The Faithful Steward by Sereno D. Clark

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Prize Essay

THE FAITHFUL STEWARD;

Or, Systematic Beneficence an Essential of Christian Character

by

REV. SERENO D. CLARK.

PUBLISHER'S ADVERTISEMENT.

The following is from the Circular of the Committee of Award, signed
THOMAS S. WILLIAMS, WILLIAM R. WILLIAMS, R. T. HAINES.

"The committee selected to award a premium of $250 for 'the best approved
treatise on the importance of Systematic Beneficence, and of statedly
appropriating certain portions of income for benevolent objects,' report,
that they have examined one hundred and seventy-two manuscripts submitted
to them, several of which are large treatises, and a number marked by
distinguished merit. They selected four, as in their judgment superior
to the rest. Of these four, each was found to have its peculiar
excellencies and adaptation to usefulness--this in one walk, and that in
another. Literary merit, thoroughness of discussion, and a spiritual and
practical character, each and all necessary, in their measure, to render
a composition 'THE BEST' in the sense of the original offer of the donor,
are to be found blended, in various proportions, in these several
treatises, and rendered the task of decision the more embarrassing. The
committee were thus unable to select any one, two, or three, as on the
whole preferable to the remainder of these four. They therefore awarded
the premium, which the benevolent donor has increased to $400, to be
divided equally among these four manuscripts;" one of which is here
offered to the public.

CONTENTS.

PART I.

Introduction.--Systematic Beneficence argued.--Nature
of such a System,

PART II.

Distinction between a General and Particular System.
--Two Questions discussed. 1. What is the proportional
amount of property or income to be given individually
in charitable contributions; together with the principle
on which the amount is to be ascertained? 2. How
frequently should stated contributions be made?
--The method of previous appropriations discussed, and
the duty enforced,

PART III.

The General System given in detail.--1. It must consist
of intellectual views, their inculcation, and harmonizing
affections and desires. 2. Of general purposes and
resolutions. 3. Of correspondent actions.--The adoption
of the Individual System urged.--Systematic
Beneficence an essential of Christian character,

CONCLUSION.

An Address to professed Christians.--An Address to the
Rich.--An Address to the Young,

THE FAITHFUL STEWARD.

PART I.

"GOD IS LOVE." Perfectly blessed in Himself, he desired that other
intelligences should participate in his own holy felicity. This was his
primary motive in creating moral beings. They were made in his own
image--framed to resemble him in their intellectual and moral capacities,
and to imitate him in the spirit of their deportment. Whatever good they
enjoyed, like him, they were to desire that others might enjoy it with
them; and thus all were to be bound together by mutual sympathy,--linked
to Himself, and to one another; otherwise, they would not resemble their
Great Original, either in feeling or conduct. But intelligent beings,
unlike Himself, Jehovah, in consistency with his holy character, could
never purpose to create. He thus must eternally abhor the covetous; and
hence, with all the strength of his infinite nature, threaten them with
everlasting death.

How glorious this idea of creation, and how beautiful the universe
produced!--the whole mantled in the effulgence of the eternal throne;
the Sovereign Creator upholding all ranks of intelligences in the hollow
of his hand, and pouring into their bosoms the fullness of his own
fruition; while their hearts, in turn, rise to the Source of their being
in sweetest incense of joy and praise; each burning with a seraph's love
to communicate his own overflowing enjoyments to those around him. Well
might the morning stars have sung together when such a universe awoke to
being.

The greatest good, the richest possession, then, of an intelligent
being, is a soul in harmony with this original design of creation--a
oneness of principle, of feeling, and interest, with God; in other
words, _disinterested benevolence_. Truly, "It is more blessed to give
than to receive;" for without the good will the generous deed implies,
whatever else we have, we must have sorrow.

But how little of this spirit is evinced by man in his fallen state.
Those ties of love, that bound us to our Creator and to one another, are
sundered; as a race, severed from the governing Centre of all, each has
chosen a centre for himself, and is moving on in darkness and ruin;
selfishness the rule, self-interest the end.

Benevolence is not, therefore, natural to man. To practise it requires
the greatest effort; it is reascending to that lofty height whence we
have fallen. Hence the importance of System in the great work of
beneficence.

System in action implies a principle from which it proceeds.
Fluctuating opinions and feelings produce fickleness of conduct; while
settled convictions, stability of affections, and fixedness of purpose,
give birth to persevering and methodical action. A system of
beneficence must be founded on abiding principles and dispositions.

_I proceed to show in the first place, the Duty of Systematic
Beneficence thus founded_.

I. _I argue the duty of systematic beneficence from the analogy of
nature_. The Author of nature is the perfection of order. Whatever he
does, he does systematically. He proceeded in the great work of
creation with regularity. Order moulded the planets, and every star
that gems the evening sky; it launched them forth in their orbits, and
guides their glorious way, producing "the music of the spheres." Order
stretched the very layers of the everlasting rocks like ribs around the
earth, and shaped the crystals of the cavern. There is order in the
structure of every spire of grass, of every flower and shrub, of every
tree and trembling leaf; in the mechanism of every animal, from man in
his godlike attitude, to the smallest microscopic tribes. All organic
existences are preserved in being, nurtured, grow and mature, according
to certain laws. Even the winds, that stir the petals of the flowers,
breathing fragrance and health, and the tornado, that bows the forest
and dashes navies, obey established principles. Now, shall there be
order all around me, and in my physical frame, in the flowing blood, in
the heaving lungs, and chiseled limbs, while the accountable actions of
this finely-knit and symmetrical form, especially the loftiest actions
for which it was made, the diffusion of good, are exempted from this
universal law? Such an exception, how incongruous! It would be an
excrescence on the very vitals of nature.

II. _From the characteristic of Divine beneficence_. The supply of
our physical necessities and comforts comes in the order of those
natural laws already referred to. Social and civil blessings result
from certain principles of mental, moral, and political science. Method
is equally characteristic of our spiritual blessings. No sooner had man
fallen, than God began to unfold the remedial scheme. But he is
influenced by no impulses in accomplishing the wondrous plan. He rushes
not to the result with an impetuosity indicative of a zeal that flames
along its course uncontrolled by reason. But there is a steadiness of
onward movement, showing that unwavering principles of order preside
over all his proceedings. The world, the intelligent universe, must be
prepared for such a stupendous event as the incarnation and death of the
Son of God; prophecies, promises, types, and ritual institutions must
gradually open the scheme, ere the final development could be suitably
made. After forty centuries of preparation, Christ came; and yet years
must pass away, before, in that order of events which God had
established, the crowning event of all could occur,--the propitiatory
sacrifice be offered up. In extending the kingdom thus founded, the
same order, the same adaptation of means to ends, is observable. The
word of God, the Sabbath, the sanctuary, the workings of the Holy
Spirit, and the co-operation of the individual reason and conscience,
are all linked consecutively to each other, or work in beautiful harmony
together. Thus, throughout the entire scheme of spiritual blessings,
reaching from the opening promise of a Saviour to the incarnation; and
from the incarnation to the judgment; and onward to eternity, everything
is done systematically.

This is the result of the unchanging principles of the Divine Mind.
They grow with a steady heat, equally prompting him to activity at every
moment. Hence, like the sun shining in its strength, God sends down
unweariedly the rays of his love, both on the evil and on the good,
crowning their days with "loving-kindness and tender mercies." Indeed,
should the ardor of his love cool, or the hand of his power or grace be
withdrawn but for a single moment, all our hopes would be dashed, our
very existence cease.

From this characteristic of the Divine beneficence, the inference is
irresistible. If man is bound by the condition of his being, to imitate
God in his moral character and conduct, he must cherish the same abiding
principles of benevolence, and carry the same steady hand in diffusing
good. The ardor of his love may never cool; his hand of charity never
weary. He must be god-like. With permanency and uniformity of conduct,
imitative of his own, our Holy Sovereign will be well pleased. But with
him who is wavering in his principles; vacillating and impulsive in his
purposes of good; at one time toiling for others with the utmost
earnestness, and then, forgetful of their wants and woes for months
together, he must be displeased. How unlike our Great Exemplar. He was
_always_ doing good. "The labor of his life was love." Reader, would
you please your compassionate Savior? Go, and do likewise.

III. _From the necessity of system to success in any kind of business_.
One cannot accumulate wealth, acquire learning, rise to distinction in
any of the professions or trades without system. Even the pleasures of
life depend much on regularity; otherwise they cloy and become insipid.
He, who is unsteady in his habits, now indulging in ease, and now
straining every muscle; who, as some excitement arouses him,--such
perhaps as the fresh inculcation of economy and industry, flares up and
bustles about, resolves that his business shall henceforth be prosecuted
with vigor and managed with precision, and in a few days relapses into
his old, careless, inefficient habits, heedless alike of prudence and
precept, gives little promise of success in any department of life. Or
should one be perseveringly industrious, but suffer his affairs to lie
in confusion, like the material world at its birth, he would be deemed
at best but a busy-body. If he intends to succeed, he must have some
established principles and a fixedness of purpose, which will prompt to
accuracy and method, would be the universal decision of the wise. This
is reasoning correctly. But must men practise on system in providing
the means of personal supply and gratification; while in the Divine work
of relieving the sorrows and wants of others, all system is matter of
indifference? Is order so important in the _accumulation_ of property;
while the _diffusion_ of it, in obedience to God's commands, may be
safely left to the spontaneous impulses of feeling? The more important
any business becomes, the more essential is precision in its management.
This is a universal maxim. Now, as beneficence, in its comprehensive
import, rises superior to all other employments, so, if it ever reaches
its highest possible results, it must be carried on systematically. How
often does benevolence to the poor fail of accomplishing all that it
otherwise might, were it not exerted irregularly; whereas, when
proceeding in equable flow, by encouraging frugality and economy, it
fills even the dwellings of poverty with comfort. How much more
efficient would our great benevolent societies become, were the
contributions of the churches uniform, or uniformly rising like the
waters from the sanctuary in Ezekiel's vision; so that those who conduct
them might have sufficient data on which to erect their schemes for the
future. It would infuse new life into all their operations; elevate
them to a loftier position, from which they might stretch their arms
around the world, and kindle joys reaching to heaven. Besides, is it
not matter of personal experience, that when order enters into, and
pervades our worldly business, we accomplish far more than when it is
left to the driftings of fortune, or to the mere suggestions of the
mind? And can any reason be assigned why the same practice should not
be equally productive in carrying out the noblest work of our being?

Thus personal experience in other matters observation, and theory, alike
teach us that the work of benevolence may not be left to the impulses of
natural feeling--to the influence of lectures and appeals, or casual
stimulants. It must be planted in principle, and issue in regular
contributions, like the tree of life yielding her fruit every month, if
we would have the blessing of many ready to perish come upon us. Those
who depend on intermittent springs are liable to suffer thirst.

IV. _From the deep-seated depravity of the human heart_. Depravity is
supreme selfishness. This, in unregenerate men, is the governing
principle. Quick-sighted, ever on the alert, and lying, as it does, at
the foundation of the active powers, it becomes the propeller of the
mind. It leads to a series, and thus substantially to a system, of
actions. They may not always be rational; yet, as they spring from a
fixed principle, and proceed in an uninterrupted current, they may
properly be termed systematic. Hence the natural man feels a constant
pressure of motives to conduct pleasing to himself; and is thereby borne
away on the maddening torrent of self-gratification. There must be a
counter-current; billow must battle with billow. The antagonist
principle demanded is benevolence; and antagonist principles, coming in
collision, must press with equal force, or one gradually gaining upon
the other, will eventually secure the victory. The combatant, who is
for a moment off his guard, or ceases to struggle, falls. As
selfishness is always awake, benevolence must never slumber. The latter
must be as spirited and persevering as the former. Hence, benevolence
must be systematic in its operations, or it will be overborne by the
ever-stirring energies of its opponent. Its series of acts must be as
continuous and energetic as that of selfishness, in order simply to
arrest the course of the latter; and to make advances against its
headlong current, a strong additional force is requisite. A system,
therefore, one founded in the depths of the soul, and bringing to its
aid all the resources of reason and conscience, is indispensable to
efficiency in the angelic work of doing good. System must be emblazoned
on the banner of every benevolent society; and inscribed on the brow of
every man by nature selfish, would he bless the world by his
munificence.

Especially is system necessary to encounter emergencies. Men of
business not unfrequently meet with crises when their affairs are in a
critical state. Numerous calls for money may come thronging in upon
them almost simultaneously. Their nerves may become depressed, and
things may appear darker than they really are. Besides, Christians even
may become worldly-minded, and their religious affections low. At such
times benevolence will almost surely be submerged by the whelming tide
of selfishness, unless buoyed up by well-established system.

V. _From experience, which shows the inefficiency of impulsive
benevolence_. That liberality is sometimes the offspring of the kindly
tendencies of our natures, is readily admitted. God, in making us
social beings and helpers of each other's joy, gave us susceptibilities
to sympathetic emotions. When objects of suffering are presented before
us, our sensibilities are moved, tears flow, and the hand is extended in
relief. But these emotions are short-lived. The exciting object being
removed, they soon expire. And though thousands have flowed into the
treasuries of charity from this source, when an accomplished agent, with
a soul heated to a glow with his theme, has stirred the sensibilities of
his hearers as the trees of the forest are rocked by the tempest, or
some other influence has violently swept the chords of the heart; yet it
is a source of too little depth and durability to give vitality to the
persevering work of beneficence, in a world cankered to its center with
corruption. Selfishness soon leads off the mind to other subjects; so
that contributions can be drawn from the natural sympathies only by the
repeated and almost continued presentation of the suffering object. But
this course will ultimately defeat its own end; tending, as it does, to
harden the heart, and thereby to seal up the very fountains intended to
be opened. Accordingly, we find that those who have no plan of
munificent effort, but give merely as their sensibilities are moved,
usually contribute less and less as they advance in age; their
susceptibilities to sympathetic emotion becoming hardened like the road
over which the crushing wheel has rolled for years. Hence, though the
product of impulsive benevolence may sometimes be bountiful, yet when we
contemplate its workings for any lengthened period, its fruits are found
neither uniform nor abundant. The soil is too thin for enduring
fertility.

We find this exemplified in our churches where no system of charity is
adopted. For want of stated times for contributions to the different
objects, they are apt to be forgotten or neglected. They whose duty it
is to make the appointments, are engaged in other cares; time whirls on;
the year passes away, and no collection is made. Or if a few objects
receive occasional attention, others are passed over for years
altogether; proving to a moral demonstration, that what is done
irregularly in the work of beneficence, is ill done. To this, the
agents of our benevolent societies passing through our churches, can
bear sorrowful testimony.--The same is true of the individual. Every
one knows that what falls not into his regular routine of duties, is apt
to slide from the memory. This is peculiarly true of benevolence, for
selfishness helps us to forget; and it the contribution come to our
recollection, we are not ready to give just then; some debt must be
first paid, some convenience purchased, or some other urgent call
attended to. Thus he, who has no system in the bestowment of his
bounties, is always finding excuses to turn off the edge of arguments
and the force of appeals; though perhaps with the resolution of giving
liberally at some future period. Here lies his greatest danger. The
resolution satisfies his conscience; and while resting upon it, the
opportunity to contribute passes away, and souls are lost; whereas, had
he acted on principle, the donation, though inconvenient would have been
made, and souls saved.

Such is not unfrequently the mournful termination of impulsive
benevolence. Tears may be shed over the anguish wrought; but tears
cannot remedy the evil; this must flow on in wailing and woe forever.
But it may be prevented by the timely admonitions of experience. For
that selfishness can be suppressed, and benevolence sustained, only by
the strong hand of principle and systematic effort, is the voice of
ages.

VI. _From Scripture_. All duties enjoined in the Scriptures, if
contemplated in their principles, will be found subjected to the control
of reason; and, if they lie under the control of reason, they must be
conducted methodically. All acts of worship, from the first requisition
of Divine homage given in Eden, onward through the successive
generations of the patriarchs, were to be performed with decency and in
order. The Mosaic economy was one of the most rigid exactness. The
ritual prescribed to the Jews required the utmost method. The same law
held in regard to the payment of tithes and their multiplied gifts to
the Lord. This precision, with which every one must be struck in
reading the Old Testament, is doubtless designed for the instruction of
all succeeding times. But what is its peculiar lesson to us? It, at
least, shows us that God is pleased with regularity in the conduct of
his people; and not less in their beneficent transactions than in the
discharge of their other duties. The same principle of order is
transferred to Gospel times. Here, there may be liberty, but there must
be regularity. This is taught in that general commendation of Paul to
the Colossian christians for the order and steadfastness that rejoiced
him. (Col. ii. 5.) But if regularity in other things is pleasing to
God under the New Dispensation, why is it not in this divinest work of
an intelligent being? This is specifically shown in the injunction of
Paul to the Corinthians,*[1 Cor. Xvi. 2.] for each one to lay by him in
store on the first day of the week, as God had prospered him. Now,
without pushing this text to extremes, and affirming that the Holy Ghost
intended to require of all christians in all circumstances and in all
ages, to contribute a portion of their substance in charity every
Sabbath, the passage most distinctly shows that God is pleased with
systematic benevolence--with stated appropriations of income to objects
of munificence. As order is nature's first law, so it is of the
Scriptures.

System in our benefactions is thus clearly a duty devolving on all. It
is alike the voice within and the voice from heaven. It cannot be
neglected without imminent peril. It is a subject of vital interest.
It must be deeply pondered. It must be earnestly prayed over. The
great idea must enter, like a consuming fire, into the very heart's
core, and inflaming it with zeal, bring forth fruit an hundred fold to
the Lord.

One thing more. Every man is bound to make the most of his being. All
his powers, both of body and of mind, are to be taxed to the utmost, and
exerted in the most _effective manner_. Each duty, without intrenching
on others, should be performed in such a way, as best to secure the end
aimed at in the obligation. Manner may not be disregarded. If there is
reason to believe that the end contemplated in the obligation to
beneficence may be best reached by a course of systematic effort, the
very fact should lead to its immediate adoption. At the close of the
preceding arguments, without reasoning in a circle, this may be adduced
as a consideration of no small force, inducing every one to cast about
him, and solemnly consider whether he is conducting his charities in the
most efficient method; _manner_ and _spirit_ being as binding as the
generous deed itself. And on this principle, every precept, promise,
and example of revelation, enforcing benevolence, is really a precept,
promise, and example, arousing to systematic benevolence. The same is
true of the various incentives to this glorious work, offered in the
ensuing pages; and in this light let the reader regard them.

_In the second place, what is the Nature of a Scriptural System of
Beneficence_? This is an important inquiry. Every system, as we have
seen, must be founded in principle--a principle rooted in the active
powers, resting down upon the main-springs of the soul, so as to be
moved forward by all the mental energies combined. But it must not only
rest on principle; it must rest on right principle. The moral character
of a system depends on the character of the moral feelings from which it
rises; and it is the moral character of any scheme of action, which,
under the government of God, gives it permanent efficiency; for to
succeed, it must have his co-operation and aid. Besides, a system of
benevolence is designed to combat the selfishness of the heart; a
principle, strong, subtle, insidious, and developing itself in ten
thousand different ways. Diametrical opposition to this, therefore,
must be its leading characteristic. The natural sympathies, and
conscience, and reason, must, indeed, be enlisted in its service; but
all these united are insufficient to support enduringly a system of
munificence against this formidable antagonist. For selfishness may
entirely submerge the sympathies, so that he who can weep with his
bereaved neighbor at the grave of his child, may, with the malignity of
a fiend, be inwardly pleased at the death of an enemy. Selfishness may
so control the conscience, that it will utter no upbraiding accents; and
so bewilder the keen-sightedness of reason, that one may put darkness
for light, and bitter for sweet, and sin for holiness, while
complacently feeling that he is standing on the everlasting hills of
truth. Neither the natural sympathies, nor conscience, nor reason,
then, can form the substantial basis of a system of action which is to
battle with the selfishness of the human heart. It must be informed
with a higher and nobler principle. Holy love is such a principle.
This, in its very nature, is superior to all other affections of the
soul. The object on which it is fastened is the Great Supreme, and all
other objects disappear before it, as the stars before the morning sun.
A system, then, inwrought with this heaven-born principle, controlling,
quickening, inspiring all the moral energies of the soul, may resist
this mighty foe of the heart; and it forms the only insuperable bulwark
to his malignant inroads. This position accords with the Scriptures.
They approve of no external act, only as it proceeds from a holy heart;
otherwise, they stamp it as self-righteousness or superstition. A
system of benevolent action, resting on any other foundation, falls
under the same condemnation; it contains no element of life, nothing
truly pleasing to God. Men may endeavor to find other bases on which to
rear schemes of charity; they may bring to the task the most penetrating
sagacity, and traverse again and again the secret windings of the mind,
to find some other lurking principle which can resist and subdue the
batteries of covetousness; but all their efforts will be vain. Whatever
they may erect will be built upon the sand; the winds and floods will
sweep it away. There is no foundation which can withstand the
underminings of the depraved heart, and the shocks of a depraved world,
but the rock of holy love.

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