Acts 6: Management 101 - 3/5/17
Turn with me this morning to Acts 6. I hope you are looking forward to what God has to say to you today. Each week when you come, I hope your attitude is always This is going to be GOOD! Because the truth is that if you come expecting a great blessing, you’ll find one. If you come doubting you’ll get anything out of the sermon, believe me, you WON’T - no matter how good it might be.
A little girl sent a letter to a missionary in a faraway country. Apparently her teacher had told her not to expect an answer from the missionary, because they sometimes get more letters than they can answer. So this little girl's letter simply said: "Dear Rev. Smith, We are praying for you but we are not expecting an answer."
I hope you want an answer, you want to see God touch your heart today. If so, then join me as we pray. PRAY for God to speak.
This is going to be good! Because today we have a passage that hits home right to where we live! Most of us won’t witness an ascension to heaven or preach to thousands who all walk the aisle for salvation. And even though we read these accounts, they are not where we live. But CONFLICT in the CHURCH - now THAT’S a topic that we can relate too. Sadly - that is true!
Every church has it’s share of conflict. I don’t care what church you visit - it may look great on Sunday morning as a visitor; but when you delve a little deeper into relationships, you will find that every church has its skeletons in the closet. There is a dark side to every church. Because the church is made up of imperfect people. Come back tonight, and we are going to look at Galatians 2 and see the time that Paul had to rebuke Peter to the face! Even spiritual leaders make mistakes!
So, here is our lesson today. I begin reading in Acts 6:1. Read Acts 6:1-7 Today we want to talk about the problem and the solution. We are going to learn from the apostles several ideas about handling church conflict. The first thing we see is the
Problem - and it is addressed in verse 1 as a
Concern - In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. One group in the church came and expressed a concern. Their widows were being overlooked. They felt neglected. It doesn’t really matter how much truth there was to the concern, because “perception is reality.” What mattered is that they FELT like they didn’t matter.
It’s sort of like what happens in our country with the whole “Black Lives Matter” campaign. Often truth and reality get overlooked and what gets emphasized is feeling and perception. Are there biased, prejudiced police officers? Of course! But there are many, many others who care deeply about people of ALL colors. Yet the police force all gets painted with a negative stereotype by those in the movement. Here these Grecian Jews were complaining, You’re neglecting OUR widows! They wore Tshirts that said Greek Widows Matter!
But look also and see the
Catalyst - there was a reason this concern arose. It says In those days when the number of disciples was increasing. . . This is a time of great growth in the church. Very likely this takes place some time later, maybe a couple years after Pentecost. There are many new people coming to faith and joining the number of disciples, and along with that brings CHANGE! Now anytime change comes, people start getting uneasy. We start pulling out the phrase “That’s not the way we’ve always done it!” We like our comfort zones. We don’t want anyone to rock the boat.
The church was growing, people were being added, and as a result we see the
Cause - of the problem: there were two different people groups in the church. There were the Grecian Jews and the Hebraic Jews. So first there were Jews from Israel. They grew up in the area, spoke the language - Aramaic, knew the culture, came out of the synagogue, had family in the area, and they were a close, tight knit bunch who were used to everyone holding similar religious views.
Then there were Greeks. They were still Jewish - but years before their families had left Israel. They came from hundreds of miles away, they spoke a different language - Greek, they had a different culture and a different set of customs, they were used to being around those of a variety of religious viewpoints, and they often didn’t have many family or friends in the area.
And in the church, often these two groups became isolated from one another. Then look at the
Culture: The Jewish culture had a system for providing assistance for widows. They took care of their own. What often happened was that couple from other countries would come back to Israel so they could die in the holy land. And if the husband died first, that left the wife alone in a strange land, unable to work and provide for herself. She was a widow and needed help. And in the early church, as these disciples came from the Jewish culture, they also cared about their own and devised a system to help widows. They didn’t have Social Security or Medicare, so when there were needs, they had to be met by the church. That’s what we saw back in chapter 4: There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.
The early church cared for one another deeply. And it leads us to ask the question:
How good of a job do we do at Bethel in caring for one another? We are told to Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. We are told to Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. But often, if we are honest, we want to pray that someone else gets involved and helps. The book of James says, If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
The early church excelled at caring about the practical needs of their brothers and sisters. Do we? Of course, any time you think about giving, realize there will always be those who want to take advantage of the system. They are “users” and want to profit off the generosity of others. That’s why the early church had some rules about who could be listed as a true “widow.” Paul writes to Timothy and tells him, No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds. As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. . . . If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she should help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need.
So the church sought to help those who truly needed help. But because of the cultural and language differences, it became easy to overlook the Greek widows. It wasn’t intentional, they weren’t refused help: they were simply overlooked. So what happened?
Criticism! It says the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews. The one group became critical of the other group and started complaining. Instead of addressing their concerns in the right way, they began a program of negativity. The word translated “complained” is an unpleasant word, used in the Greek translation of the OT for the murmuring of the Jews against Moses in the desert. The Greeks feel that their widows are not being taken care of, and so they begin murmuring and grumbling and complaining. They probably start slandering the leaders of the church. They find those who are sympathetic towards their cause, and while they don’t public bring their concerns forward, they malign and criticize others behind their backs.
If you have a problem or a concern with the way something is being handled here at the church, by all means feel free to express yourself. But do it in the right way. Come to the elders, express your concerns, share with us why you feel the way you do. But if you simply want to criticize us and attack us with your negative comments, you are sinning! Stop it! You say, who do I think I am to say you are sinning? God says it! Ephesians 4:29 - Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. God wants us to build one another up. Satan wants us to attack one another and tear one another down. Complaining and grumbling and murmuring helps no one: it only brings division to the body of Christ.
Paul said, ‘In your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold (Eph. 4:26–27). In our personal lives and in the life of the church, if we delay dealing with anger, we give the devil a foothold. And if we deal with it in the wrong way, we give the devil a foothold.
Satan’s desire is to come into the church and rend and tear. He wants to bring animosity and hatred and jealousy and strife. But God’s desire is that we be one. Paul writes to the church at Corinth, I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. That word “united” is the same word used in Mark when it says the disciples were “mending their nets.” Meshed together, interwoven, we should all be interconnected to one another, all sharing our lives with one another. But sometimes we need practical help to get along. Sometimes we need a brother or sister in the church to come alongside us, to encourage us to do that which we know we ought to do. We might not really WANT to do it, but that brother or sister spurs us on to get along.
The Bible has a lot to say about how we are to get along. Sometime use your concordance and look up the words one another. We are to love one another, be devoted to one another, live in harmony with one another, stop passing judgment on one another, do that which leads to peace and mutual edification, be kind and compassionate, forgiving one another, encourage one another, and spur one another on to good works. And we could list even more obligations towards one another.
Don’t allow Satan to lead you down the sinful path of criticism. We see Satan still uses the same playbook today. But we don’t want to give him ANY place in our lives or our church. Don’t be a complainer! Don’t let your frustration over a problem cause you to respond in a sinful way. Rather, deal with the problem and look for a solution. Remember the old saying, If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem! Well, that’s what we see the disciples doing - coming up with a
Solution! They looked for a solution that wouldn’t leave them divided, but would bring unity. After all, that is what Christ prayed for His disciples. Three times in His prayer in John 17, Jesus prays for us to be one: I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. . . I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. So the disciples sought a solution that united, not that divided. First they
Achieve Consensus - instead of hearing both sides and then making an “executive decision”, the disciples call everyone together to work on the problem as a team. Look at verse 2: So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together. Far too often when an issue of conflict arises in the church we view those of the opposite position as the “enemy.” We forget this is my brother, this is my sister, and I need to value their thoughts and opinions. We normally think that everything would be great if everyone would just get on board and agree with our plan! But instead of trying to prove our way is right, we need to make sure everyone is heard, valued, and involved in the process. The disciples bring everyone together to achieve consensus in resolving the problem. This is an example we can all learn from - not to “let others have OUR way” - but to respect others and their views, and allow them to be part of the solution for any issue being addressed.
The next positive example the disciples set is to
Admit Constraints - there are some things the disciples want to focus on, and as a result of that, there are some things they are going to refrain from doing. They say in verse 2, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. They were NOT saying that that type of work was beneath them. Rather they were saying their ministry had a different focus. And that brings back into focus for us the issue of spiritual gifts. The apostles COULD have gotten involved, but they had another area of service that was more important for them to focus on. Just because you “can” doesn’t mean you “should” - they could have waited on tables to make sure everyone had their needs met, but there were others just as capable who could serve in this capacity.
During food distribution times, I am always glad to pray with the families who come through, but I am just as glad to let others pray with the friends who come through getting food. And it is good experience for them too. We have many who could serve by praying. The disciples realize that they are not the only ones who can conduct this ministry. And that bring us back to the New Testament model: in every church, each and every member is a minister! We have talked about this before - when someone asks you, who’s the minister at Bethel? Be sure to tell them, I AM! Who’s the minister at Bethel? ( I AM!)
The disciples talk about waiting on “tables.” The word for table (trapezai) appears in the Gospels to describe the money tables Jesus overturned in the temple. Quite possibly, Luke is not talking about a soup kitchen here, but the administrative procedure of gathering and dispensing funds for the care of Christian widows in the Jerusalem church and making sure that the handling of those funds and their distribution was done fairly. So they aren’t saying they weren’t helping with passing out the food, they might be saying We don’t need to write the checks! We want to let others get involved in ministry. We never want to feel that we need to be involved in every area of ministry. Pray for every area, yes. Celebrate every area, yes. Serve in every area, NO.
When Michael Jordan re-entered the NBA in 2001 with the Washington Wizards, they had to implement a no-shooting rule for Jordan during one of their scrimmages. It wasn’t because Jordan was hogging the ball, trying to be a superstar again. It was because Jordan’s teammates stood around and waited for him to perform. Jordan and Coach Doug Collins put a stop to that. Jordan said, “Everybody wants to sit back and watch. But one [reason] why we became successful in Chicago was… we had to play as a unit instead of just watching. What makes me more effective is other guys stepping up and being a threat. If I'm the only threat, then I'm doing all the work. Obviously that's not going to work.” A lot of churches are just like that Washington Wizards team. They stand around and wait for the pastor and elders to act. But the best leaders, the best “superstars” will always pass the ball back. That’s what they did in the first church in Acts, and that’s what we’re going to do here. Each one of us is to be involved in ministry in one form or another.
The next lesson from the apostles:
Activate the Concerned - verse 3 - Brothers, 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 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” The apostles tell those who are critical to choose seven men to oversee this area. Down in verse 5 we see the names of the men that they pick: 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. What is unique here is that these are GREEK names. Remember there were Hebraic Jews and Grecian Jews. The Grecian Jews feel their widows are being neglected, so they pick Grecian men to make sure their widows get the help they need. There is much wisdom here, for they would know the needs of their own people best.
We often call these men the first “Deacons” - because the word in verse 2 for “wait on / serve” is the Greek word diakonos. But it’s important to realize that these men were not looking at this appointment as an “OFFICE” to hold as much as an area to serve. They aren’t looking for a title, they want a testimony. They aren’t focused on the “power” they can control; they are focused on people they can serve. Remember Matthew 20:28 - Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
So how do we apply this principle? If you come and say “We need more trees around the church” - I might not say, We sure do, or , no we don’t - I might say Why don’t you write up a proposal to give to the trustees. If someone cares enough to be commenting or to be critical, they may be the very ones who care enough to see a project through to completion. But when we are looking to get individuals involved in serving, the apostles also teach about the need to
Assess Character - they don’t choose just anyone to serve. They lay down some basic prerequisites. Verse 3 again: Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. The person who was full of wisdom would have demonstrated the ability to get to the best ends by the best means; that is, someone who had common sense. They are to pick men who will make wise decisions. They also are to be solid spiritually. It doesn’t matter how good the decisions are that you make if you aren’t guided by the control of the Holy Spirit. Because often God leads us to do things which DON’T make sense from a human standpoint. And then the candidates not only had to possess the qualities desired; those qualities had to be obvious to the total congregation! They were to have a testimony, a reputation of common sense and spiritual guidance.
Far too often we put people into positions of service simply because they are “willing.” But to serve the Lord capably, we really need people with a heart that seeks to listen to and obey the voice of the Lord. Character is always more important than skill. We can teach someone a skill, but character is something ingrained in their DNA. It’s a part of who they are. And then one more lesson, stated a couple ways -
Approve Clear Choices / Allow Creativity / Affirm & Commission - once the church identifies the seven, they bring the names to the apostles. Verse 6 - They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 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.
When the deacons are chosen, the apostles affirm the choice and put them to work. They delegate both the responsibility along with the accompanying authority. Along with giving a task to do, they empower them to make decisions to see the task accomplished. They lay their hands on them as a formal way of asking God to help them fulfill the tasks they are seeking to undertake.
The reality is that we will always have some area of conflict arising. Hopefully the concerns are addressed in godly ways and not through criticism. We want to bring the church together in addressing the concerns to make sure that needs are met, people are valued, leaders are empowered, and God is glorified.
To summarize things a different way,
Here are the ABCs of management from the apostles:
Assess your problem accurately: Are you attacking the right problem?
Budget your time strategically: Are your priorities right?
Choose your leaders wisely: Are you choosing and following biblically qualified leaders?
Distribute your load widely: Are you delegating the load? Are you doing your part?
Let’s pray.
