Deacons 5

[Slide 1] Well, here we are again back for week 5 of our teaching on Deacons. This will be our final week learning about Deacons in this setting, but to really change the culture of our church to adopt a biblical model of what Deacons with a capital D and deacons with a lowercase d really are, it will take more and more learning and relearning as we slowly put into practice what God gave the Church. I hope that all these lessons will be the start of a conversation and a revolution in our church. And my hope for that has grown more and more over the last few weeks.

As we have done each week since week 1, it would behoove us to review the concepts we have learned so that we may stack the final rock on top of our cairn of understanding regarding D(d)eacons.

[Slide 2] So in week 1… what did we learn?

We took the word deacon in the New Testament and came to understand that it is a word that simply means ministry or service.

We learned that most of the time, the word is not used for those holding the office of a Deacon.

We learned that it is the responsibility of all saints, all of God’s people, all Christians to do the work of the ministry… to deacon.

We learned that all the spiritual ministry and physical service that needs to be done in the church… is done by the church as a whole and not by a single office, group, or person.

Week 1 was a huge culture shifter for our church. Not because we were extremely negligent in our duties – but because it finally voiced what I think a lot of us were thinking already. Ministry is done by the church as a whole. So when we appoint anyone to office, it is never to do all the work of ministry in the church.

What about week 2… what did we learn in week 2?

Right. We learned about the office of a Deacon. And for that, we went to the only 2 passages of scripture that deal with that office.

The first was?

Philippians 1:1

And what did we find there?

It is a unique office from the Elders. It is in Leadership of some kind. It is Subordinate to the Elders.

What was the second passage?

I Timothy 3:8-13

And what did we find there?

Yes. The qualifications of a Deacon… which are?

Worthy of respect, not double tongued or 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 own houses competently.

What was the key takeaway from these qualifications? What kind of person qualifies to be a Deacon with a capital D?

Exactly – only those who are spiritually mature people. The moral and spiritual character of a person are the only characteristics that we are looking at to see if they are qualified to be Deacons the office. Not their understanding of plumbing, electrical, construction, or even a spiritual gift assessment. It is their personal spiritual character.

But that left a big unanswered question for us didn’t it? So, we had to go to week 3 looking for more answers about what exactly a Deacon the office does. We went to what passage of scripture?

Acts 6:1-8

And how many times is the office of a Deacon mentioned there?

Zero… right.

So why can we feel comfortable in gleaning information about the office of a Deacon from this passage?

Exactly. This is early in the church’s history. The function of these men who were selected for this necessary task does not really conform to the office of an Elder. That lines up better with the Apostles in this passage. And since the bible only lists two offices in the church (Elder and Deacon) it seems that these are what we might call proto-Deacons.

So, what did we learn about the role of a Deacon from this passage?

Yes. A Deacon’s role is to supply resources to and eliminate obstacles from those who are attempting to minister or serve other members of the body of Christ. We saw how the widows of the church were being given food daily – but not all of them. Some of them were forgotten. 7 men were appointed to this role, to make sure the task was done, and it got done. The saints ministered more effectively under their management and the widows were no longer neglected.

In this we saw that the office of a Deacon is a servant to the servants. A minister to the ministers. A deacon to those who are deaconing.

But in week 4 we addressed an issue regarding the two offices in the church. What did we talk about in week 4?

We attempted to compare the offices of Elders and Deacons. In so doing, we looked at both the qualifications and roles that God has given each office as listed in scripture.

When we compared the qualifications of Elders and Deacons, what did we find?

Morally, Spiritually, they were VERY similar. What were some key differences?

1) Elders must be apt to teach.

2) Elders must be gentle, not violent, hospitable, controlled in their mind, having a good reputation with those outside the faith, not prone to anger, and not contentious. Meaning that Elders especially need to be spiritually mature enough to diffuse potentially explosive situations with people.

3) Women have some role in the execution of the office of a Deacon, whereas they do not in the execution of the office of an Elder.

To seek clarity on these differences, we compared the roles of the Elders and the Deacons.

In doing so we noticed that the stewardship of God’s church does not fall on both offices of Elder and Deacon, but only on the Elders. And when we went to Acts 6, we noticed the subtle clue given by the Apostles. They recognized that it was THEIR responsibility, ultimately, to make sure that these widows were cared for… but they were unwilling to actually do the work of this and sacrifice their primary duties of prayer and the ministry of the world.

In short, every corner of the church is under the oversight of the office of the Elder. They are responsible to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.

We’ve stated that the Deacons give resources to and remove obstacles from God’s people so they can do ministry. Doesn’t that sound an awful lot like Ephesians 4 where Elders are to equip the saints for the work of the ministry?

What does that mean?

A Deacons role must be created when two conditions are met.

1.) There is a need for saints to be equipped to do the work of the ministry. But if this alone is true, then the Elders must equip the saint to do the work of the ministry.

2.) But if that task of equipping them would force the Elders to abandon their primary duties of teaching the word and prayer, then a Deacon must be appointed.

Meaning what? If the need could have been met by the Apostles in Acts 6 – it would have been.

Deacons then, toward the Elders, serve them by removing tasks that inherently prevent them from exercising their primary duties of prayer and teaching the Word.

What this means practically is that the Elders and Deacons are not two branches of government. Rather the Elders under Christ, lead the church. The Deacons are the Elders’ support who take tasks from the them so they can focus on their primary responsibilities.

Elders Lead ministry, Deacons facilitate ministry.

In this, Deacons do exercise authority, but authority limited in two big ways.

1.) It is under the Elders authority

2.) It is confined to the task that they have been given charge over.

These limitations on a Deacons authority re-emphasize that although the Deacon is an office of the church, it is not a governing body. Oversight and stewardship of the church belongs exclusively to the Elders. Why? Because that is what the bible says.

[Slide 3] Whew! We’ve learned a lot haven’t we? What could we possibly still learn today? Well, there is one unresolved issue that I’d like to point out to you that actually contributes to our understanding of what a Deacon does. We know they are a servant and support to both the Elders and the rest of the congregation to help them do their various ministries and services. But what is the impact of such a role in the church? What can come of it, and what do they become?

Does anyone remember the unresolved item from Acts 6? There are actually 2 of them.

1.) [Slide 4] Was the neglect of these widows intentional?

2.) What does it mean that Jewish priests were converting to Christ?

Let’s go back to Acts 6 and we’ll read verses 1-7 one more time.

[Slide 5] After reading this, let’s endeavor to answer whether or not the Greek Speaking Jewish widows were being neglected on purpose or not.

Here is what we know – we know that there had been tension between these two groups. The Hebraic Jews would see the Hellenistic Jews as less than them – as not really real Jews.

But that was before they had come to Christ.

It would not be surprising to come to Acts 6 and find several Jews going back to their old ways. However, I highly doubt that this was an intentional neglect of the Greek Speaking Jewish Widows. If I wanted to prove that to you – what evidence could I give from this passage and the book of Acts?

1.) The record of the church up to this point. In Acts 2, they held all things in common. In Acts 2 they shared all they had with each other. In Acts 4 they continued to share all things in common. In Acts 5 the people were gripped with fear and the warning against false piety and lying to the Spirit, and against sin in general. In Acts 5 they also saw rigorous obedience by the apostles, even at great personal risk, and seeing God bless their obedience.

2.) The apostles virtually ignore prejudice here. It seems like that would be something that should be addressed. If prejudice and racism is sin – why would the apostles ignore the sin and move to solve the symptom instead?

3.) The people grumbled or murmured. This seems to indicate that they were suspicious that it was intentional. Sometimes suspicion of something being done is just as powerful as if it was being done. So for these Greek-Speaking Jews to suspect that this was intentional, first doesn’t mean it was, but second must be dealt with seriously because it could be just as damaging as if it was being done intentionally.

4.) After calling the entire group of disciples together (Meaning both the Greek Speaking and Hebrew Speaking Jews) and asking them to carefully select 7 men with godly character… who do they select? Stephen, Phillip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas a Gentile convert to Judaism from Antioch. What is interesting about these men’s names?

a. All of them are Greek names.

b. And because Nicolas is called out as a Gentile who converted to Judaism, it is reasonable to conclude of the others mentioned that they were…

i. Jewish in race (except for Nicolas)

ii. Jewish in religion before Christ (along with Nicolas)

c. Meaning that the whole assembly gathered and selected 7 Hellenistic Jews to lead the effort in distributing the food to all the widows in the church.

Based on all these reasons, I do not believe the neglect of these widows was deliberate. But I do think that the church as a whole wanted to insure everyone that it wasn’t deliberate by taking every necessary action. They wanted the problem solved. They wanted to get back to ministry happening and having everything in common.

So they selected 7 Hellenistic leaders to solve the problem, while simultaneously putting down even the whiff of prejudice among them.

[Slide 6] Now what about the Jewish Priests converting to Christianity?

There are a few of these “to sum up” statements in the book of Acts. Luke uses them to transition from one section to another and therefore we should see threads of the previous section connecting with the threads of the one that follows.

Stephen’s ministry, arrest, preaching, and murder will happen in the following several verses. Stephen’s primary critique of the Judaism of his time was that the temple sacrifices were no longer necessary since they were but a picture of what Christ had accomplished. So, to see a comment from Luke about Jewish priests converting helps us to see that this message was being received, even by those within the temple system. More than likely these Jewish priests converted and stopped ministering in the temple.

But another aspect of this connects with what we just saw, in how the early church dealt with each other. A ministry to care for the poor, suspected of prejudice, is now stronger than ever. Cultural and racial divides remain non-existent in the church. And the poorest among them are being cared for. A priest would know the law and what God spoke in His law about foreigners, proselytes, widows and orphans. God declared that the one who perverts justice on any of these groups is cursed.

So, for this group of priests, who were probably not well off themselves because they were not part of the chief priests who were regularly critiqued for oppressing the people. For them to see God’s law actually being fulfilled and racial prejudices subsiding, for them to see the poor actually cared for as an equal in the community of Christ, how could they not believe that God was doing something special in the lives of this group called Christians. In its short history of existence the church was solving racial and economical issues that had long plagued Israel. Even in our study in Foundations we’ve seen how some of the reason God judged the Northern and Southern Kingdom was because of their mistreatment of the poor and voiceless. Suddenly, this people group under a man from Nazareth, is solving these age-old problems? How? Can it be? Was He truly the Messiah?

So based on all this – what can we learn about the office of a Deacon?

[Slide 7] Deacons are shock-absorbers!

They took what could have been a potentially explosive situation, risking the unity of the fledgling church, and absorbed all of the issues, softening and deadening its impact and thus solidifying the unity of the church.

Now they didn’t do it alone. The Apostles provided oversight, direction, wisdom and instruction. The congregation provided concern and uniquely suited men to solve such an issue.

But these 7 men absorbed that shock in the church and from it, the church was more unified then when it began.

Rather than speaking to their role I think this speaks to the effect of their role when done rightly.

Deacons serve the Elders by taking tasks away from them that would distract them from prayer and the ministry of the word. In doing this, Deacons also serve the congregation by providing resources to and removing obstacles from them so that they can do ministry. The result of that great work – is unity. Peace. Love. And Patience.

Deacons turn a situation that could have led to division, a situation that could have led to revolt, a situation that could have led to infighting, and they turn it to back to a vibrant godly ministry.

Deacons absorb friction and keep the engine cool. And they are uniquely suited for this task, because they are spiritually mature people who love God’s people, are submitted to their Elders, and desire to serve both.

[Slide 8] So, what is a Deacon?

A Deacon is a spiritually mature problem solver. A Deacon is a patient peacemaker. A Deacon is a Servant to those who serve.

What isn’t a Deacon?

A Deacon is not involved in church government.

A Deacon is not a mister fix it

A Deacon doesn’t do all the work

A Deacon doesn’t have authority over people so much as they do over tasks

A Deacon doesn’t contribute to gossip, backbiting, slander. Nor does a Deacon fan the flames of division, infighting, or army raising.

What is a Deacon?

[Slide 9] A Deacon is an office that this church desperately needs.

So how do we go forward from here?

First, can I say that although the Rummage sale brought in less money than it has in several years… our people stepped up and stepped in to get the work done, more than we have in the last several years. In the last couple months, I’ve seen people in this church pounce on ministry opportunities within the same hour it was posted on CBC scoop. I’ve seen people caring for, praying for, calling on, and helping each other. I’ve seen members and non-members alike step up to swing hammers and fix things.

In short, many of you are understanding that to be a member of the body of Christ is to be a servant and minister to each other. This delights my heart. I think I can confidently say that we have a large group of people who are ready, willing, and able to serve each other.

But we lack those who are able to get them together. We lack those who are able to organize the task and see to it that nothing and no one is forgotten. We lack those who are able to swoop in with support and not only make sure that people know where ministry is needed, but also meeting any needs those doing the ministry may have in order to complete it.

And that is what the Elders are looking for. We certainly need people who are willing to serve and minister. But those folks aren’t Deacons. Not necessarily anyway. Those folks are all of us. But we really need those who are spiritually mature and able to organize and facilitate ministry. Your Elders feel the weight of all that we are to oversee and much of it has nothing to do with praying or the ministry of the Word. There are many tasks that we would be happy to see managed and absorbed by another spiritually mature person in the church which we can trust to do it well.

Maybe after having heard all the teaching on Deacons, you think you know of someone in our church who could do this. Maybe you think, after looking at the spiritual qualifications, that you are this kind of person. Submit the name to an Elder.

But I thought Elders appoint Deacons? Of course they do. But that doesn’t mean you can’t submit a name. Even if it is your own.

[Slide 10] But before you do that – there are two books I want you to read. Much of what they have in it is going to be repeats to what you have heard already – but maybe that is ok.

1.) Deacons by Matt Smethurst. It is 133 pages and gives a great overview of the office.

2.) What do Deacons Do? By Juan Sanchez – 44 pages

Both of these books/booklets are put out by 9marks ministry. I highly recommend them before you submit any names – just to be sure that you understand the office for which you are recommending them.

A third book you can read for extra credit would be “Paul’s Vision for the Deacons “By Alexander Strauch – 192 pages – I have not read it yet but plan to read soon.

You can also be praying for your Elders as we continue to investigate what role women have in the execution of the office of a Deacon. You can be praying for us as we determine what tasks specifically we are doing that keep us from praying and the ministry of the Word. And you can pray as we assess our folks for the spiritually mature, that it would be clear who God is giving to us as Deacons.