A Study of Acts: The First Deacons
Acts 6:1-6 - Serving God in any capacity is spiritual!
“Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” The statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them.”
Acts 6:1-6 NASB1995
The early church had attacks from the outside and from the enemy and it didn’t take long for controversy and complaints to arise from within. The Hellenistic Jews who believed in Jesus brought a complaint to the Hebrew Jews/apostles about the distribution of food. The widows in the group were being overlooked and were not receiving the daily servings. These Hellenistic Jews who were believers were part of the diaspora (Jews distributed throughout the Roman Empire, not just in Greece). Here is more about the Hellenistic Jews from Gotquestions.org:
The Hellenistic Jews are first mentioned in the Bible in Acts 6:1: “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.” The believing Jews are here divided into two groups. There were those who had remained in Judea, near Jerusalem, who used the Hebrew language, and who were appropriately called “Hebrews.” The other group consisted of those who were scattered among the Gentiles, who spoke the Greek language, and who used the Greek translation of the Old Testament, called the Septuagint. These were called “Hellenists,” from a word meaning “Greek” or “Greek-speaking.” To “Hellenize” is to adopt Greek culture and ideas.
The complaint shows how easy it is for growing congregations of greater diversity to have some newer factions feel neglected compared to the original groups. This is true in any organization, not just Christian churches, and it is especially prevalent in our present-day culture of overweening self-esteem and entitlement mentalities. People feel neglected or overlooked for an astonishing number of reasons that are probably perceived only in their minds rather than actually being true acts of discrimination. I found this little nugget on Precept Austin from Kent Hughes:
When a certain Dallas church decided to split, each faction filed a lawsuit to claim the church property. A judge finally referred the matter to the higher authorities in the particular denomination. A church court assembled to hear both sides of the case and awarded the church property to one of the two factions. The losers withdrew and formed another church in the area. During the hearing, the church courts learned that the conflict had all begun at a church dinner when a certain elder received a smaller slice of ham than a child seated next to him. Sadly, this was reported in the newspapers for everyone to read. Just imagine how the people of Dallas laughed about that situation! This brought great discredit not only to the church but to Jesus Christ! The tiniest events sometimes cause great problems. Again and again a church has warded off a frontal attack only to be subverted from within.
Good grief!! That elder really needed to get over himself. Sadly, elders and pastors and church council members can be quite arrogant and overbearing, resulting in church conflict and loss of members or splits of congregations. I recall a woman at the ELCA church that we used to attend who was active in almost everything at the church and she made sure that you and everyone else knew it! The enemy loves to use our egos against us because humans are not naturally humble.
The apostles bring together the disciples (those who are learning) to discuss the problem. They are engaged in spreading the Word of God and want to concentrate their time in that area and in prayer, rather than also waiting tables. So they asked the group to select from among them seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, to attend to this task. The seven are named in the verses above and they include Stephen, who we will learn more about soon; all of the names were Greek names, so they sought help from the aggrieved group. A search did not reveal much information about the other names (this is a different Philip than the one member of the apostles). The final approval of the group comes from the apostles and the seven are blessed before they begin the task by the laying on of hands. This commentary from Enduring Word is quite good and explains the statement from the apostles in more detail, as well as the effectiveness of the solution:
It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables: The apostles explained that they should remain faithful to their central calling, which was prayer and to the ministry of the word. It was wrong for them to spend their time administrating the practical needs of the widows.
Some believe that this is evidence of a superior attitude among the twelve; that they considered themselves above such work. This was probably not so, and they were wise in delegating these responsibilities. God did not call these apostles to be everything for the church. God has and will raise up others to serve in other ways.
A pastor should not have his time consumed in tasks that are essentially serving tables. Yet there is something wrong with a pastor who considers such work beneath him.
“This didn’t concern the actual serving of food and cleaning of dining tables for these widows. This speaks of handling the practical administration of the financial and practical details relevant to caring for the widows. “A ‘table’ at that time meant a place where a money changer did his collecting or exchanging of money. The deacons were elected to oversee the distribution of monies and provisions to the needy among the fellowship.” (Lloyd John Ogilvie)
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Seek out from among you: The apostles (the twelve) spoke to the general group of believers (the multitude of the disciples) and pursued the solution with a lot of communication and input from among the people. They even asked those – probably especially those who felt wronged – to suggest men of good character to do this work.
This was a wonderful way to solve the problem. They didn’t throw the complainers out. They didn’t divide into two congregations. They didn’t shun the unhappy people. They didn’t form a committee and discuss the problem to death.
No doubt, someone suggested that the apostles themselves give more direct attention to the distribution of help to the widows. Instead, they delegated and brought more people into doing work of ministry. Meeting unmet needs is a great way to bring more people into ministry.
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Whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them: In this case, the people nominated the men, and the apostles approved them by laying hands on them, after praying for God’s guidance and approval.
It was important to lay hands on them even if their service was mainly for the practical needs of the widows. Practical service is spiritual service. The same Greek word is used for both distribution (Acts 6:1) and ministry (Acts 6:4). The idea behind the word in both places is service, whether in practical ways or spiritual ways.
People should count it a privilege to serve the Lord in these basic, practical ways, instead of seeing it as an “unspiritual” burden. Apart from the cross, Jesus showed the ultimate measure of love by simply washing His disciples’ feet (John 13:1-5).
Nowhere in this chapter of Acts are these men called deacons, but most consider they were the first to fulfill the office of deacon as described in 1 Timothy 3:8-13. The word deacon simply means “servant,” and these men were certainly servants. They could claim the same promise for faithful service that Paul specifically made to deacons in 1 Timothy 3:13: For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
A few takeaways from this commentary:
Although the response of the apostles could strike some as arrogant, they could not be all things to all people, especially as the church is growing by leaps and bounds and different languages and customs are now coming into play. The twelve recognize their primary roles as the leaders of the church who are now learning management and how to delegate. This is amazing growth for men who were itinerant fishermen, tax collectors, and zealots.
The problem is solved simply and quickly by trusting the disciples to select the best seven men from among themselves to oversee the problem. Everything in our age today seems to rely on meetings, more meetings and then the formation of committees to study the problem but not solve it.
Practical service to the Lord is just as spiritual as ministry work. We should count it as a privilege to serve the Lord in any capacity that He commands.
My next devotional examines Acts 6: 7-15 - The church grows; Stephen garners unwanted attention.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Thank you for the example of how the apostles learned to delegate responsibilities to their disciples to ensure that all were treated properly, especially when it comes to helping widows and others who cannot help themselves. All service to you is a privilege! Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Gotquestions.org was accessed on 9/4/2024 to answer the question, “Who were the Hellenistic Jews?”.
Precept Austin was accessed on 9/4/2024 to review commentary for Acts 6:1-6
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik was used with written permission.