The tiniest events sometimes cause great
problems. Again and again a church has
warded off a frontal attack only to be subverted from within. Countless works for God have been hurt this
way. God blesses a work. Then someone complains that he or she is not
appreciated or is being neglected. Acts
6 describes such a situation.
– Kent Hughes
Biblical church organization 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.
– Johnny Hunt
3
attacks on the young church: Persecution
(Acts 4), Corruption (Acts 5), Distraction (Acts 6)
Greek
Jews and Hebrew Jews and the food distribution
Diakonia
/ diakonos - primarily denotes servant;
“through the dust” – leaving a ministry trail
1.
The need
(1). Complaints
arose because of a legitimate, unmet need within the congregation.
When
Satan does not succeed in stopping the church with a frontal assault, he
attacks from within. This usually happens subtly – an
invitation not sent, a job unnoticed, a critical comment overheard, jealousy
over something that really doesn’t matter.
Someone complains that he or she is not appreciated or is being
neglected. Perhaps in the form of a
critical glance, a name forgotten, a social gaffe, or some imagined
offense. Biter dissension ignites and
spreads, and the whole work goes up in flames.
When the murmuring begins, the
devil smiles. – Kent Hughes
When
believers are unhappy and begin to murmur, the
first place to look for the problem is in their own hearts. If they feel they have just cause for
criticism, by all means they should express it to the right people in an
appropriate way. But they must avoid
murmuring or gossiping and must be
willing to be a part of the solution.
– Hughes
When
a church focuses on making people feel good and putting bandages on people’s
hurt feelings, it becomes easily distracted from her great work of making
disciples and being Christ’s witnesses.
A distracted church will become a weak church.
Mature
Christians learn to get over their hurt feelings, to overlook offenses, and to
get on with God’s program! It is a mark
of immaturity to wallow in self-pity. It
is a mark of maturity to clothe oneself with Christ, forgive your brother, and
let go of your past disappointments. If
you don’t, you will distract not only yourself and your family but perhaps the
whole ministry.
Unrealistic
expectations can distract your ministry!
Guard against getting off course just because someone had their feelings
hurt or felt neglected.
2.
The problem
(2). It
was an incorrect move for the apostles to directly meet the need and neglect
their priority task.
The
apostles had no liberty to be distracted from their own priority task. – John Stott
Waiting on tables would have left the
apostles little time for anything or anyone else. The apostles would have dried up spiritually under the pressure of
serving meals plus all the counseling and preaching, with little time for
preparation and prayer. Furthermore, if
the apostles had agreed to personally run the food program, others might have hesitated
to perform the slightest ministry without apostolic direction, and that would
have fostered overdependence
we sometimes see today, with followers afraid to tie their shoes without
getting permission from the pastor. Delegation is at the heart of developing
followers.– Kent Hughes
It
was not that the apostles thought it beneath their dignity to run the errands
of the church; it was simply a matter of putting first things first. Keeping
the main thing the main thing. There
was no point doing something anyone could do when they could do things no one
else could do. – Johnny Hunt
The ministry of the Word, without prayer
that the Spirit will water the seed, is unlikely to bear fruit. – John Stott
The
apostles’ statement tells us that more than the corporate witness was at
stake. Evidently some had suggested that
the way to dispel hard feelings was to have Peter, John, and the others divvy
up the widows’ goods. Though such
counsel may have appeared sensible at first glance, it actually brought apostolic principles of discipleship and
delegation under well-meaning but deadly attack. The power of the apostolic church would have
been greatly diminished, and this glorious chapter of early-church history
would have been sadly tamed.
The
ill-advised suggestion must have been a substantial temptation for the
apostles. No one wants to think they see
themselves as above common work. There
was also the temptation to think, “Things will not happen the way they should
if I do not do them myself.” They could
not set themselves up as little gods. –
Kent Hughes
a) The apostles did not get distracted by
the murmur of unrealistic expectations.
b) The apostles did not get distracted by neglecting the main thing.
c) The apostles did not get distracted by
becoming too important and fostering
overdependence.
d) The apostles did not get distracted by refusing to disciple other leaders and
delegate ministry.
3.
The solution (3). The
responsibility needed to be turned over to godly people within the
congregation.
Their
ministry was increased through spiritual delegation and discipleship. The apostles made the people a part of the
solution.
Spiritual
men
– godly character, full of the Spirit, wisdom, and motivation
When this church was choosing
leaders it was not concerned about how much money the men had or how much
management experience they had acquired, but whether or not they were wise and
Spirit-filled. The reason was that their
main problem was essentially spiritual.
Therefore, it needed persons who were Spirit-filled to deal with them. And people with wisdom. – Boice
John
Maxwell says that the first mark of a leader is the ability to delegate:
1. If someone else can do a task
better than I can, I give it away.
2. If someone else can do a task at least
80% as well as I can, I give it to them.
3. If someone else has the potential
to do a task at least 80% as well as I can, I train them.
4.
The focus
(4). The
apostles could devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word.
The
apostles were able to maintain needed
spiritual discipline. The
apostles’ prayers were accompanied by the ministry of the word –
preparation. They all prayerfully poured
over the Old Testament, working hard at understanding and communicating the
spiritual truths of God’s Word. This is
where shepherds often fall short today. This
contrasts sharply with today’s average pastor, who according to a Christianity Today survey, spends only
three minutes a day in prayer. Unrealistic
expectations, the feeling of needing to be present at every meeting
and every function, and an overcrowded schedule often
leaves today’s busy pastors little time for fellowship with God.
I know of no department of human
activity, from the governing of a great nation to the doctoring of a little body,
where the disposition is not constantly appearing to invent some sudden
method or to seek some magical and concise preparation which shall obviate
the need of careful, comprehensive study and long-continued application. But this disposition is nowhere so strong,
I think, as in the ministry. –
Phillips Brooks
No man is ever going to be able to
fill the pulpit adequately unless he spends thousands of hours year after year
in the study of God’s Word. – Donald
Barnhouse
Prayer
and the ministry of the Word are inseparably linked. Prayer must permeate a pastor’s sermon
preparation. Without both, our sermons
are superficial and dry. – Johnny Hunt
Every Member a Minister
(everyone has a gift and a ministry)
God calls all his
people to ministry, he calls different people to
different ministries, and those called to ‘prayer and the ministry of the Word’
must on no account allow themselves to be distracted from their
priorities. We do a great disservice to the
church whenever we refer to the pastorate as “the ministry.” All Christians without exception are called
to ministry, indeed to give their lives in ministry. The expression “full-time Christian ministry”
is not to be restricted to church work and missionary service; it can also be
exercised in government, the media, the professions, business, industry, and
the home. We need to recover this vision of the wide diversity of ministries
to which God calls his people. –
Stott
The apostles could have
been preoccupied with the wrong ministry. Today’s pastors, instead of concentrating on
the ministry of the Word (which will include preaching to the congregation,
counseling individuals, and training groups), they become overwhelmed with
administration. Sometimes it is his
fault (he wants to keep all the reins in his hands), and sometimes the people’s
(they want him to be a general factotum [a servant with many diverse
responsibilities] ). In either case the consequences are
disastrous. The standards of
preaching and teaching decline, since the pastor has little time to study or
pray. And the people do not exercise
their God-given roles. For both reasons
the congregation is inhibited from growing into maturity in Christ.
What
is needed is the basic, biblical recognition that God calls different men and
women to different ministries. Then the
people will ensure that their pastor is set free from unnecessary
administration, in order to give himself to the ministry of the Word,
and the pastor will ensure that the people discover their gifts and develop
ministries appropriate to them. –
John Stott
5.
The people
(5-6). Godly men are chosen and commissioned to oversee ministries.
They
may illustrate the general principle that much of the work is carried on by the
unknown, unsung individuals who faithfully carry out the tasks entrusted to
them. – John Phillips
The Bible’s evaluation of success if completely
different from the world’s evaluation.
If you want to be great in God’s sight, try serving people. - Boice
They are allowed to use their gifts.
Every Christian has at least one gift. If you have a situation in which people are
not exercising their gifts, the
result is always an impoverished church. No one person has all the gifts. So if the gifts he [one pastor] does not have
but that others have are unused, the church is poorer by that amount. – Boice.
Healthy church – at least 60% of people engaged,
using their gifts
6.
The result
(7). Evangelism,
discipleship, and apologetics flourish.
By divinely-directed delegation, the
apostles not only freed others to grow in their service to God, but they freed
themselves for prayer, preparation, and powerful preaching! Thus the spiritual ministry of the church was
enhanced. – Kent Hughes
The main thing stayed the main
thing. A unified, well-taught church
will be a powerful witness to the lost world.
– Johnny Hunt
Besides
being biblically obedient, the involvement of the church in ministry has many immediate benefits to the church:
·
Pastors
and other staff members are freed to do other ministries, especially prayer and
the Word.
·
The
number of ministries increases proportionally to additional lay involvement.
·
Involvement
of the laity in the ministry is the best assimilation method. Those who are involved rarely leave the
church.
·
Involved
people are generally happy people.
·
People
who do ministry are typically generous financial supporters of the church. They see the benefits.
- Thom Rainer, Eating the Elephant
Conclusion
If
the widows are being neglected, we should be willing to wait on tables. If the Sunday school needs help, we should be
ready to assist however we can. If we
see a need for a small group, perhaps we should host one. If we see the need for evangelism, we should
be willing to share Christ. We must not
just complain but must be willing to lead, to delegate, and, above all, to
serve.
So here we see a pattern: a legitimate
need leads to wise delegation, allowing church members to take responsibility
and be overseers of ministries, leading to the multiplication of the church!
Healthy churches will follow their
pattern, allowing people to be initiators of ministry.
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