What a church can expect from its deacons

“For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus” (I Timothy 3:13).

I suggest you not worry about dissecting that and trying to grasp the fullness of its meaning, deacons. Just enjoy it. Believe it. Work to demonstrate its truth in your life.

All it seems to be saying is that when a deacon does his job well, God and the congregation are really, really proud of him!

I see deacons serving well all the time.  They’re taking care of the church’s widows and dependent elderly, rallying to the support of their pastor, serving as the “event staff” when church projects need helpers, listening to disgruntled church members and helping them to see the wisdom of what the leadership is doing, and cooking breakfast for the monthly men’s meeting.

I see deacons patrolling the church grounds during church, walking the buildings looking for anyone who is lost or in trouble or perhaps out of place. I see deacons standing at the door and greeting worshipers as they arrive, and rushing to arriving cars with golf umbrellas in the midst of downpours.

Deacons may be asked to help, but they do not wait to be asked. “What can I do for you?” which our Lord asked the blind beggar of Jericho (Luke 18:41) is their mantra.

My pastor took an emergency phone call late one night recently.  A church member with mental health issues was waving a gun around and threatening to end his own life.  As the pastor headed out the door, he phoned a deacon.  No sooner had he said, “I just got this call that there’s an emergency at So-and-So’s house and I’m on my way there now,” than the deacon said, “I’ll be right there.”

In sharing this with me, the pastor said, “He did not say, ‘Is there anything I can do’ or ‘I’ll be praying for you.’ In fact, he didn’t even ask me what was going on. He just said, ‘I’m on my way.’ ”  The pastor was quiet a moment, then said, “There are no words to say how much I treasure a friend like this deacon.”

That’s what deacons do when they “serve well” (see the above scripture).

The background to this piece is Acts 6:1-7, which we take to be the origin of deacons in the church at Jerusalem.  The word “deacon” is not found there, but all indications point to this being the case.

To the church that is selecting new deacons, or perhaps forming a body of deacons for the first time, and wondering what they do and what you should expect, we offer the following….

1) Expect deacons to have a servant heart.  This is about ATTITUDE.

We remember the text in Nehemiah which says “the people had a mind to work” (Neh. 4:6).  That’s the idea. A deacon doesn’t mind real work! He rolls up his sleeves and wades right in.

We need to point out that the ministry of deacons is focused inwardly, toward the congregation, rather than outward.

That might require a word of explanation: Every Christian is to be focused in both directions–toward the church of which they are a member and toward the world in which they live.  Do one to the exclusion of the other (that is, focus only on the world or withdraw from the world entirely and spend all your days inside the church) and your life becomes unbalanced and everything gets out of whack.  Christians minister to the body of Christ and at the same time they are salt and light in the world around them.

Those members chosen as deacons are asked to devote themselves to the health of the congregation, to protect its unity, and working under the direction of (and in cooperation with) the pastors to address whatever needs and problems arise.

2) Expect deacons to work in harmony with and under the authority of the ministers.  This is about LOYALTY. 

I’d like you to notice something in Acts 6:1-7. The congregation chose the seven deacons, but did so at the urging of the apostles. Then they sent the seven back to the apostles for their approval. The apostles charged the seven with their work in what appears to be some kind of ordination. Presumably (the text doesn’t say), the seven reported back to the apostles when the work was finished. That they did their work well is attested to by the glowing report of verse 7: “And the word of God kept on increasing; and the number of disciples continued to increase…and a great many priests became obedient to the faith.”

There is no scriptural precedent or teaching anywhere–none–that would make the deacons independent contractors, bypassing the God-appointed leadership of the church. Acts 20:28 says the Holy Spirit makes the pastors the “overseers” (episkopos) of the congregation. (epi = “over” or “upon” and skopos = “to see”)

The moment a deacon can no longer support his pastor, unless the man of God is doing something illegal, unethical, immoral or unscriptural, that deacon should repent or resign.

Let’s say a word here about loyalty.  In one church where I served, the deacons had gotten into a bad practice. They would discuss an issue, arrive at a consensus, and then bring their recommendation to the church. Then, in the church business meeting, some of those same deacons would speak against the motion.  They had opposed it in the deacon meeting and now were opposing it before the church. When I addressed this in a monthly deacons gathering, asking them “What’s the point of discussing it in here if you are going to  oppose it out there?” and told them it was causing division in the church, several grew defensive and combative, insisting that as American citizens “I have the right to speak out.”  Nothing I could say would change their minds. The unity of the congregation meant nothing to these men. Only after they were replaced (gradually, over several years) did the church get the kind of spiritually mature leadership from the deacons it needed.

Every church has people of an independent nature who play the devil’s advocate on every issue. They should never ever be put in a place of influence or leadership.

3) Expect deacons to be alert to threats to the Lord’s flock.

Deacons are to be trouble-shooters, a spiritual S.W.A.T. team that goes into action whenever division arises within the congregation.  (Again, we emphasize that they do this under the direction of the ministers.)

The Acts 6 passage speaks of discontent in the congregation caused by an unfair distribution of food, resulting in division.  The pastors–the apostles–called the congregation together and said, “It is not right for us to leave the ministry of the Word in order to wait tables. So, choose seven of the finest and we will put them in charge of the food distribution.” (What system they were using before, we have no idea. But clearly, it wasn’t working. Knowing human nature, I wonder if someone got his feelings hurt.)

The Bible says nothing of what these seven deacons did to solve the problem.  They took whatever steps were necessary, we assume, and that seems to be the lesson for us.  Rather than write into the church bylaws what deacons will do as their permanent assignment, a better arrangement is to leave this open and to stay flexible. Congregations are always in a state of flux, so what deacons need to do may change from year to year.

Paul told the Ephesian pastors that after his departure, they should be on the alert for two kinds of threats: external (“savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock”) and internal (“and from among your own selves, men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them”) (Acts 20:29-30).

When threats arise, deacons are ready to assist the ministers in addressing them in whatever ways are required.

The one thing a deacon must never, ever do is become part of the problem himself. When that happens, the deacon leadership must deal with it.

Clearly, it takes courage to serve well as a deacon.

4) Expect deacons to have a willingness to do the worst jobs in the best spirit.

The word diakonos literally means “through the dust.”  (dia = “through” and konos = “dust”) Some scholars tell us the word originated from a practice of servants in the New Testament world.  Houses were often built as rectangles with a courtyard in the middle.  In the heat of the day, family members going from one part to the other would stay in the shade. But the servants cut across the courtyard, “through the dust.”

This leads us to conclude that deacons do not mind “getting their feet dirty” (or as we would say, “getting their hands dirty”) in serving the Lord’s people.

What is the most thankless and hardest job in the church?  Until the Lord calls someone to fill that slot, ask a deacon. He’ll do it.

Following 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, when Rudy French came from Canada to help God’s people in New Orleans, he was disappointed that no place of service opened up for him. Finding no opening, one day he walked into one of our Baptist churches that was hosting state troopers from all over the nation, feeding them 3 meals a day and housing them throughout their buildings.  Rudy asked the ladies in the kitchen if there was something he could do. “You can be our garbage man,” they said.

This was not what Rudy had had in mind when he resigned his church in Canada and sold his gun collection to finance the trip south.  As he worked in the kitchen, he began developing an attitude.  He had come to help at great inconvenience and great expense, and this was how he was being treated. A garbageman!

He wanted to preach, to lead one of the affected churches, to do something really important.

One day as Rudy was straining to lift a Hefty-bag of garbage into the dumpster, he was mumbling to himself about the humiliation of his assignment.  Now, the women in the kitchen had been told not to put liquid garbage into those bags. But just as the bag was above Rudy’s head, it split and spilled out leftover gumbo, red beans and rice, and who knows what all else.

Rudy got a baptism of garbage.

He stood there covered by all that mess, crying like a baby.

That’s when the Lord broke him.

Rudy prayed, “Lord, I’ll do anything you say. If you just want me to empty the garbage for Jesus, I’ll do that.”

That was Thursday.  Saturday night at midnight, his phone rang. The music minister of that church said, “Brother Rudy, we need a preacher for tomorrow morning.”  The pastor was sick and they were having trouble finding a fill-in.

That Sunday, people found out Rudy French could preach. Soon he began getting invitations to preach in the various churches, and in time, the First Baptist Church of Norco asked him to become their pastor.

Deacons can be invaluable to a church if they are humble and willing to serve anywhere they are needed.  Churches have a right to expect them to be examples for the rest of the congregation, a friend to anyone who needs them, and team players.

Pray for your deacons. Encourage them.  When the Apostle Paul spoke of servants of the Lord who ministered to him in deacon-like ways, he said, “You should be in subjection to such men and to everyone who helps in the work and labors” (I Corinthians 16:16).

 

One thought on “What a church can expect from its deacons

  1. Such a wonderful explanation of how a Deacon should be in serving in Church!
    Simply wonderfully stated!!! Excellent explanations and examples that truly bring it home and to reality.

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