Journey Through Acts (Part 5) Series

The Journey: Following Jesus through Acts (5)

Scott Bayles, pastor

Scripture: Acts 6:1-7

Blooming Grove Christian Church: 7/23/2017

If you were with us the last couple weeks, you know we began a ten-week journey through the book of Acts. And a lot has happened in just the first five chapters! From arrests at the hands of the Jews to attempted deception within the congregation, the early days of the church were fraught with difficulty. Yet the growth was phenomenal! I’m convinced that if we follow the example of the early church, we can experience the same kind of growth.

Last week, we focused on the story of the Ananias and Sapphira who fell dead at the Apostles’ feet after lying about an offering they made to the church. Their deception was prompted by the devil and lead to their deaths and ultimately a sense of dread that fell over the whole congregation.

But even the events surrounding Ananias and Sapphira didn’t slow things down. People were attracted to the burgeoning Jerusalem congregation by the expressions of God’s power at work; by the generosity, sincerity, honesty, and unity of the members, and by the dynamic preaching of the Apostles.

But as we’ll see, more people can sometimes mean more problems. Chapter 6, highlights another internal problem and demonstrates how the early church responded to their emerging needs. If you have a Bible or Bible app, open it up to Acts 6 and let’s read this next stage in the journey of Christ’s followers together.

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic 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 and sisters, 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. (Acts 6:1-7 NIV)

The rapid growth of the church meant more people. More people meant more programs and larger ministries. More programs meant administrative and logistical problems that threatened to consume all of the Apostles’ time. The church had reached a point where they’re either going to have to evolve or stop growing altogether. Their solution involved a division of labor that established a pattern or president for church leadership that is followed to this day. But before we look at their solution, let’s look at the situation.

• THE SITUATION

The number of believers continued to increase, but the church remained fairly disorganized and the Apostles were struggling to juggle all of the demands being put on them. Before long, conflict and complaints developed between two people groups. Again, Luke writes, “the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food” (Acts 6:1 NIV).

The Hebraic Jews were the native Hebrew-speaking Jews, while the Hellenistic Jews were Greek-speaking believers from other lands who were likely converted at Pentecost. Because they grew up in a Greco-Roman culture, many of the Hellenistic Jew couldn’t even speak their native language of Hebrew. This led to a class distinction between the two groups. They were all Jews by birth and they were all Christians by faith, but their backgrounds, personalities and outlooks were very different.

Of course, these differences gave rise to something that every church leader in church history has had to contend with—conflict and complaining.

ILL. I like the old story about the guy who came to church with his family. As they were driving home afterwards he was complaining about everything. He said, “The music was too loud. The sermon was too long. The announcements were unclear. The building was hot. The people were unfriendly.” He went on and on, complaining about virtually everything. Finally, his very observant son said, “Dad, you’ve got to admit it wasn’t a bad show for just a dollar.”

The Hellenist Jews may have had some legitimate complaints, but honestly, I think some people just like to complain.

ILL. There was a lady who lived alone in a suburban apartment complex. Upset at the noise from the adjacent apartment, she called her landlord and complained, “There is a huge party going on next door, and I want it to stop!” He assured her that he would call over there and ask them to keep it down. Well, a little while later, she called him again, saying, “They’re still making a racket over there. If you don’t get over here and do something about it, I’m going to call the police.” So the landlord agrees to come over in person. Inside the complainer’s apartment, the landlord listened closely but couldn’t hear even the slightest sound penetrating the wall between her and her neighbor’s apartment. “I’m sorry,” he said, “but I cannot hear anything.” “Well,” she explained, “You’re not listening close enough. If you will go into the bathroom, shut the door, and hold this glass to the wall, you can hear nearly every word they say!”