Why Deacons?

Text: 1Timothy 3:8-13

Main Point: Deacons are qualified servants who are responsible for making sure the members’ physical needs are met.

            One of the pitfalls of looking at elders and deacons is we can  fixate on elders and deacons and neglect the greater glory of the members. Imagine an army with the best officers but weak untrained soldiers. Imagine a company structured to do great good in its city; no finer CEO, CFO, and COO could be found than the ones leading this company. The problem, however, is the company’s workers don’t care about the work! A church with devoted elders and deacons but disconnected members is an unhealthy body. For the body to be healthy, every member must do its part

            So, before we study deacons today, I want to be clear about church members. When we are clear and united in our understanding of what church members are, then we will have a better chance of raising up and finding biblical elders and deacons to shepherd and serve those members. We’ll take members first then deacons.

            Read Ephesians 4:1-16

I. We need every member ministry

Lottie Moon was one of the first single women sent overseas by the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. She was faithful unto death with the gospel and with great love. One injustice Lottie opposed was foot binding. Foot binding is the practice of bending and tying a girl’s feet so the feet eventually break and are folded in half. The Chinese culture of that time defined beauty as tiny feet; the most desirable women had 3 inch feet! But foot binding is incredibly painful, debilitating, and dangerous. The love of Christ compelled Lottie Moon to struggle against the practice of foot binding.

Now, why are we talking about foot binding and every member ministry? A church that expects or allows its elders and deacons to do all the ministry is like a body with bound feet and hands, arms and legs. The body may have a strong mouth and a strong back, but the deformed and withered limbs will render the body almost useless. My prayer is that with biblical elders and deacons, the members of the body will be unbound and freed to do their work. What is the work of the members?

• Every member is a teacher

Writing to the Colossians, to the whole church, to all the members, Paul says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col 3:16). The picture in Colossians is every member filled and overflowing with the word of God. Jesus gives each Christian the job of making disciples and making disciples means teaching others to obey all of Jesus’ commands (Mt 28:20). In Hebrews 5:12, the church is chastised because they should be teachers by now but instead need to be taught the fundamentals of the faith again.

The image you need to have in your mind when you think of the church is every member using the word of God to help the other members. Every member teaching, every member encouraging, every member warning, and every member building up the other members. Imagine the doses of courage shot into the arms of members throughout the week as text messages full of truth are exchanged. Imagine all the pain and shame avoided as members celebrate Christ together strengthening one another’s hearts to run from sin and temptation. Your spiritual gift is a vehicle through which you deliver God’s word to your brothers and sisters.

Here are two ways to teach. First, listen to the sermon each Sunday and discuss the doctrine and application with another person. Use the sermon application questions on my blog. These conversations can be short as you linger in here or in the foyer after service. These conversations can be long over Sunday lunch or by meeting up with a member during the week. Our youth use this longer discussion on Wednesday evenings to pair up with an older member. The second way to teach is follow our church daily reading Bible plan and discuss the doctrine and application with another person. I get good encouragement and teaching from a simple daily text message about the daily Bible reading from some brothers. Where should you start? Start with your Sunday school class and your family because every member is a teacher. But that’s not all! Every member is also a servant.

• Every member is a servant

Through the Great Commission, Jesus gives every Christian the calling to teach. Through salvation, Jesus makes every Christian a servant. Listen to how 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 describes the normal Christian, “the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” God tells me my biggest problem is I live for me. Your biggest problem is you live for you. Our desires for what we want are our own worst enemies. For this reason, because we are selfish and self-seeking, Jesus came, died, and rose again. More than simply giving us a good example of a servant of all, Jesus died and rose again to break our hearts’ slavery to self. Why can we not stop thinking about ourselves? Our problem is love of self; we are slaves to our desire to be first.

We need Jesus to liberate us from slavery to self. So, how does he liberate us and change our hearts? God loves us. He shows us his great love for us. There, comparing his love for us to our love for our neighbors we are convicted of our sin. Christ loves and redeems, I use and exploit, and seeing these realities leads me to despise myself. Seeing the resurrected Lord, I hear the loving invitation to come and ask to be healed. Through repentance and faith in Jesus, I am given a new heart and a new power by the Spirit to love and serve others.

Think with me, what are the greatest commandments? What is your role in the church and in the community? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. Galatians 5:13 says, “For you were called to freedom brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh but through love serve one another.” To serve the other is to know the other so that you can help the other. Jesus sets us free to serve.

What can you do to help our elderly or homebound members? Is there room at your table for one more? Invite that dear brother or sister home for lunch or over for dinner. Help with a remodel or a project, run an errand, set up tables and chairs for a church meal, baby sit, and haul in your neighbor’s trash cans. Focusing on Jesus, the gospel remakes our hearts so we love. Focusing on Jesus, the gospel forms our minds so we stop asking “What’s in it for me?” and start asking “How can I serve?” Whatever your gift is, use it to serve one another.

We all teach and we all serve because

• Church membership is the commitment to see one another safely through to glory

Hebrews 12:15 commands each of us, “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God.” Stated positively, see to it that everyone obtains the grace of God. I will be tempted to abandon Christ; I need you to teach and help me. You will be tempted to abandon Christ; you need me to teach and serve you. The reality of sin and the reality of our weaknesses mean we need our brothers and sisters to teach and help us. We serve one another by encouraging faithfulness and gently confronting sin. So, Hebrews 3:12-13 says, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” My sin demands your help!

Think about the way you talk in the foyer after church, in the car after school, around the table, or in the gym. Are your words helping us? Are you teaching us and guarding us or are you defiling us and tempting us? In a healthy church, the members laugh together and enjoy one another; we really are a funny bunch. And in a healthy church, the members share the word of God with one another and take care of one another’s needs.

Instead of a pained and withered body with bound feet and hands, picture this church as a healthy body where each member is freely doing his/her part to build up the rest. This healthy body of teaching, serving, and encouraging members needs elders who shepherd and deacons who serve.

II. What are deacons?

• Deacons are servants

The word deacon means servant. 1 Peter 4:10 says, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another.” Use your gift to deacon one another. We are all servants, and in the church, there is the office of deacon. One bible dictionary says the verb serve means “to render assistance or help by performing certain duties, often of a humble or menial nature’ (Louw Nida 35.19). Deacons are servants, household slaves who look after the needs of the family.

The office of deacon found its start in Acts 6 when conflict arose because the apostles were struggling to give adequate care to the widows in the church. The Greek speaking widows were being neglected, but the Hebrew speaking widows were getting care. It is helpful to note how the solution was not for the apostles to repent of their racism but for the church to set aside seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, who would serve the tables of all the widows. The deacons began in order to care for the needs of the church’s widows so that the apostles could devote themselves to the word and prayer. The needs in the church grew to such an extent that the apostles could no longer teach, pray, shepherd, lead, and serve tables. The office of deacon started because of the need for daily service to a large group of people.

Think about how a family can adopt a child but a family will have a very hard time adopting the children of a city. The second, the larger scale, will require more hands and a more formal structure; enter the office of deacon. And because of the work, often dealing with money, deacons must be qualified.

• Deacons are qualified servants

The qualifications for deacons are spelled out, along with the requirement that deacons be tested before installed,  in 1 Timothy 3:8-13. Turn to 1 Timothy 3:8-13 and follow along as I read.

The picture we get of the office of deacon is a person who has self-control, a strong grasp on Jesus, and a proven track record of service. The women, often interpreted as “their wives” should be the same. You should trust your deacons to watch your wallet, your house, your car, and your kids. There is a trust that they won’t say or do anything to embarrass you; they are dignified not dufuses. Out of love for Jesus and love for you they will serve; doing what is right. Look into their faith and look into their homes. Have they proven themselves blameless? Are they quick to obey Jesus and quick to repent? Then let them serve as deacons.

That gets us to our next question

III. What do deacons do?

When I first became a pastor of this church it felt like the deacons’ job was to tell me what to do and relay all the members’ complaints about what I was doing wrong. Now, I was young, dumb, and insecure and deserved 99% of what I was told. I am grateful for deacons like Dickie Lane, Gary Landis and Sam Long who loved me, corrected me, helped me, and brought about change. Instead of giving oversight to the elders, what do deacons do?

• Deacons provide leadership when a need can no longer be met by the few

In the church, all the members are caring for the widows. In the church, all the members are doing what they can to provide for those in need. In the church, all the members are taking meals and caring for the sick. But there comes a time, maybe you have felt it yourself, when you and a few others cannot keep doing this ministry and that ministry well. The apostles were doing a great job with teaching and serving tables until they weren’t. The increasing workload of caring for souls and feeding mouths meant souls and mouths were being neglected. Less study meant less knowledge. Less prayer meant less wisdom and power. More word and prayer meant this widow and that widow were overlooked. More waiting on tables meant less word and prayer. The solution was for the church to set apart seven men full of wisdom and the Spirit who would take over providing for the widows.

And remember, there was no social security safety net, no food stamps. The church was the safety net for its widows; the food stamps for the poor are in your pantry.

So what do deacons do? Deacons do a lot of things. Deacons do those things that the elders cannot handle, things that are a distraction from shepherding or outside of our skill set. Bob Evans is our deacon for greeters and he takes care of setting up the coffee. He took Glenn Wilson’s spot as the head Mambrista. Johnny Lindsey is our deacon for buildings and grounds, making sure the property is clean and ready for ministry use. Sam Long is our deacon for budget and finance, collecting offerings and paying the bills. Clint Spruill is our deacon for benevolence, working with other members to meet needs in the body. These are faithful men, and they need your help. The deacons cannot do all the serving that needs to be done in the body, but they can lead out in those instances when the workload becomes too big for the elders or a few members to handle on their own. Among the elders and deacons, we have found it helpful to say the

• Deacons are stewards of the church’s common property

The deacons hold the purse, and the deacons manage the property. The elders keep watch over souls in the church and the deacons manage the common property of the church. And please hear me, the elders and deacons don’t work so you don’t have to. May it never be! The elders and deacons do their work so you are free to teach, serve, love, and build up the members. Expect your elders to equip you to work and expect your deacons to put good systems and structures into place so you don’t get drowned by the work.

This church needs elders, this church needs deacons, and this church needs you. We need qualified elders who will teach, shepherd, and lead. We need qualified deacons who will serve. We need you to use your gift every day to help your brothers and sisters. If you don’t know how to use your gift, go talk to an elder, go talk to a deacon, we want to cut you loose to do good work. Let’s pray and seek the Spirit’s guidance.

How should I respond to God’s word?