MINISTRY, Support of the, C. H. Cayce In another column in this issue of THE PRIMITIVE BAPTIST is a letter from Brother I D. Sidwell, of Woodson, Mo., in which he expresses the idea that the ministers always get all the temporal things they need. We trust Brother Sidwell will not become offended at us if we offer a few words of warning on this point. Remember, dear brother, that it is possible for us to go to an extreme on either side of this question. We do not think it will do to say that all our ministers are neglected, and that they do not have the necessary carnal things administered to them; we think some of them are well cared for. Neither do we think it correct to say that all of them have all the necessaries of life ministered to them. If they do, then the church always does her duty in this respect, and we think it is possible for a church to fail to do her duty in this particular, as well as in other matters. So, we think that our poor and afflicted ministers—especially the pastors—are sometimes neglected by the churches or brethren. While this is true, we do not feel like condemning our brethren on this account. The Old Baptists are the best people in the world, and there is no people on earth who are more willing to do their duty than the Old Baptists, when they understand what their duty is. It may be that some of our brethren in the ministry fail to teach the brethren their duty along this line, and then the brethren fail to do their duty because they have not been taught what that duty is; and in such cases the minister is at fault and the brethren are not. We do not think a salaried or contract system is Scriptural, and such a system should not be taught by the ministers or tolerated by the churches, and the duty of the minister is to kindly warn his brethren against the evils of such a system. At the same time, the Scriptures abundantly teach that it is the duty of the church, the duty of the brethren, to minister of their carnal things to those who minister spiritual things to them, and the minister is under obligation to lovingly and kindly teach this duty. It is just as much right that he teach this duty as it is right for him to teach the people of God any other duty. So far as we are concerned we have no complaint to make against our brethren. We feel that our efforts among them in ministering spiritual things are poor and weak, but they have been good and kind to us. We do not feel to be worthy of their love and esteem and sweet fellowship, and we have not written these things because we feel they have not been good to us, for we do not feel to deserve the many acts of kindness they have shown to us in the many different places where we have been among them; but we want to kindly and lovingly ask our dear brethren to be conservative and not go to an extreme either way. Let us try to be found contending lovingly for the right way. We should be careful and not go to an extreme on one side just because some go to an extreme on the other side. May the Lord direct us aright, and keea us humble and at the feet of our brethren, in the “good way,” is our prayer. The Primitive Baptist
C. H. Cayce We have been requested to write on this subject, the party making the request referring us to 1 Cor. 9:13-14; Luke 10:7, and Matt. 10:10. In Matthew 10 is recorded the sending out of the twelve, and in Luke 10 is recorded the sending out of the seventy. We have expressed our opinion regarding this question through our columns heretofore, and will only make a few brief remarks now. In the ninth chapter of 1st Corinthians the apostle is certainly teaching the idea that the temporal necessities of the ministry should be looked after. In verse 11 he says, “If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?” In verse 9 he refers to the law, which says, “Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn.” In verse 10 he lets us know that this was written for our sakes. The ox should do the eating where he was doing the treading. It was not God’s way that the ox do the treading in China and do the eating in the United States. He was to eat right where he did the treading. Verse 11 shows that the eating was of carnal things. Then in verse 13 he refers to the law again, calling attention to the fact that a part of the things offered in the temple and on the altar were reserved for those who waited at the altar. In verse 14 he says, “Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.” Some have argued that this living consists of spiritual food, which the apostle refers to here; but this cannot be true, for the reason that in verse 15 he says, “But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me. We think the language to the twelve and to the seventy contains the idea that they were to go, trusting the Lord that they would be cared for and sustained. The Lord’s promise is better than promises of men. The man who will not go until a support is promised him shows his lack of faith in the Lord’s promise. The Lord has put it into the hearts of His people to care for us, for we know they have been kind and good to us. They have been good to minister to our necessities, and we hope to never bring reproach on the cause they love. Brethren, pray the Lord to sustain us, that we may be kept in the right way. The Primitive Baptist, June 1, 1909.