Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-07-29
DECApENcE IN THE MINISTRY.

DECADEhCE IN THE MINISTRY.
Some of the Northern presses are dis
cussing what they term the decadence
in the ministry" They assume that the
pulpit is not now what it once was.
1t is asserted that it has exchanged
earnestness for form, words for ideas,
and style for animation. 1t is melan-
choly fact that the pulpit has not kept
pace with the progress of crime. 1t has
not headed it off and beaten it back. 1t
has not succeeded in convincing the
hayward that the wages Of sin is death,
nor painted vice in colors horrible
enough to frighten the young from its
contact. We charge no dereliction of
duty on the ministers Of the churches.
We believe that they have performed
honestly and faithfully, and to the best
of their ability, their duty They can
not accomplish impossibilities. They
may not be well sustained. They may
even lack bread, and the time and
meditation that should be given to the
duties of their calling, may be devoted
to the question of subsistence-from ne
cessity. A hungry man, with hungry
family, is not likely to go out into
the lanes and alleys where sin abounds
and warn sinners of the wrath to come.
These are not the days of the Apostles,
nor the days Of John Bunyan. These
are not the days when the minister
breaches his tenets at the peril of his
life. These are not the days when bold
proclaimers of Christ are burnt at the
stake, amidst the applause of the rab-
Bile. Here the law protects the minis
ter. He can hold property, engage in
trade, sue and be sued, and be all that
any other man may be. There is, then,
only one impediment in the way of his
efficiency, and that is worldly care-the
meat, bread and raiment question. How
ever all these things may be, it is hardly
TO be disputed that the fact OF deca-
denee in the ministry exists. 1t
has been remarked by a recent writer
who attempts to account for it, that it
does not take very long for a congrega-
ton to detect whether or not the man in
the pulpit is represented through the
words be declaims. He may be fluent,
and even brilliant. He may adorn the
lesson on the mount or the agony in the
garden with illustrations both pertinent
and graceful; he may Gil the orthodox
three-quarters Of an hour with dis
course that sounds well when heard and
reads equally well when printed; but
the mask, fit it ever so closely, is seen
through Such preacher may attract
congregations-he cannot attract hearts.
He may fill pews, but he cannot fiji the
longings of the people under his charge.
The men and the women who attend his
church pass through service on each
Sunday Of the year and come out at the
end as decorous, as unruhed, as cool as
at the beginning" This" the writer
continues, IS the type of the fashiona-
bic congregations Of our day. They are
uninspired, simply for the reason that
the preacher is uninspired They are |
calm and unruiiled, because the preacher
does not show that he himself is moved |
by his theme They do not approach |
the altar, because the preacher himself,
although conscientiously devout, does
not come down from the pulpit to meet |
them. A wall of formality on both
sides prevents willing hearts, if properly |
directed, from being stirred into an as
sertion Of spiritual passion Mention
after monition is Numbered against
them, but the wall that divides them
grows, if possible, more impregnable
with each successive assault And
again: Let, however, a preacher Of
different type-one who does not SO
much pluck his words or study his rhet-
oric as bring to the surface from the
depth OF his own heart the most passion
ate longings Of his spiritual nature; one
who wrestles with his own spirit aud
from the struggle brings out thoughts
and, from the thoughts, words that burn
once appear among them. He holds
in himself the key that unlocks the feel
ings and impulses Of others His earn
estness is like the charge of victorious
army. He overthrows the stout and or
thodox wall Of formality as II it we're
but tissue paper. He scatters to the
winds the weak and frivolous pretences
Of genteel religion in repose. He sjrs
up war among the innermost passions Of
his hearers, brings their shortcomings,
their sins and selfshness appallingly
before them, and with his FIRST sermon
sows the seed Of revolt against the
spiritual indifference by which they
have been 50 long enslaved." Whipple,
in reference to institutions for clerical