Serve

The word ‘deacon’ might illicit a particular image in your mind. I’ve heard more than one Christian comedian make joke after joke about church deacons. Ask any Baptist pastor to describe their deacons, and you’re in for some fun conversations. Ask certain deacons to describe the pastor, and you’ll get the same.

There are two biblical offices in the NT church: elder and deacon. Last week we looked at what Paul writes to Timothy regarding the office of elder. Now, in verse 8 of 1 Timothy 3, Paul turns his attention to the other office in the leadership of the church: the deacon.

We have a list of requirements for those who would be deacons. The requirements are listed right here in our verses for today. But the responsibilities might not be quite as clear; at least not as clear as those of the elder, so that’s what we’ll explore this morning.

Why deacons? Why not have one blanket church leadership team? Some churches function in this way. They’ll have a combined board—elders, deacons, church members—all deciding everything together.

The problem is, the Lord organized His Church differently. It’s not party rule. God didn’t tell us to organize a church board.

In one place I served, the leadership was referred to as “the church cabinet”. It all seemed way too political/presidential, reflective of the pastor’s ego or something; I don’t know. It was weird, to say the least. From time-to-time, the Senior Pastor would say, “I’ve assembled the cabinet” like he had the launch codes or something. “There’s a situation in Scranton; call the cabinet.”

The Lord ordained that elders lead the church, to give oversight, to shepherd, to teach and preach and pray.

And He set forth deacons to serve and to help. We see this come about in the early church, for a specific purpose; a group of seven men who would help the apostles (who were functionally church elders). These men would help them by taking over a large portion of the service needs. This is what we read, early on in the book of Acts:

Acts 6:1–7 NIV

1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” 5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

The apostles/elders knew that it wouldn’t be right for all their time to be spent in distributing food and meeting only the physical needs of the church members. They realized that they could not neglect the ministry of the word of God. So they had the church choose deacons so that they, the elders, could give their attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.

This was pleasing to the group. And they chose and presented men to the apostles/elders. The result: the word of God spread. Bottom line: when the church operates as it should, each doing their own part, more people are reached with the gospel and more ministry happens.

This is the goal. This is why we seek to do things as the Lord would have us; to do Bible things in Bible ways is not just one of the ideals of the Restoration Movement. Doing Bible things in Bible ways works. We don’t trust our clever ways of operating. We trust in the Lord and follow His lead and His direction.

If you have your Bible (and I hope you do) please turn with me to 1 Timothy 3. If you are able and willing, please stand with me for the reading of God’s Holy Word:

1 Timothy 3:8–13 NIV

8 In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. 9 They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons. 11 In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything. 12 A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well. 13 Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.

May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word!

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Let’s notice, first of all, a repeated phrase in these verses. A good practice to adopt in your Bible reading is to read through the passage you’re studying a few times (some say 7-10 times) and pay attention to repeated words and phrases. I didn’t learn this until college; it seems so simple and it is. This practice alone will make a huge difference in your Bible reading and study.

There’s a phrase at the beginning of verse 8 and then again at the beginning of verse 11: in the same way...

In the same way...

Paul was just writing about overseers, that is elders. Describing the qualities and characteristics of the spiritual leadership of the church.

And then, in verse 8, we have these words: in the same way. And Paul discusses deacons.

Paul writes about deacons, describing the qualities and characteristics of those who would be deacons.

And then, in verse 11, we have these words: in the same way. And Paul discusses women.

At verse 8 and then again in at verse 11, Paul seems to be introducing a new facet of leadership in the church. Talk about elders (elders this, elders that), in the same way deacons (deacons this, deacons that), in the same way, the women…

What’s Paul doing here?

Some think he’s giving direction to or mentioning the qualifications of deacons’ wives. Your bible might even read “in the same way, their wives” or “likewise, their wives...”

That Paul is talking about deacons’ wives is a possibility, but it’s awful strange that Paul would write about the wives of deacons and not anything about the wives of elders. Also the word their (as in their wives) is not in the Greek text; the word for wives and women is the same.

What’s Paul doing here? I believe he is, under the inspiration and power of the Holy Spirit, telling the church that both

Men and women can serve as deacons.

That phrase—In the same way—seems to introduce a new group; that is, women who are deacons. You could call them “deaconesses”, but I see no point in that; nor do I see a Greek word for that.

My mom was a “deaconess” in our church while I was growing up. There were a group of them, “the deaconesses”. I didn’t think anything of it then (I was just a kid, and I was more interested in playing football on the front lawn of the church than I was in the happenings of the deaconess meeting).

I didn’t think much of it then, but now it seems like it was an arbitrary way to separate men and women who were doing the same job, occupying the same biblical position, fulfilling the same role in the church.

What seems clear from the text is that the women who would occupy this role are given some qualifications, some characteristics to exhibit.

Hot take? I don’t believe this would even qualify as a warm take. It’s a biblical take, and a pretty conservative one at that. Here;s my take: my understanding from the Bible is, whereas only men are to be elders, both men and women can be deacons.

There’s even one women introduced to us as a deacon.

Romans 16:1 NIV

1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon, of the church in Cenchreae.

Some will say, “Yeah, but the word for deacon there can just mean servant.”

And that’s true. The word for deacon is the word for servant; that’s what being a deacon means. Various forms of the word for deacon appear in the NT about 100 times.

Deacon might mean servant there when Paul names Phoebe, but deacon might just mean deacon. And from what we know about what the Bible says here in 1 Timothy 3 and of the other influential women in the early church (Paul specifically mentions 17 different women), the case for this—women as deacons—becomes even stronger.

This we know: elders and deacons are to work together to advance the Good News about Jesus Christ and lead the Church on mission.

The two offices go together—elder and deacon; the introduction to Philippians pairs them together. There is ample evidence and reason to believe that both men and women can and should be deacons in the local church.

Again, we want to do Bible things in Bible ways. We are to be people of the Book. This is our only rule of faith and practice. Tradition and preference have a place, but both are completely subservient to Scripture; in fact, we must be willing to abandon tradition and preference in favor of what the Bible says and the mission God has for us.

>So, as we discuss the role of deacon this morning, go ahead and picture in your head both men and women occupying this role. I’m not sure if there has ever been women serving as deacons officially in Rich Hill Christian Church, but, Lord willing, there will be! We are not so concerned about “what we’ve always done.” We’re very much concerned with what the Bible says.

Real quickly, let’s go through the list of qualifications for deacons:

Deacons must have control of themselves.

Four words in verse 8 form a natural grouping: respectful, sincere, not indulging in much wine, not pursuing dishonest gain.

These four areas: their behavior, their speech, their use of alcohol, their attitude toward money—these four express the idea that members of the diaconate are to have control of themselves.

In verse 11, Paul gives those women who would serve a few guidelines, all issues of personal control: worthy of respect, not malicious talkers, temperate (clear-headed), and trustworthy.

What’s more, deacons should have control of their households, an irreproachable home life.

As we choose deacons, the first question to ask is: “Are they in control of themselves?”

Deacons must have orthodox convictions.

Verse 9 is, in my mind, the key verse. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.

They must hold fast. Unlike the false teachers in that day who believe something other than the revelation of God, something other than the teaching of the apostles, something other than the gospel of Jesus Christ, deacons are to have a death grip on the deep truths of the faith and live with a clear conscience. What is most important to church deacons are the deep truths of the faith. They must know these truths, founding themselves, staking their lives on them.

As we choose deacons, possibly the most important question is, “What do they believe? Are they men and women of faith and conviction?”

Deacons must be tested and approved.

Those who would serve have been assessed by the congregation and the elders—checking for the beliefs and gifting necessary to serve in this role. It will be clear, as we ask the Holy Spirit to guide and direct, using the Word as the standard, who among us should serve in this role. It’s not whoever I think might make a good deacon; it’s who the Holy Spirit makes clear is to serve as deacons.

An excellent standing—among people in the church, and more importantly, an excellent spiritual standing before the Lord.

Great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus—this is confidence in the finished work of Christ, expressed in their joyous service to Him.

>All of this talk about deacons and elders can seem a little academic, like there’s not much for us here. But here’s the truth: this affects all of us. This radically affects the church.

Some of you will serve as deacons, Lord willing.

Some of you currently do the work of a deacon and should be recognized for it and formally put in that position.

Further still, as the word deacon suggests:

The Call is to Serve.

Christians serve. That’s really basic, I know. But this is a basic part of what it means to be a follower of Christ. The One who came to serve has called us to serve. This is the calling of all Christians.

As Jesus taught: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.”

The question is: how are you serving? How can you serve? In what capacity are you serving? If you aren’t serving, that’s something you need to remedy. A Christian who isn’t serving might just be a contradiction in terms.

We are asking people to pray about serving on the following teams:

Serve Team: not the most creative name, but it’s task is clear. This team will serve members of this church and will serve the community in physical and tangible ways. If you have the gift of service and the ability to serve physically—fixing, building, raking, shoveling, plumbing, wiring, painting, cleaning, etc.—this team’s for you.

Member Care Team: this team will focus on visitation and meals, hospital calls and cards mailed. This is a task too big for any one person to do (I have failed miserably trying). This task needs to be church-wide. We need to care for one another. If your gifting is compassion, we need you to join this team and reach out to the members of our own church body when they’re absent, when they’re hurt, when they’re sick. We will be shifting the expectation from just a few people visiting and caring for one another and will be moving to all of us caring for one another.

Sunday Team: those serving on this team will work on what it is we do together as we gather on Sundays. We need to look at everything from Sunday School to the Worship hour. It takes a lot of people, a lot of teachers, a lot of volunteers to make everything happen on Sunday mornings. What’s more, with the elders’ guidance, we will be evaluating what we do and why we do it.

Youth Team: there is already a great, core group of volunteers and leaders working with our youth. We need more. We need those who are gifted at working with and teaching youth, those willing to spend time as sponsors and counselors; we need people willing to drive them to conferences and spend a week at church camp with them.

These are just a few of the areas of service opportunity. If you’re not serving, it’s time to start. If you’re already serving, keep it up. And do more and more. Not to earn anything. We don’t earn our salvation by works; our works are the fruit of our salvation, an expression of the love and devotion to the One who saved us in spite of us.

The call for the Christian is to serve. And the Lord places people to lead in service.

Deacons Lead the Way in Serving.

Deacons are those men and women who lead the way in serving the Lord and His Church. We could say “Deacons deacon.”

We are all to serve the church. But deacons are those appointed to lead the church in service. They are leading servants. As we read in the Acts 6 at the start of the sermon, there need to be some who handle financial matters and others who devote themselves to prayer and preaching.

The deacons take part of the load off the elders and carry the burden, all the while leading by example in the service of the church.

Deacons lead the way in meeting needs according to the Word. These will rise from specific circumstances. Not every church has a food bank or a clothes closet, but in those that do, there should be deacons serving and leading others in service. Nearly every church will, at some point, have some of its members in nursing homes, in the hospital—there should be deacons serving and leading others in service.

Deacons support the ministry of the Word. By freeing up the elders/pastors from many areas of service, the elders/pastors have more time to focus on prayer and preaching.

We will be praying about and looking for faithful men and women, members of this local body, to step into the role of deacon, those who lead the way. As one commentator puts it: “Elders are servant leaders; deacons are lead servants.”

To serve the Lord by serving the church is the greatest calling there is. Whether it be as an elder/shepherd/overseer, as a deacon, as a member of Christ’s church—there’s nothing like it.

Jesus Himself applied the verb for deacon to Himself:

Mark 10:45 NIV

45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Could there be any greater honor than to follow in His footsteps? Could there be any calling higher than service to the King? Like Jesus, to be like Jesus, for the glory of Jesus, as Jesus’ people, let us serve.