J.F. Cowan: The proper use of the Bible in leading a meeting, deserves most careful consideration.
1. The first thing to which a leader needs to give attention is a preparation of eye, thumbs and fingers. I mean that his eye should be so practiced in determining just where to find the Scripture references and hymns, and his hand so deft in turning rapidly to them, that there need be no embarrassing fumbling of the pages at the critical moment when all eyes are upon him. Every instant, of blundering or halting on the part of the leader, in the opening of the meeting, is a confession of his lack of preparation, and to show that he has been caught unprepared, is to lose influence, and let the reins of leadership slip through his grasp. When the captain wavers, the rank and file lose confidence and esprit de corps.
It may seem that such a matter as turning promptly to the chapter and verse is a petty detail; but we shall all agree that upon attention to just such petty details the winning of great battles;the success of great business enterprises have often depended. In Christian work, we need to remember that there is as much merit in taking pains as in suffering pains. The Holy Spirit will honor the painstaking of the leader who turns to the references again and again until he is familiar with their location in the Bible.
2. A preparation of the memory is the second task. The leader should be able to remember how the topic is worded, and what the references are without having to dive into his pockets, turn them inside out, while the audience is waiting for him to begin, he mumbling apologetically meanwhile, "Ah - our - um - topic to-night is - er - let me see; I'll fish the topic-card out of my pocket in a minute," as has been done in young people's meetings. The keen edge of expectancy, which is always whetted when a new leader stands before an audience, is blunted by such a halting performance. The captain who did not know the watchword, on the eve of battle, without referring to the army regulations, and getting out his eye-glasses - who follows such a leader to the cannon's mouth?
3. Next in order, in an ascending scale, is preparation of the tongue. This is particularly applicable to young leaders. The wise leader will accustom his tongue to the pronunciation of every word in the Scripture-reading. Otherwise he may trip on some tongue-twister and send a titter through the back row of seats where the ungodly sit. When his audience feels that he might have done better than that, had he only taken the pains, confidence in him shrinks. A careless leader is a discounted leader. The Word of God should be handled with reverence, and vocal mutilation of it that might have been avoided by study, is an affront to God. To touch the Word with impious lips is as bad as for Uzzah to touch the ark with impious hands (2 Sam. 6:6). If the leader cannot feel sure of pronouncing correctly every syllable, by once reading the passage aloud, let him read it twice, three times, twenty times until, as Hamlet adjured the players, he can speak the words, "trippingly on the tongue."
4. A preparation of the mind should follow this. The Bible portion should be read thoughtfully, analytically, with note-book in hand. The leader of a prayer-meeting should make as heavy a draft upon the gray matter in his brain-pan as he would for passing a civil service examination, or planning a business or social coup. If any activity in which we engage has a right to the fullest use of our brains, surely it is our service of God. If we can be bright anywhere under the sun, certainly we have no right to be dull and prosy in leading a prayer-meeting. If we tax our brains to satisfy the employer who pays our wages on Saturday night, or draws a check for us at the end of the month, how much more should we put our best thinking powers into this service for Him who hath "redeemed us, not with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with His own precious blood!" (1 peter 1:18-19). Sir Joshua Reynolds when asked the secret of his paintings, replied that he mixed brains with his colors. That is what our prayer-meetings need that we who are to lead shall mix our brains with our use of the Word of God; the whole brain is not too much to master the message for any meeting. The following outline plan for studying the Scripture to be used in the meeting may be helpful:
(1) A brief survey of the book in which the Scripture is found:- the author, his purpose in writing, the place and circumstances of his writing, those to whom the book was specially addressed and their need of it. All this may be found in a Bible dictionary, or in the back of an Oxford or International teacher's Bible, provided one has not time to get the information by studying the book itself. For example, suppose that the book be Ephesians. The Bible dictionary states that it is one of the epistles of Paul's imprisonment, written during his first captivity in Rome, to the church at Ephesus. In it the apostle expounds his ideal of the church.
(2) A study of the context from which the passage for the meeting is taken, that we may understand the particular phase of the larger subject that the writer is treating in it. To take the bare text alone may mean to come before the meeting with a scrappy, superficial knowledge. Suppose that the fourth chapter of Ephesians be the one from which the prayer-meeting portion is taken; we find Paul exhorting the Church at Ephesus to walk as becomes a church whose ideal is so lofty.
(3) A very careful study of the passage, verse by verse. It may be a passage with which we think ourselves sufficiently familiar, but still there is need of studying it again. We may think that we have known its meaning from our childhood, but still we need to study it afresh with reference to this particular meeting. It will be a mistake to attempt to lead a meeting depending upon a general knowledge of the passage, provided there is any possible opportunity for giving it even ten minutes' fresh thought. The one who is to lead others' thought upon this passage needs to freshen his own thought. If he had written commentaries on Ephesians, still he would need to get himself interested anew in this particular passage, that he might interest others; that he might go before the meeting in a glow of enthusiasm over the truth. A prayer-meeting is like a dining-table; if those who provide the meals bring stale viands, appetites will wane; but bring the fresh view of the Word, talk about the" new" mercies of God, bring the living experiences, and people will come with a zest.
And when we make this fresh study of the Bible, let us remember that we are doing it for tired mothers who have not time to dig fresh things out of the Word, for discouraged toilers who have come hoping to get a new grip, and for many who have become rutted and shallow, and may never see the deeper things in the Word unless we uncover them. Therefore we must read again and again. Meanings that escape us on the first reading will dawn upon us at the second. The third reading will be richer than the second, and the fourth will bring out hidden treasures. Like the gold and diamonds, God does not let all His sweetest messages to us lie on the surface, but He hides them deep. A friend of mine had a clever dog named Jack. A neighbor had a dog who was too lazy to bury bones, but used to steal Jack's. After he had lost several, he hit upon a plan to thwart the lazy, thievish dog. He dug deep holes for his best bones, and then very shallow holes for some small, poor bones, and the lazy, thievish dog took the second-rate bones, rather than go to the trouble of digging deeper for the best.
Suppose that the particular passage for the meeting be Eph. 4:22-32 "That you put of concerning the conduct of the old man ..." . It should be studied with pencil and note-book. How many characteristics of the "old man" who is to be "put off" does Paul mention? You will find six:- falsehood, dishonesty, corrupt speech, grieving the Spirit, bitterness, grudges. How many characteristics of the "new man" who is to be "put on" are named? Again there are six:- truth, industry, edifying speech, kindness, self-control, forgiveness. Are there words or phrases that you do not clearly understand; as, "your former manner," "renewed," "after God ... created," "members one of another," and "neither give place to the devil." Use the marginal references; Rom. 12:2 on "be renewed," Jas. 4:7 on "giving place to the devil." If there is a phrase or word that is not clear after scripture has been used to explain scripture, look it up in a commentary.
Let me not give the impression that the prayer-meeting is to be a place for the critical study of the Bible, where the leader is to give an exhaustive and scholarly exposition. The prayer-meeting should be the prayer-meeting, and the leader is not a preacher or teacher, but the leader. But how can a captain lead his company unless he knows the orders of his commander? All this study of the scripture is to enable the leader to get a new grasp on the thought of God; it is to so fire his soul that he will be a torch, kindling others who come to the meeting cold.
It may seem that too difficult a program has been laid down for the average lay leader of a prayer-meeting to carry out. It is not a program but an ideal. It is an ideal that can be realized by the faithful use of a few spare moments a day, for a week. The time that it takes to read about the baseball games every morning would give us a preparation on the prayer-meeting topic that would make our faces fairly shine in the meeting. The chief requisite is to be willing. The leader who takes himself and his task seriously, may so saturate himself with the message of God for the meeting that he will be a walking solution of it. When he has done that, he will be surprised at the disappearance of his shrinking nervousness, and at the calm self-confidence that comes in the place of it. Like a stammerer who has found a rich diamond, and is so eager to share the joy of his discovery with others that he forgets to stammer, the gospel-filled, Spirit-filled leader will forget to shrink and be embarrassed in the gladness of telling the "good tidings of great joy." (Luke 2:10).
By John F. Cowan, New York, 1906
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By John F. Cowan, New York, 1906
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