Reformed Pastor - Baxter - IX - Chapter 3 continued

Required reading
Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter (we'll be reading from the 1862 edition available from Amazon or free on the internet, here for example) - Continue Chapter 3 by concluding Section 2, Part 1 by reading Articles 2, 3, and 4.

My summary
Today Baxter finishes looking at the motives for catechizing.

Firstly, we are shown the difficulties that arise against the work from within ourselves and our people.  These difficulties are motives because 'difficulties must excite to greater diligence in a necessary work'. 

Secondly, we are motivated to catechise when we see the necessity of the work.  It is necessary for:
(i) the glory of God;
(ii) the welfare of our people;
(iii) our own welfare.

Thirdly, Baxter applies these motives by basically exhorting us to embrace them.

What grabbed me
Again, I'm finding Baxter unconvincing that catechising is necessary.  I think the glory of God and the welfare of Christians do not depend upon catechising. 

Please don't misunderstand me, most of what Baxter said under the points was really good stuff - if applied to pastoral ministry in general.  But to hang it all on catechising seems a little misplaced.

The problem I think is that Baxter promotes catechising over preaching (and any other pastoral activity): 'I have found by experience, that some ignorant persons, who have been so long unprofitable hearers, have got more knowledge and remorse of conscience in half an hour's close discourse, than they did from ten years' public preaching.'

The basis for choosing catechising over preaching seems to be the difference in manner by which he catechises as opposed to the manner by which he preaches: 'In public we may not use such homely expressions, or repetitions, as their dullness requires, but in private we may. In public our speeches are long, and we quite over-run their understandings and memories, and they are confounded and at a loss, and not able to follow us, and one thing drives out another, and so they know not what we said.'

If I could speak to Baxter, I would ask why we can't use homely expressions and repetitions in our preaching if the dullness of the listeners requires it.  And why does our preaching have to be 'long'.  Rather than preferring catechising over preaching, maybe the solution to the problem is to fix up preaching so that people understand what is being said.

Next week's reading       
Continue Chapter 3 by reading Part 2 (Objections to this duty).

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.