Deacons: Shared Service in the Local Church
Chuck Sligh
September 7, 2014
TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to Acts 6
INTRODUCTION
Today we’re going to jump ahead three or four chapters in our study through Acts to introduce our deacon selection process. By the time of Acts 6, the early church in Jerusalem had grown from a small band of followers in the upper room to a large army of believers in a very short time.
The progression of growth is remarkable and unparalleled: There were 3,000 added to the church in Acts 2:41; 5,000 men added in Acts 4:4 (not counting women and young people, for apparently by this time it was becoming too complicated to count them all, so they just counted the men); and in Acts 5:14, Luke simply says, “And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.”
It’s only natural that in the midst of such growth problems and tensions should arise. In our text today in Acts 6, we’ll see the church in Jerusalem as it began to experience some growing pains, as all living, growing congregations inevitably do, and how their solution resulted in what most Bible scholars believed were the first deacons.
So turn to Acts 6 and let’s look at what happened:
I. WE SEE FIRST A PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION IN VERSES 1-3
A problem arose in the church of Jerusalem – verse 1 – “And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.”
A dissension arose between the “Grecians” and the “Hebrews.” The Grecians were Jews whose ancestors had been part of the Jewish dispersion by the various conquerors down through Israel’s history, who had returned to Jerusalem, while the Hebrews were descendants of those who had never left.
The HEBREWS were the purebloods devoted to historic Judaism and Jewish practices; strictly adhered to the Law of Moses; spoke Aramaic or Hebrew; and despised Gentiles, Greeks and Romans in particular.
The GRECIANS were often the descendants of marriage outside of the Jewish race or the Jewish faith, or were themselves married to non-Jews; preferred Greek over Aramaic or Hebrew; and were generally more sophisticated and urbane and comfortable with other cultures.
Down through the years there had been continual conflict and rivalry between these two groups, but among the Christians, these two groups were trying to put their differences and prejudices aside and become one in Christ. They had done well up till now, but now dormant mistrust began to resurface. The Grecians felt their widows were being discriminated against in the daily administration of food for widows who had no family to provide for them, the only form of sustenance available to them in a male-dominated world. Was there really discrimination, or were folks just overlooked because of the masses at a time when the church had no organizational structure yet?
No one knows for sure, but regardless, the apostles acted swiftly. – Verses 2-3 – “Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. 3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.”
What was their solution? In effect, they instituted the office of the deacon in the first local church. And that leads us to our second point, an important principle in the Bible…
II. THAT IS…THE PRINCIPLE OF SHARED SERVICE
Up to this time the burdens of ministry were concentrated in the hands of the apostles. But God’s plan is the SHARED distribution of responsibilities and ministries. God gives gifts and talents to His children, which should be used and developed. The church that encourages its MEMBERS to use their gifts WILL BE ENRICHED; the church that leaves all the work of the ministry in the hands of its pastors will be impoverished and never reach its full potential.
Paul teaches in Ephesians 4:11-12 that God has gifted the church with leaders who facilitate the church to “perfect” or mature the saints so THEY can do the work of ministry. – Then Paul goes on to say in verses 13-14 that shared responsibility produces unity, faith, knowledge, spiritual maturity, and spiritual grounding.
This means that if you’re a part of a body, you’re an important body part that needs to be serving and functioning according to your gifts and abilities. It’s also what being a deacon is all about.
Time does not permit us to unpack this passage fully today because we want to go over in a moment to 1 Timothy 3 and see what Paul teaches were the biblical qualifications for a deacon, but let me close our study of Acts 6:1-7 with a couple of quick observations:
1) First, the purpose of the first deacons was to take care of many of the mundane tasks of the local church so the apostles could devote themselves to the more “ministerial” side of things – Look at verse 4: “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”
It’s been a blessing to turn over many aspects of GBC over to others so that I can focus on prayer and the ministry of the Word. It takes on average of 6-18 hours for me to prepare properly for a typical Sunday morning sermon; 3-6 hours to prepare for a Sunday School lesson and evening Bible study; and at least an hour or two to prepare for a homegroup study—not including prayer, visitation and counseling. I could not do those things effectively without their help.
2) Second, I want you to notice that God blesses a church where there are dedicated deacons and shared service.
According to verses 5-6, seven men were chosen who took over these tasks. Then look at verse 7 with me: “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.”
What happened when the church established the office of deacon and they went to work serving the church of Jerusalem?
• First, the Word of God increased—that is, it was preached freely.
• Second, their numbers grew greatly. All previous references to the growth of the church in Jerusalem in the book of Acts refer to growth by ADDITION. Now in verse 7 we see growth by MULTIPLICATION!
• Third, fellowship was restored among God’s people.
• Fourth, openings for service were expanded beyond the twelve apostles.
• Finally, the apostles were freed to spend more time in prayer and Bible study, making them more effective ministers of the Gospel.
III. FINALLY, GO OVER WITH ME NOW TOGETERH TO 1 TIMOTHY 3 TO SEE THE QUALIFICATIONS OF DEACONS.
The establishment of the office of deacon introduced a rudimentary organizational structure to the local church. As time went by, the church established two distinct local offices—elders or pastors or bishops (all three terms refer to the same office), and DEACON. By the time Paul wrote Timothy in his first letter to Timothy between 62 and 66 AD, these offices had become institutionalized, with clear qualifications for these offices, which Paul gives in 1 Timothy 3.
I believe these are not only the qualifications for being a deacon, but also are the “job description,” if you will, of a godly man. Men, every one of you should strive to meet these standards whether you ever become a deacon or not. Let’s look at them in 1 Timothy 3:
1) In verse 8, Paul teaches a deacon should HAVE AN EXEMPLARY PERSONAL LIFE. (Notice I said “exemplary,” not perfect. – The men who accept the nomination today may not fulfill these all perfectly, but these characterize the direction and goal of their lives and they generally are faithful in these areas. – Certain areas may need work, but they promise to fulfill these requirements going forward):
• First, Paul says deacons must be “grave,” which means dignified, worthy of respect, serious (not foolish or a clown).
• Second, Paul says he should not be double-tongued – That is, he should be sincere, not hypocritical, not two-faced.
• “Not given to much wine” – In other words, he should be disciplined in physical appetites, especially in regard to alcohol (Ephesians 5:18)
• “Not given to filthy lucre” – This means not greedy or materialistic, and would mean he is not involved in illegal or unethical activities to make money
2) In verse 9, Paul teaches that a deacon should BE DOCTRINALLY SOUND:
• “Holding the mystery of the faith,” Paul says. – Meaning he’s doctrinally sound regarding the great doctrines of the Faith
• “…with a pure conscience” There’s nothing in his conduct that is glaringly inconsistent with his professed beliefs. That is, he must not profess one thing but practice another.
3) In verse 10, Paul teaches that deacons should be TESTED AND PROVED:
• “First proved” is how Paul says it – meaning, he’s not a novice (that is, an extremely young Christian); he’s one who has proven his maturity and has a track record of service for the Lord.
• Paul also says he should be “blameless.” This forms two words in the Greek—anenklētoi ontes, meaning “to be free from accusation.” So it doesn’t mean that someone has not done bad things in his past, but that no one can point to any major UNRESOLVED sin in his life.
4) In verses 11-12, Paul teaches that deacons should have an EXEMPLARY FAMILY LIFE.
• Their WIVES should be godly examples, according to verse 11, and Paul mentions four specific qualifications for a deacon’s wife:
> She too must be “grave” – that is, dignified, worthy of respect, serious.
> “Not slanderers” – Just as their husbands are not to be double-tongued, deacons’ wives are not to be given to gossip, backbiting, whisperings and slander.
> She’s also to be “sober” – which means self-controlled, circumspect in her behavior, and comportment.
> She’s to be “faithful in all things” – Like her husband, her life should be a pattern of godliness and integrity, and thus she should be faithful in all areas of her life, including her family, her words, her ministry, her testimony, her responses, her dress.
• Paul then gives two more requirements of deacons regarding his family:
> He’s to be “the husband of one wife” – This literally means a “one-woman man” and I don’t believe deals with divorce and remarriage. Paul was dealing with a culture where multiple wives were common and the application for today is that men are to be faithful to the one wife they have. He is to be a “one-woman man.” There must be no other woman in his life to whom he relates in an intimate way either emotionally or physically.
> The final familial instruction Paul gives is that a deacon should “rule children and house well.” He is the spiritual leader of his family and oversees his family with faithfulness, patience and an even temper. His wife is not in rebellion to his spiritual leadership, and his children are generally obedient and respectful.
CONCLUSION
Five men have agreed to accept the nomination for deacon (and a fifth one is currently out-of-town we may be announcing his name next Sunday). These are men who are striving for these qualifications, who generally meet them and excel in some of them, men whose wives are willing to stand with and serve with their husbands, men and their wives with servant’s hearts who are already faithful in ministry at GBC, serving in various capacities, and thus have proven themselves and their character. They also meet our local requirements of membership, required time as members, as well as time left to serve before PCSing. We have already met with them and vetted them and they have filled out a two-page questionnaire with their testimonies, and their answers to how they would deal with various scenarios, and all their responses were good. I believe if every one of them were elected, they would all serve brilliantly, and I and our remaining deacon (after the PCS of the Mowers family) fully endorse them.
They are the following (when I call your name, please stand with your wife, if she is in the sanctuary today):
Jared and Danielle Anderson
Shane and Theresa Anderson
Justin and Julia Henderson
Kitrell and Sonja Powell
Also, Joshua Warren, our current remaining deacon, has agreed to run again this year.
On the back of your bulletin and on the screen, you will see the schedule for our deacon election: Today was the teaching on deacons, and the announcement of deacon candidates. Over the next two weeks, we will have church-wide prayer for our deacon selection process. The deacon election will be in the evening service of September 21 by bona-fide members of Grace Baptist Church. The following Sunday, September 28, we will have our deacon installation service.
I want to draw our service to a close to bring home three quick applications of what we have studied today:
• First, my prayer this morning is that you see that at Grace Baptist Church, we seriously take Paul’s command that a church be run decently and in order. – If you wish to be a part of a church that believes the Bible; that believes Christian men and women and boys and girls and teens should live according to what the Bible teaches; that loves people, and most of all, loves God…then I invite you to let me know you are interested in church membership and we can meet together to discuss it.
• I also pray that every man in this room will strive to meet the deacon qualifications found in 1 Timothy 3. – Men, these qualities are your “job description” as a Christian man.
• Finally, my prayer is that you will catch the vision of shared service. If you ain’t servin’ yet, I strongly encourage you to “join the team.” We’ve got a job to do at GBC, and this preacher and his wife can’t do it all. There are many areas of service at GBC we need volunteers for right now, whether you’re a full member of the church or not. See my wife Susan at the Welcome Counter in the entranceway as you exit the building, and she’ll let you know where you can plug in to service for God.
