Doctor Wycliffe wrote numerous pages on the topic of priests & preachers, and the importance of leading a Godly life. After all, the souls under the care of the town parish depended on them! Preaching was to be the "highest service", since it is what Christ Himself spent the majority of His ministry years doing. In fact, in book one of Opus Evangelicum Wycliffe writes, "Evangelizatio verbi est preciosior quam ministratio alicujus ecclesiastici sacramenti - The preaching of the Word is a more precious occupation than the ministration of the sacraments."
Ultimately, a preacher must illustrate all of the above in his own life, living above reproach:
"A priest should live holily, in prayer, in desires and thought, in godly conversation and honest teaching, have God's commandments and His Gospel ever on his lips. And let his deeds be so righteous that no man may be able with cause to find fault with them, and so open his acts that he may be a true book to all sinful and wicked men to serve God. For the example of a good life stirreth men more than true preaching with only the naked word."
A good pastor/preacher/priest to his flock should be...
- a whole-hearted follower of Christ
- a good and virtuous man
- a man of prayer
- a preacher of the Gospel with clarity
He should not...
- be a gambler
- be a drinker
- be a huntsman
- be a chessplayer (arguable!)
He has a three-fold duty:
1. Feed his sheep spiritually with the Word of God, introducing them to heaven like sheep being introduced to a rich pasture of perpetual greenery.
2. Purge his flock of spiritually diseased individuals who actively seek to lead others astray.
3. Defend his flock against spiritual wolves, and the fiery darts of the wicked one.
Much of what is said applies today not just to pastors, but all Christians. What better way to connect with everyone from Sunday School youth to unsaved coworkers than to lead a Godly life that reflect your faith!
Sources:
- G.R. Evans, John Wyclif: Myth & Reality, 39.
- Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. 6, 239.
- John Wycliffe and F.D. Matthews, The English Works of Wyclif.
Further reading and exposition:
- Wycliffe's "The Pastoral Office" and "On Degrees of the Clergy".
