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!”
Most of us aren’t that bad, but many of us have a habit of complaining and arguing when things don’t go our way.
ILL. Thomas Rainer, the president of Lifeway Christian Research, took an informal Twitter survey asking church leaders to share some of the conflicts and complaints they’ve encountered in their congregations. He then compiled a list of the top twenty-five, which includes conflicts like:
• A fight over which picture of Jesus to put in the foyer
• A 45-minute heated argument over the type of filing cabinet to purchase: black or brown
• An argument on whether the church should allow deviled eggs at the church potluck
• An argument over whether or not to have gluten-free communion bread
• An argument over the appropriate length of a pastor’s beard
Sadly, people can find some of the silliest things to fight about. But even when we’ve got serious issues to deal with, the Bible urges, “Do everything without complaining and arguing” (Philippians 2:14 NLT). If we could just follow that one command, church life would be a lot more peaceful. But since that’s not likely to happen this side of heaven, let’s look at how the Apostle’s handled the situation.
As I mentioned, their solution involved a division of labor that has since become the norm in many churches today. They established new leadership roles in the church, and the Apostles’ themselves took on the role of shepherds.
• THE SHEPHERDS
When these complaints reached the Apostles’ ears, they called a meeting for the entire church and announced, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program” (Acts 6:2 NLT).
Now, it’s not that the Apostles’ thought they were “above” waiting tables. They were with Jesus when he feed the five thousand and the four thousand, and back then they were the ones distributing food. But now they’ve been called to preach and teach God’s Word, and that had to be their priority. Limited time and energy prevented them from doing both jobs.
It was of great importance that these spiritually mature leaders—who had trained with Jesus for three years—dedicate their time to preaching, praying and protecting the flock.
Today, we don’t have Apostles—there were only Twelve of them—but the responsibility of preaching, praying and protecting the flock was eventually handed over to other church leaders the Bible sometimes calls elders or overseers, but my favorite term for these leaders is shepherds.
Years later, Peter—the Chief Apostle—wrote this to the next generation of church leaders:
To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. (1 Peter 5:1-4 NIV).
The function and role of an elder is well summarized by Alexander Strauch in his book Biblical Eldership: “Elders lead the church, teach and preach the Word, protect the church from false teachers, exhort and admonish the saints in sound doctrine, visit the sick and pray, and judge doctrinal issues. In biblical terminology, elders shepherd, oversee, lead, and care for the local church” (16).
Here at the Grove, I am blessed to serve alongside four dedicated elders: John Gulley, Randy McLeese, Jeff Smith, and Dale Tosh. Each of these men have dedicated themselves—often thanklessly and behind the scenes—to being examples to the flock, to watching over and shepherding our congregation, to preaching and often to praying for each one of you here today. As the senior pastor, I’m essentially the “preaching elder,” but both John and Jeff have filled that role on occasion. Randy and Dale have frequently made home visits and hospital visits to members who are sick or struggling. As a team, our focus is the spiritual health of our church family and each person in it. If you need prayer, or you’re seeking spiritual guidance, or you’ve got questions about the Bible, these are the people you want to talk to.
As a side note, after many, many years of service, Dale has prayfully decided that it’s time for him to step down as one of our shepherds. While none of our shepherds serve for personal recognition, I think each one of us owe a debt of gratitude to both Dale and Nancy for their tireless and faithful service.
Of course, the shepherds are just one half of the dynamic duo of church leadership. The other half is the servants.
• THE SERVANTS
Knowing that they were already heavy laden with their own responsibilities, the Apostles instructed the congregation, saying, “select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom” (Acts 6:3 NLT).
The Bible goes on to say, “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). These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them” (Acts 6:5-6 NLT).
These seven men became the church’s first deacons. Even though the word is never used here, there is no denying that they performed the function of deacons as the office would later be defined in the New Testament. There were four original qualifications for these servant-leaders: the candidates had to be (1) believers from among the congregation, (2) possessing a good reputation as men of integrity, (3) spiritually solid, full of the Holy Spirit, and (4) full of wisdom—demonstrating discernment and understanding.
Once chosen, these men we presented to the Apostles, who prayed for them and laid hands on them. Laying hands on someone, an ancient Jewish practice, was a way to set a person apart for a special service—in other words, they were being ordained or commissioned. It was also a granting of some sort of authority. The Apostles were identifying with these men and giving them a position of leadership, at least for the task at hand which was to serve food to the elderly.
Today, for the biblical church, the role of the deacon is essentially the same. In fact, the word deacon is a transliteration of the Greek word diakonos which literally means a servant or a minister and that’s how it’s often translated in the New Testament.
In a modern church, this might include taking on administrative or organizational tasks, ushering, being responsible for building maintenance, or volunteering to be the church treasurer. It depends on the need and the gifts of the available men. The New Testament never gives a job description for deacons like does for elders, because there will always be new and different ways to serve.
Again, we are very blessed here at the Grove by our team of deacons. Just like the deacons in Jerusalem, each of our deacons oversees a specific ministry. Chad Strubbe is our deacon of youth, who acts as a liaison and assistant to James. Darren Barnes is our deacon of outreach, overseeing our community involvement. James Ralston is our deacon of buildings and grounds, taking care of the property. Maggie Filson is our deaconess of involvement, helping to ensure none of our visitors or new believers fall through the cracks. Eric Weller is our utility deacon, serving in various roles that don’t fit into a specific ministry. And, of course, there’s John Murphy who’s on sabbatical but will be returning to the team this October.
Just as with the Shepherds, these servants are men and women to whom we owe a debt of gratitude. These are people who ensure things get done around here.
Now, you might be inclined to think that the role of Deacon is lowly one. I mean after all—all the important stuff seems to be done by the Shepherds. But that would be a grave miscalculation. The role of Deacon is perhaps THE greatest thing you can do in the church. How do I know that? Because Jesus said so.
Jesus said, “The greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:11-12 HCSB).
Thus, a Deacon that really does his job well, is regarded by Jesus as being one of the greatest ministers in His Kingdom. A great Deacon sets the pattern for the rest of the church. A great Deacon shows what it means to be a servant. Their servanthood should be so evident that others in the church follow their example and become servants too.
In fact, you don’t even have to be an “official Deacon” to be the most important member of the church. You simply have to be someone committed to being a servant of others in the family of Christ.
Conclusion:
So what do we learn from this snapshot of the early church in crisis? How can this story help us in our own spiritual journey?
Well, for starters, we learn that no church is perfect. Even the first church led by the Apostles and guided by the Holy Spirit had their share of conflicts and complaints. So we shouldn’t feel like there is something wrong with our church just because problems arise. Instead, we should work together to solve those problems.
And furthermore, we learn that God had a plan for his emerging church that involved the leadership and oversight of both Shepherds and Servants, who would faithfully carry out their respective ministries. God placed these leaders in the church to equip and encourage every believer for their own spiritual journey.
Next week, we’ll continue our journey through the book of Acts.
Invitation:
In the meantime, if you’ve could use some spiritual guidance for your own journey, if you’ve got questions about your faith, or you need prayers because of some personal struggle, I want to invite you to talk with one of our Shepherds. Any one of these guys would be willing and able to come along side you and help you along the way. You talk to them after church, call them at home or you can come forward now while we stand and sing.
