[Steve Myers] You may have heard the story about an old-time deacon. He was visiting a congregation in another state, and the pastor got up and he was giving the sermon kind of started to drag just a little bit. And out of nowhere, the pastor just blurts out, "The best years of my life were spent in the arms of another man's wife." Yeah, they did just that the congregation was, “Oh!” They couldn't believe he was saying something like that." But pretty quickly, he said, "It was my mother." The congregation relaxed.

But the old-time deacon, he heard that he said that was pretty slick, I like that. That's a good way to get the congregation... I have to remember that when I get back and when I'm speaking sometime. So he gets back home a couple of months later, he's giving a sermonette. And he wasn't necessarily the most engaging fellow. And certainly people started nodding a little bit, and a light bulb went off. I remember what that pastor said. So he came back, he just blurted right out of nowhere. "The best years of my life were spent in the arms of another man's wife." The congregation went "Oh, no!” Right, then he went totally blank. And he just looked at them, he didn't know what to say. So he just said, "And for the life of me, I can't remember her name."

Not a good way to engage the audience I don't think. Not quite the effect that he intended. Of course sometimes as speakers, we don't exactly get the things across that we'd like to, and I think it does present us with the fact that there are a whole lot of ways to serve, other than just speaking. I mean speaking is one way. But there's always a need for more servants, for individuals who will step up and serve God and serve His people. And we have those needs right here in Cincinnati.

We have many who have served for many, many years in our ordained leadership. In fact, if you've got your announcement bulletin, on the back side, there's a whole listing of our ordained leadership both the elders, our deacons, and our deaconesses as well. Because they have a huge impact on our congregation both in the morning and the afternoon. Deacons and deaconesses supply stability, they supply a positive attitude, they're servants who are pillars in the congregation. And I suppose in a way you could say they're leaders in service.

And it's certainly a reminder why Christ told us to pray for more laborers, that there would be more because they do serve a vital function. So I'm not sure if you've thought about it for a while, or maybe always wondered, what in the world do those deacons and deaconesses do anyway? I've heard about I'm not sure who they are, or where they are, what they're doing, but what is their function? What are they and what do they do? Why do we need them? And maybe what's the difference between a deacon and a deaconess and an elder? Are they all kind of the same, or are they different?

Well, there's a section of scripture that deals a lot with that. And we'll spend a lot of time in that section of scripture in Acts 6. In Acts 6, we're at the beginning of the New Testament Church. Of course, in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit was just poured out, and the New Testament church began. Now by the time we get to chapter 6, some of the growing pains of a new church begin to show.

Now you might not think that would be the case. But early on, there were problems. If you look at Acts 6:1, it tells us that the number of the disciples were multiplied. But what could be wrong with that the Church was growing? Well, do you know how big the congregation would have been by this time? We don't often necessarily think of how big was that congregation.

Well if you peek back, just a chapter, so to chapter 4, Acts 4:4, it tells us how the Church had multiplied. There were 5,000 men, just men alone, not counting the women that were baptized, as well as all the children that would have been attending. So we're talking about a huge congregation, all kinds of people there. So it's no wonder that there would have been a little bit of growing pains right at the beginning of the Church.

And so Acts 6 begins to tell us, how do you deal with the situations that we're going to face because there are so many things to do. There are so many people to serve and so many things that need to be done. And so they brought the problem to the apostles. So if you recognized verse 1, let's look at it again. "In those days, the number of the disciples was multiplying, and there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution."

So we've got a couple of groups of converted individuals, some that were Greek-speaking, some that were Hebrew speaking. Now, here's the issue then, because there were so many people, I think it was probably inadvertently, probably unintentionally, that some of the seniors, some of the widows who needed help weren't getting the help they needed. They helped with food and some of the necessities and for whatever reason, they were missed, probably neglected, you know, unintentionally.

And so why was this happening? And you can imagine well, it's because they don't like us because we're Greek speakers, or they don't like us because, you know, we speak Hebrew or Aramaic. And you could see how that could evolve into an issue. So they brought it to the disciples, look at verse 2, then. "The problems were brought there, and they told him the way it is, they summoned the multitude of the disciples and they said, it's not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables."

So once the issue came to the apostles, it was obvious there were physical needs that needed to be met. But the apostles, the ministers, those that were preaching, and teaching, and getting the gospel spread, could not possibly begin to take care of all the physical needs that were out there. And so they were to be engrossed in Scripture, they were to pray. And as the spiritual leadership, it was their job to do the spiritual things first. So, how do you take care of the physical needs? Well, they make a proposal to the congregation.

And they come up with this idea to separate some of the responsibilities instead of them taking care of the widow's physical needs, they in a way, divide up the labor a little bit. Separating the physical labor, from the spiritual labor. And making this proposal let's notice what they said. "Brethren," verse 3, "seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business."

So the leadership decides seven ought to do it with as many as we are seven ought to be able to fulfill the need, they'd be sufficient to cover the physical works, the needs of the people. And so they're proposing this idea to organize and get together in order to be assured that nobody's neglected, nobody's left out. And so what did they do? They asked the congregation “Brethren, seek out from among you." So talking to the multitude, talking to the people, talking to the Body of Christ the congregation, seek from among you. “You go out, and you recognize individuals who are meeting these qualifications, and we'll appoint them to this service.”

And so they asked the congregation who's doing this job already? Who's filling these needs already?” You look out amongst yourselves and put forth seven individuals with these qualifications.” And there's a little short list right here that they give. And so they start by saying, "Men of good reputation." Or King James, I think says "A good rapport. Men of a good rapport." They have a good repute, in other words, they're well respected.

These individuals would be one that you look out among yourselves, and it's someone everybody trusts, everybody can trust them. This lady is one you can count on. They have good character. And we can attest to that very fact. We know that to be true. And in fact, it's interesting, this word for reputation is a word that's connected to a court case. Now you might say what does that have to do with choosing a deacon or a deaconess?

Well, the reputation side of things speaks to their witness. When you look at them, what does their life say about them? What do their actions speak when it comes to what they do? What's important to them? Just like someone that goes to a hearing at court and has to testify, you have to be able to count on what they're saying. And so this word was used, I think, to really make that point very, very clear, because you're going to believe what they have to say, this is an honest witness. This is an impartial person.

Their relationship with the pastor is not what you can count on. It's not just the pastor's best friend, and so we'll pick them. No, it wasn't that at all, that their life was the basis for who they are. And so from this word, it points to the fact that their life is a testament to who they are. And so people of good character, quality individuals of moral integrity, that's what this is pointing to. And so these would have been well thought of individuals among the congregation that were already actively serving and were servants of all. And they had a reputation for serving God and serving his people.

So the apostles say, "Men of good rapport, men of good repute," they were doing... in fact, that wasn't all. You notice another qualification here in this little short, verse 3, it says, "Full of the Holy Spirit." So these individuals should be showing the fruit of God's Spirit. And we could turn to Galatians and remind ourselves of those things but we know those godly traits we're to have. And they are to be exhibiting those things.

These individuals should be close to God. They should be submissive to His Spirit, yielded to God, dedicated to doing His will. And recognized by the congregation. They're solid, they're stable examples. They're doing God's will His way, living God's way. They're not sporadic, it's something that is their way of life. And it's evident that they're submissive to God's Spirit. And in fact, not just that, but they're also wise individuals. They're full of the Spirit and full of wisdom.

And so as the apostles told the congregation about this, you think about these 5,000, maybe 10,000 people, when you add the women, the children, no wonder they said, "They have to be wise, they have to be full of the Spirit." They have to be a testament to God's way of life because you're going to be dealing with all of these people. And you're going to have to be a competent organizer, you're going to have to fulfill the needs, the physical requirements, to help the people formulate a plan, carry it out, make it happen. These were the kind of individuals that the apostles were asking the congregation took for.

And of course, as you think about that, do you notice one thing that at least stands out to me probably does to you as well. He didn't say, pick your best friend and put their name forward, he didn't say that. He didn't say, pick the best-looking people and put them forward. It's not an election. Well, we'll see who's most popular and we'll appoint them. Yeah, it's nothing to do with any of that, this is not a democracy, this is definitely not an election.

But what's happening here? The apostles were asking, really, in a sense, they're asking God to work through the congregation, to bring forth the names of those individuals, that ultimately God wants appointed to these tasks. And in fact, when you look at this word to appoint, bring forth these names that we may appoint them over this business, over these duties, we're going to set them over these responsibilities. We're going to place them in these positions so that they can fulfill these physical needs. They're the ones that can administer these duties, they can make sure that the daily distribution gets to all. They can fulfill those duties to wait on the tables and serve the people and take care of those physical needs.

And so what happened? The congregation suggested they brought forth these names. And then what did the apostles do? They appointed so we had the congregation suggesting, the apostles appointing. Now, when you look here, they're not giving up their authority in any way, are they? In fact, as you look at this, it's pretty specific. When you see what they'll say we'll “appoint over this business; but we'll give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

They're going to continue to be the spiritual authority. They're going to do the work in the sense of the spiritual aspects of the job. So they'll be preaching the gospel, they'll be preparing the people, they'll be shepherding the flock. They'll be meeting the spiritual needs that's what the ministry does. That's why the deacons and the deaconesses then could take care of those physical aspects, the physical needs that were out there.

And so as we see, this was a pleasing thing. And so when we look at what the apostles were doing, they were still the authority. They were the spiritual authority over the congregation, and they retained that right, ultimately, to make the final decision. And so bring those names forward, and we'll take a look at those names. Because we don't want to forget that the apostles in their day, pastors and elders in our day what do they do? Well, one of their tasks is to oversee the congregation.

In fact, the Bible uses that word, overseers. Pastors are overseers of the congregation, they oversee the spiritual health of the people. And so if you hold your place here, we'll come back just momentarily. Turn over to Acts 20. That particular word is actually used here to point out a little bit of a difference between a pastor and a deacon or a deaconess. So Acts 20:28. Here we see an admonition to those who are elders, those who are overseers, those who are pastors of congregations.

In Acts 20:28. In instructions to those ministers, it says "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock,” Of course, that was their duty. That was their job to take care of the flock. It says, "among which the Holy Spirit has made you as pastors, as elders, has made you overseers." So overseers oversee the spiritual health of the congregation. And in fact, it says, "To shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” Referring to Christ.

And so a pastor is an overseer and in a sense a shepherd, a guardian, an elder who serves the spiritual needs of the congregation. And so that's quite different then from what Acts 6 is talking about when it comes to deacons and deaconesses as well. So if you held your place, go back to Acts 6 for a moment. And let's take a look at verse 4. Again, of course, it says that the apostles as a pastor would today, would give themselves to prayer and ministry of the Word, serving the world, preaching the Word, meeting people, counseling people, bringing them to baptism as God calls it. That's the pastor's job, that's the elder's job, that's the ministry's job.

But then we see, what did the congregation do? Well, they went out among themselves. And it says, verse 5, "They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit,” okay, here's a guy that met those qualifications you were talking about. "And Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, the proselyte of Antioch."

So they brought forth seven names. And these would have been individuals that had a level of spiritual maturity, they had to have that. They just weren't good at doing jobs and tasks. But these were individuals of spiritual maturity, that then the apostles could ordain to serve the physical needs of the local congregation. Of course, they'd still be directed by the ministry, even though it's not an office of the ministry. They're not ministers of Jesus Christ, like an elder or a pastor would be, but they'd certainly be in this position, an important position to help and serve God's people.

And so as they did this, the results, everybody's thrilled about it, “the whole multitude was pleased.” They brought the recommendations forth. And then what did the apostles do? Did they just rubber stamp it and say, "Okay, got it, great. They're the guys?" They didn't do that. Verse 6, it says they brought these names forward and “set before the apostles." “Here, are the individuals we're suggesting.” What did the apostles do? Not a rubber stamp. It says, "When they had prayed, they laid hands on them."

So they took this into consideration. They weighed the suggestions from the congregation, and prayed about it, they took it to God. They wanted God's guidance, they wanted God's input. And so they just didn't rubber stamp the whole thing. They prayed about each one of these individuals. And of course, in this case, none of them were refused. They accepted all of them and laid hands on every one of them. They laid hands on them, and they were ordained to the position of a deacon so that they could serve the physical needs.

They laid hands in front of the whole congregation. And with the congregation's input, it was obvious then, with their input and God's direction, and the praying that the apostles did that these were the men that God was putting forward. And so they were ordained and set apart. Of course, the laying on of hands is where they're set apart for special service for a specific duty. And so this was their duty then, to serve the church.

Of course, you look at the story, this is the first time this ever happened in the New Testament Church. Was this okay? Was this a good thing? Will this be acceptable before God or did they just take too much upon themselves? Well, what happened? Verse 7, "The word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith."

So when we see the results, what's the fruit of the separation of labor? It's blessings, at least two ways. At least two ways we see these blessings play out, God blessed them that there was a greater power to preach the gospel. The ministry could devote their time to doing just that, to working with those that God was calling. That wasn't the only thing, what else was the result? Growth, it was growth, greater growth.

Now, why would that be? Why do you think there was greater growth because they ordained deacons to these physical tasks? I can't help but think of the body think of the congregation. You know, we have that analogy in 1 Corinthians 12, where it talks about the congregation being like the Body of Christ, and all the parts have to do their share. Sort of like the vision statement of the United Church of God. Ephesians 4:16, says very plainly when everyone does their part when everyone does their share, what happens to the body? It grows.

And so I think this is a wonderful example of how a Body, how the congregation of God should function, that as individuals we're placed into these positions of service, the Body was functioning, and people were fulfilling their roles. And so as a result, there was growth, an ability to preach the gospel, like they really weren't able to up to this time, that they could really focus on it. The ministry could focus on that very thing, and then the others could focus on the physical needs. And so when everyone does their share, we grow.

And I believe it's not just numbers, probably the most important growth is spiritual growth, that as individuals we grow as we serve, and we give, and we help each other, the Body grows. And so even today, we have this same function within the Church, that we have a ministry, overseers, pastors, elders, who serve in the spiritual aspects of the work. And then those that are deacons and deaconesses that take care of the physical side of things. There's a wonderful example of this in Romans 16 if you'd like to turn there with me.

Romans 16, now, we're a little bit later in time, still early first century, but a little farther down the line as the gospel is being spread. The apostle Paul, being that apostle to the Gentiles is out preaching and teaching, and as a result, people are being converted. And a number of individuals in Rome, come to the truth, God calls them and they become converted both Jews and Gentiles. And as we look at Romans 16, it's an interesting aspect here, that we see a special individual who had a special calling, and fulfilled that calling and special things began to happen as a result.

So as we look at what it says, here in Romans... I mean, imagine the scene, we're in Rome, this is the Roman Empire. Rome is the heart of “the Beast.” This is where Caesar is, this is where everything is happening. And yet here are godly people striving to obey, striving to do God's will. And Paul is unable to go there. And so he sends someone with a special message for the Romans, and we find out about her in chapter 16. And so Paul says, "I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea.” It's a lady, Paul sends a lady to the church, with this letter, with this letter to the Romans. Think that was an important job?

Now if we read over it really quickly, we might miss it. Okay, she's a helper, she helps out. It's kind of nice. Well, no, if we tear it apart. The word servant if we looked it up in the Greek it's pointing to her responsibilities. She's a diakonos, a diakonos, a deaconess. She's not just someone that helps out. She has a position of service. She's a diakonos, a servant. And that word can mean an attendant. It can even mean somebody that runs an errand. She was running a pretty big errand here, right. Going all the way to Rome with this letter on behalf of the apostle Paul. She's fulfilling a major function here, not just a little cast, you kind of do a couple of things that might be helpful. No, it wasn't that at all.

So here is someone, a woman in the Church, who was waiting, serving, giving, running errands for the apostle Paul, a true servant. And so we see the different aspects of what a deaconess can be. And so Paul tells them verse 2 "Receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints." This is a special lady. Says “Assist her whatever business she has need of you." But, why would you tell them that? Well, she's a deaconess, she's to serve the people, she's to help. She's going to need help getting things organized, showing you what a deaconess does, helping get the Church organized. So that she could fulfill the duties and pass those responsibilities and how you do what you do on to others.

And so help her in whatever she has need of, the business that she's had needs. Then it says "She's a helper of many and myself also." You should take some time to look up this word helper, “helper of many and of myself.” I'm not going to tell you about the word too much but it's a very, very special word. It's not just somebody that, you know, sets out the snacks once in a while. It's a powerful word here to describe this deaconess, who served God, served Paul and served the people. And she did it in a powerful way.

And so here she is caring for the needy of the Church. And of course, this word diakonos can, in this case, refer to her as a deaconess. It can refer to a deacon when it's a man, it can refer to an assistant or someone that waits on tables. Depending on the context, it can even refer to a minister, because a minister serves. So it could be a minister, it could even be a pastor, depending on the connotation, and how it's used in the context, but most often a deacon or a deaconess.

And of course, you can't help but think of even the instructions of Christ. When it comes to these individuals. Because she was a servant, she was a giver. She was one that fulfilled those qualifications that the apostles instructed the people in. And it certainly harkens back to what Christ taught, doesn't it? Remember, when the disciples were fighting over I'm better than you, and "I want to sit next to Christ. No, I want to sit next to Christ. I'll be on His right hand. No, I want to be on His right hand. You know, who's the greatest in the Kingdom?" And all those kinds of things.

What did He say? You know, I use that as a teaching opportunity. “Do you want to be great, do you want to be a part of God's family, you want to be in the Kingdom?” He talked about it. He said, "If you want to be great, let them be your servant." Let them be your servant. A diakonos, let them be an attendant, let them be one who waits on tables. Let them be one who runs errands, let them be one who's willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish the task.

And so we see these blessings play out with the apostle's decision how God blessed those things? Of course, you might think, well, where did they come up with this idea, did they just hatch it out of nowhere? No, can you remember a situation back in ancient times where something like this was done? If you go all the way back to the time of Moses, and the children of Israel, you've got millions of people coming out of Egypt. Could one guy take care of all of that? Nope.

If you turn all the way back to Deuteronomy 1, that situation is described on what ultimately had to happen in order for all the needs to be met. Could Moses possibly hear every case of "Oh, I got a problem against this guy. And he did that. And she did this." And all... he couldn't do that couldn't meet all the needs of the people. And so it's described what ultimately was decided, in verse 13. Deuteronomy 1:13. Here we see Moses rehearsing the story. He says, "How can I alone bear your problems and your burdens and your complaints? Aren't there important spiritual things that need to be done?"

What did they do? Verse 13, "Choose wise, and understanding and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you." So here we are, in Deuteronomy 1, hearing the result, but the actual situation took place back in Exodus 18. And it wasn't even Moses that came to this. His father-in-law called him aside and said Moses, you need to do something about this. And Moses took his advice, and with God's direction, God's authority, God's blessing, he established heads over thousands and hundreds and captains. Sometimes the translation is, probably a better translation would be stewards, those that would help and care for God's people.

And of course, those individuals would still answer to Moses, Moses was the one that was guiding Israel. And so we see God bless that as well. And so when the apostles were faced with that situation in the New Testament Church, I wouldn't doubt that that situation came to mind. That “Oh, yeah, that's how Moses dealt with that, maybe we ought to do the same thing.” And of course, it wasn't just a random thing. It wasn't a random thing at Moses' time, he gave them instructions.

“Here's the kind of individuals that we need to look for.” Same thing when we fast forward to the New Testament. In fact, as the apostle Paul was passing the baton to others, he also instructed younger ministers on how this process should work. So if you turn over to 1 Timothy, it describes that process. Now we've moved on the New Testament Church has continued, now there's younger ministers, the apostle Paul, by this time is probably 60 years old.

And so we've got young ministers like Timothy and Titus, men who are probably in their 30s, or maybe even up to 40 or so. And Paul's instructing them here's what you need to look for when it comes to those who should be set apart to the office of deacon or deaconesses. So if you look at 1 Timothy 3 notice verse 8. 1 Timothy 3, we find these character traits, these qualities that the people like that Timothy was supposed to look for.

So notice what he says, verse 8, "Likewise deacons..." there's that word, diakonos. They must have… “they must be reverent." So these are people that should be respected. They should be of high character, they should be people of principle. We don't usually use that word a lot today, reverent, sounds kind of spiritual, and you know, maybe not the most appropriate kind of word. But that's what it's talking about here.

It's talking about men of good character. These are people you can rely on, you can rely on them. He says "They're not double-tongued." They don't say one thing and mean something else. They don't talk to this group and relay the story this way and talk to this other group, relay the story in a different way. What you see is what you get. They're not gossipers. They're sincere individuals. They're straight down the line. They're straightforward people. That's the kind of individuals that deacons and by extension, deaconesses should be as well.

And so he continues, he's building on that list that the apostles gave back in Acts 6. So then he says "They shouldn't be given too much wine." Literally, shouldn't be winos. They shouldn't be drunkards, they shouldn't be addicted. And I'm sure you could stretch that to any addictions, they shouldn't be addicted kind of people that know excesses. In other words, they have to be self-controlled. And that includes their finances.

And so he says, "Not greedy for money." So they don't covet what they don't have. And maybe he's also telling them, why do they do what they do? Are they in it because they want the attaboy? Are they in it because they want the pat on the back? Are they in it because they want to be noticed by the rest of the people? Are they in it for the wrong reasons? Why are they serving? Why are they doing what they do? Get down to the heart of the matter and notice, are they coveting the spotlight? Or are they really the servants that are truly serving the people?

And so he talks about the kind of individuals they are saying in verse 9, that these are the kind of individuals who “hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience." Now he's talking about dedication. He's talking about these individuals are dedicated to the truth of God. God said it, I believe it, there's no doubt about this. They combine this clear conscience, with this hold on the truth. They're not going to let the truth go, they're not going to compromise the truth. They're going to hang on to what's right, in complete sincerity. And in a way, they're going to hold the teachings of God as a sacred trust. That they're not going to live one way, in contrary to what they say they believe.

And so that's the kind of individual that a deacon or deaconess should be. They're holding this mystery, the mystery of the faith, this mystery of what is the purpose of man? What is God accomplishing? What is His will? What is His purpose? They're holding the truth. And they're applying it to their life. That's what these... In fact, as you go through these things, isn't that what we all want to be?

This isn't just some standard for the ministry or some standard for deacons and... don't we all want to be like this? I mean, this is our goal. We want to be people of integrity, we want to be people of the truth. We want to reflect what God's way really means to us, and what we say and what we do, whether we're by ourselves, or whether we're in the congregation. We want to be straightforward individuals that are holding God's truth as a sacred trust, and it's evident in our lives. And so as we look at these characteristics, we all can apply them to our own life. Because ultimately, that's what we're all shooting for.

And none of us fit all of these things perfectly. I mean, we're all sinners, and we fall short of the glory of God. But this is where we're heading. This is the direction we're going. And these individuals that are exhibiting these characteristics, it's interesting that, as the apostle said, "Seek from among yourselves," obviously, those are the people that were already doing those things. They've already been actively serving, they've already been waiting on the tables, they've already been running the errands, and taking care of people and serving individuals. And so as we see this list, yeah, they're accomplishing the task already.

And of course, today, that means the same thing. That prior to an ordination, these are individuals that are accomplishing these things, that have set their minds to continue to put on Christ, to be more Christ-like in their character. Because it says, verse 10, "Let these also first be tested." Let them be tested. In other words, they should be established already. We're not going to take a newbie, somebody that's just starting out, but someone that's proven. Someone that's been doing these things, and continue to do these things. So if that's why they say they got to be tested, let them serve, if there's nothing against them all right, let them serve as deacons, that's diakonos. Let them serve as deacons being found blameless.

Of course, none of us are blameless. Well, unless we're repentant before God. When we come before God, and we repent of our sins, we can be justified before Him, we can come into a right relationship with Him. Because we're changing, we're putting on Christ. And so "Let them serve," he says, "Let them serve. But make sure they're the ones that are proven." So as we take this task, we as a congregation, we have to do the same thing. We look from among ourselves, those who are fulfilling these guidelines that were spelled out by the apostles, and then by Paul as well to Timothy.

In fact, he doesn't leave off the ladies either. If you look at verse 11, it says, "Likewise, their wives, their wives must be reverent." Same, same word is in verse 8. And it seems it's not just talking about a deacon's wife. But many of the scholars feel this is actually talking specifically to the ladies, to the deaconesses rather than just their wives. Because when you get right down to it, we may have a married couple and the husband is a deacon, but the wife's not a deaconess. Or the wife might be a deaconess and the husband's not a deacon. Just works that way sometimes.

But as we look at this, this seems to be directed more specifically to the ladies and not just a deacon's wife, emphasizing the fact that she needs to be of a similar kind of character as a deaconess. So we see the word reverent, they're to be worthy of respect, good character. Also says not a slanderer. “Not a slanderer.” What does that remind you of? Okay, can't be gossiping can't be a talebearer. It's kind of scary when you think about it. If you think of a slithering slanderer. It speaks to this Greek word that's used here. Do you know what the Greek word is? A slanderer? Diabolos.

She can't be a diabolos, what's a diabolos? That's another name for Satan. Because Satan is the accuser, he is the accuser of the brethren. He's the gossiper, he's the talebearer, he's the cynical one. And so as leaders in the church, we can't have anything to do with that, can't be that way. And so Paul uses this powerful word to get that point across.

And instead of just slandering and saying whatever comes to your mind or gossiping about people, he says, 'We've got to be temperate." King James says sober, not just talking about drinking, and that sort of thing or other addictions. Being temperate in other words, being self-controlled, being in control of your life. That's really what it's about controlling your mind, controlling your attitude. And by doing that you're controlling your actions. And so an individual who is a deacon or a deaconess has to be one of self-control. They're temperate, they're circumspect about things.

And of course, then it gives the big picture faithful in all things. Faithful in all things, not just a little bit here and a little bit there. Not someone that shines brightly for a little bit and then burns out, no, someone that's in it for the long haul. Someone that's totally dedicated and going to continue to serve no matter what. And in fact, verse 12, maybe expands the picture just a little bit. It says, "Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well." So as we talk about the ones that would wait on the people and serve them, it says, "They're to be ones..." okay not to be a polygamist or anything like that. That makes sense, that's obvious. But isn't a little more to it than just that?

I think it's pointing to the fact that this is a faithful individual, they are loyal, they are loyal to their wife, they're loyal to their husband. These are individuals that are dedicated. What does that say about their relationship? Solid. This is a solid, married couple in the Church who recognize the fact it's not just about them, their marriage is a reflection of Jesus Christ and the Church. And that's the greater picture that I believe Paul is referring to here. Is their marriage, a reflection of Christ and the Church? Not just I have one wife no, be loyal.

Are they making sure they're following the Commandments, and have a marriage that is one that you recognize as solid. That they are representing God's way when it comes to the marriage relationship. And then, of course, by extension, who else is included here? The children, ruling their household. The ruling word kind of ties back to being a deacon or a deaconess that you're a good manager, your household is in order, that things are going well. And maybe even by extension, there's a sense of family here, that it's just not dad, who's the deacon and doing all the service, or it's not just mom doing all this. But the kids are involved in this too. It's a family kind of a thing. Seems like there's a little bit of responsibility, at least that's hinted at, it seems, as a part of the overall picture here.

And so as you look at that, it's pretty powerful. If you skip back to verse 11, for just a moment, the Message Version says it I think, in a unique way. Look at verse 11 in your translation, the Message says this. "There are no exceptions to be made for the women — same qualifications: serious, dependable, not sharp-tongued, not overfond of wine. Servants in the church… Servants in the church are to be committed to their spouses, attentive, attentive to their own children, and diligent… they're to be diligent in looking after their own affairs. And those who do this work and serve the church will become highly respected, and a real credit to the faith."

That's pretty powerful, isn't it? Verse 13, that's what it says "They'll obtain for themselves a good standing. A good standing and great boldness in the faith, which is in Jesus Christ." And so what do we see? Blessings, when the Body is functioning the way that God wants it to, and we're all doing our share that's what happens, we have this wonderful influence. In fact, it's good standing, that word for good standing, do you know, many times that appears in the New Testament? Once, just one time, this is it just one time.

And it's referring to that impact that a deacon and a deaconess can have. These are people of dignity. And that good standing is pointing to a powerful, wholesome influence on the people of God. And that blessing for serving in that capacity becomes a wonderful benefit for all the congregation. And so as we look at this, these are our responsibilities as the congregation of God. We are in need here in Cincinnati, we need those to fill these positions of deacons and deaconesses so that the Body can be whole and healthy and functioning the way that God wants it to.

Now, of course, as you look at these responsibilities, the office of a deacon or a deaconess is different than an elder. I mean, in recent times, we've ordained a number of elders that have come into the ministry and gone out from here to serve in the capacity of pastors. Now, that's done totally differently. When it comes to elders, you won't find an example in the New Testament that they seek from among the congregation recommendations for who should serve as pastors or elders, you won't find that in the New Testament.

That's because the eldership, the ministry of Jesus Christ, is a specific spiritual calling from God. It's a spiritual calling because they're going to be the ones that serve the spiritual needs of the Church. And so that function is discerned entirely differently. That's discerned through prayers and fasting of the eldership. Those who are already in that position, petition God. And they seek God's input and His guidance, in a way, kind of harkening back to the way that Aaron was chosen. And the priesthood was chosen who did that? It was Moses, God directed it. God directed who would be the priesthood and specifically pointed to them.

In fact, if you turn over to Titus, Titus has another list, we won't take time to go through this listing, similar traits oftentimes mentioned. But at the beginning of Titus, Titus 1, if you notice verse 5. This points to the eldership, to the ministry of Jesus Christ, and how it's offset from seeking from among yourselves. Here, the apostle Paul writes to Titus, and in a way, is showing the structure of the New Testament ministry.

And what does he tell Titus, right at the very beginning of his letter to Titus, he says in verse 5, "For this reason I left you in Crete,” why? “That you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you." And then he goes through and lists some of the qualifications for a minister, for one who would be an overseer, one who would be a shepherd. And so what was Titus to do? Set things in order. And ordain elders, in the various congregations because in a sense, Titus is kind of like a regional pastor, you might say, one who oversees a number of congregations.

And so he had the additional responsibility of overseeing several pastors. And so the ordination of these elders was not done by recommendation from the congregation. We see many times throughout Scripture, you might write down Acts 14, it deals with how elders were appointed by the ministry itself. Same thing is repeated to Timothy, another young minister, 2 Timothy, 2 discusses that as well. So we see the ministry of Jesus Christ, those concerned with the spiritual work, are done differently.

Now, it doesn't mean that you don't obtain input, you know, that elders don't talk to other elders and gain guidance and direction and helpful input from others, that's not the case. Certainly, that would be a good thing. But it definitely is done differently than seeking out from among the multitude, from the congregation. So as we think about these things, a couple of things, I think, become very evident. When we look at the duties, the responsibilities, the jobs, especially when we transmit that to today. When we think about these things, today, a deacon, or deaconess is one of spiritual maturity.

And they've come to a position to serve, they're dedicated to serve, they are serving the physical needs of us, the local congregation. They're serving the needs, as directed by the ministry as well. Now, not being an office of the ministry, yet, it's still an important task, that really, the church wouldn't function properly without them. And so we have that responsibility as God's people to choose from among us, those who are doing these tasks. And we've been very blessed to have many who have been about their Father's business serving in these capacities today, you might not deliver a letter to Rome, that might not be one of your functions.

But you might set up the hall, you know, these chairs don't magically appear, and here they are, and there it is, and then somebody takes it down and fulfills these do... no, people have to do that. The snacks don't magically appear on the table, there are those that have to make the snacks, and bring the snacks, and serve the snacks, and clean up and take down. Those are part of the functions of physical service of a deacon or a deaconess. Those that would help organize, we talked about managing, managing well, those that organized teen activities, or young adult activities, those that help with the teen Bible studies.

Yeah, those kinds of individuals who have that gift, and that talent and that ability to help and organize and serve. I mean, what would happen if we weren't organized during our potluck? Yeah, we've experienced that when it's not the best, and we're not organized, it takes forever to get... no, we need those that have those talents to set up food, and do the takedown, and clean things up and make it happen. You know, everybody loves to have the snacks and the coffee after church. Yeah, those are the people that do those things.

And there's those that can help bring others, serve the widows, check on them, visit them, write cards to them, bring them to church, pick them up. Those are the kinds of individuals that are caring, serving those who might be fatherless, those that are in need. And whether it be mowing the lawn or dusting the house, or bringing over a meal. Those are the kinds of functions that people are doing. And we can recognize those among us. It's not just the ones that get up and speak. I mean, that can be one thing a deacon can get up and give a sermonette, maybe a split, and maybe even a sermon. But that's not the only function, that's one area not all, not all deacons even speak, doesn't have to be the case.

But they serve in other ways. Maybe they'd be ushering, or maybe they'd be taking the attendance or working on security organizing that. Taking care of those that are hurting, laughing at the pastor's jokes. Let's see what else do they do those? No, that was just the throw in there. But you get the idea. Who is it that visits those that are sick? Well, those that are deacons and deaconesses can do those things.

And so as we begin to think about these things, there are so many tasks at hand, I mean, the lectern just doesn't magically appear on stage. We have these beautiful flowers down here, that are here every week. Flowers are sent to those that are hurting, those that are in the hospital, those that have lost a loved one, that takes people to help organize all of those physical tasks. And so we do have those needs right here in Cincinnati. Now, that doesn't mean we're replacing, you know, others that have served in these functions in the past, not at all.

Even though there are some that have said, you know, I'd like to pass the baton, I'm ready to pass this responsibility on to someone else. And so we together as the body have an opportunity to choose from among ourselves. And so I'd like us all to consider our Acts 6 responsibility. Over the next few weeks, I would like you to pray about this. I'd like you to consider these things, and pray about this important responsibility, and perhaps fast about it.

Who are those among us who have been fulfilling these jobs? I pray that you would ask God and petition Him include this in your prayers, that He would make it evident to you, this is your opportunity to have God impact your thinking and put this individual, maybe a man, maybe a woman, maybe more than one man or more than one woman, as God directs you and leads you. You see because it's not a popularity contest. It's not an election.

We are solemnly asking God to guide our minds, to lead us and to direct us. And so those in the bulletin that we've got lists all of those individuals that are currently serving in those functions so that you know who are doing those jobs right now. But we are in need of even more to serve and to help. And this will be a wonderful benefit for the congregation. And of course, as we do this we'll put out a little box that you can put your recommendation form in.

And so our ushers have recommendations forms with them. So if they'd pass those things out right now, I'd really appreciate that. It's just a little slip of paper that gives you a little reminder of what your duty and your responsibility is, according to Acts 6. But I don't want you to fill it out right now I want you to think about this. Think about it, pray about it, fast about it, if you can, that would be wonderful. We'll put a box out in about two weeks where you can return these things. And that way you can make your recommendation, and how God has impacted your thinking and the names that you would like to put forward as you think of those who God desires to have in this responsibility.

Now, I realize some of you are not paper people and that's cool. If you'd rather just email them your recommendations to me, that would be fine. That would be easy, no problem. I don't plan on getting out your little piece of paper and checking your handwriting, you know, to see if you know, who said this or who submitted that. And of course, this is not an election, like in some places in our country where you vote early, and you vote often. Once is enough, so those baptized members of our Cincinnati congregation, this is part of your responsibility.

And as we think about the responsibility, we might also remember there may be situations we're not aware of, that we might put a name forward of an individual we may feel fits this responsibility. But there might be something that you're not aware of that would actually disqualify that person from serving in that office, something that maybe only the pastor might be aware of. And so it's not to negate your recommendation. But there could be those kinds of situations that could come up.

I also know of situations where an individual might say, you know, I'd rather not serve as an ordained individual. And so sometimes people have turned down the opportunity for the ordination. So that would be another thing to keep in mind. So this is to write down your recommendations as you think and you pray about that, the one or ones that you feel are being called to that. Remember those that are fulfilling these responsibilities already, those are the ones. And, of course, it's for those... and I apologize for those watching on the web. It's for those in our congregation, those of you that attend here all the time, either here in the afternoon, or the morning.

Hopefully, we know each other well enough. And if you recommend someone in the morning, that's okay. Some of the morning people recommend people in the afternoon and some switch back and forth. So that's not an issue at all. But those of you who attend here all the time regularly. If you're a guest, not for you, if you're brand new, you may not want to participate till you get to know everybody a little bit better, that's up to you in that way. And so when you consider this, we want to take those things into consideration. And make sure we're fulfilling our responsibilities in that way.

So in a couple of weeks, we'll put out that little box that you can put those in, or you could either talk to me, email me, or whatever way is most convenient. And I also realize some of you might just abstain. You might just say, "No, I'd rather not participate in that recommendation," and that's up to you. That's between you and God, and so you if you don't want to you don't have to. But I think overall we can begin to see this is the way that the early church functioned, and it serves well today as well as it did back then.

And so when you look at the very beginnings of the New Testament Church, the spiritual leadership, the ministry, the elders, would preach and teach and take care of the spiritual needs. And they needed deacons and deaconesses men and women who would be ordained to take care of those physical needs of the congregation. And so we have that opportunity among ourselves then to ask God to make His will known through us. So let's take this responsibility seriously. And let's remember what Christ said. He said, "The harvest is truly plentiful, but the laborers are few." Therefore pray, pray to the Lord of the harvest, that He will send laborers into His harvest.