a nation while sin is a
reproach to any people.
Your attention was previously called to the triple
forces of wealth, education and numbers as poten¬
tial factors in working out the material welfare of
any people. There are the evils of ignorance, crime
and irreligion; three other tremendous powers of a
destructive nature, which should be considered if
the fearful death rate of the race is to be arrested,
and our vigor and longevity as a particular people is
to be insured. Not only is it enough that the preacher
have at heart the salvation of the human race, but
it is essential that he have at heart the salvation of
his own particular race. The examples of Moses,
Jeremiah, Our Lord and Paul, abundantly justify the
assertion made.
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43
Religious and secular history are replete with
instances in proof of the truth that nations and races
are saved by their own leaders rather than by those of
other peoples. When Israel needed a deliverer,
God might have raised up some giant-hearted cham¬
pion of another race, but he preferred to select Moses
for this work, who was skilled in Kgyptian sciences,
but thoroughly in touch and sympathy with his people.
He exhibited such an ardent affection for his brethren
that on one occasion he slew an Bgyptian who op¬
pressed them, and at another time jeopardized his own
welfare with the Almighty by proposing that his own
name be blotted out rather than Israel should be
destroyed for its murmurings and transgressions.
The type of the kind of race man needed for the
times is strikingly represented in Jeremiah, who, on
account of his large sympathy for the Jews, his breth¬
ren, and his consciousness of their sin-endangered
condition made him mournfully exclaim, " O that my
head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears that
I might weep day and night for the slain of the
daughters of my people."
You will be justified in the hope to succeed,,
my brethren, to the extent that you believe in being
called to preach to men in general but to your race-
variety in particular. In the gospel service race pre¬
ference is commendable, while race prejudice is
damnable. Peter had so much of the latter that
he was only cured by a direct revelation from
the Lord which taught him that in every race
those who feared God and wrought righteousness were
the chosen vessels of heaven.
That Paul is to be regarded as a man of rare race
devotion is established in his boasted claim as a
44
Hebrew of Hebrews, of the tribe of Benjamin,
nor was this inherent characteristic eradicated as a
result of subsequent spiritual development, for
he ever and anon betrayed the same deep-seated
race concernment. At one time this profound race
devotion led him to exclaim : " Brethren, my prayer
to God night and day is that Israel might be saved."
At another time it led him to declare with
emphasis : "I could wish that myself were accursed
from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen accord¬
ing to the flesh, who are Israelites." Rom. 9 : 3.
Yet, despite Paul's unquestioned race devotion, the
breadth of his sympathies and catholicity of his faith
are well reflected in his writings and in his appropriate
designation as the apostle to the Gentiles.
In the example of our Saviour are wye to find the
proper standard of race bearings and sympathies, my
brethren. In the truest and highest sense was He the
Son of Man, so that no race could claim Him in an exclu¬
sive or selfish sense. It is emphatically true that he has
drawn all men to Him as He declared that He would do
in the event of His elevation by the cross. This is the
spiritual mission of the gospel and this should be the
glorious end toward which the faithful servant of Christ
will direct all his zeal and labors.
THE MINISTER A MORAL FACTOR.
IT is your business as moral leaders, my brethern, to
' acquaint yourselves with, wrongdoers and note the
cause, course and consequence of their misdeeds.
Sympathy perhaps, but custom certainly will lead you
to visit jails and perhaps conduct your footsteps to the
culprits' scaffold and witness the destruction of their
bodies because of crime. Your duty, however, does
not end when you have held religious service with the
living prisoner or over his dishonored remains.
Above your solemn prayers and entreaties for the
conversion, reformation or pardon of all such unfortu¬
nate souls, you will find that you have done a higher
and more lasting service when you have restrained the
footsteps of others or prevented the first flagrant act
that ends in dishonor or an untimely grave.
Your interest in wrongdoers and unfortunates
will expose you to uncomplimentary criticisms and
sometimes great annoyance. But what should they
taunt you with the adage that, " Birds of a feather
flock together ? " What should they impute to your
acts of benevolence, motives ulterior or sinister. Com¬
ments equally hostile have been attached to the
actions of the best and most worthy in all ages, and
even the guileless Nazarene did not seek or wish
to escape such bombardments. By reason of his
overflowing benevolence and compassion the Sav¬
iour of sinners was constantly assailed by shal¬
low and selfish soreheads. The boldest truth of
his earthly life and labors was that the Son of
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46
man came to minister rather than to be ministered to.
Though himself lacking, he gave bread to the hungry
and drink to the thirsty, nevertheless they charged
him as gluttonous and a wine bibber. While you are
to be careful lest your good be evil spoken of, you are
to bear in mind the Master's warning, " Woe unto
you when all men speak well of you." Your lever¬
age as moral factors in the people's uplift will be
best secured by obtaining more than a surface knowl¬
edge of men's sinfulness in general and by being
actuated by a desire to rescue the unfortunate subjects
of wrongdoing. Of sin in the abstract and aggre¬
gate it is not enough to speak and know, but with
stubborn object lessons in the shape of its most
striking instances must knowledge be possessed should
the best results be hoped for in the way of doing good
and saving souls.
The field for activity in a sympathetic way as
relates to those among whom you will be called to labor,
is teeming in abundance and is white unto the harvest.
You will find in prison cells many who should claim
your sympathy and help, because of misfortune rather
than any fault of theirs. On humanitarian rather
.than on sectarian grounds you should seek to effect
.their liberation. While the misfortune of all men
:should claim the interest of God's workmen, that of his
•own race-variety should enlist his sympathies most. To
you, therefore, the grievous moral condition of the
millions of the Dark Continent in America and else¬
where should appeal with tremendous emphasis.
s Among the special aspects of this grave moral prob¬
lem which you are called upon to consider, the temper¬
ance a^pept is of commanding importance. That this par-
.tiqulaf rac£ variety should be signalized by the virtues
47
of temperance above otlier peoples is a fact of, obvious
prominence. If of those who make and traffic in the
death dealing beverage more than others and apology
for their iniquitous enterprise be demanded, a measure
of excuse might be indulged in, the conceded advant¬
age such people enjoy in their towering sources
•of mental and material greatness. Frenchmen may
be notorious for their tippling habits, Germans
may be famed for their familiarity with the beer
glass. The Hollander may revel in his gin and the
Chinaman in his opium den, for each has had his day
of growth and may precipitate his era of decline. But
with an amateur people those things which invite
.adversity and insure decay should be rigidly set aside
and alcoholic drinks rank prime among such evils.
This giant evil may wrestle with a giant race without
danger of doing fatal and irreparable harm compared
with the penalties which will ensue from an encounter
between said giant and an infantile people such as we
are forced to acknowledge ourselves. Young gentlemen,
as invincible knights in the mortal combat against
king alcohol, I forewarn you of the motley and seduc¬
tive forms in which the monster will engage your
resources. You may not suspect him in the social
throng, yet his shadow lurks in the sparkling gla^s
and his echoes ring out with the merry laughter. His
daggered hand incased in the glove of friendship may
take advantage of domestic or nuptial license and
press the cup of woe to the lips of innocence. If yoi;
are able to escape the snares and outwit the wily argu¬
ments of the bacchanalian siren, you have won first
honors in the conflict and can buckle on the harness
..of a knight against a foe worthy of your keenest steel.
But it is against the more unblushing adversary
48
of popular immorality superinduced by the demon of
alcoholism that I warn you arm yourselves. This
shape of the adversary you will confront in public
entertainments beyond your own jurisdiction, and in
church picnics and excursions within your pastoral
management. How often are these agencies of religion
not transformed into liveries of hell! What a travesty
upon the Church, what an outrage upon Christianity
that rum and riot should be allowed to reign where
reason, if not righteousness, is entitled to sway ! The
feasts of temperance, plays of innocence and songs of
good cheer which marked the average Sunday-school
picnic of the past, alas, have given place to such
scenes and dissipation nowadays as might put the
Bowery to the blush or renew the curse of Sodom.
The insidious, brazen-faced usurper, I am sorry to
say, is known, alas, too frequently to encroach upon
the sacred precincts set apart for religious services and
betray scorn and contempt for those who personify the
priesthood. So stigmatized have certain time-honored
services known as tent, camp, or grove meetings become
in current phraseology that such terms as "scamp meet¬
ings" and "religious menageries" are best used to desig¬
nate them. So demoralizing and notorious have such
travesties upon holy worship become that it is to the
credit of many churches and a multitude c' ministers
that they are growing in general disfavor.
This appalling chapter on popular immorality and
intemperance is not complete until the curtain is
drawn and you as sentinels and saviors of the masses
are induced to take in the situation as it really is. A
turning on the search light, not upon the exceptional
few, but upon the multitudinous many cannot fail to
bring to view a picture whose moral coloring is.
49
enough to make angels weep. To behold suck
heart-rending spectacles, you will not find it neces¬
sary to frequent court rooms and railroad stations
where the curious and idle flock like vultures.
The haunts of vice such as houses of shame, crap
dens and other resorts of darkness are infested with
deadly palls of degradation, but you will also find
them draping the public walks and blackening the
thoroughfares of everyday life with the darkness of
despair, if you will but pause long enough to realize
the situation about you.
Robert W. Woodruff
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J. Coan Library
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