# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_April 1859_S112
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

112 On the Care Most Necessary for a Preacher in His Conduct.

By virtue of the hereditary evil innate in us all, everyone suffers from certain sins of temperament, which, even after regeneration, not only remain but also assail the regenerate with peculiar force and exercise a great influence upon his whole life. In one man, according to his temperament, anger has become predominantly ingrained, together with the sins related to it. Now if this sinful inclination is not carefully kept in check by the chastening grace of God, it grows into a habit and a rule of his going out and coming in within the church. Hence he becomes, time after time, hot-tempered at every contradiction, moody, passionately roused especially when he is championing a just cause, curt in manner, fond of using sharp, harsh words, almost invariably forgetting patience and fairness, never learning the art of putting up with odd and difficult people, and making all too liberal use of the proverb: a hard block needs a hard wedge. The immediate consequence of such behavior will be that he forfeits people's trust, alienates their hearts, intimidates the timid, embitters tempers, and the end will be division and schism in the congregation. And what do the enemies say to this? "There, you see what stubborn, proud people these old-Lutheran fanatics are, with whom no one can get along! These are the inevitable consequences of strict Lutheranism!" Thus this man — perhaps otherwise well-meaning — lends the devil his hand to lay waste the church and make the Lutheran name stink. Not knowing himself well enough, he confuses passionateness with godly wrath and holy zeal for the house of God. Far be it from me to wish to dampen a godly zeal; but to prompt the zealous to caution and careful self-examination does not seem superfluous to the present writer, who thinks with shame of the first years of his own ministry, in which, through lack of persevering patience and gentleness, he committed many a great oversight.

Another man, by virtue of his natural disposition, is predominantly inclined to pride and sins of this kind. So long as this sin is recognized and kept under the discipline of the Spirit, it cannot rule or do harm; indeed, it will drive the preacher who feels it all the more often to the confessional and to the Lord's Prayer. But the less it is recognized, the greater the danger that it will become a habitual sin. No sin, however, is more harmful and unbecoming to a preacher than pride and ambition. An ambitious preacher would rather stake the peace of the church than in the least deny his supposed dignity of office, or depart from his own opinion. The more harmful ambition is, the greater the gifts with which such a person is endowed, or the higher the position he holds in the church. Sooner than bring himself to acknowledge an error or some other oversight, such an ambitious man would rather let the unity of the faith go to pieces; indeed, driven by unfortunate ambition, he lets himself be carried away into assertions which he had perhaps previously, as the worst