A Deadly Snare

“There is truth in the belief that much of the best thinking and preaching of the land is done in obscure parishes and by unfamous preachers . . . To set one’s heart on being popular is fatal to the preacher’s best growth. To escape from that desire one needs to know that the men who are in no sense popular favorites do much of the very best work of the ministry.”

Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, pp. 156-157