What Is A Deacon, Anyway?

Series: -- Preacher: Date: March 26, 2000 Scripture Reference: Acts 6:1-7;

1 – In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian 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, 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 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.

About 13 years ago I accepted a call to a church in northern Delaware where, for three years, I served on staff as their Minister of Music and Education. One of the first things the pastor told me when I arrived was that I would be expected to attend all deacons meetings. So I put the dates and times on my calendar and obediently went but I quickly grew to dread these meetings. I say this because it soon became obvious to me that our deacons were suffering from an “identity crisis.” I mean, they knew they were deacons…but they didn’t know what that meant. And this caused their monthly meetings to be very unorganized which meant they were also very long-some lasted well past 11:00PM.. What made matters worse was the fact that we spent an inordinate amount of time at these three and four hour long meetings engaged in pointless discussions over trivial issues.

For example, during one of the first meetings I attended there was a heated debate that lasted nearly 45 minutes over whether or not the church office should send out reminder cards informing deacons of the date and time of the next meeting. After a great deal of discussion a majority of the deacons voted NOT to do so arguing that sending reminder cards was a waste of postage. Some pointed out that deacons were adults and should be able to remember dates and times. Well….three meetings later we revisited the issue.

You see, attendance at deacon meetings was down and after another 45 minutes of intense discussion it was decided that this poor attendance was due to the fact that we were no longer mailing reminder cards. One deacon pointed out that deacons were busy adults and busy adults can be forgetful so it was worth the 12 cents per card to send them a reminder. Unfortunately that did not settle the issue. About 3 meetings later one deacon said it was a waste of God’s money to send out reminder cards to deacons so he made a motion to stop the practice once again. And what followed was another heated discussion much like the one we had 6 meetings earlier. I remember sitting there feeling like I was in the Twilight Zone and thinking, “Surely deacons have more important things to do with their time than deal with things like this!”

Now please don’t get me wrong. The deacons of this church were wonderful, good Christian men who would give you the shirt off their back. It’s just that over the years they had become very confused over the purpose of deacon ministry. And they are not alone. Many Christians have misconceptions about deacons and their function. Brian Harbour, pastor of First Baptist Church in Richardson, Texas told of meeting a little girl in the hall at church after Sunday School. He asked her, “Susan, what did you learn in Sunday School today?” And Susan replied, “We learned how to heal the sick and cast out DEACONS!” Well tragically many people in churches think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to cast out deacons because, thanks to a general misunderstanding the deaconate some deacon bodies do not have a popular track record. Many people think deacons are just a group of OVER-the-hill men who keep the pastor OVER the barrel. And all this misunderstanding of the office of deacon by both deacons and parishioners has led to poems like this. Perhaps you’ve heard it:

“Oh, tell the deacons when I’m gone — That they need shed no tears,

For I will then be no more dead — Than they have been for years!”

Well, this morning, I want us to go back to the beginning….back to the first days of the church when deacons were first “invented” to make sure that we here at Redland have a very clear understanding of what it is that a deacon is to BE and DO.

You’ll remember that before Jesus’ ascension to heaven He commanded His followers to return to Jerusalem to await the coming of the Holy Spirit. They obeyed and Acts 2 says that on the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples…and Peter preached and 3,000 souls were added to the church on that day alone. But not long after this, the infant church underwent a time of persecution. The Jewish religious leaders had apparently thought that the death of Jesus would settle their problems in regard to His followers. They felt certain that this small band would dissolve and that the budding Christian movement would be stopped in its tracks. But they soon realized that something had happened to these Christians. These followers of Jesus were witnessing and preaching that He had been raised from the dead. The movement was not dying out. In fact, it was growing! So the Jews decided on another strategy. They thought that if they persecuted the LEADERS of the church, the movement would dissolve. As a result of this new tactic, James was martyred and Peter and John were put in jail. But this persecution…this STORM FROM WITHOUT…only strengthened the church further! It was like pouring fuel on the fire-and that is the way it has always been. Down through the centuries persecution or struggles FROM WITHOUT have only caused the church to become bigger and better.

Unfortunately, history has also shown that STORMS FROM WITHIN the church can have incredible destructive power. And during these early days, a storm developed WITHIN the church at Jerusalem. Now like most church “storms” it concerned a little thing…..not much more significant than whether or not to send out deacon reminder cards. There rose in the church one of those low murmurs that can be heard when all is quiet. It was the same kind of indistinct mumbling that goes on between pews at some Baptist business meetings. Of course we don’t have pews so we don’t have that problem here!

Well, here is what happened. Like churches today, the Christians in the church in Jerusalem enjoyed getting together to share a meal. I guess this is where potluck dinners began! But as these dinners caught on and became a regular part of the life of the church, the Grecian widows began to complain that they were being treated unfairly at these meals. And they were probably justified in their complaints. “Good” Jews, who spoke Hebrew-or Aramaic-probably held a firm prejudice against those other Jews who had conformed to the modernist trends of the day and learned Greek.

Now, this senseless prejudice-and, by the way, ALL racial prejudice is senseless-this prejudice had not segregated the congregation as of yet….no church split had formed. But it was, however, straining the fellowship. Their spirit wasn’t as sweet as it should be!

Calvin Miler suggests that it might have gone like this: The widows would come past the love-feast buffet (picture the serving window in our kitchen) And if the widow came to the window and said “shalom,” a good Hebrew greeting, she got an extra serving of food; but if she came by and said “eirene,” a good Greek greeting, she got a noticeably smaller portion. Because of this, the Greek-speaking widows of course started to complain in Greek gripes and the Hebrew widows responded with Jewish jibes. This haggling in the hash lines got so bad that ultimately the apostles themselves, busy with the important matters of the Kingdom, were called in to supervise the meals. And this is what lead to the statement in verses 2-4 of our text where the apostles said,

“It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, 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 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word..

Well, seven deacons were prayerfully chosen to help straighten things out so that harmony could be restored to the church. And it worked! With the help of these first deacons, the church’s fellowship problems were solved and the apostles were able to get out of the kitchen and get back to the study. So…that is how deacons first came to be.

Now, let’s take both this text and the history of deacon ministry and correct a few current misconceptions by noting two things that deacons are NOT. And the first is this…”

1. The office of deacon is NOT-and never has been-an HONORARY office.

Many believers tend to think that the title “deacon” is just a compliment that doesn’t really mean much like some sort of mail-order diploma. And it IS a compliment…an HONOR…to be chosen as a deacon but it is not an honorary office. The word “honorary” means, “an office held in honor only….without service or pay.” And while it is true that deacons aren’t paid they DO perform valuable SERVICE. Deacons do REAL ministry here, just as was done by those FIRST seven deacons for they were much more than a kitchen committee in a grumbling church.

They became active in many ways helping the church to function and grow. Two of the original seven, Philip and Stephen, became known for their powerful witness for Christ. Acts 8 records that Deacon Philip led that Ethiopian eunuch to Christ and baptized him. Remember? And the bold witness of Deacon Stephen led to his becoming the first Christian martyr. So there has never been anything HONORARY about being a deacon…they actively SERVE the church in many ways.

One of the most important things they DO is to preserve the harmony of the church. Just like the first deacons, who restored peace to the church in Jerusalem our deacons are out among us….acting as peace-makers….squelching harmful gossiping and murmuring. And this is a vital job! For, harmony is an essential requirement if church growth is to occur. A church cannot flourish without a SWEET SWEET SPIRIT. I always ask the prospects and new members who attend my RBC101 class to share their first impression of Redland and the majority of them comment on the friendliness they sense here. They repeatedly say that it is our HARMONY that draws them in to this place. But DIS-harmony has the opposite affect. When people are unloving to each other — when the rumor mills are turning in a church — guests can sense that as well. And this kind of UN-health in a church family will repel a visitor better than “DEEP WOODS OFF” will a mosquito!

Deacons help us to get along as a church family. They support each other and our staff publically and privately. They know how important church unity is so they guard it and cherish it like soldiers guarding the gold at Fort Knox….

But that is not all deacons do…They are literal pastoral assistants…working with me in so many ways. Our deacons help me with the Lord’s Supper and baptism. They assist me in helping to bear the pastoral counseling load…We visit prospects together. Deacons help counsel those who make public decisions in morning worship. They administer benevolence funds to those who have financial need. Each deacon is given several families to know and serve….sort of their own mini-congregation I am so very thankful for our deacons and the many different types of ministry they perform, because in doing all they do…they free me to do my primary job.

Ephesians 4:13 refers to this when it says that a pastor is to “to prepare God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ-the church-may be built up.” This means that a pastor’s primary job is to provide spiritual food for his people so that they will be equipped to do ministry.

Now, this is not to say that other things are not important but everything can’t be first. Something has to have priority in our life. And the pastor’s priority….his first job it so feed his people….to train, organize and motivate them to do the work of the ministry.

Most people say, “Our church has one minister and 500 members.” but what they ought to say is “Our church has one pastor and 500 ministers.” II Corinthians 5 says that ALL Christians have been designated as “ministers of reconciliation” all of us are specially called by God ordained to lead the lost to faith in Christ. It is my primary responsibility to equip you for this God-given assignment and deacons free pastors like myself to minister and pray and study as we should so that I can indeed equip you. I remember hearing of some executives who, as part of a training seminar, were given a jar, a bucket of sand, and several good-sized rocks. Their assignment was to get all the rocks and the sand into the jar.

Well, they poured that sand in and found that there was no room for the rocks.

So, the instructor had them remove the sand and put the rocks in first..Then they were able to pour the sand into the jar. The point of this exercise was that little things….like the sand….can keep you from being able to find room in your life for big things. And one thing deacons have always done is to assist the pastor with little things so he is free to do the big things…..his primary tasks….of feeding the church. Calvin Miller writes,

“The office of deacon is a high office. He is not just an ecclesiastical trouble-shooter or a pastoral spy. He is a knight in armor taking care of the little battles, which the pastor could win, but only at the expense of lost energy and time in the kingdom.”

So the office of deacon is not HONORARY. These men and women do real ministry!

2. And then, our deacons are also NOT an authoritative body.

They are not chosen to “rule the roost” around here. And…it is at this point that the office of deacon is most often misunderstood.

You see, in some churches the deacon body is referred to as “the BOARD of deacons.” The word “board” goes back to the early days of our history when the leaders of a community sat around a wooden table, called a board….and made leadership decisions on important issues. But when deacons or any large group in the church become a board to run the church, they usually become either a rubber stamp or a bottleneck, neither of which is good or scriptural. A Baptist church is not run by a board nor is it bullied by a dictator pastor. As Herschel Hobbs once said, “There is no place for a BOSS in a Baptist church.”

No, the church is to be run by the Lord through the entire congregation voicing His will. Jesus is only the Head around here. When the church began the apostles didn’t run it and neither did the deacons. The church ran the church. Deacons were never intended to be a ruling body.

Well, if the office of deacon is not an HONORARY thing….and if it is not an AUTHORITATIVE thing….then what exactly is it? What IS a DEACON anyway?

a. Well first and foremost a deacon is a SERVANT.

In fact, the Greek word for deacon-diakonos-literally means “servant.” Their original function was to literally serve tables…to minister to the needs of the people and when they understand this and give themselves to acts of servanthood…it has a powerfully positive effect on the entire church.

The late Peter Marshall, used to love to tell the story of “The Keeper of the Spring,” a quiet forest dweller who lived high above an Austrian village along the eastern slopes of the Alps. The old gentleman had been hired many years ago by a young town council to clear away the debris from the pools of water up in the mountain crevices that fed the lovely spring flowing through their town. With faithful, silent regularity, he patrolled the hills, removed the leaves and branches, and wiped away the silt that would otherwise choke and contaminate the fresh flow of water. By and by, the village became a popular attraction for vacationers. Graceful swans floated along the crystal clear spring….the millwheels of various businesses located near the water turned day and night, farmlands were naturally irrigated and the view from restaurants was picturesque beyond description.

Years passed and one evening the town council met for its semiannual meeting. As they reviewed the budget, one man’s eye caught the salary figure being paid the obscure keeper of the spring. He said, “Who is this old man? Why do we keep him on year after year? No one ever sees him. For all we know this strange ranger of the hills is doing us no good. He isn’t necessary any longer!” And by a unanimous vote, they dispensed with the old man’s services. For several weeks nothing changed. But by early autumn the trees began to shed their leaves. Small branches snapped off and fell into the pools, hindering the rushing flow of sparkling water. One afternoon someone noticed a slight yellowish-brown tint in the spring. A couple days later the water was much darker. Within another week, a slimy film covered sections of the water along the banks and a foul odor was soon detected. The millwheels moved slower, some finally ground to a halt. The swans left-as did the tourists. Clammy fingers of disease and sickness reached deeply into the village.

Quickly the embarrassed council called a special meeting. Realizing their gross error in judgment, they hired back the old keeper of the spring…and within a few weeks the veritable river of life began to clear up. The wheels started to turn, and new life returned to the hamlet in the Alps once again. What the keeper of the springs meant to the village, deacon servants mean to the church. The village without the Keeper of the Spring is a perfect representation of the church without men and women who-often behind the scenes-serve the needs of others.

You see, deacons, first and foremost, are SERVANTS. They are people who put the needs of others above their own. And when they do this….the church thrives which is exactly what happened when the first deacons were chosen! A stagnated church surged forward into a new period of growth and outreach!

Acts 6:7 says, “The word of God increased; and the number of the disciples MULTIPLIED in Jerusalem greatly….” Up until this point in the life of the early church, scripture says, that people were simply “added” to the church. But with the advent of deacon ministry, the writer of Acts says that the growth of the church was not by addition but MULTIPLICATION….the rate of growth increased! So deacons are SERVANTS…..And then deacons are also…

b. ….very special high caliber individuals!

Not everyone can be a deacon. These are uniquely gifted people chosen from among the active members of a local church. Today’s text from Acts teaches that deacons should be “full of the Holy Spirit” which means they must be mature Christians with a deep commitment to our Lord.

Another requirement for this office is a deep faith in God….in other words deacons must not be spiritually near-sighted! They must have vision! It also takes wisdom to serve as a deacon-these congregational servants must have scripturally-based common sense. They must be team-players-humble individuals who do not use their office for personal gain. I Timothy 3:8-12 says deacons must be serious minded, steady people whom others can rely on and draw strength from.

They must not be “double-tongued”… that is…they must be honest and full of integrity. They should not be people who say one thing and mean another. They should not be materialistic and instead should be good stewards of all God gives. Being a deacon requires a sound home life….a relationship with spouse and children that is strong enough to bear up under time-consuming and emotionally exhausting ministry. The Bible says deacons are also to be questioned and tested to insure that they measure up to the requirements of this important office. The deacons we will ordain tonight have been questioned.

Now, you may be sitting there thinking… This is interesting information, Mark…..but what does it have to do with me? Why take so much sermon time for this subject?.

Well, as I said a few moments ago one reason I have felt led to do so is to help insure that we always have a very clear understanding of what a deacon is to be and do. But another reason I have focused on this subject today is because, whereas our church has grown and increased in size in the past few years-our population of deacons has not. Deacons who used to have 6-7 families to minister to are now assigned twice that number. And as a body-that realizes how important deacon ministry is-we need to pray that many others will respond to God’s call to this special office.

In the meantime we need to all be servant-minded so that this body does not suffer. This is part of what it means to be grace-driven. When you see a ministry need, do all you can to fill it. If you ever wonder why somebody doesn’t do something remember, YOU are a somebody!

  • Send a card to someone who is recuperating at home after surgery.
  • Offer to bring a meal to a bereaved family.
  • Pick up the phone and call someone who is hurting. Let them know you will pray for them.
  • Ask God to make you a blessing to someone else in this church and ask that every day.
  • Take one of the needs on our weekly prayer list — which grows longer and longer — and commit to minister to that need. Make that person or family your project!
  • And then, encourage our deacons. Tell them that you will pray for them. Ask God to undergird them and enable them to do all they do.

And while we are on this subject I want you to know that I am very thankful for the deacons that we have here at Redland. They DO make my job so much easier. They are precious friends and we spend our monthly meetings not talking about things like reminder cards but learning how to better serve you. And I ask them now to come and help me serve you in a very important way by distributing the Lord’s Supper.

As we begin this ordinance, let me encourage all Christians present today to partake with us. Even if you are not a member of this church, join us. If you are His, this is Yours.

Website design and development by Red Letter Design.