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The Minister's Personality

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 20, 1910

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 87, No. 3.

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The Minister's Personality

By L. E. Sufficool

L. E. SUFFICOOL
“Take heed unto thyself.” 1 Tim. 4:16.
THE exhortation of the great evangelist is worthy of thoughtful consideration. The message committed to this people is to develop character which will reflect perfectly the character of God's dear Son. There are three phases of this thought,—suppression, cultivation, and impartation.
Self-suppression is an important consideration. It seems to be continually paramount in the mind of Paul. He said, “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection.” Again, “If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”
The ministerial life is a privileged, and to a great extent, a protected life. The minister may give all his time to the Master's work,—opening the eyes of the blind, unstopping the ears of the deaf, leading lost and perishing souls back to the fold of their Redeemer.
With a perishing world ever before us, the gospel ministry can be no place for idlers. It is the busiest life on earth, yet there are always doors temptingly open for self-indulgence. No one needs more sympathy than he who fills the sacred office, solely that he may eat the “priest's bread.” A consecrated and devoted minister, one who constantly sees before him open doors of opportunity for service, is God's best gift to the church, to society, and to the world.
“Take heed unto thyself.” There are other perils which lie near the pathway of the minister. There is the dual danger of magnifying or minifying self,—each equally perilous to a perfect ministry and to effectual service. Undue elation and unreasoning depression are equally wrong. Very little concern should be manifest in our life service as to our personal authority, and to the personal equation none at all. If the influence, which is the atmosphere, the fragrance, the redolence, of the character, does not command the respect and confidence of society, any manifestation of authority never will. Whenever a minister is driven to rely solely on the office he fills for influence with the people, at that moment he becomes unworthy of the office. Let him permit his authority to take care of itself, while he, by purity of character, enriches his personal influence. The influence is to the character what the sweet perfume is to the flower. Nothing in the ministry can be used more effectively for the saving of souls than influence.
What is more ruinous to effective ministry than morbid self-consciousness? As the mighty ships that plow the great deep shun the shoals, so let us, as servants of the living God, shun the “Valley of Despondency.” Very often we may enter hard fields, and at some time we may say, “We have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing.” From beneath the cloud Satan may cast over us, let our faith take hold of the arm of the risen Saviour. Forget self. Charles Kingsley, addressing his son, wrote: “If you want to be miserable, think about yourself,—what you want, and what respect people ought to pay you, and what people think of you.”
We are to magnify the office; but how?—“By pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.”

Self-Cultivation

Self-cultivation, when prayerfully considered, will have regard first to spiritual endowment. While workers are needed, there is no room for spiritual and intellectual weaklings. We must have a brighter vision of God. By beholding, we are to become changed. The life of the minister must be a daily revelation of divine power. Paul's ministry began with a vision of God. Every minister's life is to begin with a clear vision of God. “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” Purity of heart must precede, as well as condition, the vision.
Man has a devotional nature. This is the better life, and all that will be food for this life is to be our “daily bread.” Under this heading we may consider, (1) prayer, (2) study of the Word, (3) meditation.
1. The minister's home should afford a private study where he may, in secret, talk with God. Many times a minister's weakness and failure result from the neglect of prayer.
2. Study of the Word. The Word is to be our constant companion. We are to breathe its atmosphere, drink of its spirit, think its thoughts, and thereby speak in its terms. Familiarity with the Word is a necessity in the ministry.
3. Meditation. Take time calmly to think upon the blessings God has so bountifully bestowed upon you. Consider his dealings. Behold the guiding hand. Now think of his great sacrifice, his untold love for the children of men. Think of heaven, the home of the saved. If you are weary, remember that heaven lies at the end of the road.
A young lady once came to an oculist to have her eyes tested and glasses fitted. The physician took her out into the open air and said: “I want you, when the eye is weary, to leave the manuscript, and go into the open air and look far away to the hills. That far-away look will rest the eye.”
My brother, when you are downcast and disappointed, when your sermons gain no hearing, when mourners spurn your comfort, and sinners heed not the warning, and, weary, self-accused, you turn your footsteps homeward, then, O then, take one long look far away to the evergreen hills of paradise! The far-away look is so restful to the weary soul! Let the eye feast upon the resplendent glories of heaven. Heaven lies at the end of the road. This very thought rests my weary soul; and while feasting upon this glorious revelation, I drink of that living water, and my soul is refreshed.

Intellectual Equipment

“Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” In view of modern needs and conditions, ministers are required to be at their best. There is no room in the ministry for weaklings. There must be intellectual as well as spiritual growth. “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” Growth is the sign of life. When growth ceases, death begins.
“Take heed unto thyself.” “None of us liveth to himself.” An isolated life is an utter impossibility. Both our virtues and our vices we transmit to others. Even upon this phase let us behold the bright side. We may transmit influences that will elevate as well as degrade. The most successful minister is the one who lives his message. The congregation, the people, demand to-day, far more than dialectic skill and scholarly resource, a personal experience and a vivid consciousness of the great truths with which we are dealing. The value of the minister is not fixed by his familiarity with flowing phrases that affect the hearer as the flash from the artist's light camera, or the thunder in the clear sky, but by what he is, and what he gives. Let the prayer now ascend,—
“Lord, lift me up and let me stand, By faith, on heaven's table-land,— A higher plane than I have found; Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”
Hagerstown, Md.