The pastor’s position and work bring him into contact with other ministers and churches in the community, and his comfort and usefulness will to some extent depend on the esteem and confidence with which he is regarded by evangelical Christians outside of his own church. He will find many of the noblest Christian men and women in churches differing in name from his own, and he should seek to maintain with them the most frank and cordial relations. This is especially important as regards the pastors, since, when relations of mutual affection and confidence exist, the ministry in any community can be eminently [p. 117] helpful to each other, and by combining their counsels and influence can often greatly advance the religious interests of the whole people. I suggest, therefore:  
1. Do not isolate yourself, standing aloof from the general Christian community, but seek the acquaintance of all good men. Show a friendly, cordial spirit and a readiness for all offices of kindness, alike in the relations of social life and on those public occasions when all Christians gather for united counsel and worship. In such a course you will find the love and sympathy of the Christian community attracted to you, greatly augmenting your comfort and influence, and giving added power to your public work.
 
2. Such friendly relations among Christians of differing views involve of necessity a full recognition of their common Christian character and a hearty accord, each to the other, of sincerity and purity of motive in their church position. This a just self-respect requires you to insist on for yourself, and this, in the spirit of genuine charity, you should freely accord to others; such a position is consistent with the most full and free expression of your denominational sentiments and the most earnest defense of them. It simply requires that amidst the different opinions of Christian men there should be a charitable judgment of each other’s character, and a careful abstinence from language that might reflect on the motives of those who differ. It is, I think, the common fact that the genuine respect and confidence of any Christian community are most fully secured by that pastor who, while always decided and earnest in the expression and defense of his denominational convictions, is also always careful, in the spirit of true charity, to recognize the sincerity and integrity of those whose convictions may be opposed.
 
3. An occasional exchange of pulpits by the evangelical [p. 118] ministers in the community has many advantages. It is a public recognition of the substantial unity of Protestant Christendom. It gives to the minister a wider audience than if always limited to his own congregation, thus enlarging his acquaintance and tending to secure for him the interest and confidence of the whole people. It is sometimes a relief, enabling him to make use of former pulpit preparations when specially pressed by the exigencies of pastoral work. In such an exchange it is obvious that courtesy and comity require that the minister shoul............