Ready To Serve (Acts 6:1-7)

Have you ever been on the interstate heading somewhere when you suddenly stop and are backed up for thirty minutes? Then, you find out the wreck wasn't even in your lane. People just stopped to look.

Similar things happen in our lives. Have you ever had things working well, like a well-oiled machine when something happens that stops everything? Sometimes, the car breaks down, your leg breaks, or an unexpected bill eats up your savings. This happens in churches all the time. One month everyone is growing. People are growing full of love and getting encouraged to do the work. Maybe people are even coming to Christ. Then, all of a sudden, sin rears its ugly head. Satan gets through and causes some injustice or failure. It's inevitable. Someone will mess up, and the work stops to deal with the issue.

We have been studying Acts and noticing how the work has continued. They haven't let persecution stop them. Instead, it has fueled the fire and zeal inside them. They feel closer to Christ than ever when the persecution comes and don't back down. It's encouraging!

A Complaint

Acts 6:1 (ESV) --- 1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.

Things were moving along just fine. The church was booming in those early days. There were too many disciples to count, and they were still increasing. Everything was going great; they were serving one another by selling their property and laying the money at the apostles' feet. That money was being distributed so that no one had any need. But now we read about a group of widows who were being neglected.

These women were Hellenists, meaning that they were Greek-speaking Jews. There would be some level of prejudice between the Hebrews and the Hellenists. Not as much as the Samaritans, but there would be some. To be a Hellenist means that they have intermingled with the culture around them on some level. But these were believers in Christ, and they were widows! Uh oh. Is the perfect harmony and love going to be destroyed by this? Notice that they didn't overreact and decide to leave the church. They didn't make their own denomination or swap churches. They also didn't allow the widows to be neglected and kept silent about it, letting it fester. They spoke up and let the problem be known to the leaders. They didn't grumble among themselves like the Israelites.

An Odd Solution

Acts 6:2--4 (ESV) --- 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

The twelve apostles respond to this complaint by gathering all the people together and having a meeting. This would mean gathering thousands of people in one place. Can you imagine how difficult that would be? The disciples did not brush off this issue. They didn't ignore it or overlook it. Instead, they addressed it promptly because they knew God wanted the widows to be cared for.

But look at how they addressed it. They said it was not suitable for them to take on the role of distribution. Isn't that odd? Aren't they just pushing off their responsibility on other people? They could do it, but they would give up their current role of preaching the word of God. Notice that the disciples didn't feel like they would be doing their best work by spreading themselves thin. They didn't believe in the 80-20 rule where 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. They believed every part should do its share. So they recommended that the whole congregation select seven men with a good reputation to serve in the distribution to the needy widows. The apostles would appoint these men to their duty.

The work involved in doing something is often more than expected. Outsiders might look at this and say, "It's not that hard." But if you haven't been in charge of this before, you don't know how hard it is. It takes a lot of mental work and patience to distribute money in a just and right way.

The apostles wanted to devote their time to prayer and the ministry of the word. Is that so bad? If a preacher were to say this, would we roll our eyes? Do we feel the preacher should know everything they need to know and the congregation has already been taught? For some, the word ministry seems less valuable because they have grown dull of hearing. The world around us has a high expectation of a preacher. They want him to do everything on top of preaching a great sermon on Sunday morning. Preachers fall into the trap of trying to do too much and neglecting their studies.

Consequently, they become ineffective at their ministry of the word. The apostles were stingy with their time. Someone else could host potlucks. Someone else could take care of the assignments for Sunday services. Someone else could take care of the widows. Their mission was to spend much time praying, studying, and teaching. That is their role, and they stayed in their lane.

Submission, Joy, and Multiplication

Acts 6:5--7 (ESV) --- 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Notice that the Christians submitted to the words of the apostles. No one said, "No, you do it!" They understood that the workload needed to be spread out, and they went to work selecting men who would serve in this way. They even seem to have selected Hellenistic Jews to be responsible for the distribution. That shows that they were trusting one another and showing tremendous love. The result, we imagine, is that all the widows were taken care of, and the apostles devoted themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word.

In this text, the apostles aren't elders, but their role resembles that of the eldership. They delegate the work, and the congregation submits to them. Two of the men who were selected will be discussed in the following chapters. They didn't just distribute to the needy widows. They also taught the word of God. They were men with a servant's heart.

Verse 7 says, "The word of God continued to increase," meaning that the truth about God and his Messiah was spreading, and people were coming to a greater understanding of who they are and what they are supposed to do to serve the Lord. I imagine the people were soaking up the truths we read in the New Testament. They were learning about Jesus and his plans for his church.

Then, we read that the number multiplied greatly! This was already a massive group of people, but notice what happens when they don't stop teaching and preaching the truth. They didn't let a wreck on the other side of the road distract them. They keep going, and God multiplied them greatly. Even the priests, who would have been teachers of the Old Testament and very entrenched in the traditions of the Jews, were leaving the submission to the high priest to become submissive to Jesus, our high priest. That's a huge deal!

What Do We Learn?

In this passage, we learn how the disciples voice a complaint, which gets handled. There is forgiveness and compassion in this passage because that is how Christians are supposed to act. Everyone acts with love in their hearts because they are all trying to be like Christ.

We also learn that the apostles held their work of preaching and teaching the truth in high enough regard to protect it. They didn't let other needs get in the way of the work that they were called to do. Instead, they delegated that work to the congregation. The apostles continually taught the word of God, the people became more and more like Christ, and the number of disciples multiplied.

Application

What kind of problems do we face, and how might we choose to handle them? If you have been a congregation member for any time, you have seen problems mishandled. You may have even been the one mishandling things. Maybe it was an oversight or a failure to communicate. Someone seemed prejudiced or unwilling to fix something that is broken. We are weak and imperfect people.

Do you see how we should resolve these issues from this text? Instead of giving people an earful and trying to straighten everybody out with a prideful attitude, we should let the need be known with humility. Then, workers should step up to fill in the gap. We need volunteers who love the Lord and love to serve their brethren whenever there is a need.

Some of us are willing to wear multiple hats. We try to do everything, but that results in us doing nothing well. I don't intend for this to sound as self-serving as it does, but consider the words of an evangelical teacher about how the church handles its problems.

"The fact of the matter is that the American church as a whole chews up and spits out people. Especially their pastors (preachers). Sometimes I think that pastors (preachers) are put up on a pedestal so that in a few months the complainers in the church can get a clear shot at them.

Why do we insist, especially in larger churches, that the preacher do everything? It is probably outside his giftedness, and asking someone to center in their area of weakness is just plain wrong. Our Lord has given a wide variety of gifts to his body so that the body can minister to the wide variety of needs within the body.

Here's a novel idea ;-), what if the people with the gift of mercy accepted the responsibility of caring. What if those gifted to administrate were given a desk in the office? What if the elders gave spiritual leadership? What if those gifted to give led the capital campaigns? And what if the people gifted to preach were allowed to preach, to express their love for God and people through the best means at their disposal: the preached word. I wonder what that church would look like?"

In this congregation, we have quite a few people who are hard workers. They spent ten to twenty hours a week caring for our widows and serving others with needs. On top of that, they are trying to teach people and lead personal Bible studies. But, I'm sure they know of a lot of work going undone because of their physical limitations. They could use our help.

Sometimes, members of a local church might try to heap up a heavy workload on the shoulders of elders, evangelists, or other workers while they sit back and expect to be served. That's not the way you learned Christ. If we are going to be Christ followers, we have to be ready to serve so that those who do the work of teaching the Bible or leading spiritually can do their best. If you want a healthy and thriving church, you must take some of the burdens on yourself.

If you are overloaded to the point where you cannot do what God has gifted you with the ability to do, please share the workload with those who can do it. There needs to be more delegation and more volunteering going on. Instead of 20% working, we need 100% so that we can multiply!

Conclusion

I believe that the key to multiplication is found in this text. When those in the body of Christ act like Christ, and everyone upholds learning the word of God as the greatest endeavor, we will multiply. Do you understand God's plan of salvation for you, and are you submitting to it? Will you be a part of Christ's church and contribute to the work of our congregation? Let us know if we can help you.