We continue our in-depth look into Acts 6:1-7.
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)
Seeing Our Roles and the Roles of Others
Here are two observations for today:
The apostles did not dive in directly either to “DO” or “OVERSEE” this work. This is a trap that many church leaders, especially elders and preachers, fall into. When a preacher could delegate certain administrative/secretarial duties, but does them himself, he takes away time he could be studying, preparing material and leading studies (done this myself way too many times). When an elder is at the church building fixing toilets and working on the church building, he is taking away valuable time that he should be spending visiting, counseling and “shepherding.” By the way, if you take away the church building, what would deacons and elders be doing? What did they do in the first century?
The apostles were given a clear mission statement by the Lord. “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God…But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” If the apostles jumped in to do this work for the widows, then their job to which God had specifically called them would be left undone. AND…please hear this…if they jumped in to MANAGE and OVERSEE the situation, they would also be pulled away from their focus.
Please notice the text, the apostles would appoint men to “oversee” this work. The apostles neither did this work, nor did they oversee it. They appointed men to do this. I believe this is critical. I may not actually be doing the work, but is my mental energy focused on managing and making decisions for men who should be trusted to do that for themselves? The apostles completely gave this task over to qualified men.
Leaving the word of God to serve tables – The apostles were not minimizing the care of widows by what they said. God is pretty consistent about His heart for caring for widows. The Bible is plain on that one. It was a very important job that needed to be overseen, but the apostles already had their own important task to which God had called them. Both jobs were vital and both jobs needed oversight and attention. It’s not like the apostles were saying that caring for widows was beneath them. We know the apostles had a heart for caring for the poor (Galatians 2:10).
In a local congregation, it is to be like a body. Every member has value, talents and functions. No one is more needed and important than the other. I do not mean in this article to say that church leaders never do things at the church building like mow or clean the building. It’s just intended to be a reminder that we as a body need to make sure the responsibilities are spread around to the body as it ought to be.
Here are the other articles in the series: