The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1911-02-10
Brooks Theory for Preachers

ing depended upon explaining the doc
trines, but that is not for this age.
After all, Christ furnished us the
best example Of the manner in which
q preacher or teacher should ap-
proach his hearers and those whom he
wishes to influence. With the single
exception Of the Sermon on the
Mount. which contains the fundamen.
tai Christian philosophy-the precepts
upon which the Christian religion
was founded-Christ always took his
examples. his illustrations, his meta
phors, from the daily life with which
his hearers we're familiar.
HE could take the most trivial fact
of nature and with it emphasize His
truths. His a~llegories, or parallels, as
I now remember them, were all based
upon familiar things. The only occa-
sional references to the classics OF
that day which He made were to the
prophets and to the Jewish scriptures,
and with these all who heard Him
were perfectly familiar. All, what an
| exquisitely beautiful illustration He
! made from the lilies of the field. very
likely pointing to those He saw bios
| soming about Him as He spoke. . And
| yet / say unto you that even Solomon
in all his glory was not arrayed like
one Of these
Now" continued Mr.. Brooks, III
seems to me that the most effective
way of reaching hearers for a preach
er of this time Is to bring them into
touch with familiar things. Tha'
means, of course, that the clergyman
should not hold himself aloof, bu
should take an active interest in ever!
! affair of life. He should go abou
among the people and learn what the.
are thinking about and what they ar
doing. He should have an eye for ma
ture; he should be affected by tn
flowers, the foliage and the birds O
the air, Just as SO many Of the poo
people are. l have tried to follow thi
course, and 1t has not been an effor
of the will for me to do so, since
has always been a most gratifying Q,
perience with me-"
DR.. Brooks certainly practiced wha
he preached in this respect. He wer
about among the lowly, but withor
superior mannerism, and gained theI
confidence. He was seen once in
humble Boston tenement, with an II
FAINT upon his knee. playing with al
other child upon the floor, at his fee
and chatting merrily with the parent
who must have looked upon that Wis
! as a pastoral call of the best kim
He was as fond as Thoreau was
visiting the wharves of Boston;
was many times seen watching tt
coming In and sailing of ships ar
listening to the none too discreet CO
~versation Of the stevedores and lon
shoremen. Within less than a quart,
9 of an hour after he had delivered
wonderfully powerful Advent sermc
: to 5000 business men gathered
: Trinity church. in New York, he we,
! arm in arm with a friend across Il
Q street to one of the famous downtov
. , restaurants. and sat at a table for Il
q better part Of an hour, keenly obser
q ing the coming and going of the gre
throng which rushed into that pla
9 for Its noontime lunch. He was
. constant student of life and of natur
he applied this study IN his sermon
II and It was because of this, undoubte
~, that he, perhaps more effective
II than any other preacher of his tin
3 touched the hearts and Insured [
u consciences Of his hearers.
u Copyright. 1910. by e. ]. Edwards.
Rights Reserved.)