Healthy Churches Have Healthy Deacons

Healthy Churches Have Healthy Deacons In verse 8, Paul shifts from discussing elders to deacons.

There are specific requirements outlined for deacons in 1 Timothy 3:8–13 however, their responsibilities are not as clearly defined as those of elders.

This morning I will address the roles and requirement of deacons and how they are best utilized in the church.

1 Timothy 3:8–13 HCSB

Deacons, likewise, should be 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. And they must also be tested first; if they prove blameless, then they can serve as deacons. Wives, too, must be worthy of respect, not slanderers, self-controlled, faithful in everything. Deacons must be husbands of one wife, managing their children and their own households competently. For those who have served well as deacons acquire a good standing for themselves, and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

Pray

The “deacon” is used both as a noun and a verb in the New Testament; more than one hundred times! It is almost always referring to the verb form to serve.

We are all commanded in the Word to be servants of Christ and to serve in reaching lost people with the message of hope .

7 practices of a “healthy” church member

Pray daily for salvations

Make disciples or be discipled

Share your faith regularly

Invite people

Be welcoming

Serve in an area of ministry

Give financially

All of these serve the church in different but crucial ways.

Matt Smethurst book “Deacons”

Mark 9:35

Mark 9:35 (HCSB)

Sitting down, He called the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant [deacon] of all.”

John 12:26 (HCSB)

If anyone serves [deacons] Me, he must follow Me. Where I am, there My servant [deacons] also will be. If anyone serves [deacons] Me, the Father will honor him.

Based on our earlier look at elders you could summarize that elders and deacons help fulfill what is said in Ephesians

Ephesians 4:12 ESV

to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

Acts is where we see the clearest what deacons do.

Acts 6:1–7:

Acts 6:1–7 (HCSB)

Acts 6:1–7 (ESV)

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.

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.

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.

But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

[elders equip the saints for the work by teaching and training, deacons create infrastructures to build up the church and meet its needs.]

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.

These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.

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.

For this reason, we refer to deacons as "leading servants."

For us, we start with those who lead ministries as directors first.

Historically: table clothes and filling the baptistry.

However, as we read there are character qualifications for being a deacon.

Illustration: man on death row.

Deacons lead and give oversight to the church in areas of serving.

What exactly do they do?

The first responsibility of deacons is to meet needs according to the Word.

The primary role of deacons is to provide spiritual service to meet specific needs within the church. In Acts 6:1-7, we can see that the deacons' ministries arose due to certain circumstances.

The church was growing, and as they shared their resources, they needed someone to lead the distribution of aid. This specific need necessitated the need for leading servants.

Caring for

Widows, orphans, the poor, organizing community events, setting up care for the sick, visiting people in the hospitals, prayer meetings, are to be organized by the deacons and we the church are to serve them where they need us.

Because we have miss used the term deacon to mean an elder

Churches often see the pastor as THE guy who does it all

Illustration

There is a short story titled

“The Only Church Deacon.”

The only church deacon raced to the building early Sunday morning in order to shovel the heavy snow that fell. Once there they started the coffee pots and turned on all the lights, then its time to make copies of the children’s church lessons. Now, off to move snow! Once inside again, they turned on the sound equipment, the stage lights and preform a quick mic check before setting up all the chairs. Once that was done, they warmed up the church bus so they could pick up the kids, but not before they filled the communion cups and setting out the wafers. After picking up the kids, they race back in time to start the background music and turn on the lobby information tv. After that, a quick trash check and then off to set up the nursery and welcome desk. Service starts in 30 minutes they thought! I need to unlock the doors and start greeting. After every one was greeted, served and in their seats ready to worship, it would appear that the only church deacon had remembered everything; that is except to prepare his sermon.”

We all need to serve. We serve by helping the deacons and deaconesses in the operations of the church so that people are in the best place possible to hear the Word of God.

The Second responsibility of deacons is they unify the body around the Word.

In Acts 6, there were some pressing issues that needed attention, but there were also deeper problems that needed to be addressed.

Physical neglect was causing divisions among Christians, leading to complaints and disagreements. To prevent this from escalating further, deacons were appointed to promote harmony and prevent disunity in the church.

This is why there are Qualifications

Two main qualifications for deacons can be identified.

First and foremost, they must possess a mindset that is focused on the mission.

As the early church grew rapidly in the early chapters of Acts, it required leaders who were committed to the mission that God had given them and could inspire others to join them in that same mission.

This is why deacons cannot be individuals who are narrow-minded, self-centered, and focused solely on their own interests.

Instead, they are required to understand the mission of the church and work towards helping others comprehend it as well. Every aspect of their ministry should be aligned with that overarching mission.

“Tony Merida had this to say about deacons.”

The church's main objective is to spread the gospel across the globe. However, the evil one takes pleasure in causing conflicts within the church to distract it from its purpose.

When such problems arise, deacons may be called upon to deal with them.

It is essential for the deacons to address genuine complaints and needs, so that the church can continue to focus on its mission.

Characteristics that are necessary in that situation are dignified sober, not a gossip, not greedy, gospel centered and self controlled.

What about women?

While elders must be men, the Word is not entirely clear or explicit on the matter of deacons

Firstly, some English translations of verse 11 mention “their wives,” but the pronoun “their” is not present in the original Greek language of the New Testament. While some translators think it is implied, it is not explicitly stated.

Secondly, we need to consider why Paul would talk about deacons’ wives and not elders’ wives. This is especially interesting because more is said about an elder’s responsibility in the home according to 1 Timothy 3:1–7. Despite the fact that elders have stricter qualifications, there is no mention of their wives.

the overall structure of the passage suggests that Paul was not referring to the wives of deacons in verse 8. He used the word “likewise” to transition from talking about elders in verse 7 to talking about deacons in verse 8.

Finally, a third reason for understanding the role of deacon to be open to both men and women is the role given to Phoebe in Romans 16.

Paul lists 17 women in Rom chapter 16 "servants of the church" or deaconess to mean they had key, leadership roles.

Closing Thoughts:

1 Tim 3 teaches us a lot about church structure.

Elders are teachers, hospitable, visionary leaders who set in motion the spiritual direction of the church

The deacons coordinate the logistics to see that vision lived out and that people are united in one Spirit.

As for the Church we all serve in those areas so that the Gospel will go out into the world.

When an elder serves a ministry he reports for duty, not as the project leader, but as a church goer.

Now, if something unbiblical or outside of our aim as a church they will step into that situation but that is it.

What is our motivation to serve in the church, report to deacons and submit to elder’s teaching?

1 Timothy 3:14–16 (HCSB)

I write these things to you, hoping to come to you soon.

But if I should be delayed, I have written so that you will know how people ought to act in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

And most certainly, the mystery of godliness is great: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

We don’t worship a dead Jesus or an empty religion.

Our God lives, and He has established His church.

He holds the keys of eternal life and He is saying “lets go bust some people out of hell.”

How we organize our church, and how we serve, demonstrates how much we believe He saves the lost and that He wants to do it through this church.

Do you believe Jesus is alive?

Do you believe He can save souls?

Then let’s align our lives with Him so that He can do that work through us.

Application (Worship Team)

Let you character be that of Christ

Let your worship include serving

Let the truth be your confidence.

Man of Sorrows