MINISTRIES

     Ministry means service. Referring to the vicariousness of both His own earthly life and His death upon the cross, Jesus said, "The Son of Man is come not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matt. 20: 28). When He had washed His disciples' feet, He said: "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you" (John 13:13-15).

     The lesson we should learn from such scriptures is this: We are Christians only in so far as our lives, like the life of the Master, are devoted to service for others -- to condescending and self-forgetful ministries toward our fellow men!

     Next to ministers of the gospel perhaps no class of men are, by virtue of their office, more obligated to altruistic* service than class-leaders. [*altruistic service = service that has regard for others as a principle of action, unselfish service, service from a concern for other people. -- based on the OXFORD DICT. definition of "altruism"] It is their peculiar duty to look after and minister in every way after their power to all among their flock who are in any kind of temporal or spiritual need: and, other things being equal, the leader who is most faithful and efficient in this particular part of his calling will be the most acceptable leader, and also the most fruitful in building up not only his own class, but the church as a whole and the work of God in general.

     There are particular classes to which the class-leader should ever strive diligently to adapt himself in the way of helpful ministry. These are too numerous to admit of all being mentioned here, and so only those that should appeal more especially, to the leader's attention and sympathy will be noticed.

     1. Seekers after God should ever find in the class-leader a man full of sympathy for them, and skilled in the art of leading them into peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. When class-meetings are what they ought to be, and what they used to be, they will be seasons of revival interest. They will be places to which both leaders and members will invite such as are awakened on account of their sins and desire to flee from the wrath to come. Such were the class-meetings of early Methodism, and such were the class-meetings of the writer's early day. Such in particular were the class-meetings held for many years by the saintly Carvosso, who, almost everywhere he went (by the way he was a sort of itinerant class leader, and would that we had many like him today), kindled a red-hot revival flame, not alone in his own classes, but in the church and throughout the community as a whole. Referring to one of these revivals as described in his Memoir, his son, who edited the volume, says: "Of all the various revivals of religion, of which Cornwall has been so remarkable a scene since Methodism was first planted in it, the revival of which my father here speaks is by many considered the most striking and interesting. It is, therefore, now generally distinguished by the epithet, 'the great revival!'" ^[1] Carvosso was as every class-leader should strive to be, successful in getting sinners under conviction, and then skillful in getting them soundly converted to God. The secret of his success was that he took the burden of souls on his heart, and made it the chief business of his life, so far as possible, to get them happily saved. The same method will be found effective still, in greater or less degree, almost everywhere.

     2. Young converts should ever receive the tenderest culturing care the leader, under the illumination and guidance of the Spirit, is capable of rendering. In Methodism the class-meeting is the convert's training school. If those converted are not at once gathered into the fold by the pastor, let the leaders invite them to their classes, encourage them all they can, bring them to the notice of the pastor and recommend that they be received on probation and assigned to classes at once; and then let them become a special charge of the leaders to whose classes they are respectively assigned, even as a new babe on its arrival in the home becomes a special charge and object of loving attention and service on the part of the parents.

     Young converts must be instructed in the way of righteousness; led on in personal experience into the deeper things of the Spirit; fed on "the sincere milk of the word" until so developed that they can take "strong meat" with impunity; exercised in habits of Bible reading, meditation, prayer, testimony, good works, and service for the salvation of others, particularly; safeguarded against the temptations and wiles of Satan; cheered amid the discouragements that so often beset them; disciplined to "endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ;" comforted in seasons of trouble and sorrow; inspired with a patient and glowing optimism; trained to constant and cheerful service; and taught the invaluable secret of how to "rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks." Moreover, as the surest means of strengthening, establishing, and settling them in all that is vital to Christianity, they should, as early as possible after their conversion, be made to know their privilege with reference to entire sanctification, led to hunger, thirst and seek for the experience, brought to the point of intelligent, deliberate, complete and eternal consecration to God, and of acceptance and apprehension of the cleansing efficacy of Christ's blood, resulting in full assurance that they are cleansed from all sin and "made perfect in love."

     These are momentous responsibilities, indeed; and, in face of them, the most experienced leader may well inquire, "Who is sufficient for these things?" And yet, in face of them, assured by the divine promises, the weakest and most inexperienced leader may exclaim, with an inspired apostle, "But our sufficiency is of God" (II Cor. 3:5), and then press hopefully and nobly on in his responsible calling, fully confident that his labor is not in vain in the Lord. One thing should be ever borne in mind, however, by both the church and the class-leaders, namely, that he who said, "Feed My sheep," also said, and that with equal emphasis, "Feed My lambs;" and that, as no flock will long need tending whose lambs are neglected, so no church will long exist in a sense worthy of the name which fails to look carefully after its young converts, nurture them in the things of grace, and build them up in all that makes for holy character and lofty service.

     3. Believers who hunger and thirst for full redemption should ever find in the leader one who lives in the experience of holiness, yearns for their perfection, and is wise and efficient in helping others into the experience. There is no other service in the church in which there maybe such freedom in exchange of views and experiences with reference to helping seekers of entire sanctification into the experience as in the class-meeting. This is the most appropriate of all places to present the subject of holiness, urge upon all to seek that perfect love which casteth out fear, deal faithfully with those who do seek it, and minister the kind of help each seeker's case may seem to require. A live and well-conducted class-meeting ought to be characterized by continuous revival in this direction. as well as in the direction of securing the conversion of sinners and the recovery of backsliders. Let every class-meeting be, at least in some measure, a repetition of Pentecost, and that class and its leader will live on high spiritual planes, and will be a mighty host for the upbuilding of the church and for the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom on the earth. An unsanctified leader, however, will lack both the interest and the skill requisite to build up believers in holiness and make them instrumental in spreading Pentecostal fire wherever they may go. It is a characteristic of the good shepherd that "he goeth before his sheep," and 'leadeth them out' (John 10:3, 4).

     4. Another class on whom the leader should bestow much tender and helpful care are the poor. "Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and Thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness" (Psa. 41:1-3). God regards helpful ministration to the poor in the same light as though it were rendered directly to Himself; and there is no kind of service for which He promises more abundant and precious rewards. On the other hand neglect and oppression of the poor are both highly provoking to the Almighty, and will not be allowed to go unpunished. "Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker" (Prov. 17:5).

     One of the things which pre-eminently characterized the primitive Christians was their compassionate care of the poor; and in this respect the rise of Methodism was a revival of that primitive spirit and practice. It began with Wesley and his fellow students of the "Holy Club" in Oxford. It was introduced in systematic form into the primitive Methodist societies. From the beginning it was one of the class-leader's duties to minister to this much neglected class, and for many years the "penny a week" class contributions were devoted exclusively to this object. Nor did Mr. Wesley regard duty to the poor as done when money was contributed and sent to them. He insisted on visiting the poor himself, and also on their being visited by others. He spent the month of December, 1760, in London, examining the society, visiting many of its members, etc. Referring to this in his Journal, he says: "I visited as many as I could of the sick. How much better is it, when it can be done, to carry relief to the poor, than to send it! and that both for our own sake and theirs. For theirs, as it is so much more comfortable to them, and as we may assist them in spirituals as well as temporals; and for our own, as it is far more apt to soften our hearts, and to make us naturally care for each other." ^[2]

     To a member of one of his societies he also wrote, February 7, 1776, as follows: "I have found some of the uneducated poor who have exquisite taste and sentiment; and many, very many, of the rich who have scarcely any at all. But I do not speak of this. I want you to converse more, abundantly more, with the poorest of the people, who, if they have not taste, have souls, which you may forward in the way to heaven. And they have (many of them) faith and the love of God in a larger measure than any persons I know. Creep in among these, in spite of dirt and a hundred disgusting circumstances, and thus put off the gentlewoman. I should like this as well as you do, but I cannot discover a precedent for it in the life of our Lord or of any of His apostles. My dear friend, let you and I walk as He walked." ^[3]

     This was the spirit and practice of early Methodism, as it was the spirit and practice of primitive Christianity, and as it should be the spirit and practice of all Christians, and especially of all Methodists, to the end of time. Obligations are upon all Christians in this respect, but these obligations rest with double weight upon the class-leader, particularly with regard to the poor of his own class, and such others in need as he becomes apprised of in connection with his work as a class-leader. Nor can he or others minister to such in a truly evangelical spirit except by walking closely with the Master and cultivating that tender sympathy for them which ever dominated His heart and was exhibited in His life. How many of us have need to say, in Shakespeare's words:

"Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er you are,

That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,

How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,

Your looped and windowed raggedness, defend you

From seasons such as these? Oh, I have ta'en

Too little care of this!"

     Brethren, be it never forgotten that our mission is especially to the poor. In the fulfillment of this mission let us go forth in the spirit of the Master, of whom it is written: "Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich" (II Cor. 8:9). Let us remember, too, that we are nowhere likelier to gather gems of unfading luster for Immanuel's crown than among the poor and neglected classes. "The fairest jewels in the coronet of Methodism have been gathered from lowly places," says Mr. Atkinson. "That Methodist girl whose beautiful life, glorious experience and saintly death, as told by Leigh Richmond in his simple story of 'The Dairyman's Daughter,' have charmed Christendom and converted multitudes, was a girl in humble life. Now princes in intellect and piety wander to her tomb to pay homage to her faith and to breathe renewed vows of devotion over her dust, while throughout the Christian world the name of Elizabeth Walbridge is 'like ointment poured forth.'

     In fact, not a few of the illustrious leaders in all branches of Methodism have risen out of obscure conditions, among the number being the holy and beloved Bishop Asbury, "the chief founder and apostle of Methodism in America." ^[4]

     5. Among other classes that should engage the special ministrations of the class-leader are the sick and the sorrowing. As with the poor, so with these classes, they are always with us. Christian Science, so-called, may deny the reality of sin, sickness and death, but sin, sickness and death are melancholy facts, nevertheless. Because of this the world is full of trouble and sorrow. We may be tempted at times to think it might have been a better ordered world than it is, but we are probably mistaken in this. This world, as it is, is the best kind of world that could be as a theater of probationary discipline for future perfect and immortal life. Here is a field for testing, developing and perfecting character that is better adapted to these ends, so far as we can see, than heaven itself. Here are opportunities to "let patience have her perfect work," for instance, such as we can not conceive of as having place in the heavenly world. Here, too, are demands upon us for altruistic sympathy and service such as could hardly have place in a sinless and sorrowless world.

     The sick among his members should be the class-leader's special care. Second to that of the pastor only is his responsibility in this matter. In defining and limiting the authority of the class-leader of early Methodism Mr. Wesley said: "He has authority to meet his class, receive their contributions, and to visit the sick." From that time until now it has been regarded as the leader's duty to fulfill this ministry, especially to those among his own members who are ill. To perform such a duty in a way that will be welcome and helpful rather than offensive and harmful he must have, in addition to grace, sympathy, judgment and tact. Sympathy will enable him in some degree at least to take on the condition of the patient, and thereby to gain easy approach, to adapt himself to the patient's peculiar needs, and to be soothing and inspiring rather than irritating and depressing. Judgment will enable him quickly to discern what is and what is not befitting in his relation to the patient, the family, the nurse, the physician, and any others with whom his visitation may bring him into contact. Tact will enable him skillfully to overcome difficulties that may confront him in some places, to avoid snares that may be laid for him in other places, to manage perplexities and embarrassments that are always liable to arise with a deftness that must command respect for himself and his office. In all such visitation the spiritual good of the patient should be the chief thing sought, but good sense should always dictate the manner in which it should be sought. As a rule the visits should be quite brief; conversation, reading and prayer, if in order at all, as usually they will be, should also be brief, subdued, tender, and of a cheerful and inspiring tone and character. Faithfulness there must be, but the result of the visitation should on the whole be cheering and enlivening, or it will prove a calamity rather than a blessing. A bunch of flowers, or some little delicacy or remembrancer of one kind or another, taken to the afflicted, will often open the heart to receive one's ministry in things spiritual, where otherwise it might have remained closed. In no place can one more appropriately exemplify the Golden Rule than in the visitation of the sick.

     The troubled and sorrowing should also find in the class-leader one who can appreciate their distresses and bring to them the ministry of heavenly consolation. Bereavement is sooner or later the common lot of all.

"There is no flock, however well attended,

But one dead lamb is there;

There is no home, however well defended,

But has one vacant chair.

"The earth is full of farewells to the dying.

Of mourning for the dead;

The heart of Rachel, for her children crying,

Will not be comforted."

     How welcome a messenger is he in the home of sorrow who can truthfully say: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted," etc. (Isa. 61:1). The class-leader should be a man of this sort -- one who by his sympathy, his counsels, his prayers, his appropriate use of Scripture and sacred hymnody can minister to minds diseased or troubled, and who by the atmosphere of holy cheerfulness which he generates can assuage grief, inspire faith, kindle hope, and, as with celestial sunshine, dissipate darkness and make even broken hearts rejoice.

     "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them that are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God" (II Cor. 1:3, 4). 

1 Life of Carvosso, p. 47.

2 Works, Vol. IV, p. 80.

3 Works, Vol. VI., p. 782.

4 "The Class Leader," pp. 121-122.