Deacons
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My Role in the Church: Deacons
1 Tim. 3:8-13
Introduction
* An elderly pastor was thinking about retiring and leaving the church in the hands of one of his three deacons. The three deacons were very devout but not very smart so the pastor decided to let one interview question determine the matter. He called the eldest deacon into his office and said, "My son please tell me about Easter." "Easter is a beautiful celebration of the life of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It marks his birth in the town of Bethlehem. We decorate trees, exchange gifts..." "That's horrible," interrupted the Pastor. "Send in the next Deacon." The Pastor asked the next Deacon about Easter. "Well," the deacon replied. "Easter is a wonderful celebration of food, faith and family. We gather together to commemorate the Pilgrims' arrival in the New World. We eat roast turkey with cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie..." "That's even worse than the first guy! Send in the last Deacon." The last Deacon came in and the Pastor asked him about Easter. "That is simple," said the Deacon. "Easter is a celebration marking the death and rebirth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." "Yes, yes," encouraged the Pastor. "Continue." “Well, after his crucifixion they say that Jesus was wrapped in a shroud and buried. After three days the stone was rolled back from the mouth of the tomb and Jesus arose..." "Oh, my son," cried the Pastor. "At last I can retire secure..." The Deacon continued. "And if he sees his shadow and runs back into the tomb it means six more weeks of winter."
* Today I want us to continue our study in the series “My Role in the Church”, and today as you can guess by the joke, we are going to look at the role of the Deacon.
* Roles are important in the church because we’re all not supposed to do the same things; that’s why God gave many different roles. We have seen the Pastor’s role and the church’s response to that role, today we’ll look at the Deacon’s role, and in the next coming weeks we’ll look at the role of men/women, husband/wife, and parent/child.
* Therefore, let’s take a closer look at the role of the Deacon and perhaps this role might be for you.
I. The Requirements of the Deacon: (vv.8, 10-12a)
* After Paul listed out all the qualifications of the Pastor (1 Tim. 3:1-7), he said starting in v.8 the word “likewise” (NIV) as he was listing the qualifications for the Deacon.
* “Likewise” means there isn’t much character differences between that of the Pastor and Deacon, each is listed side- by-side in scripture with really the only difference being one a teacher and the other a server.
* The Pastor focuses on the spiritual aspect of the church and leads and the Deacon focuses on the physical aspect of the church and serves.
* And since the Deacon office is listed along with the office of the Elder/Pastor, the Deacon roles is to be visible and faithful just as the Pastor.
* A Pastor is visible in FRONT of the congregation and the Deacon is to be visible IN the congregation.
* But not just anyone should be a Deacon, for Paul listed out some stringent qualifications 1 Tim. 3:8-13 (expound on these moral character “must”commands).
* However, there are a couple of roles stuck in between the qualifications and they are:
* First, verse 9, “They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.”
* Deacons are to be men of the word who are well grounded in the fundamental doctrines of the faith.
* Men who are more concerned with what the Bible says than they are with what the church covenant, church constitution and by-laws, or the denominational leaders say.
* Second, verse 12b, “he must manage his children and his household well.”
* Deacons must be a family man, one who loves, nurtures and cares for his family. You can look at how a man's family treat him and respond to him and tell a lot about his spiritual condition.
* In other words, Deacons must be deeply rooted, spiritual men without a questionable conscience and one who has control of and leads their family in the way of God.
* Now, if you fulfill these qualifications you can be a Deacon. If you are asked to serve as a Deacon it is a high honor and one to be regarded but not treated lightly.
* However, today’s message is not about the character of the Deacon but about the role of the Deacon.
II. The Role of the Deacon: (Acts 6:1-4)
* The more I began my in depth study about the Deacon’s role the less I found in specifics for the role. I could see in 1 Timothy Paul clearly specified the qualifications but not so much the roles.
* The role of a Deacon is derived literally from the picture we find in Acts 6:1-4, even though we allude to the choosing of these seven men as Deacons they are not ascribed to as Deacons. (Jacob/Jerod/Ben fit these roles)
* The use of the word “deacon” here is in a general sense where as the office of the Deacon didn’t come about until nearly thirty years later in 1 Timothy 3:8-13.
* So in Acts 6, as the church grew the Apostles were busy ministering to all the spiritual needs of the church such as preaching, teaching and praying, but they were also serving the physical needs as well-such as food.
* It got to the point after a complaint came forward between the Grecian Jewish women and Hebrew Jewish woman concerning food, Peter said that it was not right for the Apostles to neglect the ministry of the Word of God to “wait on tables or serve tables.”
* This is where the word “deacon” comes from, Gr. diaconew, diakoneo (1247) which means “to serve, to wait upon tables, to care for and serve another’s needs.”
* In other words, there were more spiritual things that needed to be done by the Apostles
* A good example of what I’m talking about is last Wednesday night I was talking to one of our Deacons Rick Simmons out in the Annex, and as I walked in he handed me a plate, poured me some tea, asked me if I needed anything else, and then went to cleaning up the kitchen. I told him that what he was doing just now is the fulfillment of a Deacon and that God is more glorified with him serving people than sitting in a finance meeting. He said he’d rather serve people.
* I shared with Rick to remember the word “diakoneo.”
* Serving is the ultimate role of the Deacon and it pleases God to see them serve visibly in the church such as:
* Sunday as it rains our Deacons have umbrellas and meet people at the car
* Wednesday night study we have Deacons getting chairs and bringing them in for the people
* We have Deacons stand in the hallway as church is going to watch and protect as we worship
* We have a Deacon who serves the youth on Wednesday nights
* We have Deacons who greet at the door every Sunday
* And our Deacons meet every Sunday before church to pray
* I can honestly say this about our Deacons of WOBC, there has never been a time in my tenor as Pastor that they have failed to do what I have asked them to do.
* If our Deacons are falling short in any area of service within the church, it’s because I have failed as Pastor to ask and lead in those areas.
* There is nothing more glorious to a Deacon than he fulfilling his God given role visibly within the church.
* It would be remiss of me to fail to mention one major problem among many churches in America and that is the problem to many churches are being “deacon run” rather than “pastor lead.” Many churches have split and pastors have left because of this one fact.
* A Deacon’s role was never meant to function as a Pastor and overseer of the church. They can be there and take over when there is an absence of a Pastor.
* However, with no disrespect to the role of the Deacon, according to the Word of God, they should never be viewed as the “leaders” of the church, as much as they are to be viewed as the “servers” of the church.
* And we discover this truth in the name “deacon” itself. The word “elder/bishop” in reference to the Pastor’s role means “overseer”, whereas, the word “deacon”, Gr. diaconoz, diakonos (1249), means “to minister, to serve, or to serve others.”
* A Deacon’s role was not created by God to "run" the church; they were created by God to serve alongside the Pastor and to serve the people.
* When the two offices of Pastor and Deacon operate within their roles, God is glorified, the church is blessed and the church is served. But when these two offices get out of their roles there is usually instability and trouble for the Pastor, Deacon and the Church.
* That’s why God saw fit to have two offices with two different functions to complete the church.
* When Deacon’s serve in their role faithfully they will find respect among the people of the church.
III. The Respect of the Deacon: (v.13)
* Much like the Pastor who “serves well” is given double-honor (1 Tim. 5:17), a Deacon who “serves well” will have respect and an excellent standing among the people.
* Deacon’s are important because they are an official office of the church. They have a wide variety of roles and functions within the church set by the church.
* The role of the Deacons is to be active in the work of ministry alongside the pastoral staff. They should be there cooking at the fellowship and cleaning up afterwards, they should be setting up tables and chairs, they should visit the sick, care for the bereaved, they should head off problems that may arise, take care of the pastor and staff and look after their needs, they take care of business and they should be a faithful to attend services and be a visible servant in the church.
* Respect and an excellent standing among the people await such men who serve in such a capacity.
* Any healthy church will have an active Deacon body and these men are elected by the people to serve the people and we need to continually develop great Deacons through the years to serve.
* The Pastor and the church need Deacons to aid in ministry to the church. Wherever there is a physical need in the church there should be a Deacon who is willing to serve and meet that need.
Conclusion
* Today is a call for new men of God to prayerfully serve as Deacons
* Today we want to recognition the presently serving Deacons and pastoral staff of WOBC
* Prayer
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