Mr. Collins is the name of the pompous clergyman in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. He is a sanctimonious fool. Everything he does is equal measures hilarity and painfulness. And I commend a careful study of him to all clergymen everywhere. Be sober-minded, brothers, lest you fall into the emptiness of the form of life Mr. Collins lives.
For Mr. Collins the office of priest/presbyter/elder in the church consists largely of arranging the financial provision of the parish, writing sermons (“he must write his own sermons” Collins explains), renovating his dwelling, and catering to both his own happiness and the happiness of those on whose resources his happiness most strongly depends.
Rarely does Mr. Collins speak of actual pastoral work. He mentions passingly “the rites and ceremonies” of the church of England. Other than this his description of his pastoral life is void of any reference to the study of Scripture, the administration of the Sacraments, prayer, or the care of souls. His life is a veneer of the presbyterate gilt upon a husk of empty manners and shallow self-gratulations.
The funniest thing that Mr. Collins does is announce what he is about to do, and announcing with almost greater attention than he lends to doing the thing itself. One can imagine him beginning a sermon with an introduction whose length is greater than the sermon itself.
Mr. Collins stands as a model for the kind of pastor for whom the office of pastor exists for itself. This is not the Gospel. Pastors are called to feed Christ’s sheep. Laity must beware of Mr. Collinses, wardens and vestries must be on guard against such Mr. Collinses, and pastors must defend those committed to their care from all manner of Mr. Collins –in the world and in themselves.