We are facing a crisis of spiritual leadership in the evangelical church today. Now I do not mean that we are having a crisis of organizational leadership or motivational leadership. I would suggest to you that that kind of leadership is at an all-time high. But organizational and motivational leadership can only carry you as far as the flesh can go. The real need of the hour is for godly men who will lead God's people upstream against the turbulent waters of the world, the convenient, and the cultural versions of Christianity. Such spiritual men appear to be hard to come by these days.
You may think I am making too much of this, but I would ask whether you have really been observing the trends in the evangelical church and the many publications that are popular today. I am thankful that our denomination's SBC Life publication exposed one such book in a recent issue for what it is, a covert attempt to spread Mormonism. The book that addresses leadership and motivation has sold thousands of copies among evangelical leaders. I have seen it recommended by noted pastors. Just this week I read a news publication from a seminary and the opening quote in a seminary vice president's article was from this Mormon writer.
There are more seminars and institutes on leadership than the world has ever seen. But I am afraid there are few among the masses who are really spiritual leaders. There are a lot of egos, a lot of self-serving, a lot of misdirection, a lot of manipulation, but to our regret, very little spiritual leadership.
This is an issue that we will always have to deal with as a church. There will ever be the need for spiritual leaders. The nature and the mission of the church demand such leaders. Spiritual leaders are best identified by the character of their lives, their passion for the Lord, their understanding of the ways and works of God, their unflinching obedience to the Word of God, their humility as servants, and their desire to stay focused upon God's will as they lead others.
There is no more serious task facing a congregation than the selection of spiritual leaders to guide the church and its ministries. Understanding and following the New Testament's teaching on leadership assures a congregation of walking in the will of God.
Our text helps to lay the groundwork for developing a biblical strategy for ministry. The challenge before us is to understand the dynamics of spiritual leadership and accept nothing less than the standards and principles our Lord has given us in His Word.
I. Congregational needs that affect leadership
Some of the most significant changes in structure and leadership that we see in the Bible comes as a response to the needs of God's people. For instance, when Moses had carried the children of Israel out of Egypt and into the wilderness, he spent from daylight to dark counseling and judging the grievances of the entire nation. Day after day he did this to the point of exhaustion. His father-in-law, Jethro, recognized the problem and counseled him to establish leaders under his authority who could decide in matters of grievance in order to relieve the strain of his load. This gave Moses the time he needed to focus on issues related to leading the nation rather than deciding between two people who had a minor problem.
Throughout the book of Acts we see the structure and practices of the church taking shape and form. With each new situation faced, the church had to respond in a way that would keep the message of the gospel as priority and the mission of the church focused. This often necessitated change or the addition of new structure to the daily operation of the church.
You can essentially place the needs of a congregation into one of two categories: physical needs and spiritual needs. With every need there are certain demands placed upon a congregation and upon its leadership. It is important to recognize legitimate needs and respond properly.
1. Physical needs of the congregation
Our text tells us that there was a complaint that arose among the Hellenistic Jews against the Aramaic Jews. The Hellenistic Jews were those who had likely moved into Jerusalem from other regions where the dominant culture and language were Greek (thus the term 'Hellenist' which come from the Gr. word for "Greek"). They were the decided minority among the Jewish believers. Whether it was intentional or not, they were not having their physical needs met in the same fashion as the native Jewish Christians.
We must understand that the Jewish practice was to take care of their own people. There was no such thing as social security or welfare programs. The local community took on the needs of those who were widowed or orphaned. There were occasions where they lapsed in their practice of caring for people in need and the prophets gave them scathing rebukes. But the normal practice was to meet the physical needs of the Jewish widows who did not have the ability nor family to care for them.
Once some of these Jewish widows became Christians, they were immediately disassociated from the Jewish religious community. The synagogue would not provide any support for these women. Following Christ was essentially a death-blow to these ladies. So, the Christian community immediately filled in and began supplying the needs of these widows. In that society there was very little way that these ladies could provide for their needs, so it became the duty of the brethren to minister to them.
Paul addressed this concern in I Timothy 5 when he spoke of when a widow was qualified to be put "on the list" (5:9) as part of the church's support. These were called "widows indeed," because of their qualifications and the church's support.
The young Christian churches were primarily made up of poor people. Very few were people had wealth, as in a Barnabas. During that era there were usually just two classes of people, just as is common in much of the Third World, the poor and the rich. The body, as we have already seen in Acts 2 and 4, worked together to meet the needs of others in the congregation so that no one would suffer need. With the rapid growth of the church there were some widows who were "falling through the cracks" as we might say. They were being "overlooked" (lit., neglected) in the daily serving of food. New Testament scholars seem to be divided over whether this was an actual provision of food or whether it was a daily parceling out of money to buy food. Whatever the case, it was the necessary part of these ladies' existence. We can see that the apostles were concerned that this need be met in the church.
Some parts of the Christian church today face very similar circumstances. I can only imagine in some of the former Eastern Bloc countries how many Christians cannot find work or have physical ailments that prevent them from working so that they must depend upon the church to meet their basic needs. Those churches must be wise in the way they use their resources. Such demands upon them call for godly leaders who will disperse their resources in a fair and equitable way. It was such a need that gave rise to this first group of "The Seven," who were prototypes of deacons. They were able to minister to the physical needs in order to free both people and apostles for the spiritual needs to be met.
While we may not face the needs for food like our counterparts in other countries, there are physical and emotional needs that confront all of us. Illnesses, debilitating diseases, physical handicaps, and even aging presents the church with many needs which it is called upon to help out. It is in the realm of such needs that we find the first group of deacons serving and then continuing to serve the early church.
2. Spiritual needs of the congregation
But we are also confronted by the matter of spiritual needs as we see our text. "It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables....But we will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word." The apostles saw that the physical needs were of great importance and worthy of the church's attention. But they also saw that they were never to neglect the spiritual needs of the congregation. Their priority was to continue teaching the apostolic doctrine and sounds principles of the Word of God to the people so that they might grow strong in the Lord and in the faith. It was not an either-or situation with physical and spiritual needs; it was a both-and situation. Both the physical and spiritual needs had to be met, but they saw the need to prioritize what they were to do in relieving these needs.
I don't think any of us would deny that we still have spiritual needs in our congregations! As long as there is sin in our lives, as long as our knowledge is incomplete, as long as there is the least dimming of the glory of Christ in our lives, there are spiritual needs which must be met. As a church we exist primarily for the meeting of these spiritual needs. The physical needs are important and we want to be involved in them. But meeting physical needs lasts only during this life. The meeting of spiritual needs goes on into eternity.
When you begin to analyze the American church scene, you realize that we have in many ways fallen prey to meeting only the physical needs of our people and neglecting the weightier spiritual needs. There may not be a whole lot of "feeding programs" taking place, but there are plenty of other areas that seem to have our attention. Massive recreation programs, social activities, hobby and craft programs, psychology and sociology programs, and a variety of entertainment-oriented activities vie for the "physical" attention of the church. These things are not necessarily wrong (there are exceptions!). But when the Word of God is neglected in order to meet an array of the physical needs, then the physical has taken on the status of idolatry to the neglect of the eternal, spiritual needs.
The apostles were very adamant about the spiritual needs of the congregation. They said it was not "desirable" for them to neglect the word of God in order to take care of the physical needs. "Desirable" implies that which is pleasing or right. Though they had a great concern for the poor, as is evidenced by the later instructions to Paul on contributing to the poor (Gal. 2:10), they knew that without the ministry of the Word of God, the people might be physically fit but spiritually crushed. They knew that this was not "right" before God or before the congregation.
The noted Puritan pastor, Richard Baxter, spoke clearly of the spiritual character of the ministry:
Since the work of the ministry concerns the pleasing of God and the salvation of our people, its character is spiritual. It is not about temporal and transitory things. It is a vile abuse to secularize the Church with immersion into the business of the world. Our true business consists of the following two things.
First, it is our business to reveal to men what is that happiness or chief good, which must be the ultimate good.
Second, it is our business to acquaint men with the right means to obtain this end, and to help them use these means. In the pursuit of this end, we must not hinder them.
The first and greatest work of ministers of Christ is acquainting men with the God who made them; He is the source of their blessing. We should open up the treasures of His goodness for them and tell them of the glory that is in His presence, a glory which all His chosen people shall enjoy.
...In a word, we must teach our people as much as we can of the word and works of God. (The Reformed Pastor, 69-71).
II. Leadership principles that enhance ministry
Since this sermon is the first of several which will seek to investigate the biblical teaching on elders, deacons, and spiritual leadership, I think it will be fitting to notice some of the simple principles in our text which may help us in laying a groundwork for spiritual leadership. Though this text mentions neither deacon nor elder, it gives a beautiful picture of both through the prototypes that are clear in the text.
1. Ministry structure must adapt to fit needs
The New Testament does not have a special chapter or book which serves as a "Book of Church Order" or "Theology of Ministry" section. There are bits and pieces, some large, some small, which we can piece together to get the broad picture of how a church is structured. One of the most striking features of a NT church is that its ministry structure must adapt to fit the needs it faces.
There was no movement to begin a "deacon ministry" until there was a need that pressed the disciples beyond their capacity for effective service. They did not create jobs and responsibilities in order to find something for folks to do. They responded to the needs of the congregation by asking them to select seven men to be involved in serving them. It is interesting that the title "deacon" is not used even the first time in the book of Acts. But we do see Paul using it in Philippians 1:1 when he addresses the leaders of that congregation ("overseers and deacons") and then in I Timothy 3 when he gave the godly requirements for those who under the charge of Timothy would be selected as deacons. This does not mean that deacons did not exist, for certainly there were men who were actively serving the body even as The Seven of Acts 6. But the official title and office of deacon was not recognized for some years after the Acts 6 beginning.
The term "elders" is used repeatedly throughout the book of Acts and also in many of the epistles. Evidently "elders" were formalized as officers in the church sooner than deacons. The terms elder, bishop or overseer, and pastor were used interchangeably for this same office and function in the early church. The fact that congregations needed stable spiritual leadership brought about the need for selecting elders to serve each congregation. The spiritual needs of churches demanded that the structure of the church fill those needs. They responded by the office of elder. That is why Paul later told Titus in his pastoral role on the island of Crete to 'appoint elders in every city'. The ministry structure had to adapt to fit the various needs of the congregations.
2. Division of responsibility increases effectiveness
You will notice that the apostles recognized the area in which they were to serve the church: prayer and the ministry of the Word. Though they may have had a very genuine interest in the daily serving of food for the widows, they could not take on that administrative-elephant and still have the time to study, pray, teach, and preach as they ought. It was imperative that their responsibilities be divided in order to maintain effectiveness in the church.
The Twelve, as the apostles were called, and The Seven, as these deacon prototypes were called, each had vital ministries within the Jerusalem church. But each ministry was different and distinct. Each needed the other to fulfill his own ministry properly. If there was complaining over the lack of food among the widows, the Twelve would have to spend their time putting out the brush fires of complaints before they could teach the Word. If the Twelve did not teach the Word, then the Seven would only be running a welfare-food program with no spiritual benefit.
Some people who wear their feelings on their shoulders want to spend time trying to argue over whether one type of work is superior to another. The text just does not spend time doing this. For the apostles, the most important thing they could do was to feed people the Word. For the Seven, the most important thing they could do was to feed the widows their daily food. In the body we don't need to spend our time comparing our work and calling one inferior and another superior. I think even a cursory reading of I Corinthians 12 will end such folly. Whether we are waiting on tables or teaching through the Word, all that we do we are to do heartily unto the Lord and to His glory alone (Col. 3:23; I Cor. 10:31). That gives every work done a "superior" rating!
In a practical fashion, those whom God has called to teach the Word in a congregation need to devote the time to study and prayer that they might effectively teach the Word. If they are having to leave their study in order to run to this need and that need, they will not be ready to teach and consequently, the body who needs their teaching will not profit. That's why the New Testament teaches us that there are to be co-laborers who address the many physical needs of a congregation so that the teaching elders might address the spiritual needs with authority and power. Chief among these co-laborers are deacons.
I am thankful for a congregation who understands the need for their pastor to study and pray! Many congregations do not have this kind of understanding. I recall in one of my pastorates that I was preaching through Acts when I came to this very text. I preached on it and told the congregation that I had been greatly convicted by my neglect of the study and that I would be re-arranging my schedule to devote priority time to the Word of God. I asked that they please allow me those hours I had blocked out in my schedule for study and that I would gladly devote the balance of my time to special needs they might have. In my youthfulness, I stirred up a hornet's nest! They were not accustomed to having a pastor that actually studied! They wanted him to run around and check on every hang-nail in the congregation. Lest you think I am exaggerating, I had one lady who quite seriously pulled me aside and told me how I needed to visit a particular lady in the congregation since she was in horrible shape. I thought the lady might be dying, so I asked what was wrong with her. The reply, "She has a terrible bunion on her foot." My crest fell!
The division of responsibility provides for those with physical needs without the neglect of the spiritual needs. Understanding and accepting this can help a church function more effectively in carrying out the work God has given it to do. We cannot expect one or two people to do all of the ministry in a church. It takes the cooperation and teamwork of those whom God has raised up to serve local churches as elders and deacons, along with a host of others.
3. Plurality of leadership is indispensable for ministry
The New Testament explicitly speaks of leadership in the plural rather than the singular. You always find the mention of elders and deacons in the plural unless there is reference to a particular person who served in one of those areas. The apostles wisely called for the congregation to select seven men to serve in the place of the apostles in meeting the widow's needs. James M. Boice stated, "There is no reference anywhere in the New Testament to the appointment of only one elder or one deacon to a work."
A good example of plurality of godly leaders can be found in Titus 1:5. "For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might set in order what remains, and appoint elders in every city as I directed you." Now you will notice that Paul uses the plural, "elders," and the singular, "city." Each congregation gathered in the various cities on the island of Crete were to have more than one elder serving them. Otherwise, Paul would have stated, 'Appoint an elder in every city'.
Why a plurality of elders or deacons? A plurality offers each elder some measure of encouragement since the body of elders or body of deacons work together on behalf of their particular congregation. Each man is to be heading in the same direction. They can lift up one who is under pressure or offer a word of consolation to one who has a need.
Allow me to be quite personal at this point. I know what it is to stand alone in a congregation. That is a difficult and trying time when you are seeking to follow the teaching of God's Word and there is no crowd rushing to join you! But how marvelous and encouraging it is to have like-minded and like-purposed brethren standing with you! That breathes encouragement into any Christian leader's heart.
A plurality provides the opportunity to approach the whole work of ministry in a more exacting way. When you have a body of elders or body of deacons, inevitably each man will have his own particular gifts and strengths to add to their work. When they labor as a team, each man can apply his gifts to the common good of the entire body. No one man has to attempt to carry the load of a congregation.
A plurality is also a good measure to curtail attempts at tyranny or dictatorships. Some people get corrupted when they have too much authority handed to them. This is especially true when someone lacks the spiritual maturity for leadership. Their role as leaders can be opportunities for boosting their own egos or grabbing for power over others' lives. A plurality of leaders can hold one another accountable for purity of motives and actions.
A plurality is also a great laboratory for displaying unity. Any group of people who work together for a period of time will have their unity tested. The true quality of their character or lack of character will come to the surface during times of testing and adversity. Nothing is any sweeter than to see brethren walk through such times in unity.
4. Spiritual qualifications are essential in leaders
John MacArthur has written, "The character and effectiveness of any church is directly related to the quality of its leadership. That's why the Bible stresses the importance of qualified church leadership and delineates specific standards for evaluating those who would serve in that sacred position. Failure to adhere to those standards has caused many of the problems that churches throughout the world currently face" (Shepherdology, 185).
What kind of men were the apostles looking for to take on the task of caring for the widows? Did they ask for men with keen organizational skills? Did they ask for men who had plenty of money to cover what might be missing? Did they ask for men who were popular with the congregation? Did they ask for men that were friendly and had nice smiles? Did they ask for men who had good attendance at church? Did they ask for men who had made it big in the business world?
All of these questions may seem strange to you, but I point out to you that those seem to be the basic criteria for selecting leaders in most churches. I have watched it with grief through the years as men have been elected deacons who do not even have a clue about the Christian life. One church with which I am familiar prints a list of all male members of their church to use in nominating men as deacons. I have been horrified as I have looked over these lists and noticed men who do not even attend church, men who are immoral, men who are known to be unethical in business practices, and men who have reputations in the community of anything but Christian.
The call of the disciples is quite clear. "But select from among you, brethren, seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task." We will look in greater detail in the weeks ahead at this issue of qualifications, but notice this concise summary of what a spiritual leader is to look like.
He is to be a man of good reputation. Is he known in the community, in the workplace, and in his home as a solid Christian? Does he seek to live in obedience to Christ without compromising with the world? Are there areas of bad habits or loose talk or poor attitudes or complaining in his life? Does he have the kind of Christian life that you can gladly emulate?
He is to be full of the Holy Spirit. Is his life under the control of the Holy Spirit? Does his life display the fruit of the Spirit noted in Galatians 5:22-23? Is there evidence that the Spirit of God leads this man in his home life and business life? Is he conscious of not quenching or grieving the Holy Spirit? Does he know and show forth the joy of the Lord? Does he walk in humility as one who understands the grace of God?
He is to be a man of wisdom. To be wise one must first know the Lord intimately and he cannot know the Lord intimately without knowing the Word of God thoroughly. Is he a student of the Word? Does he seek to order his life by the clear teaching of Scripture? Is he familiar enough with God's Word that when you are in discussions with him he can speak freely of the Bible's contents, applying Scriptures in their God-given context? Does he have a knowledge of the Word that has translated into holy living and constant application of the Scriptures? Is he willing to stand upon the Word of God in leading others?
Are these qualifications too much to ask of men who would serve our congregation as elders and deacons? They are basic to living as men of God (and women of God, too). These qualifications should challenge any man who is a believer to never settle for anything less in his life than being the kind of man described by this text.
Can such men be found? They found them in the first century church. And these kind of men can be found as God raises them up for a congregation.
5. Congregational responsibility is immense in selecting leaders
We are not told how the congregation selected the men who were put forth to the apostles for their approval. We only know that they selected the men then released them to the apostles. What I would point out to you is that the first church had an enormous responsibility in making sure that they followed the simple guidelines given by the apostles in selecting the right men. We do not really know anything about five of these men, but two of them became mighty leaders in the church and examples of living the Christian life. The congregation did their work well!
Brethren, we will face a challenge in the next few weeks of doing the very same thing. You have the responsibility to seek the Lord, to study the qualifications for spiritual leaders, especially I Timothy 3 and Titus 1, and make sure that the men you put forward for the biblical offices of elder or deacon are the kind of men that would be honoring to the Lord. We must pray earnestly about this matter. I am calling you to regular prayer privately and corporate prayer in your Sunday School classes, Fellowship Group meetings, youth meetings, and in a special prayer meeting on August 31st from 7-9 PM. Brethren, this matter we face is one for which we must answer to the Lord. Let's plead for the Lord to raise up His men to serve this body.
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