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Testimonies for the Church Volume 5
the same level as earthly things, to be managed in about the same
common way in which they have been in the habit of managing their
own temporal affairs. Until those can be connected with our institutions
who have breadth of mind and who can lay plans in harmony with
the growth of the work and its exalted character, the tendency will
be to narrow down everything that is undertaken, and God will be
dishonored. Oh, that all who have responsibilities to bear in connection
with the cause of God would come up into a higher, holier atmosphere,
where every true Christian should be! If they would, then both they
and the work which they represent would be elevated and clothed with
sacred dignity, and they would command the respect of all connected
with the work.
Among those employed in our institutions have been men who
have not sought counsel of God, who have not conformed to the great
principles of truth which God has laid down in His word, and who
have consequently manifested marked defects of character. As the
result the greatest work ever committed to mortals has been marred
by man’s defective management; whereas, if heaven’s rules had been
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made the governing principle, there would have been a much nearer
approach to perfection in all departments of the work.
Those placed in leading positions should be men who have suf-
ficient breadth of mind to appreciate persons of cultivated intellect
and to recompense them proportionately to the responsibilities they
bear. True, those who engage in the work of God should not do so
merely for the wages they receive, but rather for the honor of God,
for the advancement of His cause, and to obtain imperishable riches.
At the same time we should not expect that those who are capable of
doing with exactness and thoroughness work that requires thought and
painstaking effort should receive no greater compensation than the less
skillful workman. A true estimate must be placed upon talent. Those
who cannot appreciate good work and true ability should not be man-
agers in our institutions, for their influence would tend to circumscribe
the work and to bring it down to a low level.
If our institutions would be as prosperous as God designs they shall
be, there must be more thoughtfulness and earnest prayer, mingled
with unabating zeal and spiritual ardor. To connect the right class of
laborers with the work may require a greater outlay of means, but it
will be economy in the end; for while it is essential that economy be