The New Testament Deacon
1 Timothy 3:8-13; Acts 6:1-7
Dorn Ridge, June 22, 2013
INTRODUCTION:
1.) We have been looking at the roles of men and women in the church which has also brought us to look at Elders, and today at the office of deacons.
2.) The Bible refers to two offices of leadership that are presently in the Church.
A.) These are the offices of Elders and of Deacons.
B.) The Bible records of other offices that were part of the first century which have since ceased. These would include offices such as those of: Apostles and Prophets.
3.) The past two weeks, we have examined the role of what we refer to as Elder, Bishop, Overseer, Shepherd, or Pastor.
A.) I believe these roles refer to one and the same office.
4.) So what is a deacon?
A.) The English word is basically a transliteration of a Greek word.
B.) The Greek word (Diakonos) is the same word where we get the English Deacon.
ba.) It is a word which we translate as deacon, servant, or minister.
B.) The basic meaning of the word is that it refers to being a servant, and denoting an action of service.
5.) Vine’s Expository Dictionary points out that in The New Testament it is a term used to describe domestic servants (John 2:5, 9), civic rulers (Rom. 13:4), Christ Rom. 15:8; Gal. 2:17; the followers of Christ in relationship to their Lord (John 12:26; Eph. 6:21; Col. 1:7; 4:7); the followers of Christ in relation to one another (Matt. 20:25; 23:11); To servants of Christ in the work of preaching and teaching (1 Cor. 3:5; 2 Cor. 3:6; 6:4); and many other applications of this word.
6.) You see this most of the times in Scripture when this term is used it is very general in its application, and can often be translated as just generally a servant or minister.
7.) But there are also times when Scripture will use this term in a very specific manner to speak of a certain office within the church. That is the use of this word I want to primarily be focussing on today.
I. THE ORIGIN OF DEACONS IN THE CHURCH.
1.) There appears to be an originating point when the ministry of deacons was added to the New Testament Church.
A.) I want to stress “appears”.
aa.) I say this because the actual title of “deacon” is not used in the passage we are about to look at, though most students of the scriptures feel this is a description of the start of the office within the church.
B.) The passage I want us to look at is Acts 6:1-7.
2.) There was a reason for the creation of this office in the church.
A.) The Grecian widows were being overlooked in the distribution of food.
aa.) Now to understand the situation, we need to remember there was no life insurance; there was no Canada (or Jerusalem) pension fund, and for some of the widows in the church there were not adequate numbers of immediate family who could look after these widows to insure they had adequate foods and their physical needs met.
ab.) That meant it was up to the church to supply their needs.
B.) At this point in the history of the Church, it was entirely a Jewish Church.
ba.) Even though the church was entirely Jewish there were two groups within the church:
baa.) There were those from Judea, and around the area of Jerusalem.
bab.) There were also those who may not have lived right in the area of Judea, those who though Jews may have mixed their culture and language with the Greeks.
bac.) Because of this Hebrew Jews who had come to Christ considered the Greek Jews who had come to Christ as being second class Christians.
bb.) Certainly this is not an issue that should have come into the Church, but sadly this prejudice did come into the early church.
C.) That negative situation seems to be the backdrop in which the Apostles decided to install deacons in the church.
ca.) The partiality and prejudice that had caused the Greek widows to be neglected in their needs meant the Apostles had to do something to address the situation.
3.) The problem at hand meant a change had to take place in the church.
A.) The easiest way to deal with this would have been for the apostles to look after it themselves.
aa.) In one sense that would have been the easiest of solutions, and yet it would have created another problem in that it would have hindered the progress of the Word of God.
ab.) Acts 6:2
ac.) If The apostles had taken this over themselves, it meant they would be spending their time dealing with matters that though important, were taking them away from their primary duty of preaching and teaching the Word of God.
4.) In order for the apostles to proclaim and spread the Word of God, seven men were given the task to assist in the ministry of the church.
A.) I want to stress that the Bible does not put the title “Deacon” on these men, but the majority of those who study the Scriptures would see these seven as the first deacons within the church.
B.) The first deacons were given the charge of looking after the physical needs of food, and other physical concerns for some widows within the church.
ba.) Certainly the Apostles and early church showed wisdom in the selection of these men.
bb.) The seven who were chosen all have Greek names instead of Hebrew names, which shows the church was serious about solving this problem within the church.
C.) Certainly these men had charge over concerns of the physical nature within the church.
ca.) At the same time, I believe it would be a major mistake for us to dismiss these men as offices lacking in importance within the church.
D.) The selection procedure that was given is an indication of the importance the early church had placed on this position.
da.) The selection was not merely the random choice of men who could wait on tables, or serve food and physical needs to the widows of the congregation.
db.) Rather, these men were carefully selected as spiritually mature and biblically sound men who could assist the Eldership in carrying out essential ministry for the Church.
dba.) According to Acts 6:3 these men “were full of the Spirit and wisdom.”
dbb.) Verse 5 tells us they were men of faith.
dbc.) Verse 6 tells us that the Apostles laid their hands on them, and dedicated them to the service of God.
dc.) These were not just anybodies chosen to wait on tables; These were dedicated spiritual men of God chosen specifically to assist the Apostles and Elders of the Church in the ministry of Jesus Christ.
II. WHO CAN FILL THE CHURCH OFFICE OF DEACON?
1.) Deacon is a word which is often not translated into the English language.
A.) The word “deacon” is really a Greek word (diakonos) that has been transliterated into English, but not translated into English.
aa.) By that, what I mean, is that really deacon itself is a Greek word that has been given an English spelling and brought into the English language as a new word without being translated.
ab.) To translate the word into English it would be the word “Servant”. Another word we would use in English is the word “Minister”, but again, I believe that is a word more from the Latin.
2.) If the word deacon is an untranslated word that really means: “Servant” can we have women servants or deaconesses in the church?
A.) Certainly every church has many servants within them who are women. The question we have to ask is do we have the right to appoint them to this office within the church?
B.) Some churches feel that this is an office of service within the church rather than one of leadership.
ba.) Because of this some churches have felt it acceptable to have deaconesses within the church.
bb.) I am aware of at least one of our churches in the Maritimes that for several years have had deaconesses on the church board.
C.) What about in our own congregation?
ca.) For several years Heather has been our treasurer, and before her, I believe it was Sandra? These are women who work as servants of this church dealing with the physical affairs of the church and assisting in the Ministry of Christ in this congregation.
caa.) Would we consider them to be deaconesses?
cb.) What about Betty? For several years she had ministered to this church in the physical matters of the preparation of the Lord’s Supper. Would she have been
looked at as a deaconess?
cc.) How about the fellowship committee of the Church? For as long as I have been here it has been women who have filled this role?
cd.) What about Ginny? Does her role as pianist make her to be eligible to serve as a deaconess? She is assisting the ministry of this church, in a role as a servant.
ce.) How about other ladies of the congregation who come to clean the building?
D.) You see, it is not an easy question to answer. Once we translate the Greek word diakonos into English as Servant, there are a large number of women who could be classified as servants of the church.
E.) To further complicate the matter, we can look at the New Testament woman Phoebe.
ea.) We do not know a great deal about this woman, but when Paul closed his letter to the church at Rome he speaks of this woman.
eb.) Romans 16:1-2
eba.) He calls her “a servant of the church in Cencrea.”
ebb.) The word used here for servant is the exact same word that elsewhere is translated as deacon..
ebc.) The question it leads us to ask would be: Was Phoebe an official deaconess of the church, or was the word being used in an unofficial manner merely referring to her as a servant of Christ?
ebd.) I am going to delay in my answer to this question until we look at my third point this morning.
III. QUALIFICATIONS FOR DEACONS.
-- Many of the qualifications for deacons I am going to go over fairly quickly, just listing them because most of them are the same qualifications that we have looked at in more detail the past two weeks when we dealt with the Elders.
-- 1 Tim. 3:8-12
1.) Additional qualifications beyond what we have looked at with the Elders: their wives.
A.) The church must not just look at these men, but must also consider the wives of these men who were potentially to be deacons.
aa.) Their wives are to be women worthy of respect.
aaa.) Often when a man is looked at for leadership within the church his wife would not be put into the equation.
ab.) Paul lists some other criteria for the wives of deacons. They must not be malicious talkers (Gossips).
ac.) They must be temperate (the idea of self- control, and balance in life -- temperate itself kind of refers to the bottle, but can cover other areas of life as well.
ad.) Deacon’s wives must be trustworthy in everything.
2.) Going back to my earlier question could Phoebe have been a deaconess in the early church?
A.) There is nowhere else Scripture uses the term “deacon” with a woman..
B.) My thoughts on this matter are that she was certainly a servant of God in the church, and that the term for servant is a translation of deacon in the feminine form.
C.) in regards to the official office I would say no she was not officially a deaconess on the following grounds:
ca.) In 1 Tim. 2, It was clearly to be the men who were to lift up holy hands in prayer (lead in worship).
cb.) In Acts 6, and 1 Timothy 3 It was clearly men that were being addressed as the ones to be appointed to this office.
cba.) This is further emphasized in 1 Tim. 3 where the deacons are told to be the husbands of but one wife.
cbb.) Based on these premises, I would say that Phoebe was recognized as a Servant of Christ, but not officially being given a title or office as a deaconess within the church other than the use of the term merely to describe her as a servant of God.
CONCLUSION:
1.) Paul said in verse 13: “Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.”
A.) As Paul closes this passage of Scripture he speaks of the excellent standing.
B.) Certainly to come to this office, God requires that such a one would be a man of God.
ba.) One of the blessings of serving in this capacity is that it can also be an office that if taken seriously will cause the man to grow and mature spiritually in Jesus Christ.
C.) To be a deacon and commit to serve Christ and His church is a worthy goal in and of itself.
ca.) But it is also an area of ministry that many times will further prepare this man of God for service as an Elder in the Church.
cb.) At least two of the deacons mentioned in Acts 6 (Stephen and Philip) are later listed as being evangelists in the church.
D.) God has blessed the church with men who will serve as deacons and Elders in the church.
da.) We need to both appreciate these offices, and lift these men up before God in prayer.
