February 3, 2002

Acts 6:1-7 -- The Challenge of Biblical Leadership

When a certain Dallas church split, each faction filed a lawsuit to claim the church property. A judge refused to rule and referred the matter back to the denominational authorities. A church court assembled to hear both sides of the case and awarded the church property to one of the two factions. The losers withdrew and formed another church in the area.

During the hearing, the church courts learned that the conflict had all begun at a church dinner when an elder received a smaller slice of ham than a child seated next to him. Sadly, this was reported in the newspapers for everyone to read. Just imagine how the people of Dallas laughed and brought discredit not only to that church but also to Jesus Christ.

The tiniest events sometimes cause the greatest problems. A church wards off a frontal attack only to be subverted from within. Those subtle but deadly divisions have destroyed many a church. Someone feels unappreciated or neglected, a harsh word is spoken, a critical glance, a forgotten name, a social gaffe or some imagined offense and bitterness erupts and spreads like gangrene. (adapted Hughes, Acts, 93)

This is what we find in Acts 6. The unity of the early church had already been threatened by external persecution and internal subversion. But the church’s unity is most clearly endangered by internal strife. Division is a challenging issue to handle in a church and a test of leadership. How the apostles responded to this brewing dissension illustrates biblical leadership for us today. [READ Acts 6:1-7].

The challenge of growth [verse 1]

The first challenge that comes to a church is often growth. This challenge stems not from evil motives or sin, but from something as wonderful as new faces. With new faces come new issues and new opportunities.

Just like parents of a one year old, baby-proofing is constant with each new day. It’s nice when they could be plopped down on the floor and you could turn your back and they’d still be there. But suddenly they become mobile and your life is never the same. Growth can be challenging.

Growth often brings out hidden issues. Growth may not so much create the problem as reveal issues conveniently swept under the rug. With rapid increase comes administrative problems. The problem Luke describes requires us to understand that era. But it is emblematic of issues the church has always faced.

This was a conflict between the Hellenists and the Hebrews. The term Hellenists refers to those Jews who over the previous 500 years had spread throughout the Mediterranean basin. They remained Jewish, but spoke Greek and not Aramaic. Their diet remained kosher, but with a Cyprian twist or an Athenian flair. It was not uncommon for Jews, living abroad, to make their way back to the mother country, especially in their twilight years. As they would settle in Jerusalem, the husband would die, leaving a widow to fend for herself often without the extended family resources of those Aramaic-speaking Jews, here called the Hebrews.

Native speaking Aramaic Jews often discriminated against Hellenistic Jews, whom the Pharisees held in utter contempt, considering them second-class Israelites. What is more, ethnic groups tend to associate with those who share their language and cultural background. This division is seen in verse 9, as the Hellenists had their own synagogues.

Then came Pentecost and thousands of Aramaic speaking Jews plus hundreds of Hellenistic Jews became one in Christ. However, conversion did not erase all their prejudices. The Greek speaking widows soon felt they were being shorted. It was the Jewish practice was to take care of their own, as there were no social security or welfare programs. In a society where women could not support themselves and, as Christians, they may well have lost all support from the Temple, they were in need.

The church may have followed the precedents set in Judaism, which had a double system of distribution to the needy. The Jews had a weekly dole for needy residents, called the quppah. It was given out every Friday and consisted of enough money for 14 meals. There was also a daily distribution, known as the tamhuy. It was for nonresidents and transients and consisted of food and drink, which were delivered from house to house to the needy. (Pohill, 180)

It would be easy to imagine how some would be overlooked, perhaps due to language or status. It may have been intentional or purely an oversight. But the hurt was the same.

Growth is hard to handle. This is true here at Cornerstone. Except for a slight dip in attendance in 1993, Cornerstone has grown each year. In the past three years we’ve grown 20% each year. But this brings new and unique challenges. As with our kids, as they grow there are changes we may not particularly like, that make us feel uncomfortable. So here, there are new faces, but rather than fearing you may become lost in a crowd, you need to see this as a new opportunity to reach out, to be sure that other’s needs are being met.

Too often as a church grows, there is a sense that growth is overwhelming. That can happen here, but it need not. When this church began it was comprised of a variety of people, but mostly in the same stage of life – the majority were married couples with elementary aged kids. Now, with growth, we have matured; there are three generations of families, from throughout southeastern Wisconsin. But with growth there can be that subtle perceived pressure to be like everyone else or to expect everyone to be just like you.

With growth some will feel overlooked, or not warmly greeted. The problem is that for many of you, you don’t know who the visitors are and who are the regulars. Someone may feel slighted that they did not receive a meal when sick, or a phone call. What is necessary is not to ignore that problem, but find ways to welcome and serve one another more effectively. The challenge is for leadership.

The challenge of leadership

Demarcation of leadership [verses 2 and 4]

In order to face the challenges that growth brings, leadership must know how to respond. First, there must be a clear understanding of duties, a marking out of areas of responsibility. At first reading it appears the leaders are only concerned with pushing off unwelcome tasks and lowly responsibilities. But that is not the case. Good leadership knows what it should and shouldn’t do.

The Devil’s attack is most clever. Having failed to overcome the church by persecution or corruption, he now tried distraction. If he could preoccupy the apostles with social administration, which, though essential, was not their calling, they would neglect their God-given responsibilities to pray and to preach, and so leave the church without any defense against false doctrine.

There are pastors who have a need to do it all. They preach, make all decisions, evangelize, etc. The pastor is exalted and the members are demeaned; the people are left impoverished as the body atrophies. The pastor may have a savior complex or the people may be lazy, but either way, it is deadly.

Here, the apostles well understood what their job was to be. [verse 4]

Prayer:

This is in sharp contrast with today’s average pastor who, according to a Christianity Today, spends only three minutes a day in prayer. This may be due to our feeling that we must be present at every meeting and have our hand on every ministry, producing an overcrowded schedule that leaves no time for personal fellowship with God. How much better it would be to emulate Andrew Bonar, who made these entries in his diary:

I see that unless I keep up short prayer every day throughout the whole day, at intervals, I lose the spirit of prayer. ... Too much work without corresponding prayer. ... Was enabled to spend part of Thursday in my church praying. Have had great help in study since then. ... Passed six hours today in prayer and Scripture reading, confessing sin, and seeking blessing for myself and the parish. (adapted Hughes, Acts, 93)

Preparation:

As with prayer, many times the tyranny of the urgent pulls the pastor away from the laborious task of preparing a sermon. Unfortunately many spend little time preparing. Rather, the twenty hours for each sermon, the five hours for each bible study, and the counseling both formal and informal, all drive home the necessity to block out time for this critical task.

The apostles not only freed others to grow in their service to God, but they freed themselves for prayer and preaching! This way the church was made stronger.

Delegation of leadership [verses 2-3,5]

As the lines of demarcation are understood, the apostles next delegated leadership. It is not so much that they think the issue of the widows is unimportant and a waste of time; rather, it is important and demands those best suited to the task to take it on. All will suffer if they do it all.

In order to delegate, first they involve the entire body. There is ownership. (verse 2)

Rather than assigning blame, the apostles made the people part of the solution. But that solution is not imposed from the top down; rather, even though the complaint was from one segment, it was a problem for the whole church. There is neither neglect nor micromanagement.

This problem is not dealt with by supernatural insight into the heart of the people as with Ananias and Sapphira, nor by angelic visitation. Rather God’s Word called for the widow to be taken care of, but the logistics were left to human wisdom. The Apostles turned the problem over to the people to solve themselves, having given them guidelines to follow.

In order to delegate they see that others can add what they lack. (verse 3)

There is often the temptation to think so highly of oneself that we imagine: “Things will not happen the way they should if I do not do them myself.” We like to be the ubiquitous hand of God. They saw ministry as more than just what they did; ministry is what the entire church does.

We do a great disservice to the church whenever we refer to the pastorate as the ministry or speak of ordination in terms of entering the ministry. This use of the definite article implies that the ordained pastorate is the only ministry there is. All Christians without exception, being followers of him who came not to be served but to serve, are themselves called to ministry, indeed to give their lives in ministry, in service of others.

In order to delegate, they see that they are forming a team. (verse 3)

This multiplication of leadership is important due to the fact that serving others is very labor intensive. Virtually every pastoral duty is conducted at conversational speed and, with the exception of preaching and teaching, with one or a few people at a time. The simple arithmetic of the Christian ministry is that a pastor without a team of workers to support him will be strained to the limit in even a small congregation of no more than 200 members. One-man ministry is very limited indeed. (Keddie, You are My Witnesses, 90)

As sin limits effectiveness, so plurality is a protection against tyranny. Too often leaders live off boosting their egos and grabbing power, and left unchecked by others who can see such tendencies, much damage can happen. These new men may well see what’s missed.

In order to delegate, they list the qualifications. (verse 3)

Here the basic qualifications were given: They were to have a good reputation, be full of the Holy Spirit and be wise. These cover a wide range of abilities. As leaders they should have already proven themselves to be adapt at such a task and others should know this. They must have the spiritual qualifications, not just be cold administrators. Finally, what is involved in such a job is not merely following a manual outlining every step. This person must be wise and discerning, knowing how to act in a variety of situations. This was to be a roll-up-your-sleeves, hands-on ministry requiring a reputation for spiritual maturity and an enthusiasm for helping people. The leaders point the people in the right direction and let the people go.

In order to delegate, they allow people to make choices. (verse 5)

Certainly the apostles could have made the full determination themselves, but delegated leadership allows others to make decisions. The people made their choices – those chosen were themselves Hellenists, as seen by their names.

We only know about Stephen and Philip. Chapters 6-8 deal with how God used them to expand the church. In fact, from this point on, the apostles become increasingly less significant in the expanse of the church. Not only were the widows cared for, but the first martyr was seen in Stephen and a great evangelist in Philip. Interestingly, we hear nothing more about the problem of the widows, as these men understood their duties were not solely physical.

Declaration of leadership [verse 6]

As the whole church became involved with the decision, the apostolic leadership recognized their decision by laying on of hands. Scholars debate whether this is the same as ordination which is alluded to in 1 Timothy. But the practice in the church comes from the Old Testament.

This is a practice drawn from Numbers 27 where Moses' authority is conferred upon Joshua by the laying on of hands. It is the sign of blessing, recognition and commissioning to a task. The rite is not a conveyance of the Holy Spirit, for the Holy Spirit was already with them. Today, we do not elect those we wish to be elders and deacons, and lay hands on them in hope that they will now fill the task. Rather, we look for those who are qualified already, who by lifestyle are doing what the office demands.

At Cornerstone there are a variety of leaders, each bringing a variety of gifts. Some leaders serve as ordained officers, others as teachers and small group leaders. The issue is not so much their title but that they serve. The problem I have often found here is not so much finding people willing to serve, but more often finding ways in which willing servants can serve. It’s a good problem which I trust will continue. The service of so many of you makes my job so much easier. You have elders who care for you, who administrate this church in ways I never could. You have deacons who seek ways in which we can multiply our ministry here and be an effective witness to our world. There are scores who work with infants through adults. As each of us uses our gifts not only will we be more effective in reaching those who may fall between the cracks, but we will encourage one another to serve, too.

The consequence of leadership [verse 7]

As the church responded to the challenge of growth by expanding their base of leadership, they did so by expanding opportunities to serve. The result of this was growth. How Luke describes this is interesting.

First there is growth of God’s Word.

The word can not spread among people if the word is neglected. The apostles were freed up to devote themselves to prayer and preaching so that the effect of that time they had was seen in an increase of the word throughout Jerusalem.

This then is followed by numerical growth

The order is important. The emphasis is not on getting the numbers first so that you can get them to hear the truth. First comes proclamation and then comes reproduction. A church that cares for its own members is a church that is capable of caring for new people. As the leaders were freed to teach their own people, they were then equipped to reach out to others.

What is more, there was growth in a rather unlikely segment of the population – the priests.

This term refers not so much the Sadduccean leadership, but to the poorer priests who served in the temple and supported themselves in other jobs. They had little in common with the priestly aristocracy. Luke’s mentioning them at this point in the narrative may be significant. Soon Stephen will stand before the Sanhedrin and will give a stirring critique of the misuse of God’s temple, a concern among many of these priests already.

Yet in all this, what stands out in this passage is the vision for servant leaders in the church.

Three times in this passage a cognate form of the word we use as deacon is found.

In verse 1 it is the word distribution. Some served others by getting them food. Then in verse 2 where the apostles say it is not right for them to serve tables, this refers to the same work. Rather their job was the ministry of the word (verse 4). All of this was service, or ministry.

The apostles knew that servanthood or ministry was vital to the Christian life. Some time before those same apostles were gathered to celebrate the Passover with their master. Luke tells us of this event in Luke 22:24. Perhaps one of them got a slice of ham (or lamb) larger than the next or they were debating whom Jesus loved the most. In the midst of this solemn time, just hours before Jesus’ arrest, trial and execution, he settled the matter once for all.

The way it is in the world is not the way it is to be in the church. The leader is one who serves. But Jesus does not just dictate that we serve, nor just demonstrate service. He serves through his death. That death is not just to tug on our heart to serve; it is the power by which we serve.

Immediately before this debate Jesus took the bread, and broke it, saying, “This is my body, broken for you.” With the cup he said, “This cup is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

Here we see that while Jesus’ servanthood is wonderful model, it is his sacrifice that is the means to achieve what God demands. You have before you this simple meal; you have heard week by week the simple message of the cross. What God requires of you is to hear and having heard believe, to feed upon the Word of God, to know that what God requires of you is to trust in the complete work of his Son. So that, by believing, you may have eternal life, so that you may have the strength and power to obey and serve.