The Church: Deacons, Elders, and Pastors

Deacons

The New International Version Chapter 3

8 In the same way, deacons m 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.

We are starting today a little backwards from how the bible organizes the conversation about leadership.

The bible outlines what pastors and shepherds are to be and then elders and then deacons. It has nothing to do with importance, but rather it has to do with steps. Like the steps to starting a car. The ignition is not more important than the wheels, but one starts and the other follows. They are important equally, ordered differently.

We are starting with deacons here to help state how the importance is not the same as order.

In scripture the deacons came about by necessity and good partnership.

Pastors and teachers, shepherds, were teaching and reaching more and more people. The church was growing and needed to keep sound doctrine, and it took a lot of time to try and explain the goodness of the Gospel to others.

So those who were in charge of keeping theology good and right, and proclaiming the gospel by teaching it, were slammed. God has blessed them with so much fruit, they had to stop doing good things in order to do the first things.

Widows and orphans were being neglected and needed to be cared for, but the teachers had their hands full.

So, those who had been taught, who were part of the church, who wanted to ensure service was still being done, came and requested that widows and orphans not be neglected.

Its in Acts 6 it outlines what happened. The elders were organizing the church. someone said, hey I think I have an idea of how to serve, the elders then commissioned them to go do it.

Now, when we think Deacon and Elder, we typically associate value onto that. Elder is more vital than Deacon. Which is wildly untrue. We think, Elders are the theology buffs, and deacons the brute force labor.

Elders make decisions, Deacons are janitors.

Well, let me show you how this is far from true.

In Acts 6:5 it lists those who had these service ideas and Stephen is listed as one.

Who is Stephen. He is the one who bridges the Gospel with Paul. Stephen was doing such great work that leaders didn't like the attention the Gospel of Christ was getting.

So they trumped up charges against him and bribed others to find him guilty. Then he was sentenced to defend his position on Christianity.

He gives a speech in Acts 7 that is an outrageously great sermon.

He walks through how Christ has always been there in the OT, in the people of Israel, in everything God has ever done. And people are stiff necked, and will only obey what they want, not God’s law.

And because people start agreeing with him, they kill him. They stone him, and one who gave consent and held coats was Paul. Paul held their coats as they killed a righteous Deacon for preaching.

Thats why the letter to Timothy says, Deacons must hold the deep things of faith with a clear conscience. They are called to love scripture with the same affection as Elders, but ordered to act in service first not teaching.

So, these Deacons we have asked to serve, primarily will act out the Gospel with service, but they are not light weights when it comes to knowing the word.

They are asked to concentrate on ensuring the church and the community is cared for practically. But must know what the scriptures say as to how to do so well.

With that said, we have the honor of installing Darren Pluim and Kevin Stoltz. These two have served before and we are glad to see them serve once more.

This year the Deacons will be finding ways to serve the community during a pandemic, and supporting those with financial aid with the most redemptive influence possible.

INSTALL FROM BCO

Elders

The New International Version Chapter 1

5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

Now, Elders, we have touched on a little as to their role.

But their primary function is spiritual oversight.

Deacons are practical oversight, elders are spiritual over sight.

If you need help with a bill, or you need help with being disconnected, the Deacons are there.

If you need aid in spiritual oversight, in knowing the bible, in being trained in the way of God’s word, thats where Elders come in.

Now there are two points to an elder, well two that I want to cover here. There are many different points of being an elder, but two important ones here.

The first the bible says in Titus is they hold firmly to the doctrine, meaning they love, value, cherish, and explain the Bible to others.

And the second piece is, that they are to refute the false teaching of others.

Their job is to make sure the gospel is clear as day to everyone. To those who love it, to encourage them to love it more. And to those who don’t and want to confuse it by distorting it, they are to come against it.

Those are the two main issues they ensure.

So if the church needs, oh I don’t know, to clarify the stance on what we believe as to if the bible is our only authority, and then decide if the denomination we are apart of fits with that view. Just as an example.

Thats what Elders are going to spend our time on. Ensure that what the gospel says, we love. And if we get off course, they correct us back.

Therefore, from this clear teaching, Deacons can serve well knowing what is good and what is not good.

They are not like political congresspeople, they don’t go to the masses and finds what they like and then lobby for voting along those lines. They must be in-tune with the congregation, and know what they want, and advocate for their spiritual development, but they are leading you spiritually. They are asking you to follow them as they follow Christ. Trust them, because they love you. They want the best for you.

It is a pleasure to have three elders to present to you. They are Judd Albrecht who has served as a Deacon. Brad Spanns who has served prior, and Andrew Johnson who is new to our Leadership.

This coming year these leaders will help us navigate the change in denomination, the clear teaching of the Gospel alone, and how if you know the Gospel it demands you evangelize and share faith.

Teachers, Pastors

The New International Version Chapter 4

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Lastly, I want to touch on how the Leadership Team functions best with a Pastor.

A Pastor is charged with this. Shepherding and Teaching for the purpose of building up people in the whole measure of Christ.

Here is what that means.

A Pastor is charged with the orderly teaching and preaching so that the church hears the word as often as possible, and everything is overseen to be done in an orderly fashion according to the scriptures.

The pastor is not the only authority of the church, just a daily steward of it.

They are supported by others to ensure that there is someone watching over all the aspects of the church and we are doing things well according to the bible.

I gave this example to LT yesterday at our retreat.

I am not a Trekie by any stretch of the imagination. So, pardon me.

But if you watch the movies, there is this understanding that Captain Kirk is not the only authority on the ship. As a matter of fact, Spok, and all the other leaders are insanely capable of doing the job. But it is certain bents and certain personalities that lend itself to roles that help out most. So Kirk isn't the only authority, the crew have designated jobs and those jobs are done well without the interference and in collaboration with each other. In the passage above, God says he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and pastors and teachers. And each one has their place, their role, their designated work.

Pastors and teachers, its the same thing really, explain the bible to the church so they can go do their job, without the pastor doing it for them. Instruct, encourage, and then stand back and watch them do work.

Thats how Elders and Deacons and Pastors all work together, without the others, nothing would get done. With only one, the church would be incomplete.