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The Power, Persuasion and Importance of the Church
Detail:
1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. 8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Devotional
While it is true that there wasn’t an organized ecclesiology (Structure/ Government) of the church at this time, we do see inkling into what God, and later Paul had in mind for the church. These 2 branches of government for the church are absolutely needed and I believe genius! Both the preaching/teaching of the word, and the physical acts of mercy are part of what it means to be the church, and I believe God gifts churches to make this a regular part of their ‘programs.’ In this case, as the church was becoming more diverse, and there were people from different races coming together, and what we’d expect is the problems that occur with diversity. Bias, partiality, distrust are all part of the human condition and though we are called to a multicultural platform, the problems aren’t easily erased. In this setting it is the problem with Greek (Hellenist) and Jewish widows and the favoritism being afforded to the indigenous Hebrews. It is interesting to see how the apostle handled this. They didn’t split into homogenous preference groups, nor did they necessarily deal with it themselves; but they empowered certain other men to deal with the problem. Too often, people in the church assume that all of the issues and counseling should be done by the pastor(s), but this is simply not the case. This passage and later Paul (With Elders and Deacons), demonstrates that the word and prayer, as well as the mercy ministries are important, and it is the people in the church that should head up these ministries. This assures that theology is being taught and guarded, and that the physical actions and implications of the gospel are being handled.
Questions
Why do we assume that the work of the ministry should be done by hired guns?
What is the problem inherent in this belief?
Does any one man/woman have all of the gifts of God? If not, then why do we assume one person can do all the work in the church?
How does this type of passage speak to consumerism in the church?
How did the Apostles handle the problem?
Why was it handled this way?
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By Anchor Community ChurchDetail:
1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. 8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Devotional
While it is true that there wasn’t an organized ecclesiology (Structure/ Government) of the church at this time, we do see inkling into what God, and later Paul had in mind for the church. These 2 branches of government for the church are absolutely needed and I believe genius! Both the preaching/teaching of the word, and the physical acts of mercy are part of what it means to be the church, and I believe God gifts churches to make this a regular part of their ‘programs.’ In this case, as the church was becoming more diverse, and there were people from different races coming together, and what we’d expect is the problems that occur with diversity. Bias, partiality, distrust are all part of the human condition and though we are called to a multicultural platform, the problems aren’t easily erased. In this setting it is the problem with Greek (Hellenist) and Jewish widows and the favoritism being afforded to the indigenous Hebrews. It is interesting to see how the apostle handled this. They didn’t split into homogenous preference groups, nor did they necessarily deal with it themselves; but they empowered certain other men to deal with the problem. Too often, people in the church assume that all of the issues and counseling should be done by the pastor(s), but this is simply not the case. This passage and later Paul (With Elders and Deacons), demonstrates that the word and prayer, as well as the mercy ministries are important, and it is the people in the church that should head up these ministries. This assures that theology is being taught and guarded, and that the physical actions and implications of the gospel are being handled.
Questions
Why do we assume that the work of the ministry should be done by hired guns?
What is the problem inherent in this belief?
Does any one man/woman have all of the gifts of God? If not, then why do we assume one person can do all the work in the church?
How does this type of passage speak to consumerism in the church?
How did the Apostles handle the problem?
Why was it handled this way?