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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, November 26, 1867

FromReview and Herald, Vol. XXX, No. 24

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DEVELOPED HIMSELF.

If a young minister wishes to work for Christ, he will find enough labor in any field to task his powers of mind and heart; but if one thinks of improving himself more than of winning souls to Christ, he is likely soon to lose both earnestness and power. Dr. Brainerd tells the following story:
“We once introduced a young minister to a missionary congregation in the suburbs of a great city. The people were highly pleased with him and invited him to settle among them. He came to consult me on the subject. As he was an unmarried man, he regarded the salary as adequate. He had no fault to find with the number, the attendance, the attention and interest of the occasion. I urged him to give an affirmative answer. He hesitated.
“‘I am afraid,’ said he, ‘it is not the place for me to develop myself,’ alluding to the plainness of the people. I replied:
“‘It is an excellent place to develop the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ; but I know not whether it is the place for you to develop yourself.’
“He left the field, and has since ‘developed himself’ by giving up the ministry. ‘He that exalteth himself shall be abased.’
“The little congregation, under the labors of better and purer men, has also ‘developed’ itself into one of the most numerous, intelligent, affluent churches in the land.”