The Role of Deacons

[This is the manuscript of a message I preached a few months ago at our church]

The Role of Deacons
Acts 6:1-6

The Office of Deacon
Turn with me to Philippians 1:1. Here, in his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul begins by naming himself and Timothy – the senders of the letter – and by naming its recipients. He says, “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, along with the overseers and deacons.”

Overseers we know. We’ve been learning about them for the past two weeks. We’ve seen that sometimes they are called “overseers”, other times “elders”, and once “pastors”. We’ve learned that every church is to be led by a plurality of overseers, and that they have been given the responsibility to feed God’s people, lead God’s people, and protect God’s people.

But who are these people called “deacons”? And what is their function in the local church?

Before we answer that question, let us stop for a moment and take note of something, namely, that pastors and deacons are the only two church offices taught in the Bible. We’ve learned about pastors, and we’re going to spend this morning and this evening learning about deacons, but after that there are no other offices taught in Scripture. Now, certainly there are often good, practical reasons for churches to have treasurers, secretaries, clerks, etc. But only two offices are required for Christ’s churches by Christ Himself: the eldership and the diaconate (the pastors and the deacons).

But what did these deacons do? To answer that question we must go to the book of Acts and look at the very first New Testament church. Let’s begin in Acts 2. This chapter begins with the incredible account of that moment when Christ poured out His Holy Spirit in a unique and overwhelming way on His followers, empowering them with faith and boldness to spread the Gospel. Following this we have Peter’s message to the crowd of thousands, articulating the gospel and the truth about the person of Jesus Christ. We are told that on that day alone three thousand souls were added to Christ’s followers. And here began the Jerusalem church.

At this early point in its history, the Jerusalem church had only one office – that of pastor – and oh what pastors these babes in Christ were privileged to have! The Apostles themselves, those who had walked and talked with Jesus, were the shepherds of this local church. And this church was healthy. Look at how it was described in Acts 2:42-47:

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many signs and wonders were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

Here we have a vibrant church, a church hungry for the Word, a benevolent and caring church, a church of real fellowship, and a growing church. This is the kind of church we should all long for! But, alas, the church did not continue constantly like this. Like every other church, the first church had problems arise. Turn with me to Acts 6:1-6.

Acts 6:1-6
Here, in response to a crisis, we find the office of deacon instituted. There was a legitimate need: the Greek-speaking widows needed food to live. God cares for the needy and desires especially for those among His own people to be cared for. At the same time, it would have been inappropriate for the apostles – the pastors of this church – to seek to handle this issue themselves. Their responsibility was to give themselves to prayer and to the Word – for this is what the people needed most of all. So, to ensure that the physical needs of these church members were met, and to relieve the pastors of this necessary duty, the first deacons seem here to have been appointed.

It is true that the word deacon (diakonos) is not actually used in the passage. But its verb form is. In verse 2, the apostles say that it is not right for them to give up the preaching of God’s Word in order to “deacon” (diakoneo) tables. The word deacon (diakonos) literally means “servant”, and was used to describe someone who waited tables.

In Scripture, every Christian is called to be a deacon in the sense that every Christian is called to be a diakonos, a servant the body of Christ. But only some are called to fill the office of deacon. And the way that we know that these men were being appointed to an office is that verse 6 says that the apostles laid their hands on them, which was the way that men were appointed to serve in an office in the church. (cf. 2 Timothy 1:6)

But what were these men set apart to do? First, we see that they were appointed to help care for the needy in their church. Particularly, these men were called upon to help ensure that none in the church with real needs were being overlooked. It is a powerful testimony to the Gospel when a church takes great strides to care for its own; it is a terrible – even blasphemous – testimony that is given when a church fails to care for the needy in its own midst. I thank God that in His distribution of salvation I was not overlooked! Let us overlook no one in our distribution of mercy.

Churches ought to put on display God’s compassion towards the needy. We read of this compassion in passages like Psalm 72:12-14

“For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor, and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight.”

If He has pity on the weak and the needy, ought not we? Have we not been recipients of His mercy ourselves?

Moreover, the Bible makes clear that God’s favor is on those who care for the needy. Psalm 41:1-3 says:

“Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him; the LORD protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The LORD sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health.”

All Christians are called to give themselves in care for the poor, but it is the deacons in particular who are to set the example of this, and who are to lead the way in the ministry of benevolence within the church.

(I need to press this further: Is there anyone in our church that is being overlooked? Are there people in our church with real, practical needs of any kind that we are failing to meet? Let us keep our eyes and ears open for the needs of each other, seeking ways that we can bless one another. Benevolence in a church should not only be done through the church budget – rather, we should be living lives of cheerful sacrifice towards one another. Let us be willing to confront one another often with this question: “Is there some way that I can help you?” Particularly, let us look to the needs of those who are widows, those who are feeble, and those who are under uniquely difficult circumstances. Let’s learn to love one another not only in talk, but in deed!
Allow me to ask: do we need to repent of having a blind eye and a hard heart towards the needs of others? Do we need to repent of perhaps always seeing ourselves as the ones in need rather than being content and seeking to help out others? Do we need to resolve anew this morning to imitate the compassion of Christ towards one another?)

Deacons are to lead us as examples in this endeavor.

Second, we see that deacons were appointed to handle tasks that would distract the pastors from their spiritual duties. Note verse 4: “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Remember, the word “ministry” literally means “service”. So its not that deacons serve the church and pastors don’t. Rather, its two different kinds of service. Pastors serve the church through the service “of the Word”, deacons serve by taking on those tasks delegated to them that free up the pastors for prayer and ministry. Deacons themselves do not have any inherent authority in the church. Rather, they are delegated authority by the pastors to handle important needs of the church so that the pastors can devote themselves to the most important need: the need for God’s Word.

There ought to be a very close relationship between the pastors and the deacons. The deacons serve the pastors the way Aaron and Hur assisted Moses, when they helped him keep his arms raised so that Joshua and the Israelites would win the battle against the Amalekites. Deacons strengthen the pastors of a church by being there for them as helpers, ready and willing to handle whatever matters are delegated to them by the pastors.

Getting the Big Picture
In order for us to get the big picture, it is important for us to take a few moments to review all that we’ve learned so far about church polity. As I go through the following seven points, be sure to fill in the blanks in your sermon outline.

1. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church. (Colossians 1:18)
2. Christ rules His Church through His Word. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, John 17:17)
3. Christ calls and gifts pastors to oversee His churches. (Acts 20:28, 1 Peter 5:1-3)
4. All churches are to be led by a plurality of pastors. (Philippians 1:1, Acts 14:23)
5. Pastors are to feed, lead, and protect God’s people. (Acts 20:17-38)
6. Pastors must be qualified men. (1st Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9)
7. Christ calls and gifts deacons to serve His churches. (Acts 6:1-6)
8. Deacons are to assist the pastors by handling those practical matters delegated to them. (Acts 6:1-6)
9. Deacons are to be particularly involved in caring for the needy within the church. (Acts 6:1-6)

Appointing Deacons
One question we need to consider is this: how should deacons be appointed within the local church?

To begin with, let us remember that the church belongs to Christ and that it is He who calls and gifts people for different forms of ministry. Every Christian is called and gifted in some way to serve the church, and it is Christ who particularly gifts certain men to serve in the office of deacon. It is the responsibility of the church, therefore, under the leadership of the pastors, to seek to recognize those in the church who are fit for the office and to install them into it.

What should we look for? Well, first of all we should look for those with a servant’s heart. We should look for those who are already acting like deacons – serving sacrificially out of love for Christ – and seek to place them into office. Second, we should particularly for those among us who not only love to serve but also have a special concern for the needy in our midst. These should be men whose hearts are easily moved to compassion, men who desire to show generosity to those in need. And finally, we should look for those who are good stewards, since deacons in particular are entrusted with the finances of the church. When the apostles entrusted the seven with caring for the widows, they were putting the resources of the church under their charge. Likewise, deacons are typically entrusted by the pastors and by the church with helping work on church budgets and developing a meaningful benevolence ministry. Therefore, they should be men who know how to manage resources well and with integrity.

Once these men are identified, the next step is to examine them according to the qualifications laid down in Scripture. These qualifications are laid down both here in Acts 6 and in 1st Timothy 3, and we will spend time looking at these tonight. No man should serve as pastor or deacon unless he has been properly examined and deemed qualified for the office.

And finally, each deacon is to be approved by the church and installed by the laying on of hands. This is what we see here in Acts 6, and we’ve already learned that this is how pastors are to be installed as well. By the way, I don’t think pastors should present a list of six qualified men and ask the church to choose three. In doing this, choosing deacons often can become more of a popularity contest. Rather, pastors should bring before the church one candidate at a time that they are convinced will do well in the office, and allow the church to express their opinion with a yes or no vote. Popularity contests should have no place in the local church.

The Number of Deacons
What about the number of deacons a church should have? The Bible never gives us an answer to this question, and it probably should differ from church to church. However, we shouldn’t miss that in Acts 6 there are only seven deacons chosen for a church that by this time had at least seven thousand members. If seven deacons were enough for seven thousand people, many Baptist churches may have a lot more deacons than they need.

John Hammett, professor of systematic theology up the road at Southeastern, has written on this subject. He says “the wisest course is to specify no number or ratio the church must maintain, but to be guided by two factors: the needs of the church and the number of qualified candidates, with the second being the more important of the two. A church can do well with a small number of deacons, but to have unqualified deacons invites problems. Moreover, there is no need for annual elections of deacons. Rather, new deacons should be selected as needs arise and as existing deacons need to withdraw from active service.”

Close
Like pastors, we should esteem our deacons very highly and be thankful for the work they do. They are here to serve us, and to set an example for us all to follow. Everyone of us has been called to serve. And of course, our greatest example is the Lord Jesus Christ, who came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. Do you desire to be Christ-like? Then find your joy in “deaconing” – serving others sacrificially, giving of yourself in order to bless others. A church full of people all eagerly seeking to serve one another is a church that will flourish in grace and that will be used by God for the salvation of many. Amen.