Deacons

In chapter 6, we have a different kind of problem. This was not a case of anybody being particularly evil, lying to the Holy Spirit or something of that nature. It is a question of administration, resulting from the church’s growing pains.

How were the apostles to deal with this problem? I find it interesting that on this occasion there was apparently no divine revelation, which is what had happened in the case of Ananias and Sapphira. We do not even find that the apostles held a prayer meeting, though I am sure they did pray about the situation. What we have is an administrative decision.

The church got together and elected the first deacons, seven of them. The significant thing about their choice is that every one of these men, to judge from their names, was a Greek-speaking Christian. The Greeks were the ones who were complaining that their widows were neglected. So the church as a whole (and I would imagine there were more Aramaic-speaking Christians in the church than there were Greek-speaking Christians) said, “Let’s elect Greek-speaking leaders.”

If you want to be great in God’s sight, try serving people. Be a true deacon. If you want to be even greater in God’s sight, serve even more people. And that includes doing things for them that the world would call “menial.”