Leadership, the Holy Spirit, and the Expansion and Persecution of the Church. Acts 6:1

 

Acts 6:1 ^NASB “Now at this time while the disciples were increasing {in number,} a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic {Jews} against the {native} Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving {of food.}”

 

Luke’s purpose is to talk about the expansion of the church. He could have spent a lot of time talking about what cause this problem, who was responsible for this problem, and the specifics of how this problem came to the attention of the apostles. But he doesn’t do that because that really isn’t that important. What is important is how this situation was addressed by the apostles, showing a tremendous level of leadership and ability to innovate. There is no divine guidance here, they don’t go into a room and pray and cast lots, or wait for God to move and give them a feeling that they are making the right decision. They analysed the situation, prayed about it and came to a wise decision. So this exhibits the leadership. It also exhibits the ministry of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is working behind the scenes—it is not His overt ministry, it is more covert, which is what we see is normative in the church age. The Holy Spirit works through the church and in and through believers, and it not necessarily an overt external manifestation.

 

What we see here is that the Holy Spirit is guiding and directing the growth process and as this happens we get the reports on the expansion of the church. The expanding church is the work of the Holy Spirit and they are doing what Jesus said to do. What this leads to is a hostile reaction on the part of the leadership in Jerusalem, especially among the Sadducees. It leads to the death of Stephen and to an increased persecution from the Jewish population that has rejected Jesus as the Messiah. But it was primarily the leadership, not a general thing. There was probably a huge number, tens of thousands of Jewish believers in Jesus as Messiah at this time, but the leadership has adopted a hostile attitude and there is going to be an overt persecution which forces the apostles to do what Jesus had commanded them to do. Acts 1:8.

 

In the New Testament a disciple is not a synonym for a believer. A disciple is someone who is going to sit and study under another teacher. He identifies himself as such and he identifies himself with a specific teacher. But there were disciples who weren’t believers and there were believers who weren’t disciples. But in the mentality of the New Testament it is considered abnormal for a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ to not be a disciple—that would be a disobedient child. That doesn’t mean he is not a child, it doesn’t mean he wasn’t saved, it doesn’t mean he needs to submit to the authority of God so that he can complete his salvation; it just means that that individual is a disobedient child. They were not pursuing the best, the maximum in terms of their spiritual life, their spiritual growth. One of the things we ought to recognize is that we weren’t saved simply to sit back, fold our hands and wait for Jesus to come back so that we can go into heaven or into the Millennial kingdom and everything would be done for us. We were saved for a purpose, to fulfil this same mission that Jesus gave the apostles. It is still being worked out in the history of the world, in the history of Christianity, and we were called to salvation for the purpose of becoming a mature believer. In Acts the term “disciple” generally refers to those who are part of the visible church and for the most part they are going to be believers.

 

So their numbers are increasing as God the Holy Spirit is working, and it is in that context that there is this complaint that develops among those who are from outside Judea and Galilee, those who are from the diaspora, widows who probably moved back to Jerusalem for a number of reasons. The response is that the twelve summon the multitude of disciples. They are going to have a congregational meeting, and it is important to see something here about their leadership. They just don’t pass a “fatwah”!

 

What we have in Acts 6:2 is a recognition of a decision that needs to be made in light of a problem, and that is the problem of this inequity of serving the Hellenist widows. They make this decision by bringing in the congregation so that the congregation has input. It is not just dictation. It was not part of either biblical Jewish background in the Old Testament or New Testament to force people against their will. There is here congregational input and involvement. Acts 6:2 ^NASB “So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.”  Notice he doesn’t say it is not right, and he doesn’t say it is not wrong. He doesn’t put it in those terms, he says it is not desirable. This is an aspect of wisdom and priority. Peter understood what the primary priority in mission was for the apostles, and that had to do with the spiritual goal of proclaiming the gospel and taking that to all of the nations. In light of that priority it wasn’t a desirable thing for them to be distracted by the mundane administrative responsibilities of taking care of the congregation.

 

Where was all of this happening? They hadn’t built the first church of Jerusalem yet, this is still taking place at the temple. What we will see again and again in Acts is that during this transition period from Pentecost to the destruction of the temple in AD 70 the temple is still the focal point of a lot of activity among Jewish believers. They are not involved in false doctrine but there is a recognition that as long as that temple is standing, and until God has taken out the nation Israel, this is still part of their tradition even if it is not a way of salvation or sanctification.

 

The term “serve tables” is a combination of two Greek words: the verb diakoneo [diakonew], which literally means to serve or wait on a table but it came to be used in the broader context of taking care of someone or ministering to, providing for someone, in some way; and “tables”—the same tables that Jesus turned over in the temple where the money changers were doing their money changing. There was a table there where there was a distribution to the widows and orphans. So what is being said here is that as the widows would come for their aid it had to be administered in a logical organized manner. That meant that somebody had to be there to take names and record who got what, when and where. The apostles can’t be sitting there at those tables doing all that accounting when they need to be out proclaiming the Word of God. There is a physical reality to this that was historical and based in the operation of the temple. So they are still functioning within the temple precincts.

 

As we look at this word diakoneo it is an important word because it is used later. The cognate noun form is taken and applied to a church office. This isn’t the beginning of that church office known as a deacon but it is the beginning of the idea of a split role within the local church, one group focusing on the teaching of the Word and prayer, and another group focusing on leadership in relation to the physical assets and administration. That isn’t going to be developed fully in terms of divine revelation until we get into later New Testament books and as the church begins to grow and expand. So we see on the one hand there is a revelation that occurs from God about pastors, bishops, overseers, and on the other hand deacons. But it is general enough to where it can be applied in a lot of different cultural contexts. The main idea is that in one group there are those focusing on spiritual responsibilities and one group on the physical responsibilities; and how they do that is not defined in Scripture. That allows for flexibility within the norms and standards. But the key idea is service, and this is something that is emphasized a lot in Scripture, especially in relationship to leadership.

 

The first thing that we see here with regard to leadership is not stated overtly but is clearly seen in the context. That is, that the apostles got the facts. A good leader gets all the facts before he makes a decision or comes up with a plan. He understands what the issues are and what the options are toward solutions. It is extremely important to get as much information as possible, not to get emotionally involved, not to react because someone approached him and he may or may not like the person, their presentation, or the way they approach it. Here in Acts 6 the apostles clearly investigated and recognized that there was a legitimate problem. The second thing is they didn’t focus on passing the blame or making excuses. A good leader leads, he doesn’t assign blame. Thirdly, we see here that leadership is exemplified in terms of service. What the Bible says about leadership in this area is completely different from what pagan culture sees as leadership. Pagan culture looks at leadership as being able to exercise some sort of tyranny and control over somebody else. That is not the biblical view of leadership; that is the pagan view of leadership. The biblical view of leadership looks at leadership in terms of service. The word diakoneo has the idea of serving someone to accomplish a task. Cf. Matthew 20:28 ^NASB “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve ...” The word is also used in terms of providing someone with what they need. Mark 1:13 ^NASB “And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering [diakoneo] to Him”—supplied Him with food and water. Matthew 25:44 ^NASB “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care [diakoneo] of You?’” Luke 8:3 ^NASB “and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing [diakoneo] to their support out of their private means.” That had to do with giving.                   

 

In other passages we see that leadership is based on humility, not on arrogance. It is not self-serving, it is directed towards others. Mark 10:35-45 ^NASB “James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus, saying, ‘Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.’ And He said to them, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ They said to Him, ‘Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on {Your} left, in Your glory.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?’ They said to Him, ‘We are able.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. But to sit on My right or on {My} left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’ Hearing {this,} the ten began to feel indignant with James and John. Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, ‘You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.’”

 

Those who rule among the Gentiles, the pagans, those who have no background in the Torah or the Mosaic Law, rule by dominion, by tyranny. Being a servant is being integral to being a good leader.

Luke 22:24-26 ^NASB “And there arose also a dispute among them {as to} which one of them was regarded to be greatest. And He said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ But {it is} not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.’” Jesus teaches by way of contrast. Notice the Gentiles. They do it wrong; you are going to do it a different way. We learn by contrast; Jesus taught by contrast. 24   And there arose also a dispute among them {as to} which one of them was regarded to be greatest. [27] “For who is greater, the one who reclines {at the table} or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines {at the table?} But I am among you as the one who serves.”

So leadership is not self-serving, it is serving others, taking care of their needs.

Another thing about leadership is that it delegates responsibility. That is what these apostles are doing. They are going to develop some people to whom they are going to delegate some responsibilities. They can’t do it all; no leader can do it all. He has to have trusted assistants to whom he delegates responsibility. So they are going to choose those whom they consider are going to be capable of those responsibilities.

Another point that we see in Acts 6 about leadership is that is places a priority on spiritual reality. It is not spiritual versus physical but they are placing a priority on the spiritual reality because that is the reality that encompasses everything. We see that in the fact that when they decide who they are going to choose they look for seven men of good reputation, i.e. everybody knows that these things are true about them. They are going to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom and they will be able to take care of this task responsibly, and be trusted by the Hellenistic widows who aren’t trusting the leadership really well at this point.  

Acts 6:3 ^NASB “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation…” Present passive participle, which means they receive a good testimony; other people are saying good things about them. “… full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.”