“We must feed the flock of God. We must deal with eternal verities, and grapple with heart and conscience.
We must, in fact, live to educate a race of saints, in whom the Lord Jesus shall be reflected as in a thousand mirrors.
The apostle Paul truly says, “Though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers.” (1 Corinthians 4:15)
He calls the general run of teachers pedagogues, and says that we have myriads of such; but we have not many “fathers.”
The spiritual father is full of tenderness, and manifests an intense love for the souls of men. His doctrinal divinity does not dry up his humanity.
He was born on purpose to care for other people, and his heart cannot rest until it is full of such care.
Along our coast, in certain places, there are no harbours; but, in other spots, there are bays into which vessels run at once in the time of storm.
Some men present an open natural harbourage for people in distress: you love them instinctively, and trust them unreservedly; and they, on their part, welcome your confidence, and lay themselves out for your benefit.
They were fashioned by nature with warm human sympathies, and these have been sanctified by grace, so that it is their vocation to instruct, to comfort, to succour, and in all ways to help spirits of a feebler order.
These are the kingly men who become nursing fathers of the church.
All hail to the absurdities of holy love: long may they reign!
Baby is king: the weakest rule our hearts. The pace of the whole flock is slackened, lest we overdrive the lambs.
Our ruling is carried out by seeing that none tread down the weak, and by setting the example of the greatest self-forgetfulness.
He is not fit to be a father who does not see that this is the imperative law of love, and is, indeed, the secret of power.
We lay ourselves down for all men to go over us if thus they may come to Jesus. Our place is to be the servants of all.
If you desire to be a father in the church that you may have his special honour, you see the way to it: it comes of self-denial, patience, forbearance, love, zeal, and diligence.
‘Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.’ (Matthew 20:27)”
–Charles H. Spurgeon, An All-Round Ministry: Addresses to Ministers and Students (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1900/1960), 186-189
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