Editorial May 29, 1909 Issue

THE TRUE MINISTRY

John B. Willis

If the recognition and confession of one's own faults is a preliminary of progress, then Protestant ministers as a whole are at the dawn of better things, for the freedom with which they are criticizing their own equipment and efficiency is quite remarkable. Just now the responsibility of theological seminaries for the inadequacy of theologians to meet the demand of the times is being discussed, both within and without the clerical ranks, and the canvass would give promise of good were there a clearer perception of the Christ-ideal of what ministers are called to do and to be.

When Christ Jesus instructed his disciples to preach the gospel and heal the sick, he very definitely outlined both their duty and their privilege. They were to bring to men spiritual illumination, and to set them free from the disabilities of material sense. Their ministry was to be genuinely philanthropic, i.e., both enlightening and curative, and the history of all really successful endeavor to better human conditions emphasizes the wisdom of the philosophy of this Christ-method of helping mortals to help themselves. To give men a clearer apprehension of the spiritual meanings of life, its duties and privileges under the divine government, and to remove their physical limitations, is certainly to do the best thing possible for them.

Much of the Christian philanthropy of the past has not proved of great advantage to the many, and for the reason that it has cultivated not only a sense of dependence but a spirit of contentment with that sense. To give food, clothes, and protection is often most commendable, because it seems to be a temporary necessity in anticipation of a more important ministry; but it is only when we bring to men both spiritual inspiration to do, and enlarged freedom to do, that we really contribute to the permanent solution of their problems; and this is just as true today as it was nineteen centuries ago. The conditions under which men now find themselves do not differ essentially from those of the past, and they call for both spiritual illumination and relief from physical ills. Considerations for human need, no less than considerations for the divine law and order, demand of every would-be disciple that he meet the responsibilities which Christ Jesus' injunctions to his first followers imposed.

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