Acts 6:1-7: Wise Leadership Through Challenging Times (Part 2)

Acts 6:1-7: Wise Leadership through Challenging Times (Part 2)

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of Acts, and today we’ll be spending a second week looking at Acts 6:1-7. It says,

1 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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 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. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 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. 

We’ve been going through the book of Acts passage by passage, and this morning we find ourselves in Acts 6:1-7. This is actually our second week in this passage. And the reason we’re spending a second week here is that I believe there are still some very important things to talk about from this passage that we didn’t have enough time to cover last week. It’s kind of like eating at a really good restaurant and then having a craving for that same restaurant again the next day. I don’t know if that’s ever happened to you before, but I know that, for me, there have been times where I’ve gone to eat somewhere and thought to myself the next day, “Man, that place was so good, I think I’m going to go back again today.” And that’s sort of the way I feel about this passage. 

Last week, in part one of the sermon, we looked at the challenge the early church faced related to food distribution. There were two cultural groups in the church—the Hellenists and the Hebrews—and the Hellenists were complaining that their widows were being overlooked in the church’s food distribution ministry. And the apostles recognized that this was an issue that had the potential to cause significant division in the church and that therefore had to be dealt with. However, they also recognized that they themselves weren’t the right people to oversee that ministry since they needed to remain focused on prayer and the ministry of the Word. That was their calling. So they very wisely had the congregation nominate seven men to oversee the food distribution ministry—all of whom were Hellenists, since that’s the group that was being overlooked. The apostles then officially appointed those men to serve in that way, and the problem was solved. The church continued to grow, it says. 

And last week, we focused on how wise the apostles were to approach things in that way. They wisely and effectively dealt with the situation at hand and avoided the very real danger of division in the congregation. Yet they did so in a way that allowed them to continue focusing on what they needed to focus on without being distracted. So the apostles avoided the twin dangers of division and distraction. 

However, there’s a lot more that I believe the Lord would have us see in this text—particularly in the area of what’s often called “mercy ministry.” Mercy ministry is basically when Christians help people with practical needs such as food, as we see here in Acts 6, or other things like paying an electric bill or providing transportation or helping someone get a job or whatever the need might be—the list is nearly endless. 

And unfortunately, this is one area where it’s easy for churches to become very imbalanced. On the one hand, there are some churches that don’t even believe mercy ministry is something the church as an organization should be involved with at all. They’re very adamant that the church should focus exclusively on teaching the Bible and making disciples and that’s pretty much it. Anything else, such as mercy ministry, is seen as a threat to the church maintaining its focus on biblical instruction. Then on the other end of the spectrum—the other extreme—there are churches that do become so focused on mercy ministry that they end up neglecting biblical teaching. They get so wrapped up in doing so many good things that they forget why they’re supposed to be doing them in the first place—the doctrinal foundations that undergird it all. In some cases, these churches even become so sloppy and careless in their approach to the Bible that they end up losing the gospel altogether. So those are the two extremes.

Yet that’s why I love what we see here in Acts 6 so much, because it shows us what biblically balanced ministry looks like. And that’s the main idea I’d like to draw out of this passage—that the apostles wisely organized the church for biblically balanced ministry. The apostles wisely organized the church for biblically balanced ministry. Biblically balanced ministry is ministry that avoids both of the extremes I just mentioned and instead incorporates both the Great Commandments and the Great Commission. Those are the two pillars of biblically balanced ministry—the Great Commandments and Great Commission. 

The Great Commandments

The Great Commandments are found in Matthew 22:37-40. Someone asks Jesus what the greatest commandment is, and he says, 37 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” So love God and love people. Those two commandments encompass the entirety of God’s will for our lives. If we’ll just do those two things, we’ll be doing everything God wants us to do. 

And as we look at our main passage in Acts 6, we can see that the early church took these commandments seriously—specifically the second one about loving your neighbor as yourself. When it was brought to the apostles’ attention that certain widows were being neglected in the food distribution ministry, notice how they respond. They’re not like, “Wait a minute, food distribution? What are we even doing having a food distribution ministry anyway? We just need to focus on biblical instruction and that’s it.” The apostles don’t say that. Nor do they say, “Well, you know guys, distributing food to these widows might be a nice thing to do, but look…it’s just becoming too much trouble. We should probably just not focus so much on that and focus instead on what’s really important.” The apostles could have said either of those things, yet they don’t. Instead, they show that they’re deeply committed to mercy ministry by calling the whole congregation together—tens of thousands of people—and organizing to meet the need. They make it a priority to make sure that these widows’ needs are being met. And that’s a perfect example of what Jesus tells us to do in the second greatest commandment—loving your neighbor as yourself. 

We also find very clear commands for Christians to show love to their neighbors in practical ways in the book of James. In James 1:27, for example, we read that “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” So true, God-honoring religion consists not just of avoiding bad things but of actually doing good things—specifically ministering to orphans and widows in practical ways. Then in the next chapter, James 2:14-17, James asks, 14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. If your faith isn’t showing up in practical ways in your life—such as mercy ministry—what good is it? James asks. Faith without those kinds of practical works is dead. 

Then finally, Jesus himself instructs us on the importance of mercy ministry in Matthew 25:31-40. Listen to what he says: 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” 

So notice here how closely mercy ministry is linked with our entrance into heaven. Now, a critical note here: it’s not that we earn heaven by engaging in mercy ministry. That would contradict dozens and dozens of other passages in the New Testament that teach that we’re saved not though our good works but rather simply through faith in Jesus. However, if we really have faith in Jesus, it’s going to show up in very practical ways in our lives. We’re going to bear fruit. So what Jesus is saying here in Matthew 25 is that those who inherit the Kingdom of Heaven are those who bear the fruit of faith by engaging in various acts of practical ministry to those around them. Caring for the needs of those around us isn’t some peripheral thing that we might occasionally do if we have extra time. Jesus expects it to be a regular part of every believer’s life to such an extent that that’s the characteristic he chooses to highlight of those who go to heaven. 

So loving your neighbor as yourself is something that God expects of every Christian and might even be called a distinguishing feature—perhaps even the distinguishing feature—of the Christian life. And back in Acts 6, we see that the early church understood that. They were committed to showing love to the widows of their congregation in a very practical way and were presumably committed to other expressions of mercy ministry as well. 

Great Commission

Yet as important as it is to obey the Great Commandments of loving God and loving our neighbor, our expressions of that love—such as mercy ministry—should never be separated from something else that Jesus gives to us, often referred to as the Great Commission. That’s the second pillar of biblically balanced ministry. Not only does biblically balanced ministry involve keeping the Great Commandments, it involves focusing on the Great Commission. That commission, as I certainly hope you know if you attend our church regularly, is given to us in Matthew 28:18-20, where Jesus declares to his disciples, 18 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” You could summarize all of that in two words: make disciples. That’s what we’ve been commissioned to do and where our focus should be—on making disciples. Yes, it’s true that the commandments to love God and love our neighbor are the greatest commandments, but the chief way in which we keep those commandments is by making disciples. That’s our priority—just as it was the priority of the church in Acts 6. 

Because notice, in Acts 6, how determined the apostles were to maintain their focus on making disciples by devoting themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word. That’s what the top leaders of the church were focused on. And the fact that the top leaders of the church made that their priority demonstrates that that’s what they viewed as the central component of the church’s overall ministry. The church’s overall ministry might have included mercy ministry, but it didn’t revolve around it. It revolved around making disciples through prayer and the ministry of the Word. Think about this: had mercy ministry been the priority, the apostles would have said, “Okay, we see this need with the food distribution ministry, so we’re going to make that our focus and appoint others to take care of making disciples through prayer and the ministry of the word.” Yet that’s not what they said. Or if mercy ministry had been an equal priority with making disciples, the apostles would have been like, “Okay, let’s have some of us apostles focus on making disciples through prayer and the ministry of the word and the other apostles focus on mercy ministry.” Yet that’s not what they said either. They said, “We as apostles are all going to focus on prayer and the ministry of the word.” The Great Commission was their priority. 

And not only do we see the Great Commission being prioritized by the apostles in verse 4, we also see it being celebrated in verse 7. You know, we celebrate what’s important to us. So look at what verse 7 celebrates: “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.” So the cause for celebration in this chapter isn’t that the hungry were being fed but that “the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly.” That’s ultimately what it’s all about. 

“The Word of God” here is a reference to everything God’s revealed to us in the Bible and especially to the core message of that revelation—a message that revolves around Jesus. Jesus is even referred as to the “Word of God” in several New Testament passages such as John 1:14 and Revelation 19:13. And the reason for that is because he’s the sum and substance of God’s revelation. You see, the Bible tells us that we’re in a truly desperate situation. Each one of us has sinned against the God of the universe and made ourselves deserving of God’s wrath. But in his incredible love for us, God the Father sent his own Son Jesus to become a real human being, live a life of sinless perfection, and then die on the cross to make atonement for our sins. The cross wasn’t some unexpected derailment of God’s plan but was actually the very focal point of God’s plan. In his death, Jesus endured the full force of God’s wrath in our place—so that we wouldn’t have to. He then won a stunning victory over sin and death three days later when he rose from the dead, walked out of his grave, and ascended to heaven, where he now stands ready to save all who will put their trust in him. And that trust is something that affects every aspect of our lives. Notice in verse 7 that embracing this message is referred to as becoming “obedient to the faith.” That’s the proper response to this message about Jesus. We have to become obedient to it and embrace it in a life-changing way. 

And friends, this is the message that people so desperately need to hear. You know, if you went around asking people what the greatest crisis in the world is, I’m sure you’d get a variety of different answers. Some would probably say that the greatest crisis in the world is poverty or hunger or war or maybe a disease like AIDS. And those are all terrible things. I’m not sure any of us in this room can even grasp just how horrific those things are. Yet I believe the greatest crisis in the world actually isn’t any of these things but rather the fact that every day, people are dying and going to hell. They’re going to a place of eternal torment. And we have the only thing that can save them—the message of Jesus. We have what they so desperately need. 

And that’s why proclaiming this message about Jesus is more of a priority than mercy ministry. It’s because it meets a greater need. I once heard someone say if we engage in mercy ministry without an emphasis on telling people about Jesus, then really all that we’re doing is just making this world a nicer place to go to hell from. It know that’s very blunt, but it’s also very true. And that’s why biblically balanced ministry needs both the Great Commandments and the Great Commission. Another way to say it is that the chief way in which we keep the Great Commandments is by engaging in the Great Commission. The most meaningful way in which we can demonstrate love for people is by sharing the gospel with them. 

So, for example, this Saturday we plan on going out to some homeless camps and blessing the homeless by giving them supplies. However, that’s not the only way we want to bless the homeless—because inside each one of the drawstring backpacks we’ll be handing out will be a booklet that tells people about Jesus a Gospel of John. We also hope, when we visit these camps, to have natural opportunities to pray with the people we encounter and share the gospel with them. So this outreach effort is a perfect example of something that accomplishes both the Great Commandments and the Great Commission. We never want to do one without the other. 

And by the way, we do have plans to engage in mercy ministry in a greater way when we get into our church building. We already have several very good ideas for how we’d like to do that on a more ongoing basis and are excited to start engaging in ministry to our local area here in those ways. And all of them, of course, will involve a very distinct emphasis on the Great Commission. So, like the early church here in Acts 6, we want to pursue a biblically balanced ministry. 

Also, as we look at Acts 6 and specifically at these seven men being appointed to oversee the church’s food distribution ministry, the question often arises of whether these seven men were the first deacons. To give you some background, 1 Timothy 3 mentions two offices in the church—elders and deacons, along with qualifications for both. And it’s pretty clear what the elders of a church are supposed to do. They’re responsible for leading the church. However, it’s not quite as clear what deacons are supposed to do. The word “deacon” comes from the Greek word διάκονος, which means “servant.” So deacons are called to be servants in the church. But what exactly does their service look like? And should we view the seven men appointed in Acts 6 as the first deacons?  

And it’s a bit tricky in Acts 6, because the noun διάκονος is never applied to these men or used in the passage at all. However, the corresponding verb διακονέω is applied to what they do. The apostles state in verse 2, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve [διακονέω] tables.” So these seven men aren’t called “deacons,” but the text does state that they’ll engage in “deaconing” or “serving” in the church. And we also have to remember that all of this was very early on in the life of the church. Things were incredibly fluid at this point, and almost everything was in the process of being developed. So I believe it’s best to think of these men in Acts 6 not as deacons, but simply as men who engaged in a deacon-type ministry—or perhaps “proto-deacons,” if you will. 

And that’s significant because it means that there’s not really a specific job description for deacons in the New Testament. Now, if we did view these men in Acts 6 as deacons, we might be more likely to conclude that deacons should be focused on mercy ministry. But since I’m not really convinced that what we see in Acts 6 is a mature deacon ministry, I believe the New Testament leaves the question of what deacons should do pretty open. Basically, it’s appropriate for deacons to serve in whatever ways the congregation—and specifically the elders—need them to serve. It might be a food distribution ministry like we see here in Acts 6 or literally any other ministry that’s needed in the church. One principle that I really appreciate from Acts 6 is that the church is free to organize things in whatever way seems most beneficial and to make the most sense given the situation of that particular church in that particular season. As John MacArthur writes in his commentary on this passage, “Biblical church organization always responds to needs and to what the Spirit is already doing….Organization is never an end in itself but only a means to facilitate what the Lord is doing in His church.” So it seems that deacon ministry in the New Testament is meant to be an incredibly flexible ministry that churches are free to utilize as they see best to fit the needs that they currently have. 

And, with regard to our church, we do hope to appoint some deacons in the not-too-distant future. Most of you know that our church is still pretty new and still in the process of developing things. But I do believe that it would be beneficial for us to designate certain people as deacons. We’ve already called people other things such as “directors” of various things or “team leaders,” but I do believe starting to employ the title of “deacon” for certain people would be beneficial because it communicates something not just about the person’s function but also about the kind of person that they are and the fact that we want to publically designate them as model servants. That’s how we plan on employing the title of deacon. It’s a title that we plan on using not primarily for certain positions but rather for certain people that we believe are especially exemplary as servants. So basically, giving someone the title of deacon is sort of like putting a sign on their forehead that says “Model Servant.” That’s what a deacon is and what we believe the title of deacon is intended to do. These are simply people that we’d like to designate as model servants—whether they’re serving in mercy ministry or whatever their area of service might be. 

And as we consider this passage in Acts 6 as a whole, I pray that we can be inspired to pursue biblically balanced ministry in our church—holding tightly to both the Great Commandments and the Great Commission….because we need both. Like, if we try to love people without sharing the gospel with them, then we’re actually not loving them very well at all because we’re neglecting their greatest and most desperate need. Also, we don’t want to fall into the opposite error either. We don't want to share the gospel without seeking to love the people around us. That would result not only in us treating people like projects, which we would never want to do, but also in our gospel witness being much less compelling. You see, ultimately, it's the love we show that makes people want to listen to the message we share. Again, it's the love we show that makes people want to listen to the message we share. That's why the Great Commandments and Great Commission should always be kept together. As Scripture says, “what God has joined together let not man separate.”