Leadership Training (Session 8)
The basic thesis of this book is that deacons—rightly understood and deployed—are an irreplaceable gift to Christ’s church. They are model servants who excel in being attentive and responsive to tangible needs in the life of the church. In what ways do they serve? By assisting the elders, guarding the ministry of the Word, organizing service, caring for the needy, preserving unity, mobilizing ministry, and more.
A church without biblical deacons may exhibit signs of health for a while, but over time its health will suffer. We rob ourselves of the benefits of God’s revealed wisdom when we either unduly elevate the role of deacons (say, to de facto elders) or unduly reduce their role (say, to glorified janitors).
Above all, Christian believers are those who walk in the footsteps of the ultimate deacon, the suffering servant who came “not to be deaconed but to deacon, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
shouldering practical tasks so that he can channel his energies to the ministry of the Word and to prayer.
If you are an elder, and particularly if you are the primary preaching pastor in your church, internalize this: deacons wrongly deployed can halve your ministry, but deacons rightly deployed can double it. They can also build up the whole congregation—or not.
For better or for worse, deacons are difference-makers.