Part 4 Who is a D(d)eacon

[Slide 1] Ok so here we are again. Back for week 4 of this study on D(d)eacons.

If you have been with us the whole time – I hope you have seen how each lesson adds a layer on top of the previous one. This is another reason that we review each week. Certainly, the teaching is important – but I must show you how each teaching from scripture builds on top of the last teaching. All that we’ve learned helps to inform us of what more we must learn.

So, let’s continue to build those layers.

[Slide 2] In the first week - Well y’all ought to be pros at describing what we learned in week 1. So why doesn’t someone do that. Who can re-teach succinctly what we learned in week 1?

Right! We learned about the word “deacon” by seeing how it was used in the New Testament – particularly how it was used in passages where it was not talking about the office of a Deacon. What we discovered is that all Christians – all saints – are responsible for the work of the ministry. Service and ministry are two words that often define what the word dia;konoV means in the Greek language.

With this understanding we noted that all Christians are to be serving, caring, helping, teaching, correcting, encouraging, and generally deaconing one another. When it comes down to role and function, the group that does all the spiritual and physical service in the church is… the church.

Therefore, whoever the officers of the church are, they are first servants and ministers. That is the ground floor for all Christians. From that the duties of their office are added.

That leads us into week 2. If all the church is the ground floor serving and ministering to one another, the question is, who qualifies to hold the office of a Deacon? The qualification to serve and minister is simply being a child of God. But what about the offices of the church – in particular the office of a Deacon?

Who can name off some of the qualifications of a Deacon (uppercase D)?

Worthy of Respect, Not hypocritical, not drinking a lot of wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience, tested first and found blameless, godly wives, husbands of one wife, managing their households competently.

I think that is all of them. Good job.

Now what passage of scripture would I go to find that list of qualifications?

I Timothy 3:8-13.

Now let’s remind ourselves some of the key takeaways from this list of qualifications. What are they?

Exactly! The office of a Deacon is to be inhabited by those who are spiritually mature. They are generally those who other church members honor, respect, and wish to emulate.

These characteristics set these folks apart for service that is somewhat more specialized than simply spiritual and physical care. There is some specific role they must fill that requires such precise and mature characteristics.

That leads us to what we saw last week. Although out of passages in the New Testament that specifically call out the office of a Deacon, we still needed to answer the enduring question of what a Deacon actually does. We went to a passage of scripture to which you can return for today’s teaching.

Acts 6:1-8.

Although this passage does not specifically call out Deacons the office – we noted that this is very early in the church. And it seems that since the Apostles were the only office of the church, the creation of this new office fits best with the definition of the word Deacon. Although there is some ambiguity there which we will seek to explore later.

Who can tell me generally what events are transpiring in the church in this passage of scripture?

Right. The church was growing fast and the apostles were faced with a problem where some widows –Greek speaking Jewish widows – were being neglected by the daily distribution of food. The apostles were not willing to sacrifice the priority of prayer and the ministry of the word to serve in this way, so they commanded the congregation to carefully select 7 men from among them with character qualities that resemble the list we found in I Timothy 3, though admittedly they are more general qualifications. Once they did this the apostles say that they will put them in charge of this necessary task.

The congregation joyfully obeyed and gave the apostles 7 men which the apostles ordained into this specific ministry.

Because of this the gospel kept spreading and even Jewish Priests began converting to Christ.

So last week we identified what is the role of Deacons. Who can summarize their role well?

Right. It is to facilitate ministry. It is to make ministry easier. Easier for who? The body of Christ. How do they do that? Well in this particular situation they brought order to what was going on and made sure that no one was neglected in the distribution of food.

The ministry was happening after all… it just wasn’t happening well. The Deacons stepped in and made sure that ministry happened effectively. The apostles maintained their duty to pray and preach the Word and no more widows were forgotten.

We noted that the Deacons role is simply that. They are the ones who make sure those who are serving or ministering can do so to those whom they are serving or ministering to, without any hang-ups. In that sense, a Deacon (with a capital D) ministers and serves those who minister and serve. They are deacons to those deaconing.

They are the support, they are the back up, they are the scaffolding holding up the painters. Their job is to get the most ministry and service out of every single believer in the church. And they do this by managing necessary tasks.

[Slide 3] But one question was asked last week that is an incredibly astute question. One that will drive us forward in what we will learn today.

“How do we know that the office being spoken of in Acts 6 is not Elders?”

Now right off the bat, we have to recognize again that this is the early church. As such everything is in its infancy. But from what we know about the office of an Elder – what can you pick out that would be their responsibility?

Well, it is a difficult question, isn’t it?

The oversight, prayer, and preaching roles of the apostles clearly conform more to Elders.

But when we read in verse 8, that Stephen was full of grace and power and doing signs and wonders for Christ, and when we read about Phillip later being an evangelist… we start to really wonder if these men were Deacons or a Elders. Do we have a case of Stephen not staying in his lane? Can deacons teach?

Perhaps it would be beneficial for us to compare the qualifications and responsibilities of Elders and Deacons. And let me tell you, when I did this, I found some surprises this week.

[Slide 4] So go with me to I Timothy 3:1. Let’s read 1-7 and orient ourselves again with the qualifications of an Elder.

READ

[Slide 5] Now let’s compare them. The Elder qualifications are pulled from both I Timothy and Titus. Repeats are put in parenthesis. The Deacons qualifications are pulled from I Timothy 3. What do you see that is similar?

Right. So, there are quite a few items that have direct correlations and some that are saying essentially the same thing but not word for word.

[Slide 6] I have drawn attention to that in this next slide by crossing out those that I thought either said the same thing, or essentially said the same thing.

Now I have often heard it said and even probably said so myself, that the only real qualification difference between a Deacon and an Elder is that an Elder must be apt to teach. However, when I look at this list – I don’t really find that to be true.

If we add the concepts from Acts 6 – Full of the Spirit, Full of Wisdom, Full of Faith – into the listed qualifications of Deacons then you could, potentially eliminate a couple more from the Elder’s qualifications side and perhaps this is what those who say that being apt to teach is the only difference have done. But because there are no Elder qualifications of the same era I hesitate to put these lists together.

So, in keeping just the qualifications from the two pastoral epistles about these two offices… what do you see that is different?

And what might we make of these differences of qualification?

It seems to me, that according to qualifications alone, The Elders have the same spiritual maturity standards of a Deacon with some additions. There seems to be the added emphasis on speaking, teaching, discipling, and relating gently and humbly to others.

And for Deacons, no matter what we conclude about Women Deacons, we must conclude that women are inherently involved in the function of their office. Especially since they are called out in the middle of the list. Either the Deacon’s wives, women of the church in general, or women Deacons must be involved in the ministry of the office of the Deacon. Whereas Elders wives, according to I Timothy 2, could not be involved in the office of their husband.

In short, before we even get to comparing the Deacons and Elders roles in the church, there seems to be a heavier emphasis on how Elders relate with people under difficult circumstances, than the Office of a Deacon.

[Slide 7] So, let’s compare their roles.

What do you notice… right off the bat?

Right. There is A LOT of specificity to the role of an Elder. In fact, the role of the Elder is probably the most robust, far-reaching. Holistic office of the church.

Perhaps the one aspect that really describes an Elder’s role is the last one on this list from Titus 1. And Elder is the Steward of God’s church. Just like a steward watches over the throne of the King while he is away, just like a house steward watches over the estate of the master while he is away, the Elder watches over Christ’s church while He is away.

How far does the authority of a steward extend? What are the limitations of a steward’s authority? As far as the King or the master of the house. Applied to the church – it means that insofaras the Word of God has said it – the Elders have authority to say it. Insofaras the Word of God teaches it – the Elders can do it or expect it from themselves and the congregation. What this means is that although clearly under Christ, the Elders occupy the role Christ would have if He were among us in the flesh. Just as the husband occupies the same role toward his wife as Christ has to the church, so also the Elders occupy the same role to the congregation that Christ has to the church.

Now, looking at this list – what do you notice about the role of the Elders in relation to their qualifications emphasizing relating to people in difficult or potentially controversial scenarios?

Yes – it seems like those qualifications would be supremely needed if the role was to oversee the entire church and be responsible to lead them in example, teaching, and authority.

Comparing all of this with the Deacon, whose only role description is in a passage that doesn’t even name the office, we see that the Deacon is less fleshed out. Why is that do you think?

[Slide 8] Well, let’s go back to Acts 6 for a moment. Remember in that passage the two offices? Apostles and this unnamed office that we have seen as Proto-Deacons.

Highlighting both, in light of the qualifications and roles of Deacons and Elders respectively, which group more closely aligns with each?

Certainly, the apostles in function look much like the Elders. And the Apostles were the ones who put these 7 men in charge of this necessary task. But not before saying “It is not right that we should give up preaching the Word to serve tables.” Meaning – the responsibility of the tables being served fell on who?

The Apostles. EXCACTLY!

Much like the King was responsible for the choices of the nation of Israel, and the Husband is the head of the home, the apostles and now that that office has expired, the Elders are responsible as stewards over all of the church.

That is why the Apostles needed to put these 7 men “in charge.” Because it was The Apostles responsibility to make sure the task was done well. So, they assigned men – not to do the work – but to make sure the work got done well.

What am I getting at here?

Perhaps the reason we see so much crossover between Elder and Deacon and in these proto-deacons is because the Elder is responsible to equip all the saints for the work of the ministry. The Elders have charge over the whole assembly. They are under shepherds. And the Deacons are an office used to facilitate ministry where the Elders are unable to do so due to the potential for sacrificing their primary duties of the ministry of the Word, prayer, oversight, pastoral care, and correction.

[Slide 9] The office of the Deacon then, takes full shape. Not only is the office of a Deacon a deacon to those deaconing. But they are also a deacon to the Elders. They not only organize and remove obstacles from the church – serving those who are serving others. But they also remove obstacles from the Elders so they can continue to Teach and Lead effectively without getting bogged down in tasks not related to those responsibilities. And the Deacons do this under the direct oversight of and in submission to the Elders.

So, if we are to compare the offices of Elder and Deacon – what could we succinctly say?

[Slide 10] Elders Lead Ministry. They provide vision, guidance, teaching, an example to follow, and authority from the Word of God.

[Slide 11] Deacons Facilitate Ministry. Under the vision, guidance, teaching, example, and authority of the Elders, the Deacons serve the Elders by being appointed to take from the Elders necessary tasks to make ministry easier for the church.

So, as we close out this 4th week of teaching on Deacons, let me do as I have done and make some application for us.

The question of whether or not Deacons ought to be leaders in the church is a question rife with confusion.

Some models of church government have two boards, Elders and Deacons which act as two legislative branches for the church. Thus, both sides must agree in order to move forward.

Some models of church government simply dichotomize the responsibilities of these offices in that all things spiritual belong to the Elders and all things physical belong to the Deacons.

Still other models have Deacons making all the decisions of the church while the Elders simply teach.

According to all we have seen from the Scriptures in the first 4 weeks of this study, each of these models of church government do not fit the biblical model of Elders or Deacons.

Why? Is it because the Deacons are not to be leaders?

No. Actually – I think that everything we’ve seen of the office of the Deacon up to this point has proven conclusively, without shadow of doubt, that Deacons are leaders.

So, what is the problem with the aforementioned government styles?

[Slide 12] Leadership does not equal authority. In fact, I would say, that Leadership has absolutely nothing to do with having authority. And that is the problem that we have with a couple teachings in scripture.

Wives think that since they must be submissive to their husbands that that means that they cannot lead. Nothing could be further from the truth. They can lead by example, by godliness, by holiness. They can be a wonderful asset and influence to their husband, trusted in all points for advice and for guidance. Such qualities of a woman would be highly prized by any man who has the authority but wisdom and humility to seek help and advice.

Similarly, the Elder while having the authority to exercise oversight over all the church, needs leadership from within the church to rise up. They need people who are trustworthy. And they need those people be submissive to their authority.

The reason each of the three government models I just mentioned fail, is because they give authority and leadership the same definition and practically apply that to their governing system of the church.

Can the Deacons gather? Can they create ministries? Can they create plans and devise changes? Of course. That is leadership. But can they execute any of this outside of the oversight of the Elders? No.

Well, the bible says they were put in charge of that task. Doesn’t being put in charge of something require some authority?

[Slide 13] Deacons in their role will inevitably deal with people and even exercise authority over people – BUT it is always limited in two big ways

1.) The Deacons authority is limited by the authority of the Elders. Since the Elders are called the stewards of God’s house, the Deacon cannot be equal to that authority. The Deacon’s authority is inherently under the Elders’.

2.) The Deacon is put in charge of a task. This limits the authority of the Deacon with reference to the servants he is serving in two ways.

a. He cannot exercise authority over a person who is NOT serving under the task for which he has charge.

b. He cannot exercise authority over a person who IS serving under the task for which he has charge, BUT is telling them to do something OUTSIDE the scope of that task.

As a Christian, who happens to be a Deacon with an uppercase D, they could give biblical counsel to a person struggling with their marriage. This is simply spiritually serving that person. But they do not have the authority to set up regular counseling sessions or to assign actions that must be performed, or even to limit their ministry involvement. Indeed, if the biblical counsel is not fairly straightforward, doesn’t seem to help, or they ignore biblical counsel, at that point, rather than a Deacon executing some kind of quasi-discipline and keeping that couple from ministry - they should refer the whole matter to the Elders.

But I thought Deacons had authority over necessary duties or tasks? Of course they do. But they do not have the authority to make any decision unless that authority has been given by the Elders. And any decision that is outside the task they have been appointed to manage – is beyond their authority.

So in comparing Elders to Deacons what have we learned about Deacons? Who is a Deacon?

Deacons must be leaders. But leaders with very limited authority. In some ways – this is a test of whether someone is a true leader or not. Can they lead without authority? Then truly they are a leader indeed.