During that epidemic of cholera, though I had many engagements in the country, I gave them up that I might remain in London to visit the sick and the dying.
Charles Spurgeon, C. H. Spurgeon’s Autobiography
CHARLES SPURGEON IS OFTEN CELEBRATED as one of Christianity’s most gifted, dedicated, and brilliant preachers and pastors. He is often praised for his piercing, articulate, Christ-centered, and word-driven sermons, messages that were either heard or read by thousands of people all over the world. Because Spurgeon was renowned for his preaching and speaking, it is easy to overlook another aspect of his ministry — his faithfulness in caring for his congregation in sickness and crisis.
In 1854, at the young age of twenty, Spurgeon became pastor of a church in London (New Park Street Chapel), which later became the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Spurgeon had barely been in London twelve months when a severe case of cholera swept through London. Spurgeon recounts his efforts to care for and visit the numerous sick in the midst of horrific conditions: “All day, and sometimes all night long, I went about from house to house and saw men and women dying, and, oh, how glad they were to see my face! When many were afraid to enter their houses lest they should catch the deadly disease, we who had no fear about such things found ourselves most gladly listened to when we spoke of Christ and of things Divine.”16
Here we have an example of a young, inexperienced pastor who feared God more than a contagious disease. Spurgeon is a model for each of us of what it looks like to sacrificially care for others, even at great risk to ourselves. Spurgeon did this because he knew there was rare spiritual fruit that could only ripen at the bedside of a dying man.
Spurgeon made visiting the afflicted a priority in his life and ministry. Even as a young pastor, Spurgeon’s gift to preach was evident to all who heard him, which brought great demand on his time. Yet Spurgeon would often turn aside from these opportunities to care for the needs of people. He recounts, “During that epidemic of cholera, though I had many engagements in the country, I gave them up that I might remain in London to visit the sick and the dying.”17 Even at twenty years of age, the demands on his time were great, possibly greater than the demands most of us face who pastor today. In Spurgeon’s example we can see the importance he placed on visiting the sick, and he emphasizes that this priority is not just for pastors and leaders in the church — it is for all “who love souls.”18
That’s what care for the sick ultimately reveals — our deep love for souls, specifically the souls of those with whom we have made a covenant in our local church. As we fellowship, love, care, and encourage one another, let us not lose sight of those who can all too easily be forgotten. Those who are sick don’t have the energy or the ability to fight for our attention, like so many other things in our lives do. Instead, we must take the initiative. Visiting the sick will not slide easily into our schedules. It will interrupt our plans. But we must not grow discouraged or frustrated. We must take heart. As we are intentional in our calling to visit the sick, we can trust that we are engaged in a divine task — souls are being loved and nurtured; we ourselves are being transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ; the gospel is being revealed through this ministry; and God is being glorified.