Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1871-11-25

MISUNDERSTANDING mfStuke u
made when pastors aud people fail Il
establish and maintain between eacl
each other business relation just a
independent OF the spiritual as 1t /.
possible TO mike IL. The physician
may be, and in multitudes Of instan
ces Ii, the dearest family friend; bul
he lives by his profession, and his ser
vices have recognized money value
which he expects 10 receive without q
question. He would prefer, perhaps
to render his services without reward
Especially to those whom he loves
but he has mouths tn feed and pro.
visions to make for rainy days, aud fol
the days Of helplessn~ss that come II
last to all So, though love and sym.
pathy's sake, may have actuated him
In all his daily round Of duty, he goes
home at night, takes down his blot
rs II he had been selling farm produce
or tin-ware.
There Is feeling In many parishes
that 1t IL a gift by whatsoever any
pastor may I've profited by them; that a
pastor earns nothing, and that in all
things he is the Beneficiary of the
parish. To make this matter a thous-
and times worse, there are pastors not
q few who take the position to which
the parishes nssign them, and assist
In perpetuatinx the mistake. They
are men whose hands are always open
to receive whatever comes; who de-
light in donation parties, and who
grasp right and left, with Unsuitable
greed, at gifts. They become 80
mean-spirited that they do not like to
lDay for anything, and do not really
think 1t right that they should he
called upon to pay for anything.--
They are sp0nges upon their people
happen to be, they ''lie down" on the
brethren. There IL nothing Of value
that they are not glad to be indebted
to for favOrs. Sometimes they are
extravagant, and have . graceless
way Of getting into debt, out Of which
they are helped yearly, and out Of
which they expect to be helped year
~. The abject meanness into which
a pastor can sink, and the correspond
ing and consequent powerlessness
into which he can descend, find too
frequent illustration among the
American ministry. 1t Is shocking
and sickening that there are some
men who seem forced by their parish.
es to live in this way, and 1t Is still
more disgusting to find men who
seem tolerably comfortable and CON-
tented while living In this way. II
a man is fit to preach, he Is worth
wages, they should be paid with all
the business regularity that Is de-
manded and enforced In business life.
There il no man in the community
who works harder for the money he
receives than the faithful minister
There is no man-in whose work the
community is interested-tO whom
regular wages, that shall not cost him
u thought. are so important. OF what
possible use in pulpit can any man
be whose weeks are frittered away in
mean cares and dirty economies ?
Every month, or every quarter day,
every pastor should be sure that there
Will be placed in his hands, AS his Just
wages, money enough to pay oil his
expenses. Then, without sense of
special obligation to anybody, he can
preach the truth with freedom, and
prepare for his public ministrations
without distraction. Nothing more
cruel to pastor, or more disastrous
to his work, can he done than to force
upon him feeling of dependence
upon the charities of his flock. The
Office of such q man does not rise In
dignity above that Of q court-fOol.--
He is the creature of the popular
within, and a preacher without infu
ence to those who do not respect him
or his Office sufficiently to pay him
the wages due to q man who devotes
his life to them. Manliness cannot
live In such man, except 1t be In
torture-a torture endured simply be-
cause there are others who depend
upon the charities d0led out to him.
Good, manly pastors and preachers
do not want gifts--they want wages.
1t Is not kindness to exc out INSULT
cient salaries by donation parties and
by benefactiOns from the richer mem
bers of flock. 1t In not merit, as they
seem to regard 1t, for parishes or indi-
viduals to do this. 1t il an acknowl-
edgement Of Indebtedness which they
are too mean to pay in n business
way. The pastor needs il and they
owe II, but they take to themselves
the credit of benefactOrs, and place
him I'm an awkward and false position.
The influence Of this state of things
upon the world that lies outside Of
the sphere Of Christian belief and ac-
tivity is bad beyond calculation. We
have had enough Of the patronage Of
Christianity by n half soothing, half
tolerating world. If Christians do
not sufficiently recognize the leglta-
macy of the PASTORS calling to render
him fully his just wages, and to assist
him to maintain his manly independ-
enee before the world, they must not
blame the world for looking upon him
with contempt that forbids APP
proach and precludes influence. The
world will be quite ready to take the
pastor ut the valuation of his friends,
and the religion he teaches at the
price it, professors. are willing to pay,
In a business way, for its ministry.