From the Archives: Success or Failure

The success or failure of a preacher depends largely upon the preacher. It is understood and will be readily admitted that, first of all, the preacher must be a man of true piety. He needs, and by all means, should have the enduement of the Holy Spirit.

Much depends, however, upon the man, his disposition, his friendliness, and his activities. Jesus said to His disciples, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” He says the same to His disciples of today. It would appear that some disciples keep the salt barreled up. Salt, to save, must be applied, rubbed in; it must penetrate.

We have known some men who appear to be very pious, and doubtless were, but meanwhile, a bit tired; they seem to have been born tired and never to have gotten over it. They walk slowly, talk slowly, eat slowly, sleep soundly, awake slowly, and get about slowly; one good thing about them, they never ran over anybody who was moving at all. They stood no danger of being arrested for speed in their movements on foot.

We have known men who were not overburdened with piety, but they made excellent use of what spiritual capital they had. They were active, wide-awake; they sought the people out; they were on the hunt for prodigals, telling them that there was a fatted calf awaiting them at the Father’s house. Their activities affected their congregations; their enthusiasm was contagious, and they induced people who, otherwise, were the sit-still variety, to get up and move about and do something.

We are not condemning deep piety, nor commending shallow spirituality, but it is in the ministry something like it is in the business world; some men with large capital are not successful; they invest and lose. They are not active and aggressive. They do not have the gift of foresight, while other men with smaller capital, with large activity and a bit of risk, with a gift of foresight, do a large business, increase their capital, and go forward to what the world designates success.

Real success in the ministry calls for genuine piety; the baptism and enduement with the Spirit, and then an energetic use of the power which the Spirit bestows. I knew a presiding elder who attended his quarterly meetings who asked the questions in a deliberate, orderly way, and hied himself home to his quiet fireside. I knew another man in the same office who was active and on the go. He touched the preachers of his charge; he was an inspiration, he held revivals at the weak points on his district and saw scores converted and brought into the church under his ministry. He was wide-awake and imparted his enthusiasm to those under his influence.

Success in the ministry calls for an intelligent use of all the powers, divine and human, which make a man successful, whatever difficulties and obstacles he may encounter. It occurs to this writer that nothing is quite so important, so fine and splendid, as a genuine preacher of the gospel, a friend to man, a sympathizer with the sick and poor, a lover of the sinful; a man with a holy determination to confront and break the powers of evil, build up the church in its spiritual life, and win the lost to Jesus. It is reasonable to suppose that such a man, at the close, shall hear the “Well done, thou good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joys of thy Lord.”