Video Transcript: What Deacons Must Be

What Deacons Must Be

Opening Reflections

Abigail:
ll right, we’re back with week three of the deacons course, and we’re going to talk a little bit about what deacons must be. And I think just as we start the session, and I just reflect on everything we talked about in last session, about just the characteristic of Christianity and the willingness to do things that are so uncomfortable but make such an impact on people. And I think something I’ve really noticed in my current generation is a very big focus on, you know, emotions, wellness, care, an absolute cry out for what deacons are called to do and be, and with people saying hypocrisy and judgment is why they’re going I think again, the generation that I’ve especially observed in my friends and in my life is that heaven is just such a cry out and a need for this deacons to be in action and be what they have been called to be, and what the Bible has set as an example. So again, this is super important as we kind of look into this and talk about what a deacon must be.

Being Before Doing

Bruce:
Yeah, what deacons must be. It’s interesting, when you look at the scriptures, that there is more talk about what a deacon is, and less about what a deacon does. And so when there’s a description of what deacons must be, there are words that describe who you get as deacons in your church, in that official office thing, and that’s what we’re going to walk through with you for a moment, acknowledging that maybe none of us is as pure as we’d like to be. On a journey. We’re all on a journey. But when you look at the scriptures, what does it tell us about the character of these people who are frontline representatives of Jesus Christ?

So the first thing we note is from that Acts six passage, you’ll notice that in verse three there, it says, Choose seven men among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.

Abigail:
I feel like there’s, it’s so critical to that are no you know, that people can say, this is somebody we’ve observed living without living out being full of the Spirit, right?

Bruce:
And wisdom, you know, there’s a difference between wisdom and knowledge. Knowledge, you know, is a collection of facts, but wisdom is, how do you apply those facts to life. So these are people, those seven men, those seven Greek men who were originally chosen for the office of Deacon, were the people who, like you, say they modeled it so much so that when people recommend it, right? So, and, and, and it’s again, fascinating to me that it wasn’t just the Greek Christians who recognized it, but the Jewish Christians recognized these people as, yeah, this is, this is who we are.

So here is one of the main passages describing what a deacon must be and again, I hate to read something that you got in front of you, but again, I want to make sure this is this is important that we get this: in the same way. Now he’s talking about elders before this, but he says in the same way as elders, deacons are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep the keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested. Then, if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons, in the same way the women. Now note there, there’s some question here about what Paul was referring to. Was he referring to wives. In fact, some older translations put it that way, or were there women who were playing the role of Deacon alongside the men deacons? But they are to be worthy respect, not malicious talkers, but temperate, trustworthy in everything, a deacon must be faithful to his wife, manage his children and household well. Those who have served well gave an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.

Really walk through that. Break it down. Yeah, break it down and say, Okay, let’s look deeply at what this might mean: in the same way they are to be worthy of respect. What does that say to you? Yeah,

Worthy of Respect

Abigail:
I think I see respect as one of the key things. I mean, you have to know here, others have admiration for them, but respect is like, you know, I treat someone in a way of kindness. I respect them as a creation of Jesus Christ, you know, I respect them as a human being. I respect, you know, I just think respect is so important to characterize them and yeah, others have admiration. What does respect look like to you? Bruce,

Bruce:
yeah, well, exactly that that, you know, I had a deacon in. One of my churches, my first church, and he was a businessman, and he was chosen. It was a small, little, tiny church, and there weren’t that many people eligible, and he became, he became one of the official ordained people leading the church. And I began to get calls about people that felt he had cheated them in business transactions. And in fact, it wasn’t too long after that that the business went bankrupt, and they were using money paid to build this house, to build this one, and were switching funds and that sort of thing. And bad news for him, certainly bad news for the people, but bad news for the church, because all of a sudden, that reputation begins, began to be extended to our church, right, right? This is the kind of people you have, and so it’s, it’s, it’s important that they be people that are admired by others.

Next way is that they are sincere. Now, the word there is an interesting one. There are a couple of different words that are translated into English as sincere in the New Testament. One is the word sincere, which means without wax. And the idea is there that back then the when they sometimes they built statues. Statues were important. Wealthy people would buy them, display them outside. But sometimes you get a flawed piece of marble, and the person who wasn’t wasn’t, maybe the most honest businessman would fill cracks with wax, and you wouldn’t notice it until the statue had been out for a while and the heat was on it and the melt, the wax would melt away, and all of a sudden you realize that this was, wait a minute, this is, this was not what it was presented to be. And so you know the quality business people would advertise their statues, as in siri, which means without wax. And that’s one word. When you think of the word sincere that you know you’re not living your life as a cover up.

But the word here is a different word. It’s the word de logos, which means not double tongued.

Abigail:
That’s a very important one. You know, I think that that is one of the other areas where a lot of that, again, hypocrisy, comes from the same sort of idea, too. It’s like, you might be saying one thing this, one person another to another, and ultimately you’re living in some sort of dishonesty. And it’s very dangerous that it’s like that web, you know, what a web that we can weave. And if someone’s going to live a life of being double tongue, they’re going to find themselves quite entangled in a mess. And

Bruce:
again, if someone like that enters the ministry, the official ordained ministry of a church, there is going to be ramifications for the church. And so as Paul was writing, he’s writing here to Timothy, one of his sons in the faith, he calls him and telling him, this is how you establish a church. This is how you build your church, and the church that you’re pastoring. And he says, Sure, you don’t get double ton people as deacons in your church.

Abigail:
So much of that church hurt can come into you know, someone’s experienced a double tongued individual, there can be so much hurt that leaves them very scarred towards the church, yeah,

Self-Control and Moderation

Bruce:
for sure. Okay, so they’re sincere and then not indulging in much wine. Wow, that says something. I guess, in one sense, you don’t have to say a lot about that, except what, what I want to point out here is the Spirit—fruit of the Spirit—last one mentioned is being self controlled. In other words, that these are people—doesn’t say you can’t drink wine—not don’t indulge in too much, and in other words, you’re not operating with impaired judgment. And wow,

Abigail:
says a lot there, and it’s such a, again, real example of showing, yeah, you need to be a person that self control. You need to be a person who can live a life of moderation. You know you’re not over indulging in things that. Are dangerous for yourself and impairing judgment. And you point yourself, yeah,

Bruce:
and again, you know these are all things that when people outside the church, and you know our ministry of the church, the mission of the church, is outside the church, right, going to all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them where we’re focusing on out the church, outside of the church. And well, when those people look at us, they make judgments one way or another. And when they say, I heard more of that than I can say in four years of ministry of people who have rejected church because of someone in the church. And, yeah, enough said on that what’s gone not pursuing dishonest gain.

Abigail:
Position of power gives, you know, being in this role can give someone a position of power that can be abused and be pursued for defunation

Bruce:
in the United States here, we’ve had many times over the years, there have been these issues of the tele evangelists and sometimes and the stories were horrendous about how they were just ripping people off, some of them very well known. Some of them not well known. But you know, one guy who was sent out, you know, he would say on his program, you send me your prayers, and, you know, I’ll bring them like arrows, and so you you call, and we’ll send you an arrow, and you can send it back to me. I’ll bring it to the tower, and I’m going pray and, etc, etc. Well, that’s like throwing bait before journalists to say what is really true. So journalists got in there and secretly recorded the mail room. And in the mail room of his ministry, people were opening these letters with arrows in them. The arrows would go in the trash, and the money would go in this pile. Arrows would go in the trash. The money would go with this file. And again, the reputation of the entire church is damaged. Then all kinds of, yeah, all kinds of other they’re the stories are out there. You know the guy, the healing, Guy of healing, and his wife and Greek people, as they were coming in with their illnesses that they want to pray for and heal that night, and he would hear, you know, having her peace in and his wife would be talking to him about this person or that person. All he prayed is, anyway, it was all a fake, and people would give hoping to be healed. So what kind of person does a deacon need to be.

Abigail:
And there’s the, you know, just the danger of someone who exhibits greed. And so greed is warned against many times in the scriptures. But we, you know, in the office of Deacon, especially, and we’re going to explore money in deacons and money very dangerous, right? And, wow. And so people know that, okay, let’s go on.

Holding the Faith with a Clear Conscience

Bruce:
They must hold, take hold and keep hold of the deep truths of faith with a clear conscience. It’s i guess i sum that up, but they must be knowledgeable about Bible truths and able to share them appropriately,

Abigail:
right? And again, that idea of being full of the knowledge of the Bible and having the wisdom to be able to apply it and use it appropriately. And you know, again, as somebody who’s watching this course and maybe attending at CLI you know, you’re somebody who’s going, I want to be more knowledgeable about the truth of the Bible. I want to be able to share them appropriately, and again, rightly divide the Word of God and share that to others,

Bruce:
right? And again, you know, we know of a couple of these deacons. Stephen was in chapter seven of Acts, was stoned to death because of his preaching. So, I mean, he was somebody who knew enough of the Scriptures and knew enough the Bible that he was he was preaching only sharing the word right? Philip, another one of the deacons who actually served in the role of evangelists as well. So, you know, the deacon is not somebody who’s, you know, kind of a secondary office off here and but they were somebody who looked at the truths of scripture as they had it in the Old Testament, but as it was being formed in the New Testament, and were telling the stories of Jesus, and we’re preaching it. And Philip is one of my heroes, just because he’s somebody that in that early church, the Spirit tells him to go on this particular road where he meets the Ethiopian eunuch, and then, after. That, and that’s how, by the way, scriptures, got into Ethiopia. I have two grandchildren from Ethiopia, and I’m so glad that there’s a strong Christian base to the country. And it started because of a deacon who said, I’m going to share this guy. And then he goes off, and he’s, you know, he’s confronting a sorcerer, and he’s, it’s just, oh, he the deacons are people who are, again, one of the reasons for CLI is to help you increase in knowledge and understanding and even preaching speaking ability and encourage you in those as well.

Well, it says next one is they must first be tested, and then, if there’s nothing against them, let them serve as deacons. No, we don’t know exactly what they meant there by testing, except that you know, you didn’t have somebody who’s converted on Friday and next week to use a deacon there. There had to be some acknowledgement of their role there, who they were, that there’d be time enough to be able to see if they have these particular characteristics in their life. In other words, I guess here’s another passage of that you must not be a recent convert or maybe come conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. That’s a little later and so depth and authenticity must be recognized, that there’s got to be a process of some kind by which people are acknowledged as such?

Abigail:
Yeah, I think it’s kind of, again, why we have that importance on even having the recommendations of someone going in the process of wanting to be licensed or Dean or things like that. It’s just so important that other people couldn’t go and it goes your back that verse. That’s like that these men were known to be full of spirit, full of wisdom. And I think that’s, again, what’s being gotten, that here is they’ve been tested. And people can really say this person has really lived this out.

Recognized and Affirmed by the Church

Bruce:
Yeah, and the church, church I served in California, you know, we once, we had redesigned the office of Deacon. How do you choose them? Right? Well, I tried to argue for the Bible way, and that was that pastor should appoint them. But nobody really went for that in a big way. So, but we had a process. So the process was, you know, they served for three years a person who was chosen as Deacon. But the first thing we did was have the congregation suggest things. Who are people who hold these characteristics, who are people who are like this and and then no the council of the elders and deacons together would look through those names and acknowledge them, would contact them about their willingness to serve, and then there would be a slate that would be presented to the church, and then names would be chosen by a lot of those that were in the bag. Names were in the bag, but it was that whole thing of, okay, there’s got to be a testing. Does the church recognize these people? Do we as the church leadership? Do we recognize these people having these qualities and and anyway, God bless them. Up good to see.

Now again, in the same way women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers, but tempered and trustworthy in everything. Now, again, we don’t know exactly what the reference is here. One of the older translations was that the wise are to be worthy of respect. Others are that there was a separate group of deaconesses who maybe worked under the direction of the deacons. We don’t know exactly, but that’s pretty likely so. So those people, too are to be ones that are. You know, they these people, whomever is working in this servant role in the church, the official servant rule has to be temperate, trustworthy, worthy of respect.

So enough there, this last one here, a deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and household well.

Abigail:
think there’s just something so strong about that. Again, it’s like, I think our most important ministry is, you know, our ministry to our family and our home. And so if you have someone who is not caring well for their family or their children, you. That. How are they going to be able to come into the church and care well for the church, the Body of Christ, and so I think it’s just so important to say, Hey, this is another indicator that you’re finding a person of these qualities, a person who is worthy of respect, is sincere. Now are they taking good care of their family?

Closing

Bruce:
So the emphasis is on character, not on the job description. The next session, we’re going to talk about the job description, because there is, there are some job descriptions that are worth looking at. So join us next time, as we look at what does our Deacon do.