p. 18 | Secretaryship as a Life Work- by C. L. B.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 5, 1914

Secretaryship as a Life Work—

By C. L. B.

No. 3

Intellectual Conditions of Religious Leadership

We come next to consider the intellectual conditions of leadership. The secretary must be a student. Less than this he cannot be.

First, he needs to be a student in order to command the respect of those whom he seeks to lead or influence. I have heard contrasts drawn between two secretaries, the one of meager, and the other of full, mental equipment, in which it was stated that the man of meager equipment reached the hearts of young people more effectively because he did not know too much, and was therefore more like themselves. Other things being equal, it would seem as if the impression made upon young people by a secretary whose mind is well stored and well directed would be deeper and more permanent than that of a secretary who had not risen above their average intellectual level.

A second reason why the secretary, if he is to be a leader in religious work, needs to be a student is that his mind may be kept flexible, discriminating, and appropriating,—flexible, to appreciate the religious viewpoint of others; discriminating, to detect their errors; and appropriating, to adopt and assimilate that which is good and pass it along to others. We read with pity of the poor fanatic of India who thrusts his hand above his head and makes a vow that he will never take it down again. His arm becomes rigid; in time he cannot use it. But what is that to the intellectual rigidity of the human mind when an individual voluntarily shuts himself off from imbibing God's truth, from enlarging his mental capacity by reading, observation, and counsel, and his mind becomes a machine?

Mr. Darwin records his own experience bearing on this point: "Up to the age of thirty, poetry gave me great pleasure, pictures and music gave me great delight. But now for many years I cannot endure to read a line of poetry; I have also almost lost my taste for pictures and music." What Mr. Darwin did with a part of his brain you and I can do with ours, thus shutting ourselves out from a sympathetic touch with our intelligent fellow associates, and from the power to help mold those less intelligent.

A third reason why the secretary should be a student is that by reading he may keep in touch with the best methods to enter the open door of opportunity into the religious lives of young people. There are hundreds of men, students of human nature, who are studying the best and most successful methods of reaching men. Through the printed page we can learn from these men. To illustrate, take the work for children and young people. Too often we have moved along in our self-appointed way, attempting to cut down the coat of the father to fit the son, supposing that the methods that had been successful with men of forty would be as successful with a boy of fifteen. Meanwhile in educational circles new and better methods were being brought to light for training the boy. The price of such knowledge is hard work.

Recently I read of a physician who had attained a leading position in medical circles of New York. That busy man, carrying forward his work under the pressure of the metropolitan life, in addition to studying his cases and reading medical journals and magazines, gives four hours a day to a close study of the most recent books on medical science and to original work in his own laboratory. This means for him exclusion from social enjoyment, but it means leadership among physicians who are interested in man's physical life. Should this not arouse us to renewed activity in a careful study of practical methods to find avenues into the religious life of our young people?

A fourth reason for the student habit is the relation of mental culture to executive ability. Professor James, in "Talks to Teachers," defines "an uneducated person as one who is non-plussed by all but the most habitual situations." On the contrary, he says, "One who is educated is able practically to extricate himself by means of the examples with which his memory is stored, and of the abstract conceptions which he has acquired, from circumstances in which he never was placed before. Education, in short, cannot be better described than by calling it the organization of acquired habits of conduct and tendencies to behavior."

If Professor James's definition is true, a study of books causes a man's horizon to recede as he views the problems of life, and frequently furnishes examples of the best methods to solve problems.

A fifth reason for the secretary's acquiring studious habits is this: Other things being equal, intelligent men appreciate the Scriptures more keenly. I do not forget the great spiritual insight of many so-called ignorant persons, but that does not mean that we must be ignorant to understand the Scriptures, or that because of our ignorance we shall have greater spiritual insight. You remember the two men who quarreled over the interpretation of a scripture; one finally said, "The Lord has no use for your learning," while the other replied, "I know it, but he has less use for your ignorance."

The secretary must be a student if he would sound the depths of truth, otherwise it may be said of him, as Henry Moore said to Southey when asked why he could not write the life of John Wesley: "Sir, the well is deep, and there is nothing to draw with." The secretary who is not a man of student habits is committing intellectual suicide. Ole Bull is reported once to have said, "If I quit practicing on my violin for a day, I notice the difference; if I quit for two days, my friends notice the difference; if I quit for a week, everybody notices the difference." May it not be said of the secretary who fails to maintain his mental development, that soon he will recognize it, a little later his closest associates will recognize it, and finally it will be recognized by those to whom he stands as a religious leader?

A sixth reason why the secretary should be a student is that in order to render the best possible service the best preparation must be made. Any young person looking forward to the secretaryship as a life work should have as much preliminary general education as he can acquire. He should be the equal in culture and training of any young person he may meet. The Y. M. C. A. requires a full college course as preparation for association service.

The prospective secretary may do much in a specific way while in college to prepare himself for this life work. That he should participate actively in the work of the young people's society and the band work goes without saying. A faithful performance of committee service, the leadership of prayer bands, the daily study of the Bible as a life habit, the cultivation of a genuine interest in men, which seeks to enlist them in Christian life and service,—these things would at once suggest themselves as training elements of wider application than to student life alone. He should endeavor to become, while in college, what he must be after he leaves it, "All things to all men."

It is necessary for the secretary to study the habits, lives, and characteristics of young people and children. This means a study of physiology in order to know the body, of psychology and literature in order to know the mind, of sociology in order to understand the social nature, and religious pedagogy in order to sympathize intelligently with young people and to be able to help them solve the great problems which confront our youth.

The secretary must also devote time to personal culture. The reasons for this are numerous. Those for whom he works are keen to detect shallowness, and very free to expose it. Again, a new and growing work, like the work

for our young people, demands men who can create, men who see visions; and narrow, ignorant men do not possess these characteristics. To reach the head of his profession, the secretary must spend much time in hard study, not only along the lines of young people's problems, but along a general line that will enable him to converse freely and intelligently with the ordinary church member or high school student.

To the man with the enthusiasm of youth spurring him on to begin life's battles, and with a sense of the great opportunities offered in the Missionary Volunteer movement, this may appear a long road to travel before entering upon his life work. But if the man with no higher purpose than to serve his own ends will put years into his preparation, should not the man who wishes to be of service to God and his fellow men through the medium of the Missionary Volunteer movement, be willing to devote the necessary time and energy to securing an equipment, which, however complete, will be taxed to the utmost by the demands that will be made upon it?

The French proverb says, "Man is young as long as he grows," and we might add, The secretary is useful as long as he grows; and if, like our Saviour, he grows in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man, there need never come to him any questions as to his approaching the "dead line" or the age limit.

C. L. B.