The Life of William Carey, Shoemaker & MissionarySmith, George
Religion
The Life of William Carey, Shoemaker & Missionary
Smith, George
Carey, William, 1761-1834; Missions -- India
"FOURTHLY, As to the difficulty of procuring the necessaries of life,
this would not be so great as may appear at first sight; for, though we
could not procure European food, yet we might procure such as the
natives of those countries which we visit, subsist upon themselves.
And this would only be passing through what we have virtually engaged
in by entering on the ministerial office. A Christian minister is a
person who in a peculiar sense is not his own; he is the servant of
God, and therefore ought to be wholly devoted to him. By entering on
that sacred office he solemnly undertakes to be always engaged, as much
as possible, in the Lord's work, and not to choose his own pleasure, or
employment, or pursue the ministry as a something that is to subserve
his own ends, or interests, or as a kind of bye-work. He engages to go
where God pleases, and to do or endure what he sees fit to command, or
call him to, in the exercise of his function. He virtually bids
farewell to friends, pleasures, and comforts, and stands in readiness
to endure the greatest sufferings in the work of his Lord, and Master.
It is inconsistent for ministers to please themselves with thoughts of
a numerous auditory, cordial friends, a civilised country, legal
protection, affluence, splendour, or even a competency. The slights,
and hatred of men, and even pretended friends, gloomy prisons, and
tortures, the society of barbarians of uncouth speech, miserable
accommodations in wretched wildernesses, hunger, and thirst, nakedness,
weariness, and painfulness, hard work, and but little worldly
encouragement, should rather be the objects of their expectation. Thus
the apostles acted, in the primitive times, and endured hardness, as
good soldiers of Jesus Christ; and though we, living in a civilised
country where Christianity is protected by law, are not called to
suffer these things while we continue here, yet I question whether all
are justified in staying here, while so many are perishing without
means of grace in other lands. Sure I am that it is entirely contrary
to the spirit of the gospel for its ministers to enter upon it from
interested motives, or with great worldly expectations. On the
contrary, the commission is a sufficient call to them to venture all,
and, like the primitive Christians, go everywhere preaching the gospel.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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