Gladly Learn, Gladly Teach: Living Out One's Calling in the Twenty-First Century Academy Book

One of the most pleasurable, exciting, and convicting things I have done lately is to begin reading "The Soul Winner" by C. H. Spurgeon. The book is a collection of lectures and talks Spurgeon gave on the subject of evangelism, mostly from his vantage point as a pastor. Spurgeon writes with utmost conviction, and his writing is laced with witty humor and honest insights into the nature of God and humans. In fact, I am somewhat saddened that no one gave me a copy of this book earlier. To give just one example of his humor, when Spurgeon is writing about the need for soul winners to be good, holy examples in the community he comments: "If any man's life at home is unworthy, he should go several miles away before he stands up to preach, and then, when he stands up, he should say nothing." - Page 137

I will offer some personal reflections of what I have read in the first half of the book. First, I love the great balance with which Spurgeon addresses the nature of evangelism; he never neglects to give credit to God's Holy Spirit in quickening the hearts of humans and making their regeneration effectual, but at the same time, he goes to great lengths to stress every way possible that men can become better at the art of soul winning. For example, he writes an entire chapter on sermons most likely to convert people. In this chapter he encourages preachers to use correct English so as not to distract their hearers from the gospel message. He says: "You may, perhaps, think I am speaking of trifling matters that are hardly worthy of consideration; but I am not, for these things may cause most serious results; and as it is easy to speak and write correct English, do try and know all you can of it." - Page 77

Other than Spurgeon's great balance of the sovereignty of God and man's responsibility, there are four distinct ideas that have stuck out to me so far which I will summarize below with quotes from the book.

1) We must offer people what has first gripped our own hearts.
"In order that you may impress the Word upon those to whom you preach, remember that it must be impressed upon yourself first. You must feel it yourself and speak as a man who feels it; not as if you feel it, but because you feel it, otherwise you will not make it felt by others." - Page 73

2) We must share the whole council of God. The gospel is not meant to make people feel good, but to convict and save.
"Let us plainly proclaim to them that the unbelieving sinner is 'condemned already', and that he is certain to perish everlastingly if he does not trust in Christ. ... I am afraid that we sometimes preach smooth things, too soothing and agreeable, and that we do not set before men their real danger as we should. If we shun in this respect to declare the whole council of God, part at least of the responsibility of their ruin will lie at our door." - Page 89

3) Soul winning must always be bathed in prayer.
"The great secret lies, in a large measure, in powerful supplication. ... There must be prayer, much prayer, constant prayer, vehement prayer, the kind of prayer which will not take a denial, like Luther's prayer, which he called the bombarding of heaven; that is to say, the planting a cannon at heaven's gates to blow them open, for after this fashion fervent men prevail in prayer; they will not come from the mercy-seat until they can cry with Luther, 'Vici,' 'I have conquered, I have gained the blessing for which I strove.' ... May we offer such violent, God-constraining, heaven compelling prayers, and the Lord will not permit us to seek His face in vain." - Pages 119-120
While today prayer meetings are usually avoided by all except the ministers conducting them, Spurgeon felt differently, saying "If I were you, I would make that prayer-meeting a special feature of my ministry; let it be such a prayer-meeting that there is not the like of it within seven thousand miles. ... Keep up the prayer-meeting, whatever else flags; it is the great business evening of the week, the best service between the Sabbaths; be sure to make it so." - Page 101.

4) The results of attempts at soul winning are dependent on our faith.
"I like to go to the pulpit with the feeling, 'This is God's word that I am going to deliver in His name; it cannot return to Him void; I have asked His blessing upon it, and He is bound to give it, and His purposes will be answered'" - Page 40
Also, "look for souls to be saved, and look for a great number of them, too. Do not be satisfied when a single soul is converted. Remember that the rule of the kingdom is, 'according to your faith be it unto you."' - Page 68