91
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
March, 1935
M anaging Church Troubles [Continued, from page 85]
way and get him to go down on his knees with you in prayer, particularly if it be a personal grievance against the pastor. If it is a grievance between brethren, the Scrip tures provide a way. The man aggrieved should go first to this brother. If he will not be reconciled, the injured one should take with him two or three witnesses. If then the brother will not be reconciled, his accuser should tell the matter to the church (cf. Matt. 18 :15-17). However, none o f this procedure is likely to take place without involving the pastor sooner or later. If he is not the direct subject of the criticism, he is in danger o f be coming involved in it, because as counselor he seems to take the side of one or the other party. Be fair; be just; seek to divest yourself o f prejudice. Listen carefully and kindly to both sides, and when the
him ask o f God.” If there is one subject upon which the single minister should pray more than another, it is the subject o f a wife. I have no doubt that most of you are praying on that subject already, but I am anxious that you “ watch” as well as pray. B e cordial to, and considerate o f, all the members. Cordiality is a power! Phillips Brooks managed to get by as a bachelor. Perhaps he was the best-loved and most highly1esteemed o f all Boston pastors, though he walked alone. The reasons therefor existed in the combined cir cumstance that he was a great student, a marvelous preacher, and that he had the ability to smile on every baby and child that belonged to his parish, and thereby won both their affection and that o f parents. A smile is the easiest and simplest contribution that a minister can make to the contentment o f his congregation and toward his own success. D on ’ t P arley with T roubles I f trouble is in the offing, ignore it. According to Webster’s Dictionary, the “ offing” is “ that part o f the visible sea distant from the shore beyond anchorage; out where there is deep water.” Hence, the word can mean “ distance out at sea” as in the expression, “ we have twenty miles offing here.” “ To keep a good offing is to keep a vessel well off shore.” There are some preachers who can scent trouble twenty miles away, and who, the moment they scent it, set their sails for it. What fo lly ! The most successful man I know in the ministry of the day has had more mean things said about him, more ruinous remarks made both concerning his character and conduct than any man I know on earth,1' and yet he does not pay any attention whatever to them. In fact, I have heard him say, more than once, “ I don’t want to hear it,” when people attempted to report to him some critical re mark. Without any reference at all to whether he is deserv ing o f these criticisms, w e put our hearty approval upon his treatment o f them. What is the use o f making your ear an Achilles’ heel—the place o f constant and deadly wound ? There are some preachers who, the moment they hear one word o f criticism, fly after the folks that make it and demand proof o f it.; and sometimes they even go so far as to insist Upon a trial. The preacher who is put on trial is dead before the trial begins. It doesn’t make a particle of difference whether he is justified or condemned. The fact that he has been tried is accepted by society as a condem nation. Only a few days ago, I was called to an adjacent state where an ex parte council had been called. The preacher asked me whether he should attend it and'make it mutual. I said, “ By no means. E x parte councils have no authority whatever, and no power. Don’t go near it. Don’t permit it to take place in your church. Ignore its findings; treat it with silent contempt.” Don’t fight with every fellow who comes around with a chip on his shoulder. Ignore his challenge; give yourself to the task in hand, and move on. I f the trouble is on shipboard, seek its settlement. By saying “ on shipboard,” I mean if it is in the mem bership, and is o f sufficient importance to justify interfer ence; and it should be grave indeed when interference takes place. Seek its adjustment! Johnston Myers o f Chicago in sists that a method o f adjustment is to go to the man who has the grievance and talk things over with him in a kindly
Photograph by Adelbert Bartlett Students of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles are trained to be preachers and teachers of the Word of God. Gathered in the Institute library with their teacher, the Rev. Paul Prichard (standing, at right) the five young men in the picture are members of the advanced class in Homiletics. From left to right, they are: Lester Wendt, R. de la Haye, N. Thomas, Lyman Wendt, and H. Johanson. Referring to both the elementary and the advanced courses in Homiletics, Mr. Prichard, who is also the instructor in Systematic Theology at the Institute, déclares the: common aim of students and teacher: "To make central, in one's study and practice, the effective evangelistic preaching so needful.at the present hour." Students at Biola are trained to "preach the word." case is clear, and you know what God wants, insist upon that. It is very difficult for any man or company o f people in a church to go back o f the right, ,or to get by a sound, sensible, and spiritual course. Chronic trouble-breeders exclude. But let me hasten to say, be sure that they afe chronic trouble-breeders before you dare take this extreme* step. Attorney-General Daugherty, in his The Inside Story o f the Harding Tragedy, says : “ I always Held, as a party leader, that the only way to harmonize an enemy or a trai tor, inside the organization, was to throw him over the fence and put a loyal man in his place.” In my judgment, this principle applies in church life as perfectly as in politics. Our mistakes are sometimes our best; teachers. My own mistake in dealing with the trouble in the First Baptist Church of thirty-three years ago was to follow the advice o f men and women who were too patient, too lenient. I say this lest some young fellow will make a fool of himself by going straightway to the exclusion business. It1 is an extreme act, and ought not to be engaged in until all other reasonable attempts have been exhausted! * But [Continued on page 99]
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