THE evangelist is not an officer in a church, or for a church, but his work is at large, to build up the churches, strengthen them and turn sinners to the Lord. He should introduce the gospel into new places, establish churches, and in due time set them in order. He is not an ecclesiastic, an official dignitary, who has much to say about his office and authority, but a gospel man, a man of influence, and can command respect and do a good work.
A shepherd, or, which is the same, pastor, is not an officer at all, but a figurative term applied to him who takes care of the flock. The flock means the church, and the shepherd is the correlative of flock, and is applied to an overseer, or one who oversees or looks over the flock as a shepherd. “Pastoral work” is, then, the work of a shepherd, or overseer, who can not be a novice or a young convert.
The work of the evangelist is now needed as much as ever, and the evangelist is by no means done away. So the shepherds to take care of the flock are now needed as much as ever, and the teachers are in demand as much as ever. These are not now raised up and qualified by miracle, but by ordinary means; nor is the work gone that they are severally to do. The evangelizing is now needed as much as ever; so is taking care of the churches and teaching the disciples all things that Jesus commanded. True, as our brother has said, there is no office in the church except overseer and deacon. The office of an evangelist is not a church office.
We have a glorious army of young men now called into the field, capable of one of the noblest works ever done by men. They have it in their hearts to do that work; but if they are perverted they will be ruined and will never accomplish the work to which they have given themselves. They must not, on the one hand, be discouraged and disheartened, but encouraged and their way opened; and, on the other hand, they must not be arrogant, conceited and vain, but humble, gentle, and kind; examples of piety, purity and moral excellence. They must not think to leap into authority by virtue of being preachers, but, by faithful labor and noble deeds, win their way and gain an influence among the people of God. If, now and then, one of them is puffed up, filled with conceit and arrogance, the same is true of other classes of men, and it is no argument against them as a class, but against the individual.