Deacons

What People Think Deacons Do

Some people say:

They care for the facilities, making sure that the grounds are presentable to the public.

They are the governing board, nothing happens in a church without going through the deacons.

Deacons lead the church’s ministry teams, whether that’s audio visual or managing the coffee bar.

Deacons teach, preach, counsel, evangelize, manage the church programs, and help with the needy.

I hope you notice as I have, that these answers are all across the board!!

To all I would say, yes…and no...

To begin, let’s define what an deacon is.

Definition

Deacon means a servant.

Matthew 23:11-12

The greatest shall be your, di-a-ko-nose.

The servants are the one’s who are great.

In this passage, Jesus is using the word that we derive deacon from to demonstrate that one who is a deacon, is one who is humble.

Looking not to their own interests, but to the interests of others.

The word di-a-ko-nose is used all over the new testament as a servant. One who willingly follows in the footsteps of our savior by giving up their life for others, one small task at a time.

In this way, we all must be deacon’s.

For in this verse, Jesus isn’t establishing the office of deacon, but saying that the Christian life should be one of deaconage. One of servanthood.

There are many in our church who thrive at this virtue.

Our church is a serving church.

It’s servants are in the shadows, unknown, not trying to gain prestige. But people who desire to glorify God with the way that they live.

Story of Karen Hallmark being sick(Don’t use her name)

What we do need is more training on servanthood.

This is actually what Titus 2 talk about.

When you are going to bring a meal to someone, give a younger woman in the church a call and see if they will make something to go along with the meal your making.

Invite others to join you in the work of servanthood and the joy that it brings.

These are ways we are all to be deacons, however in 1 Timothy Paul is not speaking to the act of deaconing, but the office of deacon.

Acts 6:1-7

What was happening?

There were Hellenistic Jews, and Hebraic Jews in the area.

The Hellenistic being those who had adopted much of the Greek culture and spoke the Greek language.

There is a rift between the two.

The 12 apostles (who were the first elders of the first church) were having a difficult time taking care of all the people.

They look at the situation and are saying, “we are trying to teach, and preach. We are trying to make sure that learning is going on and people are being educated soundly.”

Appoint men who are of good reputation to make sure that the people are not being overlooked.

Deacons meet the practical needs of a church

Sometimes this means taking care of the physical building.

Ensuring that the grass is mowed and the toilets all flush.

Sometimes it means taking care of the people.

If there are people in the congregation who are shut in’s going and visiting.

Someone in the church has an oven that isn’t working. They go and take care of the oven.

Someone’s roof is leaking, they fix the roof.

Someone is in the hospital, they visit the person in the hospital.

The deacons are there to minister, to serve the people, and to ensure that people are loved and looked after.

A congregation without biblically founded deacons is impoverished. But a church that has many deacons is incalculably rich!

v.7

The word of God continued to increase. The number of disciples multiplied greatly.

The elders were teaching about God and spiritually strengthening people.

The deacons were either helping, or organizing help to ensure everyone was taken care of.

The love of God was growing in knowledge and deed.

This caused the church to grow!

Assistants to Elders

By deacons taking care of the physical needs of the church, they were instituted as the assistants to the elders.

Elders are devoted to the spiritual oversight, the deacons on practical service. Deacons coordinate various ministries in the church as a means of supporting the elders.

This is becasue a church who’s elders are chained to the constant “tangible problems” that always come up in a church, are not able properly minister the word of God to the people.

This is the same as a person removing their heart to strengthen their arm. It’s a slow-motion suicide.

Elder must:

Elders teach the people, through preaching, bible studies, and one on one counseling.

Elders protect the church from false teaching.

Elders shepherd the church, love the people, and visit the people.

Elders minister to the sick.

There is a crossover between elders and deacons.

They both minister through servanthood for the love of the people.

The will both be making hospital visits.

They will both be visiting shut in’s in their homes, ministering to them.

Elders may be more focused on the spiritual health of the person while deacons are more focused on the practical needs.

But an elder who is visiting a widow to bring her spiritual comfort, and doesn’t quickly shovel a path to her car, is like the man who James describes who says:

James 2:15–17

James 2:15–17 ESV

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

In the same way, an elder without works is dead.

But a deacon who is fixing a widow’s hot water tank or is stopping in becasue they have missed a few Sundays and doesn’t take time to pray with them, is losing track of the greater vision.

Which is to point people to their eternal hope in Christ Jesus. To come to Him with our problems, to trust in Him through our difficulties, and to honor and glorify Him with our actions.

This is why deacons cannot be diminished to mere grounds keepers, or handymen.

But why Paul says, they must also be skilled in the faith. During the course of their ministry, they will have to give advice, and comfort.

This is why the qualifications between elder, and deacon are the same.

They must not be double tongued.

That means to be deceitful with their words.

In the world of ministry and helping people. People need to know that their dirty laundry won’t be aired to the community.

They must have lives that are honing to God, and good standing with the people in the church.

With the exception of teaching, deacons aren’t required to be able to teach, elders are.

Deacons should be skilled at spotting practical needs, and meeting them effectively.

Around a century ago when the churches began to adopt the secular board model, the deacons began to adopt a more supervisory role than a support role.

Rather than caring for the needs of the people at the direction of the elders for the glory of God, they began to believe it was their job to hold the pastor’s feet to the fire.

This is backwards from what we see in scripture, since what we see is the deacons as a support role for the elders. Where godly deacons carry out the vision of godly elders.

Elders need deacons to serve practically, and deacons need elders to lead spiritually.

Neglecting the ministry of teaching and prayer (what elders are called to do) would eventually gut the very heart of the church.

By caring for the hurting, deacons function as Christ’s hands and feet to a wold that needs his touch. As they meet practical needs, deacons reflect the Savior who took the ultimate initiative to meet our deepest need.