Deacons and their Purpose in the Church

Welcome

Good morning and welcome.

I’m guessing that you’ve noticed that we’re gearing up for Vacation Bible School this week.

I should probably preach something mountain themed, but I don’t find any mountains in our text today, except the mountain of trying to address church problems when a complaint comes up.

We’re continuing our series on the book of Acts this morning as we move into chapter 6.

You may be aware that we have been training a group of candidates for the position of deacon this year. We have four candidates from our Spanish congregation in our deacon training class along with our current pastors and deacons attending.

It has been insightful and a good reminder as we have taken a deep dive into the first section of Acts 6 and our current deacons have had an opportunity to speak to several issues of importance in helping our candidates understand what a deacon is—and perhaps more importantly, what a deacon is not.

Let’s go to our text as we read from scripture this morning to understand how there came to be a need for deacons in the church and by the time we’re done, we’ll see how deacons should be working in the biblically authentic church today...

Acts 6:1–7 CSB

1 In those days, as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution. 2 The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 This proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a convert from Antioch. 6 They had them stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 So the word of God spread, the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.

[pray]

I. There Arose a Complaint

We start out with those infamous words that Dr. Luke wrote in Acts 6:1, “there arose a complaint”.

Acts 6:1 CSB

1 In those days, as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution.

Like it or not, the church always seems to be a hot spot for complaint. It seems like the smaller the church is, the louder the complaints become.

The church is a place where people from different backgrounds come together with a united purpose, to form a united front for a united cause. However, it seems that everyone thinks they know the better way and seem to think that they must force their way into being.

I’ll remind you that this was a fairly new group of believers and they were growing really fast at this point. They were certainly experiencing some “growing pains” as they were well over 5,000 men, plus women and children at this point.

It’s no great surprise that the apostles were struggling to keep up their ministry. They had to find some help to keep from getting bogged down.

Moses Felt the Weight of Leadership

Exodus 18:13–26 CSB

13 The next day Moses sat down to judge the people, and they stood around Moses from morning until evening. 14 When Moses’s father-in-law saw everything he was doing for them he asked, “What is this you’re doing for the people? Why are you alone sitting as judge, while all the people stand around you from morning until evening?” 15 Moses replied to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. 16 Whenever they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I make a decision between one man and another. I teach them God’s statutes and laws.” 17 “What you’re doing is not good,” Moses’s father-in-law said to him. 18 “You will certainly wear out both yourself and these people who are with you, because the task is too heavy for you. You can’t do it alone. 19 Now listen to me; I will give you some advice, and God be with you. You be the one to represent the people before God and bring their cases to him. 20 Instruct them about the statutes and laws, and teach them the way to live and what they must do. 21 But you should select from all the people able men, God-fearing, trustworthy, and hating dishonest profit. Place them over the people as commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. 22 They should judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you every major case but judge every minor case themselves. In this way you will lighten your load, and they will bear it with you. 23 If you do this, and God so directs you, you will be able to endure, and also all these people will be able to go home satisfied.” 24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25 So Moses chose able men from all Israel and made them leaders over the people as commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. 26 They judged the people at all times; they would bring the hard cases to Moses, but they would judge every minor case themselves.

This echoes the problems that we read about earlier in Moses’ ministry as he led the Hebrews in the wilderness. As he was struggling with hearing and pronouncing judgment on the cases that the nation brought to him, his father-in-law, the priest Aaron, suggested that he establish a leadership structure for the people so that he would not be burdened but could focus his attention on the things that were most important.

The New Testament Church was a Dual Culture Church

This New Testament church was a dual culture church and they had dual culture problems.

This group of Hellenistic Jews and Hebraic Jews were gathering together in the temple. At this point they were not gathering together as a Christian church with Jews and Gentiles (which is to say non-Jews), but a sect of the Jewish religion.

Hebraic Jews were ethnically and traditionally pure Jews that held to the old ways and resisted integration with the Greco-Roman culture. These Jews were likely to have had a much stronger connection to Israel than the others.

Hellenistic Jews were those that maintained the Jewish way of worship but accepted the Greek culture and generally spoke Greek and integrated to some extent with the Roman culture. These people were Jewish by faith, but had likely grown up in another place and come back to Jerusalem, bringing with them foreign ways and bits of their culture as they returned to the temple.

These groups were drastically different in their culture and in their language, but they had united in their belief in Jesus Christ and came to follow the teachings that the apostles were proclaiming in the temple.

A Brief Word on Racial Conflict

This appears to be a racial conflict or at least that is what we would call it in today’s culture. However, this doesn’t appear to be racially driven so much as culturally driven.

I personally dislike the usage that we have of “racism” or “racial conflict” as it is my opinion that we are all one blood and one race.

We modern Christians have accepted the modern dialog that the races are fundamentally different. We have adopted the belief that Mexicans, Latinos and Hispanics are different from Caucasians, Whites, Gringos or Anglos, just as Blacks or African Americans are different.

We point to the starkly different ways that we live and act and interact to prove our point that this group or that group is greater or lesser than the other. I call foul on this way of thinking. This is not what I read in scripture. I can see that we all come from the seed of Adam and we are all equal in God’s sight.

I will grant you that we are very different culturally. We have grown up and been nurtured in very different environments and we may have a very different way of thinking from our brother or sister. Yet there is nothing in scripture that supports the idea that I am any better or any worse than my hermano simply based on race alone.

My language does not change this.

My culture does not change this.

My heritage does not change this.

My upbringing does not change this.

My income does not change this.

Nor does my education.

It is my job as a believer in Christ to go out of my way to love each person in exactly the same way. Any time that I encounter someone who gives preference to one group or another simply because we share something in common, I should challenge that mindset and call it out for being fundamentally wrong.

The Daily Distribution

This distribution is not clearly explained. It may have been a food distribution for the needy or it may have been other financial or needs-based resources for those who had the greatest need.

We’ve spoken about this several times in recent weeks, but the best description of this distribution can be found in Acts 4...

Acts 4:34–35 CSB

34 For there was not a needy person among them because all those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the proceeds of what was sold, 35 and laid them at the apostles’ feet. This was then distributed to each person as any had need.

There seems to be some indication that this distribution benefitted the widows, who would certainly have been the most needy among the gathering of believers.

What we can see here in Acts 6:1...

Acts 6:1 CSB

1 In those days, as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution.

…is that the “outsiders”, the Helenists—that is those who were not traditionally Hebraic Jews—were either receiving less than the Hebrews or being overlooked altogether by the Hebraic Jews who were in charge.

Pastor Warren Wiersbe wrote a passage that could have been taken from a page in Bro. Gerald’s book of wisdom...

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Seven: Stephen, the Man God Crowned (Acts 6–7)

When a church faces a serious problem, this presents the leaders and the members with a number of opportunities. For one thing, problems give us the opportunity to examine our ministry and discover what changes must be made.

I really love that… “problems give us the opportunity to examine our ministry and discover what changes must be made.”

II. The Selection of Deacons

Because the apostles were finding themselves stretched thin and taking on too much responsibility in the minor details, they decided that they needed some help...

Acts 6:2–4 CSB

2 The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

What is a Deacon and Why do we Need Them in the Church?

Deacon - is one who serves in an official capacity in the church as a servant. The office of deacon may parallel the role of the assistant of the synagogue.

The Greek word διάκονος (diakonos) literally means “servant” or “minister”. It is one who cares for the needs of an assembly of believers.

In the New Testament we can see two primary classes of church leadership:

The overseer or elder carries a responsibility for teaching and biblically has a ruling authority over the church. This is clearly an Old Testament idea, which we can see to have a supervisory or greater level of responsibility to the greater body of believers. We often see this to be the pastor in our modern context, though some churches may see a group of lay elders given a greater level of responsibility in the oversight or administration of matters in the church.

The deacon or minister serves the body of believers by caring for the congregation and relieving the overseer from the burden of caring for the detailed matters of the daily operation of the church.

In our Baptist tradition there has been a blurring of the lines between elder and deacon as we often call the lay leaders in the church “deacons.”

This crossing over and blurring of the lines between elder and deacon may have been a cultural requirement that came about in the mid-to-late 1800’s as the founding of churches outpaced the availability of pastors to oversee all the churches that were being established.

Certainly throughout the history of the the church here in the USA, oftentimes lay leaders have stepped up to ensure that many small churches might survive in the absence of a pastor or elder. This has caused many a conflict between pastors and deacons over the years.

I believe that the best model is for pastor, elder and deacon (no matter which model is adopted) to spend the time it takes to get on the same page and working together for the same vision so that they might work together instead of against one another to accomplish the work of the church.

Here at FBC Pharr, we have two pastors. I am the Lead Pastor and Brother Joe is the Executive Pastor. We work along with the deacons to provide leadership to the church in a harmonious and united way.

Our deacons are currently Gerald Stinson, Danny Smith, and Joe Sweet. We have other inactive deacons, but those are our active deacons at the moment.

As I mentioned we have several other men in training, but we’re not ready yet to bring those names to the church for consideration.

III. The Blessing of the Deacons

As they make their way forward, let’s look at the end of our passage as the gathered believers adopted the proposal and prayed for their deacons...

Acts 6:5–7 CSB

5 This proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a convert from Antioch. 6 They had them stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 So the word of God spread, the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.

We see seven men named here. We see others included in the Bible, including some women.

This is a controversial topic, though some churches will name women as deacons and even elders in their church.

The term deaconess does not appear in the Bible, though the Greek word διάκονος (diakonos) is not gender specific and could be more generically interpreted as servant, in the case of women who serve the church.

Don’t get me wrong, women have served the church faithfully and with great power. I don’t intend to denigrate women or their position in the church. However, here at FBC Pharr, we limit the office of deacon to men, and we bless their wives as we recognize their role and service to the church as well.

In our Deacon Candidate training we are studying a book that reveals the functions of the deacon to be:

The Functions of the Deacon

Lead by Example

Serve the People

Support the Pastor and Church Staff

Protect the Peace [and promote unity in the church]

This is a very good breakdown of the way that deacons serve here at FBC Pharr.

Our deacons are expected

to be leaders (to lead through service not by dictate);

to serve the congregation in many ways through their spiritual gifting and innate expertise;

to support the pastor and staff by serving on various committees and leading the church in service;

and to protect the peace by promoting and practicing good interpersonal skills and leading people to biblical discipline to correct any problems in the church, as well as physically keeping the peace and making sure that the congregants are in a safe environment.