Deacons in Christ's Church

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.

Framing the conversation:

So today we’re talking about deacons.

Why are talking about these things?

Elders and Deacons

We’re talking about these things because God does not leave his church without instruction.

Church is something that we can bring creativity to.

We can innovate.

We can ask “How can we meet our culture in way that challenges their idols but affirms the good things within it?”

But at the same time, church is not something that we get to just make up however we want.

God has laid out for us patterns and principles for how we ought to take care of each other in the church, and how we are to worship him.

I think an excellent example of this is in scripture is when the apostle Paul is writing to a young Timothy to help him know how to build the church.

Do you know how helpful these letters Paul wrote to Timothy are btw?

He wrote them as an older man, to a young church planter.

Speaking as a young church planter myself, there is nothing that I would trade for the wisdom and encouragement of older Christians.

We are not meant to go it alone.

The Christian walk is a walk done with others.

There’s no lone wolf Christianity allowed.

We all need older disciples to pour into us.

Nick and I have benefited greatly over the last few years from Rod Hugen.

Rod has corrected me and others more directly than almost anyone I’ve ever known.

But he has invested years into these relationships.

But Rod’s not alone, I could tell you about Steve Nicholas (coffee), Tom Askew (Choir Practice), Bob Meredith, Danny Armendariz, Shawn Duell, Steve Johnson, Julie Nicholas, Dave Bowen, Nan Kotke and others who have discipled me.

Not all at once, and I don’t meet with all of those men and women now, but I believe that asking God for mentors in our faith is a prayer that he will answer with delight.

And so that’s who Paul was to Timothy.

And right after he finishes telling him about how to select elders and deacons for the churches he is planting, Paul says this.

Paul says:

1 Timothy 3:14–15 NIV

14 Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, 15 if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

I’m giving you these instructions so that you all would know how to conduct yourselves in God’s household.

So we are seeking to obey Christ.

He is our master, and the leader of our church.

He is the head of our household.

So we are seeking to do things his way.

There is a wave of desire that has swept much of the church in America.

A desire to be different.

We see a great need to change something.

Many of our friends have deconstructed their faith altogether and left the church in an effort to distance themselves from what they perceive as being ingrown and unhelpful.

So in response to stagnant churches, many have said “Let’s do church like the early church did it.”

This is not an unhelpful sentiment.

The early church did many things right that we can learn from.

The way we have structured our time to culminate in a meal is an intentional effort to participate in what the early church would have called a love feast. A time of celebration and sharing around the Lord’s table.

It’s why we named this church “The Table Church”

But, when we study the early church we have to be careful...

Partially because they were still learning.

But mainly because we should be wary of accidentally transplanting 1st century church into the 21st century without considering the context we are in.

But let me tell you,

when it comes to deacons,

we could do a great work of recovering how the early church viewed this role.

In fact, there are massive chunks of church history where the office of deacon was way more robust than it is in many American contexts now.

In our current context, we entertain ourselves with stories of heroes who are seen as heroic based off their ability to kill and defeat others.

Deacons are the heroes of the church,

but they don’t kill.

Deacons first and foremost are servants.

That’s literally what the word means.

Diakonos (Everywhere where you see the word servant in the Bible.)

Diakoneo

Mark 10:45 LEB

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.”

We’re gonna talk about three things:

1. How do we often think of deacons.

2. How did the early church think of deacons.

3. How does scripture talk about deacons.

So what comes to mind when WE think of deacons?

Our ideas about who a deacon is:

Blue Collar - This kind of goes right along with some of the false misconceptions we talked about with elders last week.

If elders are the white collar businessmen who know how to run stuff, then what do you do with the blue collar people in your church?

I know, someone says, “Deacons!”

Tell Rod story about blue collar/white collar.

As we’ll see, deacons are not some second class citizen in your church.

Handy - This in my experience has been the most common trait looked for in deacons. They know how fix stuff. So we grab the guy or girl who knows how to recharge the freon in an AC system or the person who knows how to swap out a garbage disposal.

This idea is not all bad, because since the role of deacon is so solidly in the realm of service, deacons often have opportunities to serve in very practical ways where it’s nice to have someone who’s handy and knows their way around a toolbox.

But again, as we examine the qualifications of a deacon we’ll see that their is absolutely no requirement that this person be a handyman.

Likes to serve - This one is tricky.

We all know people who have the gift of service who just are constantly serving other people.

This person has got to be a shoe-in for deacon right?

Maybe, but not so fast.

I know plenty of people who enjoy service who actually hate God.

Liking service is a good trait, but it doesn’t make you a deacon.

and then the final way we see deacons functioning unlike deacons is found pretty commonly in a lot of baptist churches. If you grew up in a baptist environment, there is a very real possibility that the way you saw deacons was

Deacons functioning as elders

Financial board.

Not a whole lot of service going on, but a lot of vision casting and decision making that you would ordinarily find elders doing.

Or the place you put leaders who want to be elders but can’t for some reason. A stepping stone to eldership.

Early Church:

Let’s look at some examples from history to see what kind of people deacons were like:

So deacons in the early church were charged with supporting the pastors by busying themselves with the physical needs of the church.

This in no way means that they serve at the pleasure of the elders as if they’re employees.

There’s a fourth century treatise that outlined what deacons were supposed to be up to:

“They are to be doers of good works, exercising a general supervision day and night, neither scorning the poor, nor respecting the person of the rich; they must ascertain who are in distress and not exclude them from a share in church funds, compelling also the well-to-do to put money aside for good works.”.

If you have not thought that deacons were all that special before, if you start reading what they were like in the early church they just get so cool.

They’re like demigods who aren’t of this world and can’t be bothered by any situation too uncomfortable or difficult.

A church historian named Charles Deweese put it this way,

“They visited martyrs who were in prison, clothed and buried the dead, looked after the excommunicated, with the hope of restoring them, provided the needs of widows and orphans, and visited the sick and those who were otherwise in distress. In a plague that struck Alexandria about AD 259, deacons were described by an eyewitness as those who “visited the sick fearlessly,” “ministered to them continually” and “died with them most joyfully.””

These people were just so incredible.

They were Christians who seemed to actually embody a God who had died for them, so they were willing to serve others at any cost, and yes of course death, for that is what their master had done before them.

One Deacon in particular I want to tell you about.

Laurence. (funny when the names seem regular.)

258 AD

One of 7 deacons in Rome.

Emperor Valerian says all the bishops, priests, and deacons need rounded up and killed.

Laurence - manager of money, distributions to the poor.

Offer: surrender the treasure of the church and you can go free.

Laurence says “Ok deal, just give me three days.”

First thing he does is gets all of the money that the church did have into safe hands.

Then he goes around all of Rome and gathers up all the people he was serving.

Widows, orphans, the sick, the poor.

When he shows back up at the court with this big band of hurting people in tow, the magistrate is like,

“What the heck, what are you doing.”

Laurence says, “I brought you what you asked for, these are the treasures of the church.”

So. Ice Cold.

So they burn him at the stake.

And while he’s burning, he says to them, “You can turn me over now, I’m done on this side.”

Dude.

Deacons are no joke.

So if that’s what early church deacons are like, how did they get that way?

Because they were following in the apostolic pattern for what to look for in a deacon.

Scriptural ideas about who deacons are:

Necessary, qualified, spirit filled, servants.

Necessary:

Talk about the situation in Jerusalem with the Hellenistic widows vs Jewish widows.

Qualified - (Timothy qualifications)

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.

no difference in value or qualification as an elder outside of the ability to teach. HOWEVER being spirit filled means you overflow with the spirit.

Spirit filled (Example of Stephen)

A deacon laid down one of the hardest sermons in the NT.

Sometimes we tend to lean towards putting our theologians in elder and teacher roles just based off their biblical understanding.

This is not right.

Deacons should be some of the most theologically solid and biblically rooted people in your church.

If you have been listening to this sermon and thinking, I think I might be called to be a deacon,

the number one thing you can do to prepare is to be uncommonly acquainted with the scriptures.

Spend an uncommon amount of time with Christ in his word.

Listening to it, reading it, talking with others about it, getting your hands on theological training.

Is this to make brainiacs?

No.

God’s word is living and active.

It forms us.

It enriches us.

If deacons are to be Spirit filled people, then they need to be people who have been sitting long with Christ.

This time with Christ is critical because...

Servants: Example of Christ. (Christ did not come to be deaconed but to deacon.)

Examples of service that a deacon can/could/should perform:

Determining how to engage with individuals who come to the church seeking money. (Tell stories)

Meeting with a widow who is lonely to have coffee and find out if she has any material needs the church can help with.

Visiting a church member who is sick.

Visiting people in prison.

Coordinating for the care of the poor.

Helping with the function and organization of the church.

Deacons are the front line of the “already not yet” kingdom.

Deacons are bringing tangible evidences of a resurrected Christ to bear on the darkest places of our world.

This all culminates in Spirit Saturated Service

We wouldn’t ordain someone to the diaconate because they are handy, or because they love to serve.

The reason why Spirit filled individuals were required was because this had so much more to do with the life of the church than simply figuring out the logistics of getting everyone fed.

Deacons were going to play an essential role in promoting the unity of the church!

This was a critical role.

They were ordained.

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

Satan hates deacons.

It is the ministry of deacons throughout the history of the church that is recognized by the watching world as a ministry that is distinctively Christian.

Dutch Reformed church in Germany 1941.

What happens when qualified deacons are serving in your church?

Acts 6:7 happens

Acts 6:7 LEB

7 And the word of God kept spreading, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem was increasing greatly, and a large number of priests began obeying the faith.