We are going to camp out in Acts 6 for several articles. There is so much to learn here in connection to how the church is to function as a team and a body. Please read and meditate upon the first 7 verses. We are going to make an observation from this text every day this week.
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. 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. 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.”
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. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. 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.
(Acts 6:1-7)
Today’s observation is that even the apostles ran the show, there were things and people overlooked. What do we see here in the text? There was racial / ethnic / social tension within the congregation. Greek Jews versus Jews from the homeland. Favoritism and cliques were raising their ugly heads. Some widows were well cared for, while others were being neglected.
Wait a minute! Weren’t the apostles directly led by the Holy Spirit? Weren’t they guided into all truth? How could this happen under their watch?
Well, we know it happened, plain and simple. Why? Because we are all human. Problems arise in the local congregation because…here you go…it is made up of people. Even when the apostles were directly overseeing the congregation, things happened that should not have happened. While the apostles were directly shepherding this new church, there were people overlooked and things that should have been done were not done.
This is important for us today. There is no such thing as a church without problems. You will not find a “perfect” local congregation on this earth. Even when the apostles ran the show, things were missed. God knows it will be that way, so what He is watching for is how we will respond to the situation and more importantly, to each other during those problems.
Here are the other articles in the series: