Transcript & Slides: The First Deacons

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The First Deacons
By David Feddes

Do you ever wish that you had been there—that you could go back in time and be there when Jesus was born? Do you ever wish that you could have been among those shepherds who saw the angels and who came and saw Jesus in the manger? Or maybe you wish you could have been there in the early church when the Holy Spirit came upon the church in power, when the people were excited and the apostles were doing miracles, when people loved each other so much and were sharing with each other so generously. Do you ever think, “If only I could have lived back then and been there to see it all and experience it all”?

In many ways, it would have been exciting. But be a bit careful what you wish for. Let's suppose that you had been one of the people in Bethlehem. You could have actually been there—and you would also have been there when your little brother or your baby son or grandson was murdered by Herod's troops a few months later. If only you could have been there in the early church—when Saul was breathing out murderous threats and trying to hunt down the Christians, and when you didn't know from day to day whether you might be killed or thrown in prison. If only you could have been there—when Christians lied and were instantly struck dead by God for it. If only you could have been there—when the Christians were bickering over money and who was getting a fair amount of it. If only you could have been there—when Paul and Barnabas had such a sharp disagreement that they had to part ways and head in different directions. You might think, “If only I could have been there when everything was perfect”—but it wasn’t perfect!

Of course there were wonderful things that God was doing, and it is wonderful that Jesus came in the manger, that he did his mighty miracles. It's wonderful what the Holy Spirit did in the early church, and I don't mean to downplay that for a moment. I'm just saying again that there has never been this fantasy time when it would have been just peachy to have been there.

There have always been times when God's hand is at work, and at the same time when the devil and hard times were there. And God didn't put us in those times long ago; he put us in these times, and in this place. And yet we learn from what God has done in other times and how he's revealed himself, and certainly how he's revealed himself in our Lord Jesus Christ. And we look to what he's done and to his calling, and even to his patterns from the past.

So today, as we think about the church in our own time and place and the calling of deacons in our own time and place, it is good to go back and see the original context of some of the first people who served as leaders in the church in matters of finance. Let’s listen to Acts 6:1-7.

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 (Acts 6:1–7).

Sharing as needed

One of the great things that was happening in the church at that time was the spirit of generosity and the desire that everybody in the church would be cared for and have enough. The disciples “devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need” (Acts 2:44–45). That's the first picture Luke gives, the exciting picture of the early church right after Pentecost. They were devoting themselves to the teaching—to the Word of God—and they were listening to the apostles, and to the fellowship, the breaking of bread at the Lord's table. But another vital aspect of that was the way they loved each other and cared for each other and were willing to share.

Now, this doesn't mean that everybody instantly got rid of all their property or that they were required to. In fact, in one of the conversations with the liars about their property, the apostle said, "Hey, it was yours. You didn't have to give it all. You could give as much or as little of the money as you wanted. But you shouldn't have lied about it" (Acts 5:4). Anyway, most of the first Christians were generous, and it was a voluntary generosity—not something that everybody else was pressuring them to do or that you were forced to give away everything.

But what happens when people are selling property and giving money to the church? Well, who's going to take it in? Somebody’s collecting those donations. Somebody is storing or banking that money and trying to do it reliably so it doesn't get stolen, so it doesn't just vanish, so it doesn't get misused. And then they're using the money as needed. They buy food and then give food to those people who are in need.

So behind the wonderful statement “they're sharing,” there's always got to be some sort of structure and somebody to be dealing with those kinds of things. And it seems that it was largely the apostles themselves who were doing it—or kind of doing it—and not doing so hot a job of it.

But in the midst of this wonderful giving and sharing, you have difficulties. You have some people who lie about their giving. Ananias and Sapphira claimed to have given all the money from a property they had sold, but they had lied to the Holy Spirit—and they died (Acts 5:1–10).

There were the griping recipients—the Grecian Jews—who were upset about the way distribution was happening and didn't think that the Grecian widows were getting enough. They thought that others were being favored over them. And then you had the apostles themselves.

Now, let's just suppose you're one of those apostles, and the church is growing like crazy. You're preaching and you're baptizing, and you've personally walked with the Lord. You've seen his resurrection. You've seen his glory on the mountain. You're an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, doing the work that God has called you to do—in fact, you're overworked. And now you've got these whiners who are upset about money. You might be tempted to bark, “Oh, will you just shut up? It's budget! We are the men of God!”

That's the temptation when you're in a position of leadership—and especially when you know that God called you to it. I've heard of churches where they'll say, “Touch not the Lord's anointed,” and they'll invoke that great and important office God has given them for saying that nobody should ever raise an issue.

And let's face it, sometimes people do gripe too much. But there's different kinds of gripes. At the time of Moses, there was grumbling in the wilderness, and at times God punished the grumblers (Numbers 11:1–3; 14:26–35). But there are other times when the grumblers had a point. And when you're in leadership, you do have to pay very careful attention: do the grumblers have a point? Is there actually a problem, and could we learn something by listening rather than getting defensive right away?

So the apostles paid attention. They listened. And they said, “I think they've got a point here. We're not doing a great job of sharing the money.” It wasn't on purpose, but you know how sometimes it is. If you know one group of people better than another, you're just more sensitive to what's going on over here than what's going on over there—until you listen to the grumbling from over there.

If you're trying to balance the needs and challenges of a diverse group of people, then you do have to listen. You had the problems with money: you had some givers who were doing it to be seen rather than from the heart, and they were lying about it. You had some people who were not content with how things were being distributed. And you had the apostles themselves—let's face it, when you have more than 5,000 converts and only twelve guys to manage the situation, the apostles just had too much to do.

Sharing the load

So how did they handle that? Maybe they took a page from Moses. As I said, Moses heard a variety of gripes—and many times those were unfounded complaints. But there was a time when Moses was feeling badly overworked, and the people were feeling badly underserved by Moses' leadership.

Fortunately for Moses, his father-in-law happened to be around at the time. Now, maybe not all of us are delighted to take the wisdom of the in-laws, but in this case, Moses did. Moses' father-in-law Jethro saw what was going on. He saw big groups of people standing in line all day to get a hearing with Moses—to settle their disputes or to deal with different issues. Moses was the man for everything.  So you had these long lines that went back and back and back, and you could wait in line all day and still wouldn't get to Moses by the end of the day.

Moses' father-in-law said, “What you're doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. Select capable men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain” (Exodus 18:17–21). He didn’t want just anybody to take over as a judge. They've got to be people you can count on, who can't be bribed. “Now have them serve as judges for these people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you. The simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. If you do this and God so commands you’ll be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied” (Exodus 18:22–23).

If you've got a problem where you're overwhelmed, don’t just wish that the griping would go away or that the lines would get shorter. You have to do something to shorten up those lines and realize your own limits. Maybe some of you in your own life are finding situations where you're overwhelmed. And you feel like quite a hero for being overwhelmed and burned out every day—and maybe you really are quite heroic. But it might be time to share the load, to ask, "Who else might be able to do something around here?"

If you're a mother, you can feel, “I’ve got so much wash to do, so much food to cook, so many things to clean up. It never ends!” The thought of your child doing something is a revolutionary thought. But sometimes, let somebody else do it. It'll be good for them and good for you.

If you're in a position of leadership, one of the first things to do when things seem overwhelming is to realize: God did not design me to do everything that needs doing. Delegate. Share. Involve others in doing it.

When we're asking people to consider becoming a deacon, they might say, “What do deacons do?” So we talk about a variety of things. But one of the things that deacons have done around our church is to make sure the building doesn't fall apart and make sure the computers and equipment are operating and so on. Does that mean everybody who serves as a deacon has to be a computer guru and a handyman and a carpenter all wrapped up into one? If they have some of those skills, fine. But if not, we've got other people in the church with such skills. Just find somebody that can do it. The job of a deacon is not to do everything—but to make sure it gets done. That’s the calling of leaders in general. 

Sharing the load is an overall principle that Moses picked up from his father-in-law Jethro and put into practice. And so they appointed leaders over units of a thousand, and others over units of fifty and so on, so that the needs of the people for good judgment could be met (Exodus 18:21–26).

The apostles likewise decide that work needs to be shared. They decide that there's  validity to the complaints. Something needs to be done so that the Grecian widows aren’t getting shortchanged. And the apostles themselves are not going to do a thing about it—except get somebody else to do it. You see, they could recognize an important need and realize that they were failing to meet it and still know that they weren’t the ones who were supposed to do it. 

It’s not that they were lazy or didn’t think it was important. When they said, “We’re not going to neglect the Word of God in order to wait on tables” (Acts 6:2), you might think they are looking down on some tasks. But that’s not at all what they’re saying. They’re not saying, “We’re too good to serve or help with financial needs because we’ve got a far, far, far more important thing to do.” What they’re saying is, “God called us to bring the Word of God, so we can’t neglect that primary calling that we have. There’s very important work that needs doing in handling money and meeting the needs of widows--and we’re not the ones to do it. But somebody outstanding should do it. You’ve got to get people who are full of the Holy Spirit, and you’ve got to have highly qualified people to do it. We’re just not the ones."

The apostles knew they had to stay focused because God had called them to the ministry of the Word of God. And they had to devote themselves—primarily, their time and energy had to be focused on prayer and on the ministry of the Word—on preaching the Word publicly, and when they’re interacting with people, not being mainly dealing with the financial issues but bringing the Word of God to bear in their lives.

I remember at my own ordination, the pastor who preached at my ordination quoted this and said, “You have to be a man of prayer and the Word of God. There’s a lot of things to do in the church, but most of them should be done by somebody else. You have to be a man of prayer and the Word.” A pastor can find a lot of different things to do. And if you're too busy, if you’re not praying much, if you’re not studying much, if you’re not in the Scriptures much, it might hardly be noticed—at least at first. You’ll still be able to yak for 20 minutes or a half hour or longer, if necessary. But to have a real Word from God—that takes time and focus.

The apostles knew this. They were proclaimers of the Word. They were evangelists. They were teaching the many people who were coming in, and they knew that this was God’s calling for them, and they had to stay focused on that calling. And therefore, they needed a different kind of leader for a different kind of work—to carry out the very important ministry of distribution of gifts and helping people. So they said, “Choose leaders. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom” (Acts 6:3).

Choosing leaders

• Multiple leaders, not just one
• Choice involves congregation
• Spiritual, wise, well qualified

I want to highlight a few things about that statement. You’ll notice that they didn’t choose one grand poobah as supreme potentate of all financial matters in all the churches. You find that Jesus has twelve apostles, not just one super-deluxe apostle. There are seven men chosen for that diaconal—diakonia—position, not just one. 

Multiple leadership has several advantages. One, of course, is that it distributes the work so that one person doesn’t get overburdened by it. Another—it distributes accountability and authority, because there’s a great danger of pride and a great danger of becoming a dictator if one person is entrusted with too much leadership responsibility in the church. This principle of multiple leaders in the church and not just one is how God desires it to be.

In choosing them, the choice involves the congregation. And that’s taken shape in a variety of ways throughout the years in the church. Sometimes it could simply mean appointing certain people as elders or deacons (1 Timothy 3:1–13; Titus 1:5–9). An agent of the apostles would appoint leaders, but then that person will be approved by the people. So you have kind of a ratification—a nomination by leaders and then an approval or a vote by the congregation. 

Another process that I’ve seen is that the congregation will nominate a variety of people. Then the leadership will go through that list and ask, “Who’s willing to serve?” If the leadership is aware of reasons why they might not wish to or can’t, that’ll all be dealt with. And then the people will vote on the slate of nominees. Maybe there’s double the amount, and you pick half of them for leadership. And that could be an excellent approach. There's a downside: some people are willing to be nominated for office year after year, and every year they don’t get voted in. After a while, that can be discouraging. Or it may feel more like a popularity contest. It’s not necessarily that, but that can be a downside of this approach.

Another way of choosing is to nominate and have people who are willing to serve, and then do it by lot—put the names in a hat and pick them once they’ve been nominated and are all known to be qualified. That’s how the twelfth apostle got chosen. When Judas betrayed the Lord and killed himself, a new apostle had to be chosen. They nominated two men who were equally qualified, who had witnessed the risen Lord, who had been with him throughout his ministry—and of those two, the lot fell on Matthias (Acts 1:21–26).

So there’s a variety of ways of choosing. But whatever the exact method of choice, it does involve the congregation. It does involve the leadership in the choice. But everyone under consideration must be people who are full of the Holy Spirit—spiritual people, people who love God, people who have the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22–23).

Those of you who have been nominated as deacons may be listening and say, “Ooh… do I measure up to that?” Well, anytime I read the Bible and its qualifications for a leader or for a preacher, then I say what the apostle Paul said: “Who is adequate? Who is competent for such a calling?” (2 Corinthians 2:16).

When we’re looking for leaders, we want people who are full of the Holy Spirit and people who are wise—people who are good decision-makers, who are going to have a variety of experience and bring it to bear on their situation. In short, people who are well qualified. 

Chosen & ordained

The Bible says that the apostles' "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. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them" (Acts 6:5-6).

It's worth noting that all seven of those men have Greek names. You remember what the original problem was? It was the Grecian Jews who were the gripers. So it’s very possible that they chose seven Grecian Jews to manage the money. There wouldn’t be a lot of room for complaint anymore from that particular slice of the church, because now they would have a lot of their own men looking after the situation.

The church chose these men and "presented them to the apostles, who prayed and laid hands on them" (Acts 6:6). First they were chosen. Then they were ordained. They were given authority. They were blessed in the name of the Lord and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do the work that God had called them to do.

And ever since, that’s been the church’s procedure—to pray over those whom God has appointed to leadership, whom the people have chosen, and ask that God supremely will be their guide, their wisdom, their empowerment.

Problem produces
fresh opportunities

I want to emphasize again what I’ve been saying all along: when there’s a problem, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the end of the world. It means, “Okay, this is an opportunity.” This problem is an opportunity to take a step forward in what the church can be and do. The story of the first deacons starts with a complaint. How does it end? "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" (Acts 6:7). 

Those of you who are serving in leadership, keep that in mind. If a problem arises, if a complaint comes up, don’t immediately panic and say, “All is lost.” And don’t immediately get on your high horse and say, “Those complainers are knuckleheads.” Say, “What is the need here, and what might be the opportunity for us to be a better church than we’ve ever been before?”

That’s really our prayer when we’re facing challenges or problems in situations of leadership: "God, what are you doing in this? What are you trying to show us about the situation?"

Deacon duties

• Model and teach service to others
• Mobilize believers’ stewardship
• Manage church’s money
• Meet physical and financial needs
• Team up with pastors and elders to lead and mobilize believers’ abilities
• Pursue godliness and witness

Let’s look at a few of the actual duties of deacons in the Scriptures and throughout the centuries in the church.

One calling of a deacon is simply to model and to teach service to others. The word “deacon” simply means servant. Actually, the word “minister” does too. The word “minister” in Latin is the word for servant. The word diakonos in Greek is the word for servant. And so if you’re a deacon, you’re an example or a model of serving others—of being able to minister to their needs and then, by your modeling as well as by your instruction and teaching, to show others how to serve each other.

A big part of it is: you’re mobilizing believers’ stewardship. You encourage people to be generous. You encourage people to realize that it’s more blessed to give than to receive, as our Lord Jesus himself said (Acts 20:35). And so, to realize that everything we have comes from God. Part of stewardship is just the way you manage your own family—the way you manage your own finances. And you’re teaching people to be wise with money, to be good with money, to be generous with money in helping others, but also to be skilled with money in serving your own family and the needs of your own situation.

You have a calling to manage the church’s money. When people give, they don’t expect you to waste their money. You take good care of the money and make sure that it doesn’t get wasted. You also are managing the church’s money in the sense that you go the extra mile to make sure it’s handled with integrity. In our church, it’s forbidden for one deacon to count the offering. You count with at least two people there. That lessens the chances of a mistake. It also reduces the opportunities and temptations for dishonesty or stealing. I don’t distrust any of our deacons. We don’t have that policy because we think a deacon is secretly Judas, who wants to help himself to the money bag (John 12:6). But you still should have two people counting. Trust but verify. Whenever you’re dealing with money, it’s best that you’re all honest and holding each other accountable.

And then deacons have a responsibility to help meet the physical and financial needs of people in the congregation. It’s actually not the deacons doing it. They’re the ones who are kind of coordinating it and leading in it. Because when a needy family receives some money or some food, it’s not all from the deacons themselves—it’s from the church. And the deacons are making decisions about who receives that. When there’s just physical needs or illness—again, to minister to people and pray with them. The elders and pastor do that too, but deacons are part of that, and especially the financial management.

And everybody who is part of the leadership team—whether deacons, elders, or pastors—we team up together. And our real calling, as the Bible says, is to equip God’s people for works of ministry (Ephesians 4:12). I’ve tried to emphasize again and again that when you’re a leader, you are not called to do everything for the church. You are called to mobilize everybody else’s gifts and help them. So whether deacon, elder, or pastor, those of us who are in leadership discuss things together, make decisions for the good of the church, and always have an eye open for what various people are good at. Encourage them in that. Look for ways that they can serve.

Another vital area is pursuing godliness and witness to the Lord—just pursuing and growing in godliness. Because whatever position—whether elder, deacon, minister, or whatever other position you might have in a church—if you’re called to be a leader in any particular way, you’re especially called to be an example to the flock. To be godly, so that when other people look at you, they can see Christ at work in you. And when you have opportunity to speak for the Lord, you can do so.

Deacon plus

I want to highlight again these men who were chosen to be deacons in Acts 6. They were chosen because of a particular financial need—and maybe they were even chosen a little bit because of their Greek names—but they weren’t just money men.

Take Stephen. Stephen was "a man full of God’s grace and power. He did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Opponents couldn’t stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke" (Acts 6:8–10). Stephen was quite a man of the Holy Spirit. He was also the first martyr. So he was not just a bean counter. He was not just somebody who was doing the calculations of the church budget. He did do that—evidently, he was known to be good at it and wise in matters of money. That’s one of the reasons they chose him. But he had a lot bigger and more powerful ministry than just the one thing that he was called to do as deacon.

Or take Philip. Philip was chosen as one of those deacons. "Philip went down to the region of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. So there was great joy in that city" (Acts 8:5–8). Philip was an evangelist to those cities in Samaria, and he was used powerfully by God in that way.

Don’t let yourself be pigeonholed. I mentioned before that the apostles had to devote themselves to the Word of God and not get so much into the matters that deacons would deal with. But that doesn’t mean that deacons should say, “Well, those guys are the Word of God people. I don’t really need to think about evangelism or such things.” Hey, if God calls you and gifts you, you may have a wider ministry than that of deacon within the church. Just don’t make it a narrower one than that, if you're called to serve as a deacon.

Philip was an effective evangelist. In Acts 8 the Bible tells of an Ethiopian official, the secretary of the treasury for the queen of Ethiopia. He is reading the Scriptures while riding in a chariot. Philip runs up to the chariot and asks what he’s reading. “Who’s this prophet talking about?” says the Ethiopian. Philip then tells him the good news about Jesus and baptizes him. The Bible adds, "Philip traveled about, preaching the gospel" (See Acts 8:26–40). 

Years later, when the apostles go to Caesarea later, Philip is living there. Luke writes, “We stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied” (Acts 21:8–9). So Philip is also a family man, and his daughters are women who are full of the Holy Spirit and are being used mightily by the Lord. 

That is what some of the first deacons did beyond their ministry of finance and distribution in the church.

Great in serving

Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Whoever wants to become great among you must become your deacon, your servant—your diakonos—and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 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” (Mark 10:43–45). We’re all called to serve. Jesus said, “I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27). That call to be a servant—a deacon—comes through the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And it’s a calling on all of us, though only some hold that office in church leadership.

Qualified

When the Bible speaks of being qualified in Acts, it just says, “Full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom” (Acts 6:3). When you get to the epistles, there’s a little more detail. In Paul's first letter to Timothy, he first gives some qualifications for elders or overseers (1 Timothy 3:1–7), and then he gets into what deacons ought to be like:

So you want people who are honest, who don’t drink too much, who are orthodox—who hold to biblical truth. They’re not the primary teachers of the church, and yet they’re leaders. You want them to be solid because they’re part of the leadership team and because, by their life and example and teaching, they’re going to have an impact on the way other people believe. They should hold to the deep truths of the faith. You want people, in other words, whose life and doctrine are what you want replicated—what you want more of. Don’t ever put somebody in leadership that you don’t want more of. You want people in leadership that you want more of their kind of character. You want more of their kind of teaching. You even want more of their kind of family.

Paul continues:

Part of a deacon’s qualification is his wider family. I should say right away—this does not mean that a single person cannot be a deacon or an elder or a pastor. But if they have a family, it should be a good one. If they are married, they should have a solid wife. If they’re in a household with children, their children should reflect well on them. As I said, you want people in leadership where you want more families like that.

One error that crept into the church—in its early centuries, not right away but within a few centuries—was the notion that singleness is vastly better and preferable than married life. After some centuries passed, only single men could be priests. That was a mistake. That’s obviously not true to the Scripture that we’re just reading, where an elder and a deacon both are to be the husband of one wife (1 Timothy 3:2, 12). One is more than zero! Someone with a wife is not single! 

This doesn’t mean that a leader has to be married, but it was assumed that most people got married, and if they were married, these were the qualifications. If they weren’t married, they could still be qualified. Would you really want to say Jesus and Paul were unqualified to be leaders in the church? They were unmarried, and they were mighty for the Lord. And other singles have been used mightily. Still, the requirement that you must be single was a mistake.

On the other hand, it’s also a mistake to say, “Every church leader really ought to be married. We don’t quite trust single people,” and to treat singles as though they’re not fully faithful and strong believers.

I’ll give an example from my own life. When I was in seminary, I applied after my second year for internships in a bunch of different churches. I was the first choice of zero of the churches that I applied for. The next year, I again applied for internships, and I was the first choice of every church that I applied for. Now, either I got a lot smarter and more godly in that one year--or the fact that I was about to be married suddenly made it possible for me to be at the top of everybody’s list. When I was single meant, no church wanted me. But now I was getting married—and now I was “the man.” Come on. You know, I was the same guy either way. If there are single people who are ready to serve the Lord, we ought not to say, “Oh, but we only trust the married kind.” That’s wrong.

Another thing—the word translated "wives" is actually just the Greek word for women. There are some who read this to say, “The women who are serving as deacons should be thus and such,” and that is a possible reading. In Romans 16 Phoebe is described as a servant—or a deacon—of the church in Cenchrea (Romans 16:1).

We know that there was an order of widows described in Paul’s letters to Timothy—an order of widows who serve the church in special ways and are called to serve the church, and then the church in turn helps provide for them. 

1 Timothy 3 probably does refer still to the wives of the deacons, I think, but I just wanted to make you aware that the Greek word simply means “the women.” You can't determine whether it means "wives" or "women" except by the context. 

Either way, I just want you to note something here: when you’re called to be an elder or a deacon, your wife is part of the team. In our age may sound old fashioned.Even among pastors the talk is, “The church hires you, and your wife is not part of the leadership team.” Well, fair enough: you shouldn’t have a whole set of expectations where a wife automatically is assumed to be doing a lot of the stuff expected of “the minister’s wife.” Even so, I don’t think it’s wise to get into ministry—or to serve as a deacon or an elder—if you have a spouse and she’s not on board with it, because if you're the wife a a leader,  you’re part of the team.

In fact, you could almost call them elder couples or deacon couples. Don’t be insulted, elders, but I have to say that I see the wives of our elders huddled up and praying with women about as often as I see you guys doing very much—no insult to you, but you have some great wives. The same is true of our deacons and our incoming deacons. If you have wives who are serving the Lord well, they have to be part of the team. They have to be people who aren’t malicious talkers; they’re trustworthy, because when you’re part of a leadership couple you know stuff that not everybody knows—sometimes just because you’re hanging around. I don’t share private conversations; I keep them confidential—I don’t talk to my wife about them. But even so, when you’re involved in a leadership situation you’re going to know more about various developments that are going on, and you don’t want to be a gossip when it’s not justified.

Now again, those of you who aren’t familiar with our church may think, “That must be a church with a whole bunch of big problems because he’s talking about the opportunity and the problems, and they must have a bunch of malicious talkers—why else would he go on about these things?” No—I’m just saying what the Bible says here. I’m not aware of any major problem in these areas for our church, but it’s important that we hear what the Bible says and that we walk in the way the Lord reveals to us.

God’s household

After talking about qualifications of elders and deacons, the apostle goes on. The apostle Paul—no matter what he’s doing, no matter what he’s talking about—you know where he’s going to end up: he’s going to end up talking about Christ and about the people of God. He says, “Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, 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” (1 Timothy 3:14-15).

Behind everything that’s said about the particular work of a deacon or of leaders there is this understanding of the church: it’s God’s household. It’s the family of faith. It’s the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth in this world. If the church doesn’t hold true to God’s truth, then nobody will. We are the ones who are to reveal God’s truth and live it in this world. Paul is writing all of this so that we’ll know how to handle ourselves and conduct ourselves in God’s household. The name of this church is Family of Faith. It’s God’s household—what a wonder to be God’s household. 

Here's an even greater wonder: the apostle goes on to say, “Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16).

The apostle couldn’t talk about elders and deacons without launching a Christmas sermon. The mystery of godliness: he appeared in a body—this Jesus. This Jesus whom we believe, this Jesus who’s taken up in glory, this Jesus who’s coming again—that’s who we belong to. Whether we serve in this or that way, whatever our leadership position or other kind of position may be, we belong to him, and together we’re his body, his household, the pillar of his truth in this world.

Prayer

Thank you, Lord God, for the wonder of the incarnation of Jesus coming among us, for the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit, for the way you formed your church to be a wonder that even the angels long to look into, that you’ve arranged your church in so many ways to display your wisdom to the principalities and powers and angels. So we pray, Lord, that our church will bring glory to you and honor to you and make even the angels marvel at what you’re doing among us.

We thank you, Lord, for men who have agreed to serve; for those, Lord, who have served in the past; for those who continue to serve now; and now for those who are going to take up a new position. We pray, Lord, that as we now proceed to their ordination, you will be powerfully among us by your Spirit. Give them much joy and gladness in serving. As you’ve said in your Word, they gain greater assurance and a wonderful standing as they serve well. So, Lord, help that truly to occur in their lives, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The First Deacons
By David Feddes
Slide Contents

Acts 6:1-7 

¹ In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian 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, 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.

Sharing as needed

All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. (Acts 2:44-45)

• Collect donations of money
• Store or “bank” money until needed
• Buy and give food to meet needs

Problems

All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. (Acts 2:44-45)

• Lying givers (Ananias/Sapphira)
• Griping recipients (Grecian Jews)
• Overworked apostles

Overworked
Moses father-in-law said, “What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone… Select capable men … who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain…” (Exodus 18:17-21)

Sharing the load
“Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” (Exodus 18:22-23)

Staying focused
“It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables… We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” (Acts 7:2-4)

Choosing leaders

“Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.” (Acts 6:3)

• Multiple leaders, not just one
• Choice involves congregation
• Spiritual, wise, well qualified

Chosen & ordained
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. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. (Acts 6:5-6)

Problem produces
fresh opportunities
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. (Acts 6:7)

Deacon duties

• Model and teach service to others
• Mobilize believers’ stewardship
• Manage church’s money
• Meet physical and financial needs
• Team up with pastors and elders to lead and mobilize believers’ abilities
• Pursue godliness and witness

 

Deacon plus

Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people… [Opponents] could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke. (Acts 6:8-10)

Deacon plus

Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miracu-lous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. So there was great joy in that city. (Acts 8:5-6)

Philip ran up the the chariot… he told him the good news about Jesus… Philip baptized him… Philip traveled about, preaching the gospel.  (Acts 8:30-40)

We stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. (Acts 21:8-9)

Great in serving

“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant [διάκονος], and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 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.” (Mark 10:43-45)

“I am among you as one who serves [ὁ διακονῶν].” (Luke 22:28)

Qualified

Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons. In the same way, their wives [γυναῖκας] are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trust-worthy in everything. A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well. Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 3:8-13)

God’s household
Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, 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. (1 Timothy 3:14-15)

Advent mystery
Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory. (1 Timothy 3:16)