MISTAKES

     "We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success," says Smiles; "we often discover what will do by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery. Horne Tooke used to say of his studies in intellectual philosophy that he had become all the better acquainted with the country through having had the good luck sometimes to lose his way."

     We may learn not only from our own mistakes, but from the mistakes of others as well, if we will. Some, however, do not learn the lessons they should, either from their own mistakes or from the mistakes of their fellowmen. They see and acknowledge the errors into which they and others fall, and still run into these very errors over and over again. The worst of all mistakes is to learn nothing from the mistakes one makes. "There is no horse so sure-footed as never to slip," says a French proverb; and even so, there is no man so perfect as never to err. Mistakes occur with all, not excepting even the Pope of Rome, though he is theoretically infallible! Class-leaders have been no more exempt from errors and failures than any other class of men. A good class-leader, however, avoids the mistakes he knows himself and others to have made, and thereby shows himself a man of sense, as well as a man of grace. For the benefit of this class of leaders, and of such as desire to be of this class, we subjoin the following somewhat extended extract, on "Some Mistakes of Class-leaders," from Goodell's "The Drill-Master of Methodism:"

     "There can be no greater mistake than for a class-leader to give the fag-end of his time and strength and thought to the class. The work of the class-leader is as distinct a calling as any other in the church of God He must be able concerning that work to say, 'This one thing I do,' before he will be able to accomplish any great or fitting good. He must look at everything from the standpoint of the class-leader; so will he find grist for his mill. Reading and observation will fill his mind.

     "It is a serious mistake for the class leader to crack his whip and ply the lash. He is a leader and not a driver. 'The shepherd goeth before his sheep and calleth them by name and leadeth them out.' Kindness and not severity must rule in thought and life. If severity ever has place it should be like the cut of the surgeon, which is to save life, and should be done with the loving tenderness of a mother.

     "It is a mistake for the member to harp on old experiences; it is also a mistake for the leader to employ cast iron methods and stereotyped expressions. Get a new vocabulary. Dress up the truth in new garments. Throw away the threadbare platitudes which were outworn a century ago. 'Experience,' says Gregory, 'is the life-blood of the church, and its unchecked circulation is essential to vigor and effectiveness,' Let the class never lose its distinctive character as a meeting for testimony and experience, but do not think that these are the only things to be conserved.

     "Experience becomes of value as it is examined and classified by trained and thoughtful minds. 'Too much is made of doubts and fears, as though these were a part of the Christian's legitimate stock in trade, instead of being really contraband goods to be seized and destroyed in the King's name!'

     "Do not mistake a sigh for religious piety or a smile for an agent of the enemy. Even a good laugh may clear the atmosphere of some second-hand solemnity as unhealthful as last Sunday's atmosphere left in the church by a careless sexton to ruin a preacher's health and sermon. 'Be not deceived, God is not mocked,' and people are not blind. The leader cannot consort through the day with the world, the flesh and the devil, and come to his class at night with a fervor of holy zeal. He bears an unmistakable atmosphere. No warm declamation or pious platitude will supply his lack or move his people.

     "It is a mistake not to go from the closet to the class. If it is a mistake not to begin on time, it is also a mistake not to close on time.

     "While we would not limit the manifestation of the Spirit in class in expressing the high commission from God, the leader ought to be as much in touch with God's Spirit as any member of his class, and be able to discern whether the lengthy testimony is of God or from pride or self.

     "Said a class-leader of sense to a member who was giving a long and profitless testimony, with the declaration that God had commanded it: 'You are quite mistaken, my brother; the Spirit has just told me it is time for you to stop.' If such an answer shocks us, it is no more shocking than such a claim.

     "It is a great mistake for the class-leader to rail at the church or find fault with the ministry, either his own pastor or the ministry at large.

     "He cannot afford to be absent from the weekly prayer-meeting nor to be silent when in attendance. Unless the service is crowded and he must deny himself for the sake of others, let him speak at the first opportunity and be a model in point and brevity.

     "It is a mistake for the leader to do all the work himself. No meeting can long survive with full ranks and interest where the leader takes three-quarters of the time, and then says to the members, 'Let us be very brief tonight.' Do not make the mistake of replying to each testimony or speech. Some of them are complete in themselves, and need nothing but your amen; others are of such a character that the less said the better. It is an unpardonable blunder to match a long and purposeless testimony with a longer homily.

     "Do not scold the members who are not there and accuse every one of spiritual apostasy who does not answer to his name each week. Do not in the prayer-meeting inveigh against all other means of grace as compared with the class-meeting, and do not hold up the attendants of the class-meeting as the only religious people in the church. Do not think that the only place for prayer is at the beginning or close of the meeting. The best answer to many a testimony is an earnest prayer. The best person to offer it may not be the leader, but some one who himself is walking a lonely way, a Via Dolorosa such as his Master knew.

     "Permit these warning words, and may grace and wisdom keep you from all the mistakes which might otherwise mar your noble, faithful ministry."