in the olden time the bible formed the chief reading of christian congregations, and the pulpit occupied the place of power in popular instruction. this is now changed. the newspaper, the magazine, the popular novel, the multitudinous products of the press, crowd the bible from its former place even in religious families, and the platform and the press rival the pulpit as vital educative forces in guiding and controlling popular thought. it is useless to declaim against this; it is one of the great facts of providence connected with our age and life; but the wise pastor will carefully consider what he can do to control this inevitably potent force of the press, and make it a help instead of a hindrance to his work; for with proper supervision this vast power may be made a most beneficent auxiliary to the pulpit. here i suggest:
1. the pastor should aim to secure in every family a good religious newspaper. this is a matter of primary moment, for such a paper is an ever-present force, educating religious thought and feeling and enriching and elevating practical life. most pastors would be startled, on making the inquiry, to find how few families in their congregation take a religious paper, and how many are taking only trashy and often morally poisonous publications, the habitual reading of which must utterly neutralize the instruction and influence of the pulpit. the magazine and newspaper are the habitual reading of the family circle; and the pastor who fails to exercise watchful care in regard to the character of this reading will often find it one of the most destructive forces at work among his people.
2. the intelligent and thoughtful minister, in his public [p. 115] and private work, will often call the attention of his people to good books, and use his influence to introduce them. his people, pressed under secular care and toil, are most of them not in a position to judge of the value and tendency of the literature offered to them; and they rightfully look to him, as an intelligent and studious man, to guide their judgment in the selection of reading. the sunday-school library also should be carefully selected under his eye and secured a wide circulation. in a large congregation it may sometimes be of advantage to have a reading-room and a circulating library, placed under the care of some association; and over this also the pastor’s watchful supervision will be required. he should also provide himself with tracts—brief, simple, pungent, clearly setting forth sin, redemption, repentance, faith, and christian duties—such as may awaken the careless, guide the inquirer, and press to duty the hesitant christian. these little winged evangels are most valuable auxiliaries in his pastoral work and should be kept for judicious circulation in the inquiry meeting, in pastoral visitation, and in seasons of revival. as issued by our publication society, they are now of such wide variety and high value, and of such slight cost, that no pastor should allow himself to neglect a means so important to his success.[1]
3. the subject of reading and books should also be presented in the pulpit that the great importance of care in this may be felt, and the purity of the homes of the people be guarded against a pernicious influence of a poisoned literature. many a christian parent has never been aroused [p. 116] to the real peril in which he is placing his family by the reading he thoughtlessly admits to the home circle.
4. a pastor should also seek to inspire and elevate the public sentiment of the community where he is located in regard to schools, lyceums, libraries, and public lectures, so as to secure pure and christian influences at these important fountains of public opinion and character. as an educated man and a christian minister, this duty naturally devolves on him; and his influence, rightly and quietly used, may often determine the question whether the schools shall be under christian or non-christian instruction, or whether the lecture-course shall be filled by men who revere god’s word or by those who hate and traduce it. no minister ought to be indifferent to the public sentiment around him; for it is the intellectual and moral atmosphere in which his people live, and which must needs tend either to poison or to purify their souls.
footnotes:
[1] it would be well were every church to see that the pastor is furnished with a sufficient supply of such publications. some churches are accustomed to make regular provision for this object. they believe that the soldier should not be expected to purchase his own ammunition.—editor.
