It has also been attributed to Rev Archibald Brown, who was a friend of Spurgeon’s and who briefly occupied the pulpit of the Metropolitan Tabernacle after Spurgeon’s death. There are those who say that it is actually from a sermon Rev Archibald Brown preached entitled, "The Devil's Mission of Amusement."
The usual title under which this article is found is: "Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats". It is a highly appropriate article and very applicable to the Church of Jesus Christ today. Much of what passes for feeding the sheep, in reality, amounts to nothing else but entertaining the goats.
An evil is in the professed camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most short-sighted can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years it has developed at an abnormal rate, even for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out as the Puritans did, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses.
An evil is in the professed camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most short-sighted can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years it has developed at an abnormal rate, even for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out as the Puritans did, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses.
