The care of souls is the radical idea of the pastor's office. He is a
shepherd to whom a flock has been committed to guide, to feed, to
defend; and the Divine command enjoins: "Take heed to _all_ the flock,
over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers" (Acts xx. 28).
He is to be the personal religious guide, the confidential Christian
friend, of his charge. Our Lord, in His description of the Good
Shepherd, said: "The sheep hear His voice; and He calleth His own sheep
by name, and leadeth them out. And when He putteth forth His own sheep,
He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him; for they know His
voice" (John x. 3, 4). Each member of his flock is a soul entrusted to
his care by the Lord; and if true to his trust, he is one of those who
"watch for souls as they that must give account." Paul, when in
Ephesus, taught not only publicly, but "from house to house;" and in
his farewell charge to the elders of that city he said: "Watch, and
remember that, by the space of three years, I ceased not to warn every
man night and day with tears" (Acts xx. 31). Dr. Cuyler, one of the
busiest and most effective pastors in Brooklyn, says: "Young brethren,
aim from the start to be thorough pastors. During the week go to those
whom you expect to come to you on the Lord's Day. In the morning of
each day study books; in the afternoon study door-plates and _human
nature._ Your people will give you material for your best practical
sermons. After an effective Sunday work go around among your flock, as
Napoleon rode over the field after a battle--to see where the shot
struck and who were among the wounded."
Dr. Taylor, of the Broadway Tabernacle, New York, addressing
theological students, says: "You will make a great mistake if you
undervalue the visitation of your people. The pulpit is your throne, no
doubt; but then a throne is stable as it rests on the affections of the
people, and to get their affections you must visit them in their
dwellings. I used to look upon my visitation as a dreadful drudgery,
but it has now become my joy, so that whenever I am tempted to despond
I sally forth to visit my flock; and as I look back upon those early
years in which I had no such gladness, I am earnestly desirous to save
you from blundering as I did."
Dr. John Hall, of New York, speaking to a similar audience, said:
"Pains should be taken that nothing prevents your making pastoral
visits. It is very necessary for you to know the people in their homes,
and for the people to know you. The little children and the young
people should know you. The men should know you. It is only in this way
that you can get a distinct idea of the wants of your people, and so be
enabled to adapt your preaching to them. Do not begrudge the time thus
spent. In freely conversing with humble people you will get
side-lights, or particular testimony, that will make you a stronger man
and a better minister for many a day to come."
Bishop Simpson, alluding to the timidity often felt by young men in
regard to pastoral visitation, gives this bit of experience: "I had
much of this timidity when I entered the ministry. The palms of my
hands sometimes burned at the very thought of going out to visit. But I
felt I must go; the church bade me go; I had promised God I would go;
and as the soldier in the army walks forward timidly, yet determinedly,
into the thickest of the fight, so I went in my Master's name. If I
could, I took with me some experienced Christian friend. I spoke to the
people kindly; drew out of them their religious condition and
experience; found many a wandering one and tried to comfort many a
sorrowing heart. Such visits made me better, taught me to feel for the
people, and to break for them the bread of life with more fitness. In a
revival which followed, out of nearly three hundred who came to the
altar for prayer there were very few with whom I had not previously
conversed, and I knew how to enter into their sympathies and to point
them to the Lamb of God."
The late eminent President Francis Wayland, in closing an earnest plea
to pastors on this subject, said: "If, at last, it be said that all
this is beneath the dignity of our profession, and that we cannot
expect an educated man to spend his time in visiting mechanics in their
shops and in sitting down with women engaged in their domestic labor to
converse with them on the subject of religion, to this objection I have
no reply to offer. Let the objector present his case in its full force
to Him who, on His journey to Galilee, 'sat thus on the well' and held
a memorable conversation with a woman of Samaria."
Pastoral visitation, therefore--this personal care of souls--is an
essential part of the pastor's work; and no minister meets the
responsibilities of the sacred office who neglects direct individual
religious contact with his flock. For the performance of this duty,
however, it is obvious no rules of universal application can be given.
Men differ in their characteristics and modes of working, and each
pastor will ordinarily succeed best with his own method. Churches
differ in their circumstances and modes of life, and a method adapted
to one field may not be at all feasible in another. The main points
here to be kept in view are that the pastor in some way come into
personal religious relations with his flock, and that this be done by a
fixed plan. The suggestions made, therefore, will be of only a general
character, and will relate to the limits of this duty, the method of
performing it, and the advantages of its faithful discharge.