Pensees: Warning to Lazy Preachers

Warning to Lazy Preachers

“In almost all instances the pastor will lose his influence and position of usefulness when he is not diligent in the labors of the study. It is nearly inevitable that it should be so. In innumerable cases the secret of the decline in the popularity of ministers is to be found here. The fact cannot be concealed from the people when their pastor is habitually negligent in his preparation for the pulpit. They will see it and feel it, even though they may never cast a glance inside the study. They will perceive it in the crudeness of his discourses, and in the repetition of the same thoughts, the same Scripture quotations, the same stories and the same illustrations month after month. And can they be blamed if their interest flags and they soon grow weary? They are not fed; they learn nothing; there is nothing for them to learn; and their attention must soon be gone. Many, many ministers should look to this as the cause of their unpopularity, and not to the unreasonableness of their congregations. If they would make diligent preparation, not only for each particular sermon, but also for the general work, by incessant thought and gathering of material, it is not often that the people would lose their interest in either the preaching or the preacher” (Thomas Murphy, 1877).