The Office of Deacon
6 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
(Acts 6:1-7)
Introduction
In the previous article we looked at the office of Elder. This article will look at the other perpetual office appointed by Christ for his Church, the Deacon.
Before we discuss that office, however, we need to remember that Jesus is the one who builds his church. It is the only institution that Jesus promises that he himself will build, protect, and sustain. He is Head of his church, and the church is his body.
Because that is true, we also know that Satan hates the church. He will do anything to weaken her, to diminish her mission in the world, and to destroy her. We see him attempt this very thing in Acts 6. As the early church grew exponentially, Satan was not sitting idly by, but sought to divide these early Christians.
But how did the church in Jerusalem get to this point? And where does the office of Deacon fit into this story?
Background to the Book of Acts
The book of Acts is actually a sequel. It is part two of Luke’s account of Christ and his Church which began with the gospel account bearing his name. In Acts, he picks up the story with the resurrected and ascended Christ now commissioning his disciples to go and be his “witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
In order to accomplish this mission, the disciples are instructed to return to Jerusalem and await the coming power of the Holy Spirit, which rushes upon them on the day of Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2. Their mission then begins in earnest as they begin to speak in other languages, unknown to the disciples, but known to the native speakers who were gathered in Jerusalem that day for the feast.
From this initial evangelistic event, Luke tells us that the church in Jerusalem grew that day by about three thousand souls (2:40). From that point the disciples grew in boldness, healed the sick, and everywhere preached the Word, resulting in many being saved. The results were incredible!
But, not everything was perfect in the church. Of course the disciples faced challenges and persecution from outside the church. But even within the church issues began to emerge. How could this be? How could a church whose leadership consisted of the Apostles themselves struggle and have problems?
Would not every member of that church be completely captivated by the teaching and ministry of the Apostles themselves, the signs and wonders they were doing, and the growth the church was experiencing? Would they not have been too busy marveling in the beauty of the gospel and the ascended Christ to be complaining and grumbling with one another? Apparently not.
We must remember that, even though the Jerusalem church was so close in proximity and chronology to Jesus himself, and to his Apostles, it was still made up of the same kind of people in our churches today. That is, it was full of sinners in need of grace. The church has always been full of sinners, and there has always been an enemy ready and waiting to divide and destroy.
In response to this early crisis in the church, Christ gives his people the office of Deacon. An office that is designed for sympathy and service, after the example of Christ himself. And this office is an indispensable gift for the church today.
Let’s consider this office by looking at Acts 6:1-7 in more detail.
The Crisis: Hellenists and Hebrews
Through the first five chapters of Acts, we see that Satan had been busy attempting to destroy the church through persecution from the outside. After that didn’t work, he tried a new tactic—division from within.
“Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution” (6:1).
Despite persecution the church was growing and “increasing in number.” Many were being saved, turning from sin in true repentance and embracing Jesus Christ as their Lord and the Savior of their souls. Many were being added to their number day by day.
But with this massive and exponential growth arose opportunities for bitterness, for grumbling, and for sin. We read that a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.
Here we see the problem. The city of Jerusalem had a significant minority of Hellenistic (Greek-speaking) Jews. These were Jews who were born or lived abroad much of their life, but now had moved back to Jerusalem, perhaps as they got older and wanted to spend their remaining time in the holy city.
But they did not speak Aramaic, or at least not as well, like the native Aramaic-speaking Jews who lived in Jerusalem. In fact, there would have been some resentment, even anger, toward the Hellenistic Jews, especially from groups like the Pharisees who looked down upon them.
But then something incredible happens. On the day of Pentecost, these Greek-speaking Jews heard the gospel preached to them in perfect Greek, their native tongue. But it was not other Hellenists preaching to them, it was the Apostles, Hebrews from Galilee.
In this moment, Hebrew, Greek, Hellenist, and so many others (Acts 2 lists over a dozen different people groups) all heard the same gospel but in their own native tongue. And they were all united to Christ by faith—one faith, one Savior, baptized in the one baptism of the one church. They became one people.
Even so, their new faith did not immediately erase all pre-existent prejudice. And now, as the church was growing and seeking to provide for the needs of all her members, the widows from the Hellenist group within the church were being neglected.
There is nothing to indicate that this was done purposefully or maliciously. But it was still a problem nonetheless. And the language barrier that existed before continued to exist within the Jerusalem church. Add all that together and you get grumbling: “Our Hebrew brothers and sisters in the church are favoring their friends, their widows, and neglecting our own.”
It is easy to imagine how they would have felt. “How could they do this?” “They must be doing it on purpose.” It’s easy to understand that situation because we all know, and perhaps have experienced personally, how quickly issues within the church can be blown out of proportion!
This was a significant issue, however, that needed to be addressed. This young church was at a crossroads moment. How were they going to address this crisis? Was division and church split an inevitable outcome? Was the only solution two churches, one for the Hebrews, and another for the Hellenists? Would Satan have his victory?
The Solution: Deacons, not more Elders
Eventually word of this crisis reached the Apostles. What was their solution? It is important that we first consider what their solution was not.
They did not immediately take care of the problem themselves. Rather, they told the people, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables” (6:2), and they reiterated that point again, “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (6:4).
The solution, then, was not more Elders. Neither was the solution to add another responsibility to the office of Elder. On the one hand, if every matter needed to be resolved by the Apostles themselves, and if they agreed to run this food program for the widows, it would create a culture where everyone was dependent upon the Apostles to do anything and everything, big or small.
On the other hand, it was a temptation, and it always is a temptation, for the Apostles or the Elders to not want to give the impression that “I am too important for this task.” Should they not have been willing to do whatever the church needed from them?
What a blessing it is from the Holy Spirit that we have this instructive episode recorded for us that gives us this inspired solution.
The solution, then, is a holy division of labor.
The solution was the institution, ordination, and installation of men to another office, separate from the Elder, specifically given the responsibilities to address this particular problem (and others like it).
A Holy Division of Labor
The Apostles with godly wisdom did not assign blame to anyone in the church. Rather, they called a congregational meeting, and instructed and guided the people to be part of the solution. At that meeting, the church was instructed to pick out from among their own number seven men to perform this duty.
What is this responsibility? It was summarized for us earlier in the phrase ‘setting tables.’ The Greek word behind the word ‘setting’ is the word for service, which is where we get our word Deacon. So, it was not that the Apostles and Elders were ‘above’ doing this work, but rather that they had been called to a different field of labor.
They were called to the ministry of the Word and of prayer. That was supposed to consume all of their time and energy, for the good of the church.
So, it was fitting, and likewise for the good of the church, that another office be instituted for the work of service and care for the church members. That is the office of Deacon.
The office of Deacon can therefore be summed up as an office of sympathy and service, after the example of the Lord Jesus. And it is the Deacon’s duty to minister to those who are in need, to the sick, to the friendless, and to any who may be in distress. And in doing so, to develop the means of collecting gifts from church members and distributing those gifts among the other members who need them.
These responsibilities are exactly what we see here with the Greek-speaking widows.
The Men Selected
And how were these men selected? They were selected by the congregation, those that fit the qualifications: “...men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (6:3).
This is a spiritual office and ought to be filled by Spirit-filled men. Not supermen, but Spirit men. That is, those who are living the normal, everyday Christian life, dependent upon the Spirit, and seeking to help others do the same.
Luke then tells us that “what they [the Apostles] said pleased the whole gathering” (6:5), and so they selected these seven: Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus. Seven men with Greek names.
This congregation from different backgrounds, different languages, with some significant disputes. Even the Hebraic Jews who would have made up the majority of the church, from their entire church roster they chose seven men from Greek-speaking backgrounds to oversee this program.
The basis for their selection was not nation, background, affinity, or any other earthly similarity. The men chosen were of good repute, who loved Christ and his church, and were full of the Spirit and wisdom.
That was the solution to this problem. As long as there are churches, there will be a need for Deacons to care for those churches, for her members—to provide for all of these important matters by following the perfect example of Christ.
With that consideration of the nature of the office of Deacon, seen within the context of the early church crisis, what is the result when churches embrace this holy division of labor, with godly men called to the offices of both Elder and Deacon?
The Result: Increase and Multiplication
The result is found in verse 7 “And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”
The result, put simply, is growth.
But notice, it is not simply numerical growth. Luke tells us that the word of God continued to increase, and that many, including many of the former priests, also became obedient to the faith.
Through this holy division of labor, the Deacons fulfilled their responsibilities of serving and administering the physical needs of the people, and the Apostles were left to dedicate themselves completely to their responsibility, to the ministry of prayer and the Word.
The result, then, is growth in all areas. While it is easy for us to focus only on numerical growth, we must never minimize and neglect the importance of spiritual growth in holiness—sanctification. That occurs when Word and prayer ministry is emphasized, while the physical needs of the people are also being met.
That was how the early church handled this problem. In this story we see God’s pattern for his church in every age. Christ has instituted two perpetual offices, Elders and Deacons. When these offices are filled and functioning well, the church is better for it and God is glorified. May God bless his church with faithful men to be his table-setters—his Deacons—for his glory and for our good!
