This week’s passage centers on growing pains that the early church experienced. The issue was that favoritism seemed to be shown toward Hebrew widows while the Greek speaking Hellenist widows were treated as second-class citizens.
Rather than growing into an ungodly schism, this situation turned out to be a healthy turning point for the church. The apostles, clear in their God-given mandate to spread the gospel, were swamped and could not oversee this important ministry. So, qualified believers were chosen to spread the mantle of leadership, to multiply the ministry of the early church, and to allow gifted believers to participate in ministry. What could have ended in evil, God used for good.