God's Deacons

God’s Deacons

Acts 6:1-7, 1 Timothy 3:8-12

Good morning

Bruce Larson, in his book "Wind and Fire", points out some interesting facts about Sandhill Cranes.

He says, “These large birds, which fly great distances across continents, have three remarkable qualities.”

1. The cranes rotate or share leadership responsibilities so that no one bird has to do all the work.

2. The cranes chose leaders who can handle turbulence.

3. As the one bird is leading, the other cranes are honking with affirmation and encouragement.

Now that’s not a bad model for Church leadership either.

The Church needs leaders who can handle turbulence and are aware that leadership responsibilities are to be shared. But we also need church members who encourage our leaders.

Another thing that Sandhill Cranes do is that they all follow the God given directions that were placed within them.

The main reason these birds can lead so efficiently is that they can follow.

In order to be a good leader, someone has to be a good follower because we are all people under authority. If someone can’t submit to others within the body, they won’t be a good leader.

Please open your Bibles to two places, first turn to 1 Timothy 3, and then turn to the Book of Acts 6

Last time in Acts 5, we learned that when the Apostles would not relent from teaching the Gospel, it angered the religious leaders, and they plotted to kill those followers of Christ!

Then the LORD gave one of the council members an idea, and he shared it with the other religious leaders.

Acts 5:38 And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing.

Acts 5:39 but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it — lest you even be found to fight against God." NKJV

The Church continued to grow, and as it grew, it began to experience some growing pains.

One of the most important leadership qualities we look for is a servant’s heart, from someone who is committed, knows how to follow, and considers serving the LORD a privilege.

Just like the Sandhill crane, a person who knows how to follow will always be a better leader. Conflicts happen within all healthy relationships and can impact the entire family.

The Church family is made up of people with a range of thoughts and opinions on almost every subject and situation.

Conflicts can be extremely stressful and destructive.

So, let’s see how the Early Church dealt with this challenge.

I. First internal conflict.

Read Acts 6:1-2

Even though this passage is about Deacons, there are a lot of practical lessons for followers of Christ to glean.

Up until this point in Church history, except for the sin of Annanias and Saphira, the attacks on Christians only came from outside the Church.

We need to understand that we are all people under authority.

Ephesians 5:20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Ephesians 5:21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.

We have no king but King Jesus, but there are leaders placed within the body of Christ. So, as the Church grew, the potential for strife grew as well.

A division started because the Hellenistic believers felt as if the Jewish believers were neglecting certain members.

During this time, there were two groups of Jews: the Hebrews were those who were born in Palestine and mainly spoke the Hebrew language.

The Hellenist Jewish believers had been born outside Palestine and mainly spoke Greek, as they had adopted Greek culture.

The Hellenist believers thought that their widows were not getting their fair share of the daily food and necessities and were “being overlooked in the daily distribution of food”.

We previously learned that many people sold their property, gave the funds to the Church, and apparently, the Apostles started a food program with some of that money.

The Apostles had the Spiritual authority over the Church and tried to decide what was best for the entire assembly.

As leaders, we have to make decisions based on what is best for the entire body. Sometimes one group doesn’t agree with certain decisions that are made, but that’s part of being a leader.

Both the Old Testament and the Lord Jesus Christ taught that the community should pay special attention to serving widows.

James 1:26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless.

James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. NKJV