So, You Want To Be A Deacon
Acts 6:1-7, 1 Timothy 3:8-13, (NLT)
Intro: The story’s told of a long-winded preacher who had a member who fell asleep during every sermon. So the pastor said to his deacon, “Bob, I want you to take this long stick and use it to tap Brother John on the head every time he goes to sleep.”
Deacon Bob was a very conscientious deacon and if the pastor entrusted him with a job, why, doggone it, he was going to make sure he got the job done right!
The very next service, sure enough, John fell asleep again.
Bob grabbed his stick and reached across the aisle and woke him up with a gentle tap on the head.
John aroused for awhile, but within minutes, he was sound asleep again.
This time, Bob tapped him a little harder, hoping to make a deeper impression.
But again, within minutes Brother John was cutting z’s.
So this time, Bob reared back and knocked John so hard, he fell to his knees.
Dazed, John said, “Deacon, hit me again. I can STILL HEAR HIM PREACHING!”
. Deacons, love em, don't care for them.
. It seems that everyone has a different opinion of Deacons.
. They do serve a purpose in the church
. We all hear horror stories of confused Deacons thinking that their role was to be the leaders, the bosses in the church instead of who the Bible clearly says is head of the church.
. For those who need reminding look with me at Colossians 1:18;
. Paul is reminding the church in colossi of the supremacy of Christ and he writes this:
18Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything.
. Then writing to the Ephesian church, he tells them this in 1:22:
22God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church
. Notice that Paul writes these things right away, in the beginning of the letters. He wants them and us to know right off the bat that Christ, that Jesus is the head of the church and no one else.
. Once that is settled, Paul tells us in scripture about two offices in the church.
. The first one is a ministerial and leadership role in the church which is the Elder or Overseer or Pastor.
. The other is solely a ministerial or savant role within the church which is the job or role of Deacon.
. Our church has functioned for many years, I think 15 or more long before my time, without Deacons.
. Some may say well Pastor we have done ok for this many years, why rock the boat now.
. My answer to that is that scripture, our bible, one of the core values that we put up on the screen every Sunday and put in the bulletin says that we as a church want to follow what God's word tells us.
. The answer is simple. Deacons are biblical and they are needed within the body of Christ.
. So this morning, we are going to nominate men who we think fit the criteria of God's word in qualifying to become a Deacon.
. I hope each and every one of you have a deacon nomination form this morning. If not please raise your hand and we will get one to you.
. Now, as we go through what God's word says this morning and look at the necessity of Deacons and the qualifications of a deacon, pray that God will impress upon you who you would like to nominate as a deacon.
. Listen to me, You do not have to put any name down. If you don't know people well enough or can't honestly in good conscience nominate anyone, then please don't. Just fold up you form and no one will ever know the difference when we pick them up at the end of the service.
. You need to realize that just because you nominate someone, it does not mean they will automatically become a Deacon.
. What the nomination does is give us a list of names that the selection committee can examine. Some may say no, some may not stand up to the scrutiny of the selection process. We will follow the guidelines set forth in our by-laws for this process.
. Let's look at Deacons
. the first thing we see in scripture is that there is a:
. NECESSITY FOR DEACONS (acts 6:1-6)
. Jesus has died on the cross and was resurrected and had spent 40days with the people. He had ascended back into Heaven and the Holy Spirit has come at Pentecost. The Apostles were preaching and teaching about Jesus and the churl was growing like wildfire and we come to our scripture.
1But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food.
2So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program.
3And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility.
4Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.
Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith).
6These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them.
. The Apostles realized that there were many needs within the church that needed to be met so they chose to allow other men to help them in the material needs of the people.
. They created the role of Deacon within the church.
. The church has changed the definition of Deacon through the years but those of you that study with me on Wednesday nights know that when we want to see what Gods word has to say, it means the same thing today as it did on the day it was inspired by God and written by man.
. When it was written, the word was Diakonos, which we translate deacon and in the original language and meaning it is servant or waiter.
. What we see in our scripture was the need for men to serve, to be waiters and servants. They needed Diakonos.
. The first Deacons were selected and ordained.
. Look at verse 6 again.
6These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them.
. Deacons are nominated, selected and approved by God in what we call ordination.
. Folks, scripture is very clear, there is a role within the church for Deacons to fulfill.
. It is the role of assisting the Pastor in the ministry of caring for the people within the body of Christ.
. Realizing that there was a necessity for Deacons within the boy of Christ, Paul wrote to his son in the faith as he called and gave us the qualifications for becoming a deacon within the church.
Let's look at the:
QUALIFICATIONS FOR BECOMING A DEACON: (1 Tim 3:8-13).
. Paul has just shared with Timothy the qualifications for being a Pastor or Elder and now he moves to the Deacon.
8In the same way, deacons must be well respected and have integrity. They must not be heavy drinkers or dishonest with money.
9They must be committed to the mystery of the faith now revealed and must live with a clear conscience.
10Before they are appointed as deacons, let them be closely examined. If they pass the test, then let them serve as deacons.
11In the same way, their wives must be respected and must not slander others. They must exercise self-control and be faithful in everything they do.
12A deacon must be faithful to his wife, and he must manage his children and household well.
13Those who do well as deacons will be rewarded with respect from others and will have increased confidence in their faith in Christ Jesus.
. First Paul tells Timothy to look at the potential Deacons:
. PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS
. The first God-given stipulation is that they must be men of dignity. A deacon should be worthy of respect. His Christian character must be worth imitating.
. His reputation within the church and the community must be above reproach. They represent the church.
. A deacon speaks with integrity, consistency, and grace.
He does not tell tales from one person to another. He is not a gossip.
You can depend on what he says because he is honest not hypocritical.
. They cannot be heavy drinkers the scripture says. They can't be known and seen around town as someone who gets drunk.
. The old saying is probably true, people don't trust a drunk.
. Scripture says they cannot be dishonest with money. They can't cheat and swindle people.
. Their role as Deacon cannot be used to cultivate business deals and used as an opportunity to build a network.
. I have heard so many times throughout my life that the biggest cheaters and swindlers are church folk. A Deacon cannot be a person like that.
. If you have a love of money this morning, if that is the priority of your life, you should not be nominated and if nominated, you should not serve.
. A Deacon should heed Jesus' words in the part of the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus tells us this in 6:19-21.
19“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.
20Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.
21Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
. These are the personal qualifications for a Deacon.
Verse 9 lays out another qualification. It tells us to look at a man's:
. SPIRITUAL QUALIFICATIONS
9They must be committed to the mystery of the faith now revealed and must live with a clear conscience.
. They must be committed to God and his Word.
. Do they need to be a seminary graduate? Of course not but they must be familiar with God's word. They should be someone that the pastor could call on to teach if necessary.
. A new minister was asked to teach a boys class in the absence of their regular Sunday School teacher. He decided to see what they knew, so he asked who knocked down the walls of Jericho.
All the boys denied having done it, and the preacher was appalled at their ignorance.
At the next deacon’s meeting he told about the experience. “Not one of them knows who knocked down the walls of Jericho.” he lamented.
The group was silent until one seasoned veteran of disputes spoke up. “Preacher, this appears to be bothering you a lot. But I’ve known all those boys since they were born and they’re good boys. If they said they didn’t know, I believe them
. Let’s just take some money out of the repair and maintenance fund, fix the walls and let it go at that.”
. A deacon does not have to be a biblical scholar but he should be a man who knows something about God' word.
. Someone who if opportunity arises, could share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with someone.
. Verse 10 tells us to examine this part of the nominee's life.
. We will do that with our nominees.
. Lastly, a Deacon must possess certain:
DOMESTIC QUALIFICATIONS
Look verses 11&12 again:
11In the same way, their wives must be respected and must not slander others. They must exercise self-control and be faithful in everything they do.
12A deacon must be faithful to his wife, and he must manage his children and household well.
. Ladies, wives, you are so important in the church Deacon relationship.
. I can tell you right now that it would be very difficult for a man to perform the role of Deacon without the support and help from his wife. They are vital in the life of the Deacon. They will be called on to help and many times visit with him, especially if he is going to see another woman. You can talk to and bond with women the way your husband never can.
. Paul recognized this and told Timothy as much. The wives must also be examined. They will hear personal things and be involved in the lives of others and they must be, just like the man, self controlled. Not a spreader of gossip or a slanderer.
. They must be faithful to their husband.
. I don't believe that this precludes a single person from being a Deacon but I believe that it would be very difficult for a single to perform their duties without a wife to work alongside them.
. Now lets address the Elephant in the room.
.Look at verse 12 again real quick.
12A deacon must be faithful to his wife, and he must manage his children and household well.
. Some translations read "must be the husband of one wife"
. Many believe that this means that you cannot be divorced.
. Now you may be disqualified if you are divorced but it will be because you ran off with another woman or abandoned your family to cause the divorce.
. That would disqualify you under the personal qualifications.
. Being divorced does not immediately disqualify you from being a Deacon.
. I see that nowhere in the scripture.
. Again lets go back to the original language and the literal translation is this:
. "be a one woman man"
. Be faithful to your wife. This a domestic or family qualification. In context, it is written while Paul is talking about a man's family. Not one he used to have.
. You must be faithful to your wife or in the wife's qualities, you must be faithful to your husband.
. Do not automatically not nominate someone just because they are divorced.
. Who are they now, are they faithful to their wife and a good husband? That's the qualities we are looking for.
.Finally, his family must love and respect him.
. He has and is managing the affairs of his family responsibilities well.
. Many times I look at these qualifications and think, wow, would anybody stand up to these standards.
. Do I even come close to these standards now?
. Folks, in your considerations, look at the man and allow God to lead you in this nominating process.
Give instructions for picking up forms.
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources: The Holy Bible, NLT
Illustrations from sermon central
