The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1905-11-23


But how prone the young minister II
to follow after those who are rich OF
socially strong in community and ye
not noted for their Christian consecra
toni How common it is for the ricl
merchant to be the president Of the
board of trustees, even though he bt
not a church member. How easy 1t is
for the young minister to yield to the
worldly elements of his congregation
who want fine music in the choir loft
even though that music has to be rem
dered by men and women who never
have professed Christ as their Saviour
and who are notorious for their indif.
! ference to all things sacred and divine'
How liable the minister is to lean upon
those who never lean upon Jesus and
then to expect. his people to be spiritual
! peoplel God forbid that in any church
the pastor should seek for his chief adj
visers and leaders those who think
more of the cut of their outer garments
than they do of their inner consecra-
ton for those who would sooner go to
a ball or card party or a theater than
to the house of prayer! When the lead
ers of church are unsanctifed they
become the leaven which leavens the
church loaf.
But there is still another class to
whom | wish to call your attention.
The new minister's best friends are al
ways to be found among those who
eat nf l,o ic4e
who preceded him in that pulpit. They
are to be found among those who are
always ready to praise their last min
ister's virtues and never allude to his
! failings They will tell you their last
pastor had the loveliest wife and the
finest children and the happiest OF
J homes They will say: Eyes, our old
pastor was good man. / never sat at
his feet without receiving a blessing
from his sermons" And these friends
of the old minister did receive a bless
! ing from every one of his sermons.
And they will receive blessing from
every one of the new minister's ser
mons. As they were friends to the old
minister, so they will be friends of the
new.
The New Love Versus the Old.
But there are always some people
who think they cannot prove their love
for the new minister unless they tell
him all the faults of the old. No sooner
is the new minister installed than these
4 false friends gather around him. "Ah, -
they will say, AZ am so glad you are to
be our pastor We have needed you for
the last five years. This is the age of
young men. Our old pastor was too
old. He was worn out. He has been
dead for the last twenty years and
was not conscious of the fact. The
young people did not like him. And
then his wife was an invalid. Oh |
am glad you have not a sick wife.
Then our old pastors children wanted
all the Offices His daughter was the
head of our Christian Endeayor soci-
ETY., and his son was usher in the chief
aisle, and his sister was the head of
our primary department. But every
thing now is going to be different. We
have you, and all will be WE'LL" Yes;
things will be different, but only in
name. Young men, you who are about
to enter the Christian ministry, always
fight shy of the church members who
would try to praise you at the expense
of the noble men of God who gave the
best of their lives to your pulpit before
you came to it. If they are untrue to
your predecessors, they will be I'M
true to you l always have my sus-
PIGEONS of the man who, to show his
love and devotion to his second wife,
has to spend most Of his honeymoon in
planting Canada thistles and poison
ivy upon the grave of his first
Would that some people who find so
much fault with their old pastors might
receive the rebuke which a minister
gave to his daughter who was criti-
cising an absent friend! The daughter
was saying her friend was "odd' and
peculiar" Yes answered the old
father, ''she certainly is odd and pc
culiar. She is so odd and peculiar that
she was never heard to speak i'll of an
absent friend" l like that. We can
not be untrue to our absent friends and
at the same time true to those who are
by our side. We cannot be untrue to
our pastors who are gone and true to
those who are now preaching in our
pulpits.
But there is yet another criterion by
which you can Judge minister's best
friends. They are to be numbered
among those who do not love their
church so much that they are blinded
to the gospel duties which are calling
them outside of the four walls of that
church. They are the Christians who
realize that as there is one family liv-
ing within the four walls Of the home
so there is a church family living with
in the four walls of the church. They
strive to fulfill their obligations not on
ly to their own family and the church
family, but to those outside who do moi
vet know Christ. The church family
is a very important family, but 1t does
not represent the whole human race
Now, as every father and mother mus
help care for the wants of their indi
gent neighbors, so every church family
should and must care for the spiritua