Solving Problems in the Church

I know that we are in the midst
of a flyover study of Paul’s letter to the Romans, and I don’t
mean to disappoint you, but I’m not abandoning that series. I just wanted to take a short
break, at least this morning, to speak to you largely from
the heart this morning. Today, I’d like to preach what
is commonly referred to as an occasional sermon. And by occasion,
I don’t mean that I do this every once in a while, although that’s
true, something done occasionally. Instead, what I mean by occasion
is that I’m speaking to a particular event or occasion in our church,
and the particular occasion to which I wish to speak this morning
pertains to problems in the church. That got everybody’s attention,
didn’t it? And I know that as soon as we hear of problems in
the church, we immediately think of some individual, someone causing
trouble, and you want names, right? Well, that’s not what
I’m proposing to discuss at all this morning. By problems in
the church, I’m thinking more along the lines of difficulties,
challenges, road bumps, that kind of thing. You see, difficulties
and challenges inherently present themselves in ministry. It just
comes with the territory, and by God’s grace, through the resources
that He provides, these problems are resolvable. And so perhaps
a better or more hopeful, less provocative title for our message
this morning, instead of Problems in the Church, I would propose
the title Solving Problems in the Church. Solving Problems
in the Church. Wise King Solomon wrote an interesting
little proverb regarding the inevitability of problems. Proverbs
14.4, one of my favorites, says that where no oxen are, the manger
is clean. but much revenue comes by the
strength of the ox. And what he points to is the
more oxen you have, the more difficulties or problems you’re
going to face with it. And those lines provide a very
positive outlook regarding problems. It urges the reader to consider
these inevitable difficulties, but from a different perspective.
It encourages the reader to ask, what is the benefit that stands
behind such challenges or problems? Of late, our church has begun
to experience new problems. Parking, seating, the sheer number
of children in our midst, which was added to as recently as yesterday. Increased numbers necessarily
means increased challenges. Problems often expose needs in
the church, but the blessing behind all of these is very obvious. There are more people in our
midst. Our church is growing, even thriving. You see, churches,
even the best of churches, will always face these challenges.
They will always have difficulties and problems. And it isn’t a
matter of whether such problems arise, because these challenges
are inevitable. The real test is what the church
does with them, how she resolves them. The early church had its
share of difficulties. If we think back to the earliest
days of the church, as presented in the book of Acts, we see a
running series of challenges. To begin with, the fledgling
church faced persecution. It began almost immediately.
As soon as the Holy Spirit came upon the individual believers,
persecution began. Peter dealt with that hostility
head-on in his first sermon, still in Acts 2. The persecution
began as kind of a social inconvenience, public criticism and debate But
it quickly increased to ultimately include the arrests of Peter
and John in Acts 4. And by the end of that same chapter,
there was this new problem of deceit and fraud in the church
through a couple named Ananias and Sapphira. As the church grew
and prevailed, Her enemies began to become enraged with jealousy,
leading to more persecution, more arrests. But a new and potentially debilitating
challenge suddenly arose, a skirmish that threatened the delicate
peace and unity that marked and always should mark Christ Church. We read about it in Acts chapter
six. And so if the Lord’s people would
take your Bibles and turn to Acts chapter six this morning. Acts chapter six, and I just
want to take a peek at the first six verses. Acts six, beginning
in verse one. Now at this time, while the disciples
were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic
Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being
overlooked in the daily serving of food. So the twelve summoned
the congregation of the disciples and said, it is not desirable
for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, select from
among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom,
whom we may put in charge of this task. But we will devote
ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. A statement
found approval with the whole congregation, and they chose
Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip,
Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte from
Antioch. And these they brought before
the apostles, and after praying, they laid their hands on them. And so there they were, A young,
flourishing church experiencing tremendous success, remarkable
growth. But her leaders, the apostles,
were suddenly faced with the biggest test yet. A dispute between
two factions that would deteriorate very rapidly if not addressed.
If it isn’t obvious by now what I would like to talk about this
morning, it’s the leadership of the church that I want to
consider this morning. The leadership of the church
is one of the means that God provided for facing and dealing
with problems as they arise in the church. And in part, the
message this morning is brought about by our leadership meeting,
which follows our worship service, and to a degree, next week’s
all-church meeting. It’s that occasion that prompts
this message. Before we dive into this particular
passage, let me clarify a few things. We are well aware, I
hope you are, that there are two and only two permanent offices
in the church, elders and deacons. There is no independent office
of pastor. There is no such thing as a bishop
that sits over multiple churches. There aren’t even deaconesses. The only two offices presented
in the New Testament are elders and deacons. That’s it. This
is by God’s own design. And those who serve in either
of those two capacities do so by His designation or appointment. Now, typically, when we think
of the leaders of the church, we obviously think of the elders.
who are tasked with the spiritual oversight of the church. But
the second office, that of deacon, is not unimportant. Deacons lead
by exemplifying servant-heartedness in the church. And in that sense,
they too are leaders in the church. I don’t believe it will come
as a surprise to anyone that currently I am alone as an elder
in this church. That is not ideal. I do not prefer
this arrangement, lying solo. It is not from a lack of desire
for a plurality. It is not from a lack of prayer
or a lack of effort. I have taught our Shepherdology
class three times in six years, just seeking to instruct the
men of the church and some of the women, instruct people as
to how the church is to function with regards to eldership. Three times in six years, we
greatly desire to have multiple elders. I would also add to this
that I do not believe that a man, just any man, can be trained
to be an elder. To take that man like clay and
form him and shape him and make him an elder. The eldership is
a divine calling. A man who is truly called to
serve in this capacity does so by God’s training, not man’s
efforts. Men, other men, other elders,
pastors, they may impart wisdom, they may provide techniques and
give information, but God must make a man an elder. It is perhaps the most humbling
thing that I’ve had to come to grips with in the Christian ministry.
Because when I first began, I just assumed that elders grew on trees,
that you could just go around and select men and that they
would end up serving as an elder. Elders are a gift from God. They are a gift from the Lord. and only from the Lord. This is precisely what Paul tells
us in Ephesians 4.11, just listen, one verse. He, that is Jesus
Christ, gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some
as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers. No sooner could
a man just decide that he wanted to take up a role of prophet
or take up the role of an apostle, no sooner could he do that than
a man could decide that he would just take up the office of elder
or pastor, shepherd. It’s a gift of God that the church
recognizes and affirms. Incidentally, I should have said
this a moment ago, that translation there in Ephesians 4.11, pastors,
that’s a translation that has been passed down, and unfortunately
so, from the King James. In fact, it goes back even prior
to the King James. That word is always translated
everywhere else that it appears as shepherd. That’s what the
word means. As I’ve said many times, I’m
not offended if you call me pastor. Now, if you call me reverend,
we’re gonna have a discussion. I’m not offended to be called
pastor as long as that title is used for any other elder in
our midst. They are the shepherds. Elders
are the shepherds or the pastors, if you will, of the flock. These
offices are gifts from God for his people. Now, historically,
our church has had as many as four elders. Providentially,
over time, the Lord took them away one by one by various means. The most recent elder departed
in 2019. I’ve been alone ever since. And largely, the fact that we
have survived is because of the deacons. I’ll come back to that
in a moment. And if we lament that we do not
have more than one elder, that’s understandable. I already said
it’s not good, it’s not normal. The desire for a plurality of
elders is a good thing. But we should also, at the same
time, express gratitude that we do have at least one elder
in our midst. And so for this primary gift
of leadership in the church, we continue to pray, we continue
to teach, and we continue to wait on God. But there is a second
office of leadership in the church, as I’ve already pointed out,
that of deacon. just as was introduced here in Act 6. And it’s that
office that I would like us to consider this morning. By doing
so, I’m not for a moment suggesting that elders are superfluous or
that deacons can somehow take the place of elders. Rather,
what I’m suggesting is that both offices, Both offices with distinctive
differences, different callings, different functions, both offices
together comprise the leadership of Christ’s church. Let’s go again, if we could,
to Acts chapter six to see what we might learn about this important
office in the church. And here Luke presents three
distinct steps toward dealing with difficulties that inevitably
arise in ministry. Solving problems in the church,
and as I already said, three steps to dealing with difficulties
in ministry, the first of which is discovering the problem. One
of the most frustrating things that I face is finding about
something that’s been going on for a month or six weeks or much
longer, and I had no idea. You’ve got to discover the problem.
Look at verse one. Now, at this time, while the
disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose. on
the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews because
their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.
Now, the first thing that we can observe in this passage is
the reason that the office of deacon even came about. The disciples
were increasing in number. Or as some of our early translations
put it, the number of the disciples was multiplying. It was almost
exponential. Church of Jerusalem saw rapid,
unprecedented growth. In Acts 2, immediately following
Peter’s first sermon, Luke records that those who had received Peter’s
words were baptized, and that day there were added about 3,000
souls. What a day! The beginning of
Chapter 4, even though persecution was increasing, the church still
was flourishing. Luke says that many of those
who heard the message believed, and the number of the men came
to be about 5,000. Talk about church growth. Chapter 5 goes on to speak of
multitudes, countless numbers being constantly added to their
number. What a remarkable response to
the gospel that the early church enjoyed. It’s every pastor’s
dream. But growth, numerical increase
in the church, often brings with it problems, challenges. And the early church in Jerusalem
was no different. There was already friction among
this young church. And unfortunately, sparks began
to fly between two longtime rivals in this city, the Hellenists
and the Jews, the Hebrews, if you will. The Hebrews were the
Jewish, native Jewish people, people from that city. They read the Hebrew scriptures. The Hellenists, on the other
hand, were Greek-speaking Jews from outside of town, and they
read the Greek Septuagint Bible. And so you can see that this
whole quibbling over which Bible translation is best is nothing
new. As Jewish worshipers in the temple,
it’s doubtless that snobbishness, cliques, resentment began and
began to develop And even though both of these groups had come
to faith in Christ, old grudges were festering. And as on edge as everyone was,
it was all but certain that there would be trouble. All it needed
was a spark, and suddenly there it was. That word complain, it translates
one of my favorite Greek words. Well, it’s at least one of my
favorite Greek words to say. The word is gangousmos. It’s
the noun form of the word ganguzo. It’s an onomatopoeia. And you
remember that concept from eighth grade English, don’t you? It’s
a word that sounds like what it means. Gonguzo. Gonguzmos refers not to an audible
complaint, but rather to the murmuring in expression or dissatisfaction
or disgust about something that’s taking place, grumbling underneath
one’s breath. In 1 Corinthians, Paul uses gonguzo
to refer to Israel’s conduct. They didn’t present a prayerful
plea to the Lord. Instead, they uttered these rebellious
expressions of discontent. They grumbled. Grumbling was
so prevalent among the Jews that it was practically considered
a national pastime. The word was used plentifully
in the gospels of Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day, grumbling about
Jesus, grumbling about his disciples, Luke 5.30. This complaining under
one’s breath is such an unseemly practice that both Paul and Peter
warn about employing such speech. Paul says, do all things without. Grumbling. Philippians 2.14,
Peter says, be hospitable to one another. You know, this is
the person that has people over to their house and no sooner
do the people leave, they shut the door and immediately roll
their eyes. Be hospitable to one another
without complaint. 1 Peter 4.9, so when Luke characterizes
these people as grumbling, Gongudzo. He doesn’t paint a flattering
picture. Nevertheless, they must have had a legitimate concern,
even if they expressed it improperly. Glanced down at the detail here
of verse one, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic
Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being
overlooked in the daily serving of food. Okay, that scenario
there is timeless, isn’t it? If we had a potluck today, you
would see some of the same things taking place. They’re having
this dinner and the locals are crowding in, capitalizing on
the buffet. How timeless is that problem?
Here’s how the complaint might have been uttered. Hey, Peter. What’s up with this? Every day
your people bully their way into line. They’re hogging all the
good stuff. Look at how overloaded their
plates are. Someone brought scones and none
of our ladies got a single one. Meanwhile, the 12 of you are
sitting over there oblivious to it all. You talk about Christian
unity. But this is pure, unadulterated
anti-Hellenism. Now, we don’t know what this
food service looked like, whether it was a buffet or a bread line
or a distribution of funds used to buy groceries. We don’t know. And we don’t know what role,
if any, the apostles had in this ministry. But the train had jumped
the tracks. Disaster was looming. It was
threatening the fragile unity of the church. And it seemed
like a petty thing. But even little problems can have
a big and devastating impact on the church. Now the apostles had to engage. So the first step in solving
problems, any problems in the church, is discovering and acknowledging
that there is a problem. And the apostles did that. And
so what was Peter, or better yet, what were the apostles to
do about this problem? Should they go help serve in
the buffet line? Or perhaps even do away with
the buffet entirely and serve tables like so many waiters. Effectively, that’s what the
Hellenists were asking for, servants. Servants in the daily presentation
of the food. They certainly couldn’t ignore
this problem, the apostles. But as they begin deliberating
how to solve this issue, yet another wrinkle presents itself,
and we find it in verse two. Not only that first step of discovering
the problem, that’s only the beginning. Now they begin to
address the problem, and we see it in verse two. and following. So the twelve summoned the congregation
of the disciples and said, it is not desirable for us to neglect
the word of God in order to serve tables. Therefore, brethren,
select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the
spirit and wisdom whom we may put in charge of this task, but
we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.
So they begin to address the problem. The apostles don’t contend
with the idea that there is a problem, but they cannot solve this problem
themselves. That’s the additional wrinkle.
That’s really the temptation in ministry, is to jump in and
just do it yourself. For this situation, they’re going
to need help. And wisely, the apostles acknowledge
that. And it’s noteworthy that the
apostles immediately brought the problem before the entire
church. And they at once reestablish
their priorities before the people. Theirs is to preach and teach
the word of God, not to run the daily buffet Peter uses an important
word here for the second time, and the word is serve. It’s not desirable for us to
neglect the Word of God in order to serve tables. In essence, they say we have
our own God-given priorities. We’re not lazy or indifferent
to this growing problem. And while this indeed is an important
issue, the apostles acknowledge it, the apostles themselves cannot
be burdened with it. This was true of the apostles
and as of the shepherding elders, as the office rather of shepherding
elders developed, that priority is theirs as well. So what the
apostles needed What the church now needed were servants, helpers,
men who were identified and set apart for a specific purpose
of helping Christ’s people. And this is what they did. Look
at verse 3. Therefore, brethren, select from
among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit, and of wisdom,
whom we may put in charge of this task. The apostles Seeing
a legitimate need. It can’t go on like this. It’s
going to go from bad to worse. There’s going to be trouble.
The apostles saw a legitimate need, and they solicit help from
among the body of believers. And the important thing to note
is they looked for men, first of all, with godly character. Men of good reputation. This
good reputation would almost certainly include a track record
of service in the church. men who are already doing the
work of deacons. Paul alludes to this in 1 Timothy
3.10 when he says of deacons, let them first be tested. We’re enabled to recognize deacons,
that is who they are, by their character and by what they do. Secondly, they were to be men
filled with the Holy Spirit. Well, this is not something you
just order up. In other words, they had to be
believers in Christ who are automatically indwelled by Christ’s Spirit. Godly character, filled with
the Holy Spirit, and thirdly, men who were wise. They made
good, sound decisions. not whimsical, not foolish, not
flippant. So because of the importance
of this ministry, the apostles needed solid, qualified men. And it’s not that these men would
be in charge of delicate equipment or expensive buildings or vast
sums of money. The position of deacon was important
because it demanded character because they would be working
with the most valuable thing on earth, God’s people. These qualities mentioned here
in Acts 6, 3, they mirror the qualities that Paul sets forth
in 1 Timothy 3 regarding deacons, verses 8 through 10. There, he
says the deacons must be men of dignity. not double-tongued
or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain. When he says
men of dignity, he speaks of sincere, serious-minded men. When he says double-tongued,
he refers there to men who are not manipulative in their speech
or deceitful, saying one thing and doing another, speaking out
of both sides of their mouth. Not addicted to wine is an obvious
caution against excessive indulgence. And not being fond of sordid
gain speaks of men who are not greedy or given to fraud. They’re going to be entrusted
with the very resources of God himself. Such men are not fools,
not liars, not drunkards, not fraudsters. Why are those things? such a
priority because the apostles were commanded to preach the
word. They can’t be involved in this
ministry. They were commanded to proclaim
the gospel, to deliver the Lord’s teachings and doctrines. As recorded
in verse four, they had their assignment from God himself. They were to devote themselves
to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And that is basically
a reiteration of what they said in verse two. In verse two, they
said, it is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God
in order to serve tables. Were they to involve themselves
too deeply in these practical matters would be to show negligence
toward their primary calling, preaching the word. And I will
just say, from time to time, I will do some of these things.
Sprinklers, mowing, vacuuming, I know how to plug it in. Elders are called to wash feet
just like any other saint. And if Jesus Christ knelt down
and washed his disciples’ feet as an example, elders are not
exempt from doing these things. They just can’t be immersed in
them. Well, there’s a third step to
dealing with difficulties in ministry, not only discovering
the problem and addressing the problem, but solving the problem.
That’s ultimately where you have to end up. And sometimes you
might have to try addressing it several different times, several
different ways before you actually solve the problem. It’s not enough
just to think about the problem or observe the problem or begin
to address or make a suggestion about the problem. I remember
in the business world, you don’t ever go to a boss. I’ve been
told that this is how the military thinks as well. You don’t ever
go to a boss about an issue, a complaint, without having thought
through at least a way. It may not be acceptable. It may not be the solution. But
you don’t go with a complaint without at least coming with
a suggestion on how it might be fixed. You don’t do that.
You’re looking to solve the problem, and it might take several opportunities
of addressing it. Here they solve the problem in
verse 5 and 6. We never hear about this issue
again. That’s how we know it was solved. In verse 5 says,
the statement found approval with the whole congregation.
And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy
Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nucanor, Timon, Parmenas, Nicholas, a
proselyte from Antioch, and these brought before the, these they
brought before the apostles, and after praying, they laid
their hands on them. Here’s the process. The apostles
say, bring me seven. They brought seven. The apostles
probably interviewed them, talked with them, prayed for them, prayed
over them, and then, and only then, did they say, all right,
you’re good to go. Set them in motion. The laying
on of hands was symbolic. Let’s look at this passage. The
standards were high for this office, we already know. It’s
not like you’re gonna just, you know, select seven men blindly. And yet the apostles, through
the church, found seven men, they put them before the church,
and we see the fruitful results here in this verse. The church
responded to the apostles’ proposal, and they presented seven men
to do this very important work. Now, other than pure conjecture,
I’m unaware of any significance to the fact that there were seven
men chosen. A lot of times people will spend
more time discussing the number seven than all of the other particulars. That’s silly. Seven just speaks
to the growing need already presenting itself in the church. I would
suggest that after these seven, they probably gathered in many
more. These men would handle the logistical
things of the church, and this would allow the apostles to maintain
their own God-given priorities. As Peter states it here, we will
devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. In so recognizing these men,
the apostles were effectively establishing the office of deacon
in the church. But I have to tell you that this
is not the universal opinion of anybody who looks at this
passage. There’s a measure of disagreement whether the apostles
are establishing the office of deacon here in Acts 6. I’ve already
stated and I will now argue that that is the case. Some say the
office of deacon is not here in Acts 6. Part of the confusion
surrounding the whole office of deacon is brought about by
a translational issue. Tracing all the way back to Wycliffe
and Tyndale, King James, and moving forward, the translation
of this word has been very murky. And to be clear, the issue surrounds
not so much translation. In translation, you’re going
to bring forward what the meaning of the word is, but what is called
transliteration, what the word sounds like. Translation involves
the communicating, pardon me, communicating the meaning of
a given word. Transliteration however, is merely
the reproduction of the sound of the original word in English.
And I’ll just tell you, there are dozens and dozens of these
in Scripture. Some of them are very innocuous.
Others, we stub our toes on them quite frequently. You’ll hear
them as I go. Sometimes the original meaning
of the Greek word carries over well, and transliterated words
literally become woven into the fabric of our English language.
Let me give you a few. And you’ll hear them even as
I say them. Allegoreo. Translated as allegory. And it
basically means to allegorize. We’ve adopted that one. Sabaton,
the Sabbath. That’s how it’s translated and
it refers to the seventh day. Now there may be some disagreement
now as to what day is actually referred to as the Sabbath. The
Jews believed it was Saturday. We would tend to lean to the
seventh day as being the Lord’s day or the first day of the week,
depending on how you want to count. Chronos. There’s a good word. You can
hear it. Some of you probably have a watch like this. Chronology
is how it’s translated. It refers to time. But sometimes
transliterated words where we’re just reproducing the sound of
the word, some of that meaning is fuzzy. It’s obscured. And
arbitrary meanings then can be assigned. Angelos, translated
as angel. The word means messenger. And
so a messenger doesn’t have to necessarily be a person who wears
wings and dresses in white. Amen. Amen. It just refers to
a solemn announcement, an assent to a solemn announcement. Apostolos,
translated as apostle, is actually a sent one. So you don’t have
to be one of the 12 apostles to be an apostle with a small
a. Baptizo, I’ve talked about this
so many times. The word means to dip or immerse,
and yet it’s translated as baptized, and we just take it every time
that it occurs as referring to water baptism, which it doesn’t.
Oh, here’s a dangerous one. Episcopal or episkopos. It means to look over. This is
one of the words for leaders in the church. To watch over
the church. But in time, unfortunately, from
the beginning of translations, it became translated as bishop. Somebody who stands with a tall
hat and looks over all kinds of churches. And I can’t, even
for the sake of time, I can’t just skip this one. Ioan Galizo. To speak the good news. That’s
what it means. But it’s translated, just as
it sounds, as evangelize. And all kinds of ideas become
imported into that. You get the point. Let’s move
on. Such is the case with the word deacon. Instead of translating
it in order to provide the specific meaning of the word, most English
versions of the Bible utilize a transliteration of the original
word deacon. Greek words of this family clearly
indicate what was intended here. The noun diakonos is a servant. Diakonia. A noun is service. The verb diakoneo, to serve. And so admittedly, if you look
at the passage, none of these men, Stephen and the other six,
are ever referred to in this passage as deacons. That’s a
problem. That’s true. But the need that
they were tasked with fulfilling was that of service. Service
to Christ in the church. That’s what the word deacon means.
And that word is used twice in this passage. As a noun in verse
one, referring to the serving of food. And as a verb in verse
two, to serve tables. The straightforward intention
of this passage suggests that these men were assuming the function
of service. Deacons. While the official function,
initial function of these men was to aid in the distribution
of food, the service that deacons provide expanded over time to
refer to any kind of needed help or service in the church. Now, some people argue that the
office of deacon is not established here since deacons are never
mentioned again in the entire book of Acts. That’s one of the
arguments. If they established deacons here, why don’t we hear
about them in Corinth or Ephesus or Rome? But the fact that deacons
are not mentioned again is likely testament to the fact that these
were men who were doing such service quietly, without fanfare,
without garnering attention, unnoticed, unheralded. What is
more, the office of deacon is, if the office of deacon is not
inaugurated here in Act 6, we have no idea how that office
developed. If it’s not here in Act 6, where
did this office come from? How do we justify having deacons? The only other places where this
office is mentioned occurs at the very end of Paul’s ministry,
Paul mentions deacons four times in 1st Timothy 3, once more in
the prison epistle of Philippians, the end of his ministry. It’s
highly doubtful that Paul would just suddenly mention deacons
without any prior establishment of this office. It’s more reasonable
to conclude that this office of deacon, an office concerned
with caring for the physical needs of God’s people, is established
right here in Acts chapter 6. Sad thing is that the office
of deacon is grossly misunderstood by many churches. The understanding
of this office ranges from thinking about deacons as lowly janitors,
to elevate elevating them to the highest place of authority
in the church. For some churches, it’s the most exclusive office. In other churches, you might
find yourself named a deacon if you attend three Sundays in
a row. Many of us have been in some of these kinds of churches
where the terminology regarding the leaders in the church speaks
only of pastors and deacons. The office of elder is completely
absent. Some churches operate under more
of a business model, where the deacons are elevated, as I said,
to the level of a corporate executive. In such churches, deacons are
in authority even over the shepherds of the church. Describing this conclusion, one
pastor quipped that the ministry of deacons is so different from
church to church that when a person says he’s a deacon, you usually
have to ask several questions to find out what he actually
does. Historically, deacons have had a special ministry to the
poor of the congregation. That practice ties directly back
to Acts 6, the care of the Hellenistic Jews. In that, deacons are often
referred to as ministers of mercy. Beautiful title. Caring for the
poor and the needy. But if deacons are not the spiritual
leaders of the church, neither are they the spiritual grunts
either. A deacon is not at one end of
the spectrum an elder, a spiritual shepherd, but neither is a deacon
at the other end of that spectrum a mere groundskeeper, a caretaker
of the building. Instead, deacons serve Christ’s
people, not buildings. They care for the roof and the
furnace and the yard, but ultimately they are in service of the saints
of the body. Just as the elders are tasked
with the spiritual oversight and leadership of the church,
deacons serve under the authority of the elders. They assist the
elders by attending to all those administrative responsibilities
in the care and the oversight of the needs of the body. Elders work together with the
deacons to meet the needs of God’s people. The word deacon means servant. And as such, deacons play a crucial
role in the life of a healthy church. Specifically, deacons,
as one described them, provide any kind of service that supplies
the need of another person. Deacons serve in the capacity
of assisting elders, not hovering independent of them. Listen to
how this word is used in Scripture, just a few examples. Sometimes
when this word is used, it refers to just general service. Luke
22, 27, who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or
the one who serves? Just general service. Sometimes
it’s spiritual service that is clearly intended. Serving the Lord with all humility
was Paul’s testimony in Acts 20, 19. Scripture speaks of even
the gift of service. And I would suggest to you that
deacons have that gift. Paul writing in Romans 12, since
we have gifts, and if you’re a believer, you do have gifts.
Since we have gifts, each of us is to exercise them accordingly
if service in his serving if you are gifted with service you
should be serving sometimes it’s used with reference to the christian
ministry equipping the work of the saints for the work of service
serving is something that all christians are called to render
we’re all called to service And yet there is to be the office
of deacon in the church. And I’ve said it this many times. I’ve explained it this way. The
office of deacon addresses the problem of that old adage. If everyone is responsible, no
one’s responsible. Scripture doesn’t tell us how
many deacons how many deacons we should have. There’s no biblical
reason why every man in the church should not potentially be a deacon
if he has the character and the inclination to serve. Scripture
doesn’t stipulate the number of deacons, neither does our
Constitution. The church should set apart,
according to its need, men who evidence the scriptural qualifications
of that office. And just as with elders, there’s
a benefit, a real benefit, to having more than one deacon in
a church, a plurality, that provides accountability, it provides collective
wisdom, a shared workload. And so you may be sitting there
asking, why am I telling you all of this? because I want you to know how
blessed we are as a church. The Lord has given us a great
provision, and even if we stand desirous of having a plurality
of elders, as we should, the Lord has blessed us with eight
deacons. Deacons are no less a gift of
God to the church than the elders are. In fact, I would suggest
to you that deacons, servants, are among Christ’s greatest gift
to the church. Matthew chapter 20, Jesus was
dealing with a question. You remember this argument. Who is the greatest among the
apostles? Such a sad thing. In addressing this, Jesus made
it very clear who should be so honored. Matthew 20, 26 says,
it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become
great among you shall be your, wait till you hear this, servant. Whoever wishes to be first among
you should be your slave, just as the son of man did not come
to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom
for many. You are most Christ-like when
you are serving. others. So first of all, the Lord has
ordained this office of deacon in order to provide for the needs
of the body, has set forth in Acts chapter 6, and he has done
the work of salvation in each of our deacons. What an amazing
thought. complete with equipping them
with gifts and means by which to serve Christ’s church. And he has stirred their hearts
to serve in this capacity. These men assume administrative
responsibilities, they take care of business affairs, and they
oversee the practical care of the people of this church. As such, each of our deacons
has an area of responsibility over which they watch and care. The church building, the parsonage,
the sound, the recording, the church property, the Spanish
church, who are our guests, the worship service itself, the Sunday
school program, missionaries, they all care for God’s people. You might, after that list, you
might wonder what it is I do. And these men, they do so without
applause, without pay, largely without any recognition. God
has provided them with the grace to be faithful in the execution
of their respective tasks and duties. The Lord has given us
eight such men. May He continue to use them for
His glory in Christ’s church. Let’s pray. Father God, we thank you for your goodness and mercy,
which we see every day. And Father, there are many things
which we enjoy every day, but for which we rarely pause and
express our gratitude to you. Father, we thank you for the
office of deacon. The apostles saw as a need in
the church that you ordained ultimately. And Father, we thank
you for how that functions even within our own church. The men
of this body taking up particular needs and serving Christ by serving
Christ’s people. Lord, we ask your blessing on
everyone who does this with or without title. And Father, we
thank you for those who have assumed this glorious title of
deacon, servant, functioning just like our Lord
Jesus did in our midst. Father, we ask you for everyone,
and Lord, on such a day where the gospel is the underlying
message, but not prominent even in this passage, Lord, we pray
that if there are any here who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ,
Stephen, one of these very deacons, went on to preach. He had a glorious
ministry. He proclaimed the Lord Jesus
Christ as the Savior of the world. He preached. He preached one
sermon. And then he was killed. Father,
it is well worth it to serve you. And we ask your blessing
in the course of that service. And we plead for souls in Jesus’
name. Amen.