HERALDS OF GOD
organizing ability, tact and culture? the reputation of being a good "mixer" and a shrewd judge of men, some measure of facility of speech, and a decent level of piety—this is shocking and deplorable. No ministry is worth anything which is not first and last and all the time a ministry beneath the Cross. Let a man reckon the cost ere he closes with the call.
There are, indeed, mighty compensations and incomparably precious rewards. You will receive letters which you will treasure all your life as sacred, because they tell gratefully of some vision received, some challenge accepted, some discovery made of the wonderful friendship of Jesus; and when, for one reason or another, your work is taking more out of you than you care to tell, and disappointments are encountered, and the haunting question "What is the use?" stands at your door and knocks, you will thank God at such a time that it is possible by opening the drawer where these letters lie, and reading one or more of them again, to send the low mood flying, and to rally and comfort your soul with a sudden vision of the essential worth and splendour of the task, the amazing privilege of being in it at all, and the magnificence of the faithfulness of God.
The true preacher, then, is a man completely dedicated to the high mission on which he is sent forth. He will be resolute and vigilant, lest any secret slackness should invalidate the message he proclaims. Not that he will obtrude his labours, or take credit from his crowded days, or wish that anyone should know the
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