Acts 6:1-7: The Critical Crisis of the Church

Introduction

Introduce Self

Well, thank you Klint, and Good morning church!

If you have your Bibles please turn with me to Acts 6:1-7.

But if you don’t, I’ll put it on the screen for you.

That’s not a normal practice for me, so be patient as I try and navigate this clicker.

As you turn to our text, let me introduce myself and provide a quick update on CBC Richmond Hill.

As Klint mentioned my name is Andrew McClure, and I have the unbelievable pleasure of serving as one of the pastors at CBC Richmond Hill.

After serving as cross-cultural missionaries for almost 10 years, we sensed the Lord leading us to serve the American Church.

This was a significant step of obedience for our family, because since 2008, Annie and I had only ever dreamed of and talked about serving the Lord among those who had little to no access to the Good News of Jesus Christ.

So as we wrestled with the Lord, we sent out a quick update to our prayer partners, and Klint and Gardner were both apart of that team for us.

And the following day, Klint called and said, “The last thing I want to do is keep you from serving overseas, but if God is leading you to stay in America, would you consider planting a church with us in a little ole place called Richmond Hill, GA.”

And the rest, as they say, is history.

So in Dec 2021 we moved to Richmond Hill, with the expectation of planting a small little community church.

In January of 2022 we invited about 40 adults to an interest meeting. These 40 were invited specifically, as they were members of CBC Savannah, but who lived in RH.

Well that evening, we had 86 adults attend.

I spent a majority of that evening just asking everybody, who they were and how they heard of this meeting! I mean it was an invite only!

But what God revealed that night, was a hunger for the Word of God that was felt not just among those 40, but throughout the community of Richmond Hill.

So we launched on Sunday August 7th, 2022 and we had 247 Adults and 92 kids in attendance.

We averaged 339 people total, adults and kids that first month.

A year later, in August of 2023, we averaged 442 Total

And as of today, 1 year and 8 months in, we are averaging 545 Total

With some Sundays we have 200 kids alone in attendance.

Which you may not know… but that is totally bananas.

Most churches have 1 kid for every 4 adults, or 25%, but we have 1 kid for every 2 adults, and average 50%!

But as I tell our church all the time, may we not be a church that complains about the darkness of our culture, but one that lights a candle.

And every Sunday we have a unique opportunity of introducing 200 kids to Jesus Christ… sounds like a great way to change a culture to me.

In less than 2 years, We’ve seen 57 people baptized, and added 183 new adult members.

And this year, we’ve sent our first 2 missionaries.

Now, before you jump to some conclusion that I only care about numbers… let me be clear as to why I share this with you.

First, each one of the numbers I just referenced is a soul, a person created in the image of our God, and created to be in relationship with God.

And those people are either beginning anew that relationship, or deepening that relationship all because you chose to put the Kingdom of God above the Kingdom of cbc Savannah and plant a church!

You counted the cost to advance the Gospel for the Glory of God by providing, praying, and planting a church in that community.

You sent us 40 of your best people, and those 40 lead and serve every Sunday to make cbc Richmond Hill a reality.

And as God continues to bless you as a local church here in Savannah, I pray you remain committed to the planting of Churches for the Kingdom of God.

Secondly, I share those numbers with you because they are extremely pertinent to our text this morning.

You see, I expected a church of 40, in 20 months, God has given us a church of 540, but as is usually the case… Mo People= Mo Problems, and that’s exactly what the 1st Century Church was facing in Acts 6. but at a scale that I have a heard time computing!

So let’s read our text in its entirety, and then I’ll begin to unpack for us.

SLIDES

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.” 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.

The Book of Acts spans a time period of about 30 years, and here in chapter 6 we’re most likely about 3-5 years into the establishment of the NT church.

And within those early years the church faced some formidable crises.

Sin, like that of Ananias and Sapphira, sought to destroy the church, but by the grace of God, she emerged even more pure!

Persecution had sought to destroy the church, but through praise and prayer, she emerged even more powerful!

But now, in Acts 6, we find the greatest crisis the church had faced, and 2000 years removed it is the most critical crisis the church of today faces as well.

It’s the crisis we face in CBC Richmond Hill, and its the crisis you’re facing here as well.

So if you’re an outline person this morning I plan to explain this Crisis with 2 Main Points

SLIDE

The Problem

The Solution

The Problem

So let’s begin with the problem, and to fully understand the problem we have to look at the Growth.

Slide

Growth

The text begins (Slide), Acts 6:1 “Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number,

What days? These days refers to the great growth they were experiencing.

3-5 years into the establishment of the New Testament church in Jerusalem scholars estimate that there was probably 10,000 or more in that local church!

I mean they added 3,000 in a single day, and in Acts 4:4 we see that 5,000 men were converted in a single day.

So when we talk about these days, we’re talking about the explosive, supernatural growth of the local church.

There’s a lot of talk in church world, on the subject of church growth. Coming from the mission field, I had 0 context for it, and honestly it shocked me a good bit.

I didn’t realize what an industry it is. Books and podcasts, and conferences, and consultants.

I mean, when people heard we were planting, the church growth wisdom was unsolicited, but flooded me nonetheless.

And I don’t mean to demonize people, these were caring, and well meaning people who really wanted to see our church succeed.

But the advice concerned things like advertising dollars, and mailers, and billboards, and social media campaigns.

And listen, there is a lot of good, business advice out there that should not be neglected, but it should never be trusted for church growth.

The Scriptures teach that Jesus builds His church.

Who do we think we are, to dictate and determine the means of church growth?

No, no, no, the head of the church has that right. The church is Jesus’s and he alone has the right to dictate the means of church growth.

And he made those means crystal clear.

And in Acts 1:8 he commissioned his disciples to proclaim Jesus to the world, with their lips and their lives, dependent upon the power of the Holy Spirit.

And they obeyed. In Acts 1:14, they devoted themselves to prayer as they waited on the power.

In Acts 2, Peter preached and 3000 were added.

In Acts 2:42, those 3000 gathered in homes and devoted themselves to more teaching of the Word, and to the prayers.

In Acts 3, Peter kept preaching and was arrested.

In Acts 4, the church prayed for more boldness to keep preaching the Word,

And in Acts 5:42 “And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.”

Preaching and Prayer are God’s determined growth engines of the church!

Our marketing may draw a crowd, but it won’t build a church.

it is the Ministry of the Word of God, and a desperate dependence upon prayer that changes a life, builds a church, and matures a believer.

And as the apostles were faithful to preaching and prayer, the church grew, and this growth provided the context for the Problem.

But what exactly was the problem.

Look back at our text.

Grumbling

Acts 6:1 “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.”

There was Grumbling

I get this. I’m living this. These poor apostles were just church planters.

They had to lead worship, prepare communion, set up chairs, preach the sermon, meet for counseling, disciple new believers, organize small groups. They had to do it all!

There were the 12, but all the other members were new believers. They had questions, they had problems, they demanded the attention of the 12.

And as the church scaled way beyond the 12’s capacity, the widows were being neglected.

Balls were being dropped. Legitimate, biblical requirements were being neglected.

James 1:27 “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

And the issue there in Jerusalem was even more significant than just neglecting the widows.

Because it was stirring up common, and rampant prejudices.

Notice it was a complaint by the Hellenists that arose against the Hebrews.

You see this was the church in Jerusalem, which consisted largely of Hebrew or Aramaic speaking Jews.

Jewish Christians local to the region of Jerusalem.

The Hellenists though were out of towners… They were Greek Speaking Jews.

Individuals and families that had left the land of Israel and were part of the Diaspora Jewish community spread all across the Roman, Greek speaking empire.

And although ONE in Christ as Gal 3 states, no Jew or Greek, there were still very real ethnic and lingusitic barriers limiting the unity of the church.

And evidently, the widows of the Hellenists, weren’t getting their fair portion in the daily distribution.

And this was dire.

Because there was no medicare, or Medicaid.

No Insurance, pensions, or 401K’s.

As a widow, they would be economically vulnerable, and the responsibility laid upon the church to care for them.

And they were being neglected.

But its’ important to note, that the greek word for neglected, doesn’t refer to something sinister or malicious. Rather it suggests that this wasn’t intentional at all.

Totally an oversight.

This was a failure of management more than motive.

A lack of systems, not sensitivity.

And this is exactly what Growth does. It stretches you, it tests your capacities, and oversights like this are inevitable.

Not intentional, just inevitable.

So often, we hold this early church, the first NT church up on a pedestal as a picture of perfection.

But church, clearly there is no perfect church.

Mistakes get made, legitimate needs and concerns fall through the cracks.

So if you’re looking for a perfect church, let me know where you find one.

And here we have a clear imperfection.

So the Hellenist’s brought a complaint.

But not just a complaint, the greek actually refers to a prevailing murmuring. It’s a grumbling.

This was an issue was being talked about.

It was being whispered about. The complaint had spread like a weed throughout the church. Like a cancer, the hurt was multiplying as more and more people circle up to talk about it.

And this is so lethal to every church!

An unintentional oversight, leads to a personal offense, that plays off of a public prejudice. And a molehill, becomes a mountain overnight.

And don’t think that Satan isn’t active here.

Satan hates the church of God. Because the world will know Jesus, by how the church loves one another.

And Satan does not want the world to know Jesus.

So if he can destroy the unity, harmony, and love of the church he will succeed!

And he’s such an opportunist.

After he had tempted Jesus in the wilderness 3 times,

Luke 4:13 reads “And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.”

Jesus was alone, hungry due to fasting for 40 days--- a perfect opportunity to get him to sin.

Satan is an opportunist.

Ephesians 4:27 “and give no opportunity to the devil.”

That word opportunity = foothold.

It’s like if I crack open that door in the back, just wide enough to get a foot in… that’s all Satan is looking for. A crack, to weasel his way into your life, and into the life of the church.

And this neglect in the early church was the perfect crack in the door to sow schism, division, and maybe even church split.

And for the 1st Century church in Jerusalem, it was the daily-distribution to the greek widows, but what is it for you?

In what ways have you been recently offended?

And are you murmuring? Is it spreading? Are sides being taken? Coalitions being formed?

And here in Acts 6, sides are being formed.

Hellenists vs. Hebrews

And this problem had grown to such a decibel, that it was beginning to detract from the preaching and prayer.

It was pulling them away from their primary responsibilities, and once preaching and prayer are marginalized so is the growth of the church.

Not just numerically, but in terms of its maturity as well.

I’m telling you church, this is the most critical crisis the church can face.

But fortunately, the Apostles, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom addressed the Problem, with an adequate Solution.

So let’s look at the Solution together.

Solution

And the first thing I want you to notice is that they were,

Decisive

Decisive

Acts 6:2 “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.”

The first thing the Apostles did when they heard about the grumbling, created by the growth, was move toward it.

Leaders, especially leaders of the church, must resolve to reject the temptation of passivity.

When grumbling comes to the church, you can’t ignore it. Pretend like its not there, and just hope it goes away.

Every institution, but especially the church of Jesus Christ is in desperate need of leaders who are willing to move toward, rather than passively ignore.

Edwin Friedman in his brilliant and prophetic book The Failure of Nerve correctly writes, “Whether we are considering a toothache, a tumor, a relational bind, a technical problem, crime, or the economy,

most individuals and most social systems, irrespective of their culture, gender, or ethnic background, will “naturally” choose or revert to chronic conditions of bearable pain

rather than face the temporarily more intense anguish of acute conditions that are the gateway to becoming free.”

It’s more natural to tolerate a bearable level of pain, perpetually.

To let the grumbling continue. To put our heads in the sand. Pretend it’s not there. Endure it.

But it is the duty of the leaders to be decisive, and face the more intense anguish which is the gateway to becoming free.

It would have been so much easier for the Apostles to avoid this issue

But they didn’t. They choose the more intense anguish of addressing the complaint, and in so doing brought stability to church.

The were decisive.

But they were also direct.

Direct

Acts 6:2 “ “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.”

It’s not right they said. What that means is “it would not please God.”

It wouldn’t be glorifying or honoring to God if we disobeyed his call to preach and pray, in order to meet this legitimate need.”

The Apostles refused to let the tyranny of the urgent to define their vocational calling.

I have a passionate belief that Shepherds should smell like Sheep.

Meaning, as a Pastor to my church, I need to know my church. Their names, their stories, their sins, their struggles. I have to be available to properly know the state of our flock.

Yet, if I solely allowed our congregation to dictate the use of my time, I can promise you I’d never have anytime to pray, and study, and read, and preach.

And the Apostles give such a great examples to us all in how direct they are here.

In essence, they are reminding us all that we are ultimately accountable to God, to His call, to His commands, to His expectations of our lives and time.

And this doesn’t just apply to those in church or vocational ministry.

You are all accountable to God, to obedience to Him, to a stewardship of the time that He gives, and if you City slickers are anything like us Richmond Hillians, then you are probably all way sooooo busy.

And instead of a congregation, you may be allowing the values of this world drive the expenditure of your time.

Overworking, kids in travel ball and ballet, and every extracurricular…

So let me ask you, what is dictating and determining the use of your time?

Is it the pressure of good things, or a desire to steward God’s things.

You’re going to have to say NO to good things, in order to say YES to God’s tings.

You’re going to have to be direct. There’s no room for grey here. You have to let your value for God and His Purposes determine your calendars, instead of allowing your calendars inform you if there’s any time left over for God.

And the Apostles knew that, and they prioritized God’s clear command on their lives, and directly stated, “This is not right!

So they were Decisive, they were Direct,

and then the Delegated.

Delegated

Acts 6:3-4 “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.””

Just because the daily distribution wasn’t their core calling, didn’t mean the needs should go unmet.

The key idea here is that both ministries, the ministry of word and prayer as well as ministry of widows were given by God, and ought to be done for the glory of God.

And with wisdom, they delegated the widows ministry to others, but notice it was others who were spiritually qualified.

As a ministry of the church, under the leadership of the Apostles, it couldn’t just be anybody.

And look with me at their qualifications.

Good Repute,

full of the Spirit,

and full of wisdom, which is the ability to solve practical problems.

And the church choose 7, and I just want to quickly point out that every single name listed here

Acts 6:5 “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.”

Every name is a Greek name.

They choose Hellenists.

Men who would more easily understand the perceived prejudice, and care more personally about the solution.

This is a solution of such wisdom, and the Apostles.

Acts 6:6 “These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.”

In front of the entire church, the Apostles demonstrated their solidarity, and support.

So what was once a problem, a true spiritual crisis, has now found a God honoring Solution.

All because they were Decisive, Direct, and Delegated.

Conclusion

And as we conclude this morning, I want you to notice the result.

Acts 6:7 “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.”

This was the the most critical crisis the church had faced yet,

Their explosive Growth had led to a pervasive Grumbling, and if left unchecked it would detract the church from the ministry of preaching and prayer.

And church, I wasn’t on staff here long…

But what I know is that for almost 2 decades, CBC Savannah has been a church that has grown due to the unapologetic, exposition of the Word of God.

And as I look out at the horizon of our current cultural climate, I believe the temptations to tamper with God’s Word, or to soften in to be more tolerable is greater than ever.

So, may you continue to be desperate in your dependence on God, with a palpable presence of prayer.

And May you continue to preach the living, and active Word of God.

Not just from the Pulpit, but everyone, everyday as you leave here and Go and Be the Church.

But may you Protect your pastors to prioritize what is primary, while simultaneously becoming men and women of good repute, full of the spirit, and full of wisdom to do the work of ministry for the growth of God’s church.

Let me pray.