Introduction
Christians are not immune from trials and difficulties just because they are Christians. Conversion to Christ does not cause our problems to evaporate and disappear.
Part of the reason for our continuing trials is that we have an enemy, Satan, who constantly works to cause us to sin.
But Satan not only works against individual Christians; he is at work against churches as well.
Satan hates Christ, and he hates the bride of Christ, the Church.
And so, throughout history, Satan has been at work to overthrow the church of Jesus Christ.
Satan is not very imaginative in his attacks. Over the years he has not changed his strategy or his weapons; he is still in the same old rut.
A few weeks ago, I noted that Satan attacked the first-century church community on three fronts.
Satan’s first and crudest attack was persecution; he tried to crush the church by physical violence (Acts 4:1-22).
Satan’s second and more cunning assault was moral corruption. Having failed to destroy the church from the outside, he attempted through Ananias and Sapphira to infuse evil into its inner life, and so ruin the church community and Christian fellowship (Acts 5:1-11).
Satan’s third and most subtle ploy was distraction. He sought to deflect the apostles from their priority responsibilities of prayer and preaching by preoccupying them with church administration, which was not their calling (Acts 6:1-7). If he had been successful in this, an untaught church would have been exposed to every wind of false doctrine.
So, these then were the weapons of Satan—physical (persecution), moral (corruption), and priorities (distraction).
Of Satan’s attacks against the first-century church, the third was the cleverest.
Having failed to overcome the church by either persecution or corruption, he now tried distraction.
If he could preoccupy the apostles with church administration, which, though essential, was not their calling, they would neglect their God-given responsibilities to pray and to preach, and so leave the church without any defense against false doctrine.
Part of our study in the book of Acts is a study of the work of the Holy Spirit.
It is also a study of the work of Satan.
Satan still attacks churches today in the same way in which he attacked the first-century church.
Today, we are going to study Satan’s third attack on the first-century church, and we are going to learn how the church can thwart Satan’s attack of distraction by concentrating on its priorities for ministry.
Scripture
Let’s read Acts 6:1-7:
1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
Lesson
Acts 6:1-7 teaches us about Satan’s attack of distraction and the church’s priorities for ministry.
Let’s use the following outline:
1. The Problem (6:1)
2. The Solution (6:2-6)
3. The Result (6:7)
I. The Problem (6:1)
First, let’s look at the problem.
Luke tells us about the problem in verse 1. He writes, “Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.”
The problem quite simply was that certain widows in the first-century church were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.
The church had a responsibility to take care of widows (cf. Exodus 22:22ff; Deuteronomy 10:18) who had no relatives and were unable to support themselves (cf. 1 Timothy 5:13-16). And so, apparently, a daily distribution of food was made to them.
Now the Jerusalem church in those early days was a multi-cultural church (cf. 2:9-11). It was made up of Hellenists and Hebrews.
The Hellenists were basically dispersed Jews from other countries who had come to settle in Israel, and they spoke primarily Greek.
The Hebrews were natives of Israel and spoke primarily Aramaic.
There had always been a rivalry between these two groups in Jewish culture.
And it was this rivalry that Satan fueled by inciting the Hellenists to complain against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.
I also want you to note that this complaint surfaced at exactly the same time that the church was exploding with growth. Luke said that it took place in “these days when the disciples were increasing in number.”
So, on the one hand, there was tremendous growth in the church. There was great excitement and encouragement as people experienced the grace of God in their lives.
On the other hand, however, Satan was about to attack the church at the point of ethnic and cultural differences.
Let me note parenthetically that Christ has come to do away with such distinctions in the church.
Paul wrote to the Galatians that “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).
Distinctions based on class, race, position, gender, culture, and so on should never be the basis for causing division in the body of Christ.
If you have been a member or regular attendee of our church for some time, you will know that this year the Lord is causing an increase in numbers here at the Tampa Bay Presbyterian Church. Moreover, we are a church made up of men and women, boys and girls from many different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
So, we would be wise to be aware of an attack from Satan on our church family at this time.
The issue in the first-century church, however, was more than one of cultural tension.
Satan’s goal was to cause the leaders to become distracted from their primary calling.
And so the apostles rightly discerned the deeper problem, namely that administration was threatening to occupy all their time and so hinder them from the work which the Lord had specifically entrusted to them, namely praying and preaching.
II. The Solution (6:2-6)
That brings us in the second place to the solution.
The apostles did not impose a solution on the church. Luke said in verse 2, “And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, ‘It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables’ ” (Acts 6:2).
There is no hint whatsoever that the apostles regarded administration as inferior to pastoral work, or beneath their dignity.
It was entirely a question of calling.
The apostles had no liberty to be distracted from their priority task, which was the ministry of the word of God.
So they proposed a solution to all the disciples, “Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (6:3-4).
Note that the apostles added “prayer” to “the ministry of the word” in specifying the essence of the apostles’ ministry.
They form a natural couple, since the ministry of the word of God, without prayer that the Spirit will water the seed, is unlikely to bear fruit.
The primary function of Teaching Elders, then, is a ministry of “prayer and the ministry of the word.”
The church saw the point of the apostles’ plan. Luke said that “what they said pleased the whole gathering” (6:5a).
Then they put the plan into effect: “… and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them,” thus commissioning and authorizing them to exercise this ministry(6:5b-6).
It is worth noting that the delegation of the administration of the benevolence ministry to the Seven is commonly thought to have been the origin of the Diaconate.
Commentators seem to be about equally divided on whether or not the Seven were actually the first Deacons.
They may well have been the first Deacons, for the Greek word diakonia (serve, minister) is used in verses 1 and 4.
Nevertheless, the Seven are not actually called “Deacons.”
A vital principle is illustrated in this incident, which is of urgent importance to us today: God calls all his people to ministry, and he calls different people to different ministries, and those who are called to “prayer and the ministry of the word” must not allow themselves to be distracted from their priorities.
It is significant that Luke uses the Greek word diakonia, which means “ministry” or “service” in verses 1 and 4. In verse 1 diakonia is the word translated “distribution,” and in verse 4 it is “ministry.”
It seems deliberate that the work of the Twelve and the work of the Seven are both called diakonia, i.e. “ministry.”
The Twelve were committed to “the ministry of the word” or pastoral work, and the Seven were committed to “the ministry of tables” or administration/benevolence.
Neither ministry is superior to the other.
On the contrary, both are Christian ministries, that is, ways of serving God and his people.
Both require spiritual people, “full of the Spirit,” to exercise them.
And both can be full-time Christian ministries.
The only difference between them lies in the form the ministry takes, requiring different gifts and different callings.
Many people refer to the pastorate as “the ministry.” We speak of men becoming ordained as “entering the ministry.” It is probably unwise and unhelpful to use such language. The use of the definite article implies that the ordained pastorate is the only ministry there is.
But diakonia is a generic word for service; it lacks specificity until a descriptive adjective is added, whether “pastoral,” “benevolence,” “political,” “medical,” or any other type of service.
All Christians without exception, being followers of him who came “not to be served but to serve,” are themselves called to ministry, indeed, to give their lives to ministry.
The expression “full-time Christian ministry” is not to be restricted to church work and missionary service; it can also be exercised in government, the media, the professions, business, industry, and the home.
We need to recover this vision of the wide diversity of ministries to which God calls his people.
It is especially important for the health and growth of churches for pastors and their congregations to learn this lesson.
It is true that pastors are not apostles, for the apostles were given authority to formulate and teach the Gospel, while pastors are responsible for expounding the message that the apostles have given to us in the New Testament.
Nevertheless, it is a real “ministry of the word” to which pastors are called to dedicate their lives.
The apostles in Acts 6 were not too busy for ministry; they were simply in danger of becoming preoccupied with the wrong ministry.
So are many pastors today.
Instead of concentrating on the ministry of the word (which will include preaching to the congregation, counseling individuals, and training members for ministry), they become overwhelmed with administration.
Sometimes it is the pastor’s fault (he wants to keep all the reins in his own hands), and sometimes the people’s fault (they want him to do everything).
In either case, the results are disastrous.
The standards of preaching and teaching decline, since the pastor has little time to study and pray.
The members of the congregation do not exercise their God-given roles, since the pastor does everything himself.
For both reasons, the congregations is inhibited from growing into maturity in Christ.
What is needed is the basic, biblical recognition that God calls different men and women to different ministries.
Then the people will ensure that their pastor is set free from unnecessary administration, in order to give himself to the ministry of the word, and the pastor will ensure that the people will discover their gifts and develop ministries appropriate to them.
Balancing different priorities is not always easy.
But it is always necessary for the health and growth of the church.
III. The Result (6:7)
Finally, let’s notice the result.
As a direct result of the action of the apostles in delegating the administration of the benevolence to the Seven, in order to concentrate on their pastoral priorities, Luke tells us in verse 7a, “And the word of God continued to increase.”
But of course!
The word cannot spread when the ministry of the word is neglected.
Conversely, when pastors devote themselves to the ministry of the word, it spreads.
Then, as a further result, we read in verse 7b, “and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”
Acts 6:7 is the first of six summary statements of how the church grew in the Book of Acts.
In each statement, we read either that the word was spreading or that the church was growing, or both. God was at work; neither humans nor demons could stand in the way of the spread of the good news of Jesus Christ.
Let’s look at each summary statement:
• In Acts 6:7, the church grew after the apostles’ decision to give their attention to prayer and preaching: “And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”
• In Acts 9:31, the church grew after the dramatic conversion of Saul of Tarsus: “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.”
• In Acts 12:24, the church grew after the equally wonderful conversion of the first Gentile, Cornelius, followed by the overthrow of Herod Agrippa I: “But the word of God increased and multiplied.”
• In Acts 16:5, the church grew after Paul’s first missionary journey and the Jerusalem Council: “So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.”
• In Acts 19:20, the church grew after Paul’s second and third missionary journeys: “So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.”
• In Acts 28:30–31, at the very end of the Book of Acts, we read that the church grew after Paul arrived in Rome, where he preached with all boldness and without hindrance: “He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.”
Conclusion
The church grows when it commits itself to God’s priorities.
Pastors must commit themselves to a ministry of the word and prayer.
Elders must commit themselves to a ministry of shepherding, which includes a ministry of the word and prayer as well.
Deacons must commit themselves to a ministry of service in the areas of benevolence, finance, and property.
Church members must commit themselves to a ministry of service.
The bottom line is this: all of us must commit ourselves to the area of ministry and service to which God has called us.
Don’t get distracted by areas of service that are not your primary area of calling.
Serve God in the area of your primary gifts and strengths.
And as you do so, God will bless his church. Amen.
