The early church in Acts has experienced tremendous growth, and the Lord keeps adding to the number of believers, now estimated to be around 8000! With a growing church membership comes a growing number of needs, and a brewing conflict. This passage directs our attention to the matter of daily distribution of food and other perishable items, in particular to the widows of the church. The Law commanded the care of widows and orphans (Exodus 22:22-24; Deut 14:29, 27:19; Micah 6:8), which in 1^st century Jerusalem often happened within the context of the local synagogue. And here the passage hints at 2 potential issues: first, as the church was growing, so has opposition been, which also meant exclusion of these disciples from the local synagogues, which made the widows unable to receive benevolence to sustenain daily living. Second, the believers in Jerusalem were made up of primarily 2 linguistic groups: the Hebraic Jews living in Jerusalem and speaking Aramaic; and the Hellenist Jews, Greek-speakers who had been living in the diaspora, and now either returned to Jerusalem for retirement, or had become believers at Pentecost and decided to join the church in Jerusalem. While both groups may have had similar theologies or doctrinal understandings, they had significant differences in ethnicity, culture, and a language barrier which led to the unfortunate neglect of Greek-speaking widows during the daily distribution of food rations.

Something needed to happen to prevent this natural fault line from fracturing, to preserve church unity, and to care for the needy. This had to involve everybody – all the members of the one body Christ died to redeem for himself. This is a story of church conflict handled well, and it has everything to do with deacons[i]. To be clear, we should not consider this story as the institution of the office of deacon (Paul will address that later in his 1^st letter to Timothy), but more of a preview of the office. What we see here is the need for ministerial restructuring, the character needed for diaconal ministry (ministerial character), the unifying work and supportive nature of diaconal ministry (ministerial unity).

GROWTH DEMANDS MINISTERIAL RESTRUCTURING

The early church had everything in common and cared for one another, yet it seems the apostles – the twelve – were the ones in charge of most needs. Here, the process got to a breaking point: the blessing of numerical growth brought with it a need for service, more possibility of trouble, increased chances of needs becoming diluted, and more likelihood of complaints. The need here was genuine. And as needs grew, small problems became too much to handle by a few. The twelve did not dismiss the genuine need, nor rebuked the Hellenists, but took the matter seriously; what Jesus died to achieve, unity between Jews and Greeks, was being threatened by this brewing conflict. Will there be a division between Jews and Greeks? Between gospel proclamation and gospel application?

No: we see in the passage before us that the ministry of prayer and preaching is of prime importance; and the ministry of works is very important to maintain church unity, and to promote pastoral ministry. The twelve did not delegate this problem to others because it wasn’t important, but because it was[ii]! The devil had tried to attack the church in multiple ways: threats; warnings; beatings; imprisonment; fraud; but his sneakiest attack yet was trying to undermine the ministry of prayer and of the word. Without prayer and gospel proclamation in the life of the church, one might as well put the church on life support, or worse, on hospice. And without attending to the needs of members, a gospel-preaching church won’t be in good health for long. Both ministries are important. Prayer and proclamation go hand in hand with charitable, diaconal work[iii]. The whole church learned from this very matter here how to restructure ministry for the rest of human history.

We also see here a point that we should all be attuned to as members of one body: maybe one of the biggest shortcomings of our churches today is that some people feel the loneliest within the context of a community. For widows, this is especially painful. Many may come in mourning to a funeral and share in weeping the death of a husband. But when the mourners are gone, the widow’s weeping tarries, and the loneliness starts, continues, and becomes even more painful. We can see this in how widows are so often excluded from activities that include couples, or from gatherings, maybe even in the best intentions to avoid causing a heartache. But maybe one of the best ministries we can do is that of presence, of being there, of listening. Let it not be that we are known by how lonely our widows are, but by our love for one another, and by our holy ministry to the widows that the Lord has entrusted to us. This is a command that is near and dear to the heart of our God who is the Father to the fatherless and the protector to the widows (Psalm 68:5). If there is one place where widows should feel completely at home in the present world, it is the church[iv].

And so we learn from this passage the importance of 2 things: the necessity for elders to be devoted to prayer and the ministry of the word, for the sake of the church’s spiritual hearth; and the necessity of works ministry for the sake of the church’s physical health, as we find the whole church – the full number of the disciples – were summoned to come together, agree with one another, present men who are suitable for the ministry of tables, and receive affirmation by the elders who then commissioned these men for this service. The church identified servants from among its own membership, and the apostles appointed them; the elders led; the congregation affirmed. The congregation chose its best to care for its least[v]. And the main point of focus was character.

MINISTERIAL CHARACTER

A frequent word in this passage is the word ministry or service. The Greak word is diakona, one which we will later get the word deacon from. But the word here is used for different types of ministry: ministry of the word, and ministry of tables. The pattern we see here did not necessarily institute the first structure for deacons, but is surely a preview of what is to come later in 1 Timothy 3. The ministry of the word and of prayer is spiritual. So is the ministry of service, the duty of serving tables. Every ministry in the church cannot be separated from its spiritual root. It is not skill that is primary; it is faith and character! See with me in verse 3 the prerequisites for ministerial eligibility: pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. Notice the importance of the character requirements: they were to be believers from the church, to be of good repute, and full of Spirit and of wisdom. What is not mentioned? Skills, degrees, experience etc… These are surely important, and were probably in mind when these men were chosen. But faith and character are more important. The chosen men were to be of good reputation, known inside and outside the church, for their character and their conduct. They were deac-ing before they were appointed as deacons. They were to be full of the Spirit and of wisdom, men who have discerning in the different service situations they will find themselves in, men who can act wisely and impart wise counsel in every encounter. They were not to be primarily task oriented: behind every process there is a person, and the person matters eternally.

Let’s take a small excursion to 1 Timothy 3: 8-13 and see what qualifications are listed for deacons:

• They must be dignified: they are to have poise and noble dispositions, known to be of good reputation and godly character, loved and respected; not believing they have arrived at a spiritual maturity, but knowing that in their weakness the power of God is made manifest. They are to be exemplary in the ordinary.
• Not double-tongued: they must be true in what they say, privately and publicly, regardless of who us listening; they are not to be liars, dishonest, deceivers, or gossipers.
• Not addicted to much wine: they must be sober, not given over to substance abuse or addiction, thus maintaining readiness for ministry.
• Not greedy for dishonest gain: they are not to be motivated by a desire for ulterior gain, be it financial or other. They are to show themselves trustworthy in any amount of authority or responsibility given to them, and any work of ministry.
• They must hold the mystery of faith with a clear conscience: they must know their Bibles well, through reading, studying, memorizing, meditating. In their works of ministry, they must be able to impart spiritual truth and hope to those who are suffering. If they visit someone at a hospital but don’t encourage by word or prayer, the ministry would be lacking. At the same time, if they only speak words of encouragement but do not help elderly, frail member in moving the table requested to be moved, they would not have a clear conscience. Just as elders must be aware of what is practical, deacons must be aware of what is spiritual.
• Let them be tested first: we don’t know how long this should be for, but a certain amount of time should be given to testing and observation. Crosstown typically requires membership for at least a year. And part of this period is seeing how such candidates can respond to difficulties, anticipate problems, defuse tension, maintain unity, and absorb shocks. Eagerness alone is not sufficient. And guess what: people can still deac even if they are not deacons! You don’t have to wait to be installed to serve.
• Prove themselves blameless: do you see here, believers, the high requirements placed on ministers? Blameless! That does not mean sinless: we all sin and the Lord is faithful to forgive us our sin, and make us blameless, since Christ has taken the blame for us. But the character of a minister sets a high standard for both conduct and speech, in private or in public. The Bible has a high view of ministers: let’s not settle for less!
• Women must be dignified: I do not have time to venture deeply into this, but the word translated as wives here, is in fact the word for woman [gynaikas], translated in other places in this letter as woman[vi]. And from the structure of this passage, we can deduce that Paul is giving qualifications for both male and female deacons. He does not list qualifications for wives or women when he speaks earlier in the same chapter of elders. And one could say that the ministry of elders is a lot more visible and open to scrutiny, and their wives have been the subject of many a conversation, gossip or a Facebook post in ways a deacon’s wife has not. If an elder’s qualifications, the more visible ministry, does not have requirements for his wife, why would a deacon, often serving faithfully behind the scenes, have a requirement for his wife? I believe it is because the passage here is giving qualifications for both genders for diaconal ministry[vii]^,[viii]. So the women who serve must also have a high character, being dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded and faithful in all things.
• Ministers, whether male or female, single or married, must live honorable lives, including sexually, and be able to manage their own households well if they are to give advice or counsel to other households.
• And the rewards they receive are good standing and great confidence in the faith. Ministry should lead servants to have the gratitude of their church, and increase their dependence on the Spirit and depth of faith that has been instilled in them. Ministers know the faith, hold the faith, live the faith.

Brothers and sisters: character matters in ministry, as does being saturated in the word of God. It does not matter if a deacon knows his way around Home Depot, if he does not know his way around the Bible[ix]. It does not matter if a deaconess knows her way around bookkeeping, if she does not know how to keep herself in the book God has entrusted us with.

See with me as example 2 of the men named in Acts 6: Stephen and Philip. The rest of Ch.6-7 will focus on Stephen’s story, who surely had the qualifications for ministry, and did good service. Yet he was known more for his fullness of grace (6:8), wisdom, power of speech (6:10), and sermon in ch.7, which is the longest speech in Acts, and one of the most extensive sermons in the Bible, one that led to his martyrdom. He is forever known for his bold faith and character. Philip also became known for his fullness of Spirit and wisdom, for proclaiming the gospel in Samaria (8:4-25), explaining Isaiah to the Ethiopian Eunuch, and for baptizing him (8:26-40). He also led his household well since we read later in Acts 21:8-9 that he had 4 unmarried daughters who were believers and who prophesied. In fact, in 21:8 he is called Philip the evangelist, an indication of his immersion in the word of God and preaching the good news.

UNIFYING/SUPPORTIVE MINISTRY or MINISTERIAL UNITY

Everyone in the church – elder, deacon, member – must promote church unity. Let’s see this in how the congregation responded here. Do you notice the names in v.5? They are all Greek names. This is a bold move. The Hellenist widows had been neglected and were the source of the complaint. And what the church did here was choose 7 Hellenists – Greeks – to do the ministry of daily distribution. If this were to happen today, political correction might suggest 3 Greeks and 4 Hebrews. Or one might fear retaliation. But the church came together and chose 7 Greeks who would be well versed in their own language and customs and be able to minister to their widows. At the same time, the congregation showed great trust and a step toward unity by eliminating the fears and suspicions they could have become prone to. Let this be a lesson to us to unite in important decisions, to fight suspicion, and to trust that the same Spirit who is in us, is the Spirit of wisdom who enables faith and godly character in believers for the work of ministry.

It is very important for the whole church to be united together. Unity is not unanimity; unity is not uniformity. Unity is bigger and better than that. Unity means we come together and let go of our own preferences or biases or wants, even sometimes of our own good desires, for the sake of our brothers and sisters, outdoing one another in showing honor (Romans 12:10), promoting peace and unity in the one body that Christ has redeemed us into.

We often think that the biggest dangers come from outside: war, persecution, or threats. This book, history, my and other personal experiences tell us the church thrives in these circumstances, unites, and can be urgently focused on gospel proclamation. Threats to life and warnings to stop proclaiming Jesus led to more boldness, a boldness that perplexed the world!

Do you know what the world is not perplexed about today?! The disunity of believers, because the world has come to expect that churches, believers, and those who call themselves believers are not different from anyone else, and they are prone to disunity, maybe even promoters of disunity. A quick look at most online interactions or comments is all it takes to confirm that many do not believe in a holy catholic church.

But let me bring this back locally. Members of one body have needs, and it is commendable to make needs known. Assuming other members know can only lead to unmet expectations. This is an important aspect of life together, of being a family of faith. It is wrong to assume others know our needs, especially if we don’t voice them; it is not right to resent our brothers and sisters for not helping when we don’t ask. It is wrong to feel bitter if the other members do not pay attention to our unspoken requests or needs. And it is divisive to grumble and complain. Disunity, disgruntlement, and dissonance in the life of a church are great dangers.

You see: the reality we may not be aware of is that dangers that often suck the life out of a church are grumbling, complaining, resentment, division, and disunity. You can probably find one of these on nearly every post-mortem of a once healthy and vibrant church that is now but a lifeless skeleton. It is the ministry – the act of service and the work of love – of every member of the church to maintain unity, to oppose division, to resist resentment, and to work on bringing needs as requests rather than grumblings or complaints. All the while, essential to the life of a church is prayer and gospel proclamation which are the primary responsibilities of the pastors of a church. One of our primary roles as elders is to pray for each one of you regularly, pray with you, model how to pray, invite you to pray, implore you to pray; lead in godliness; protect you from wolves; know you intimately; and teach the word, preach the word, spend time in the word. We don’t receive divine revelation each week to preach the word. We must devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. We need and must spend hours studying the word of God, submitting our minds to it, delighting in it, wrestling with it, meditating on it, asking the Spirit to enlighten us. The same was true for the apostles who had to study the word to preach it. There’s great joy, honor, and weight to preaching God’s word faithfully to the people of Crosstown church whom he has entrusted to us as his undershepherds. The Lord has not called us to comment on every matter in the news or to be pundits; he has called us to cling to every word that comes from the mouth of God and to be shepherds of his sheep that he has redeemed by the blood of Christ and brought together into one body to be united under one Head, in one Spirit, in one hope, in one gospel, and in one purpose – making disciples by proclaiming his gospel that brings blessing through his people to all the nations of the earth.

Every ministry of the church must aim for unity. Elders lead ministry of prayer and the word. Deacons facilitate ministry. And the congregation does ministry[x]. The goal of every church member should be to promote unity. And every work of service in the body of Christ must be a work that supports the vision and leadership of the elders in their devotion to prayer and the word, not undermine it, but apply in practice the vision of the pastors of the church, trusting the Holy Spirit to lead, praying for the word of God to continue to increase, working to make disciples of Jesus to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name in this city and among all the nations.

THANKSGIVING FOR OUR MINISTERS

The world measures greatness by what kind of service a person receives. But Jesus radically reverses our fallen logic. Our own Savior washed feet even as the disciples wondered who was greatest among them. He has shown us a better way, a way in which some of the best service ministries happen without the flashy highlights. And here’s where I want us to be people of Thanksgiving during this season. We have many among us who serve in different ways, who work unseen, or may be unnoticed, yet without whose ministry, serving the tables we all feast on would not be possible. Their ministry removes barriers to our congregation’s joy. The word of God calls us to give honor where honor is due, to give thanks, to be grateful. And very poignantly, this should be felt to require honor to be given to those whose ministries are so essential to what we do week in and week out, yet are not seen on a pedestal. So to the folks ministering through the AV set up and the sound system, who allow us to hear music, word, and prayer: we applaud you! To those who set up every Sunday for worship, the tables, the bread, the juice, the wine, the takedown, the cleaning: we see you! To those are working to keep our church safe: we are indebted to you! To those who are working to make sure our finances are correct, our budget is viable, the offering counting is done as unto the Lord: we trust you! To those who are serving as missional family leaders: we appreciate you! To all who are loving our young ones through youth ministry, children’s ministry, childcare, and in so many other ways: we value you! To our admin assistant Ashley Thomas who makes things happen: we cherish you! To our facilities minister Crystal Steele: we treasure you! To our missions minister Emily Frey, and to the Advocacy Teams keeping in touch with our goers and loving them well: we admire you! To our singers and musicians who lead us in joyful songs of worship: we are grateful for you! Friends: find a minister after the service and go thank them for the work they do for our church, which promotes our unity, and allows the elders to focus on the ministry of prayer and of the word. And let us altogether yearn for the word of God to increase, the number of disciples to multiply, and see many become obedient to the faith.

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[i] Matt Smethurst, Deacons: How They Serve and Strengthen the Church. Crossway, 2021. P.44.

[ii] Ibid. P.53.

[iii] Schnabel, Eckhard J. Acts. Edited by Clinton E. Arnold, Zondervan, 2012, pp. 337.

[iv] Cornelis Van Dam, The Deacon: Biblical Foundations for Today’s Ministry of Mercy. Grand Rapids, MI. Reformation Heritage, 2016. P.50.

[v] Alexander Strauch, Paul’s Vision for the Deacons. Colorado Springs: Lewis & Roth, 2017. P.82.

[vi] Matt Smethurst, Deacons: How They Serve and Strengthen the Church. Crossway, 2021. Appendix 1, PP.135-152.

[vii] https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/bible-support-female-deacons-yes/

[viii] https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/bible-support-female-deacons-no/

[ix] Adapted from: Matt Smethurst, Deacons: How They Serve and Strengthen the Church. Crossway, 2021. P.34.

[x] Jamie Dunlop, Deacons: Shock Absorbers and Servants. 9Marks Journal, Spring 2010.