THE WAY TO HAVE A GOOD MINISTER.
PRAY FOR HIM. “Brethren,” says the apostle, “pray for us.” And if wishes were audible, such you would find is the earnest, the almost agonizing, wish of the heart of every minister. Pray, then, for your minister. He needs your prayers. His labors, responsibilities, anxieties, and perhaps his trials, are great, and all for you. He is sent to proclaim God’s truth; and he needs your prayers that he may do it successfully. With Paul he may say, “Pray for us, that the words of the Lord may have free course and be glorified.” Besides, he prays for you; yes, and for your families and children, and often with deep feeling, and perhaps with gushing tears, and therefore you should pray for him. Pray for him, and you will love him. “Pray for your enemy even,” says an old proverb, “and you will soon love him.” Much more if you pray for your minister—your best friend—you will love him. You will hear him too with interest, and hold him in high esteem, and be blessed by his ministry. NEVER SPEAK OF HIS FAULTS.—He stands to you in a most sacred and tender relation, somewhat like that of the parent to the child, or the wife to the husband. And what would you think of the husband or the child that should be found speaking to others of the faults of his wife or parent? What would you think of his honor, his manliness, his obedience to God? From your inmost soul you would loathe and despise him, and justly too. And so with you, if you speak evil of your minister. Besides, God by his apostle tells you to “know them which labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake.” And all this you can never do if you speak against them. DELIGHT TO SPEAK WELL OF HIM. Not to himself, that is needless, but to others. Every one has some good qualities, and so has he. Of every one you can say something good, and so can you of him. Do so, and it will lead others to do the same. It will extend his influence for good. It will aid to make him a blessing to yourself and to all about you. SUPPORT HIM LIBERALLY. “Let him that is taught in the word, communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.” This is God’s command, and those that disobey it suffer. Many a church has cursed itself by being mean to its minister. Let not this curse be yours. Pay your minister liberally and punctually. Thus his mind will be at rest, free from anxiety, and entirely given to his appropriate work—to laboring for your good. ALWAYS MEET HIM WITH KINDNESS AND AFFECTION. He is a man, and will appreciate and prize your sympathies. So far from his being above them, they will help to make him happy; and the want, the absence of them will often send him to his study with the heartache—silent and uncomplaining it may be, but bleeding at the inmost soul. Would you shrink from inflicting a pang like this? Ever, then, meet him with a welcome smile, with a kind, encouraging, friendly word. It will warm his heart to a deep affection for yourself; will incite him to the greater effort for your good, and make him doubly willing to spend and be spent for you. CALL UPON HIM. Not too often, for thus you may interrupt his studies, and waste his time; but at proper seasons. Some people never do this. They expect their minister to call and see them, but never think of calling to see him. Be not guilty of this neglect. Your minister, if a man of refined and sensitive feeling, will keenly feel it. An occasional and warm-hearted visit will cheer him, and aid him not a little to be useful. And now and then, as you visit him, take with you some little present, no matter for its value, that is of little consequence; but take it as a token of your kind remembrance and regard. Such courtesies will bind him to you with strong affection; and his affection it is all-important for you to possess. EVER BE ATTENTIVE TO HIS TEACHINGS. If it is his to teach, it is yours to hear. Be then in your place every Sabbath—at every service—at every prayer-meeting. Thus you will encourage his heart and strengthen his hands, and thus only can you appreciate his many labors. And not only hear, but what you hear apply to yourself. Obey it. He will have “no greater joy than to see you walk in truth.” Keep a copy of these rules. Read them at least every week, and often ask wherein you have sinned against them. If you are prone to break them, then read them every day, as you go to your closet, and pray God by his Spirit to enable you to keep them. Observe these rules, and though by nature your minister may be far from what you would have him, still grace and your kindness will make him a good one. Disregard them, and though in fact you have an excellent minister, it will, to a certainty, make him a poor one to you.