June 4, 2012
But
as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The
Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying
that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of
food. -- Acts 6: 1 (NLT)
Well that didn't take long. The church still in the throes of birth is already faced with complaints and grumbling from within. As long as people are involved we will always be faced with an imperfect situation. We will always be faced with the cold hard reality that not everyone will be pleased. Many will point to this verse as a sign of how the enemy likes to spread disunity within the body of Christ. While it is true that disunity is a favorite tactic the enemy likes to use against the church I am not as sure about this situation. I think sometimes we lose sight of the truth within the desires of leadership to go unchallenged. We hear leaders today constantly calling for unity within the body and using the many different Scriptures to support such a call. But what often gets lost within the call is the reason there is discord to begin with. God did not raise up a church to blindly follow men without any examination. The Bible does in fact stress that we are to test everything. The Bible says that broad is the path that leads to destruction. Well, what does that mean? That means there are more people on the broad path than on the narrow road that leads to heaven. If you found yourself in a church that preached there is no heaven and hell and all paths lead to heaven you would rightly run for the door. Well, remember beloved, mild heresy doesn't lead to a mild hell.
So what was happening here in the sixth
chapter of Acts? Well during the reign of Alexander the Great, Hellenic culture
infiltrated much of the known world. There were many Jews who had adopted Greek
ways and in fact spoke Greek as opposed to those Jews who stayed with their
heritage. The traditional Jews looked down upon their Greek counterparts and
didn't consider them real Jews. What we find here in the early church is a mix
of both sects and the Greek Jews felt that their widows were being neglected
compared to their traditional Jewish counterparts. Was this a serious problem
for the early church? Absolutely. Was this an issue of disunity? Well, if left
unaddressed it certainly could have been but here was how the Apostles handled
the situation:
So
the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, "We apostles
should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. And so, brothers,
select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom.
We will give them this responsibility. Then we apostles can spend our time in
prayer and teaching the word." -- Acts 6: 2-4 (NLT)
Everyone liked the idea and this resolved the disagreement. Within the solution we find some keys that modern churches should follow and warning signs for us to watch for that the church may not be operating with the same wisdom as this early church.
The first thing we see is they answered the question. They responded seriously to the problem. These were the Apostles that walked the earth with Jesus! It would have been all too easy to just think they were above something that may have appeared petty. But they realized that the church is supposed to be about the people, not the leaders. We see too often these days leadership gone crazy. Instead of being representative of the people they are supposed to be serving, they instead act as if they are unquestionable and preach that people are there to serve their church. Real legitimate concerns are brushed aside or ignored. Sometimes real concerns will be put back on the concerned and framed as a defect in their walk. The church has become far too adept with over-spiritualizing what is not spiritual at all.
Secondly, nothing takes preeminence over the teaching of the Word of God. The most important function we have as a believer and as a church is the spreading of the uncompromised Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and fallen world. When we look around we see a great many churches that are simply distracted. Too many internal ministries designed to entertain the saints or make them more comfortable. Too many themed weekends obsessed with correcting the ills of a fallen society. Too many prayer meetings without prayer and intercession. More time and resources spent on a drama department than on missions support. Should we use the arts to try and reach the lost? Absolutely; but at the expense of the Gospel? Not a chance. Should we be involved in trying to ease the suffering in this world? Absolutely; but at the expense of the Gospel? Not a chance. Can we run seminars on financial literacy, organize job fairs to help the unemployed, and assist seniors with access to healthcare options? Absolutely, but it shouldn't be on Sundays from the pulpit. It shouldn't be at a prayer meeting. Too often we have taken the spiritual and sacred things of God and intermingled them with the secular needs of our society. The Apostles here understood the difference.
Lastly, the selection of sub-leaders was not haphazard. The Apostles did not say -- "just pick seven people and let them deal with it." No beloved -- they wanted to make sure the seven people chosen were filled with the Holy Ghost and wisdom. In this age of "deacon-possessed" churches I think we understand the significance of these choices. I want to look at this aspect from two perspectives. The first is that it is extremely important who serves in leadership at our churches. This is how important it is to God:
This is a trustworthy saying: "If someone aspires to be an elder, he
desires an honorable position."
So an elder must be a man whose life is above
reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise
self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having
guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be
gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. He
must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him.
For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can
he take care of God's church? An
elder must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil
would cause him to fall. Also,
people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be
disgraced and fall into the devil's trap. In
the same way, deacons must be well respected and have integrity. They must not
be heavy drinkers or dishonest with money. They
must be committed to the mystery of the faith now revealed and must live with a
clear conscience. Before they are
appointed as deacons, let them be closely examined. If they pass the test, then
let them serve as deacons. In the
same way, their wives must be respected and must not slander others. They must
exercise self-control and be faithful in everything they do. A deacon must be faithful to his wife, and he
must manage his children and household well. Those
who do well as deacons will be rewarded with respect from others and will have
increased confidence in their faith in Christ Jesus. -- 1Timothy 3: 1-13 (NLT)
Quite frankly today
we have too many people serving in capacities they should not be in. Too many
"yes-men" who think they are serving the pastor instead of the congregation.
Too many who think leading is about manipulation. This was why the Apostles
insisted on people filled with the Holy Ghost and with wisdom. Lastly, there
are too many people allowed to serve in ministry or even lead ministries that are
not spiritually accountable. Churches bend their rules too often to allow
people to serve because they have a need but there is no membership yet. There
is no outward fruit of the Spirit yet. People are thrust into leadership
positions in the church without so much as an examination into their own walk.
This is one of the greatest dangers in large churches that have great needs to
fill and little accountability to the people.
Not all disagreement is a unity issue. Sometimes it is a real and legitimate complaint that needs to be seriously addressed by leadership -- not blown off. No matter what the concerns are be wary of any church that seems more concerned with anything other than preaching the Gospel. Remember what Paul said -- Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Lastly, watch carefully who the church selects for sub-leaders and elders as well as who is allowed into ministry, especially leadership. Would you want a Biblically illiterate person teaching your kids Sunday School? It is the same for every ministry. The devil will always attack where we are most vulnerable. Give him no quarter -- both individually and as the church.
