Hearing and Obeying

At the moment I am reading through the Book of Acts with about 60 people from Celebration Church Netherlands, as well as other churches. The Book of Acts not only tells us about the acts of the apostles, but also about what life looked like in the early church. Although the context of that church was quite different than our context, there is much we can learn from it.

One key learning point for us is how leadership got selected and appointed, and what the early church did to broaden its leadership base in response to a big crisis. The crisis that happened was the result of cultural differences between the Judean Jews and the Hellenistic Jews who were part of the early church. The Judean Jews were typical Jews living in Judea, whose primary language was most likely Aramaic. The Hellenistic Jews had become, culturally speaking, very Greek. The Hellenists felt that their widows were being overlooked in the food distribution.

So how did the apostles handle this crisis?

1. They realized that the need was too big for the current leadership to handle: “a complaint… arose” (6:1 ESV)
2. They remembered what they had been called to and what they had not been called to: “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.” (6:2 ESV)
3. They ascertained the support of the people they led for the decision to broaden the leadership base: “And what they said pleased the whole gathering…” (6:5 ESV)
4. They created buy-in for the new leaders by allowing the people they lead to nominate those leaders: “… and they chose… [and] set [them] before the apostles…” (6:5-6 ESV). Note that all the people they nominated had Greek, Hellenist, names! The complaints arose in the Greek speaking part of the church, so they wanted leaders who they thought would represent them well and who would understand their unique challenges!
5. They made sure the people that were selected for leadership were “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (6:5 ESV).
6. They officially appointed these new leaders by praying for them and laying their hands on them publicly (6:6).
7. The role of the newly appointed leaders was to do what the apostles were already doing: to “serve tables”. Nowhere in this passage the word “deacon” is used for the seven men who were appointed, although many of us know this passage as the passage in which the seven deacons were appointed. But watch this: the Greek verb for “serving” is διακονέω (diakoneo), which is the verb on which the term deacon (διάκονος) is based on. When you appoint people to lead, you’re actually appointing them to serve. But it’s the same for you and me, we’re all servants! Even Jesus sees himself as a servant, and we’re called to follow his example: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve [διακονέω], and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45 ESV). In the church today, leadership is overrated and servanthood is underrated! Let’s indeed follow Jesus’ example and be true servants to him and to others!

The result of the swift action of the apostles on the growth of the church was amazing:

“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 6:7 ESV)

If you feel the leadership base of the ministry you serve in is too narrow, pray through approaching the situation in like manner, and take action before a crisis arrives on the scene!