Since Stepehen occupies the story for a couple of chapters, I want to focus on verses 1-7 today and talk about church organization. Especially at our stage of development, this is a great conversation for us to have at the Springs.
When the church was born, there was almost no organizational structure. Since I believe Jesus was very intentional in everything he did, I think this was intentional. Just as he had done in his own three-year ministry, Jesus established the church to be bare-bones simple. We see some organization take place as the need arises, but even by the end of Acts there's not much complexity. That's a big lesson all by itself. Keep it simple! Don't let the church become a bureaucracy! Don't hand out a bunch of titles! The church is a body, not a machine. If it was good enough for Jesus, who changed the world with little more organization than 12 disciples, it should be good enough for us.
Before chapter 6, there was only one titled position in the church: apostle. "Apostle" means "one who is sent out," referring to the fact that Jesus personally gave the apostles the task of telling others all they had personally experienced with him. As we have already seen, the role of apostle also carried a great deal of spiritual authority. The apostles were the communicators of the early church, and the believers devoted themselves to their teaching in Acts 2. Later, "apostle" shows up in lists of spiritual gifts - see 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4. Since the role of an apostle is to be sent out, many consider missionaries and church planters (no different from missionaries except in location) to be the apostles of today's church.
Which brings us to Acts 6:1-7, where seven men are appointed to oversee the church's benevolence ministry. These are the first deacons. The Greek word and its derivatives are used 63 times in the New Testament, and always refer to the role of a servant, especially one who waits on tables. "Waiter" might be the closest English word we have for the role. The first deacons were appointed to relieve the apostles of the responsibilities of distributing food to widows in the church, so they could focus on telling people about Jesus. Here are just a few observations:
- The first titled role the church establishes is table-waiter. Awesome.
- It is a humble job, but is considered an honor and they choose their best guys for it.
- The deacons were not businessmen who ran the church's affairs as they were in the church I grew up in. The qualifications were Spirit distinction and wisdom, not whether they also serve on the local chamber of commerce. They did not serve on a board, like directors, but on a team.
- We will see the role of elder (also called overseer or bishop) form later in Acts. We will see this is a disctinctly different role than deacon.
- Although no titles have been assigned, do you see individuals in our church who are functioning as deacons?
- At the Springs, we have intentionally downplayed organizational complexity. Few people have titled roles, there are no committees, no boards. How does the lack of organizational structure at the Springs strike you? What do you like about it, and what causes tension for you?
