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What We Believe and Why - Vol. II
Written by Dr. Lester Hutson

Copyright - Lester Hutson - 1982
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.

Chapter Thirty
The Scriptural Work of a Deacon

INTRODUCTION:

There is widespread misunderstanding about what a deacon ought to do. The misunderstanding is not only among the general ranks of Christians but also among deacons themselves. Therefore, that the church of God might operate as He intended, rather than according to human reasoning, it is important to establish not only what deacons are scripturally to do, but also what they are not to do.

I. THE OFFICE OF A DEACON IS A SCRIPTURAL AND SACRED OFFICE OF THE CHURCH.

A. The word deacon (or deacons) is found only five times in the Bible.

1. Deacons are mentioned four times in I Timothy 3:8-13 and once in Philippians 1:1.

2. Even though the word does not often appear these uses are amply sufficient to establish the fact that the office of a deacon is right before God.

a. When Paul addresses the Philippians, he writes to "the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons." (Philippians 1:1) It is evident that the office of a deacon was common to this church.

b. In I Timothy 3:8-13 Paul lays down divine guidance for all of the Lord's churches and for deacons in which ever church they might be. The context is clear the " office of a deacon" (verse 13) was a common and scriptural office.

3. If divine counsel and example carry any weight, then every church ought to have deacons. No church can say it is set up after the plan of the New Testament churches if it does not have deacons.

B. The Bible does not establish that a church should have any specific number of deacons.

1. Most people consider the seven men of Acts 6 to have been deacons, and I agree, although they were not called deacons in that passage. W.E. Vine in his Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words said, "The so-called Seven Deacons in Acts 6 are not there mentioned by name, though the kind of service in which they were engaged was of the character of that committee to such."

2. In the event these were deacons, insight is given as to how many deacons a particular church should have. There were seven of these, and the church was so large that the believers were simply called "the Multitude." (Acts 6:2) Three thousand had been added to this church on the day of Pentecost, (Acts 2:41), and the number came to 5,000 a few days later in Acts 4:4, and it was multiplying daily according to Acts 5:42.

3. With all its great size, this church had only seven deacons at this time, which means if proportions are any indicator, the average church today probably has far too many deacons.

4. It appears from this passage that the number of deacons was determined by the need.

a. Deacons were never made just to give a man a title or prestige and should never be established on that basis today.

b. In the Jerusalem church there was a job to be attended (a dispute between two factions in the church [Acts 6:1]) which was more than the pastors could alone handle. So, the church selected enough men to work at the direction of the pastors, (Acts 6:3), so that the problem was handled and the pastors were not taken away from administering God's Word.

5. It would seem from this scriptural example that a church should have only as many deacons as it takes to care for the needs of the church.

C. The Bible establishes a rigid set of qualifications for deacons.

1. Three major qualities were required in those men of Acts 6:3.

a. They were first to be "of honest report."

b. They were to be "full of the Holy Ghost."

c. They were also to be full of "wisdom." (Consider verse 10.)

d. Verses 5 and 8 indicate they were also "full of faith."

2. The Word of God becomes even more detailed as to their qualifications in I Timothy 3:8-13:

a. First read these verses. "Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus."

b. Any man who is dishonest (this would include with God and man), a gossip or liar, a drunkard, or materialistically inclined (which is to put the world's cares ahead of God's cares), does not qualify to be a deacon. As verse 9 indicates, a deacon must know God's Word in a pure heart. Ulterior motives disqualify a man from being a deacon, and any man who can't control his own household and who has been married to two or more women, more than one of which is still alive, is not qualified to be a deacon. Furthermore, deacons are to be blameless (not sinless) in the performance of their duties.

c. Even though a man might personally qualify to be a deacon, his wife and children can disqualify him. A gossipy, slanderous wife or one who is not faithful in all things disqualifies her husband from being a deacon. She must be committed to the work of God just as he is.

D. A church should be extremely careful in placing a man into this office.

1. I Timothy 3:10 says, "Let these also first be proved."

a. Before a man becomes a deacon he should first prove himself capable and qualified.

b. A man who is not already meeting the standards is not a fit subject to be placed into the office of a deacon.

c. It is detrimental to the cause of Christ and many churches have greatly suffered by putting men into the office who were novices, thinking that the responsibility would cause them to shape up. Such action is the reverse of God's plan.

2. In Acts 6:3 the Jerusalem church chose men who already had a proven reputation of honesty, wisdom, faith and dependence upon the Holy Spirit.

3. These men were then officially ordained into the office, which practice should still be maintained. (Consider Acts 6:6.)

II. THE WORK OF DEACONS IS A WORK OF SERVICE.

A. The word deacon (deacons) is translated from the Greek word "diakonos."

1. The literal meaning of the word is "attendant," "waiter," "servant."

2. Though this word is only translated "deacon" five times in the Bible, the word "diakonos" occurs many other times in the original Greek New Testament. For example, in John 2:5 where Jesus' "Mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you do it." The word "servants" is translated from this same Greek word "diakonos." It is translated "minister" in Romans 13:4 and "servant" in John 12:26.

3. The word never, in any instance where it refers to this special office in the church, carries the idea of lord, director, boss, etc.

a. So many deacons envision themselves as a board of directors for the church. They think their job is to establish policy for the church and to make decisions which the church should never reject. Many do not think of themselves as the workers, they think of themselves as the leaders and the others as the workers. Many deacons consider checking up on and keeping the preacher in line to be their number one function.

b. That type of thinking is in direct opposition to anything God's Word teaches on the subject. There is absolutely no justification for that kind of thinking in the Bible.

c. Deacons are servants of the church . Neither the church, nor the pastor is the servant of the deacons. The deacons are scripturally established to carry out the wishes of the church. The church is in no way obligated to carry out the wishes of the deacons.

d. Many times deacons have the idea they should have their private meetings and decide on what is best for the church. If they are opposed to any issue, they simply drop it and the church never even gets to express its voice on the issue. In other cases where the deacons bring their recommendations before the church, and the church votes to reject the deacon's recommendation and do it another way, the deacons often childishly and immaturely become hurt or mad about it.

e. If deacons would simply realize the fact that their only function is to serve or carry out the will of the church, not for the church to carry out the will of the deacon, such hurt feelings would not occur. Neither would the church lose control of its own affairs and be unable to express its own will, which is the case where a deacons' board begins to make the decisions. An old saying says, "The dog should wag the tail, not the tail the dog." Likewise, the deacons should serve the church, not the church the deacons.

B. The deacons have only the authority which the church grants to them through the pastor.

1. The Bible grants no standing authority to deacons.

2. In Acts 6 a need arose in the church which the pastors alone could not properly attend without sacrificing their study, preaching and word ministering time. So the church brought men up to help them take care of that need. (verse 6)

3. The pastors instructed the church, "Brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost, and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business." (verse 3)

a. You can see that the pastors directed the work of the deacons. These deacons answered directly to these pastors.

b. Their very reason for existence was to take some of the load off the pastors, as verse 2 and 4 will show. Every deacon should help take the load off the pastor and enable him to spend his time studying, praying and administering God's Word. Aaron and Hur (who seem to typify deacons) help up the hands of Moses (typical of a pastor) so that victory could be won by Israel (typical in part of a church). (Exodus 17:8-13)

4. Whatever the church, under the leadership of God through its pastor, decides to do, it can expect that its deacons, the men set aside specifically to serve, would carry out the work.

C. It takes time and dedication to be a deacon.

1. A servant is worthless if he doesn't have the time or will to serve, and deacons are servants.

2. Many a good man could not be a deacon because he simply is unwilling to give the time and dedication to the job. His own affairs mean more than doing the work of the church. He doesn't have time to work on the properties of the church. He doesn't have time to help carry out its special occasions, its various ministries, and its programs.

3. If a deacon is in fact going to take the load off the pastor and enable the church to operate more efficiently, then he must be willing to give up many of his personal affairs and much of his personal time. If he is not doing that, he is not doing the scriptural work of a deacon.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"