1990 Issue 1 - The Diaconal Ministry of the Church - Counsel of Chalcedon

8/12/2019 1990 Issue 1 - The Diaconal Ministry of the Church - Counsel of Chalcedon

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;

Joe Morecraft continues his

Aspects

o

Biblical Church Government

with Part VI; .

.The Diaconal Ministry

o

the hurch

·

Philippians 1:1; Acts 6:

l

The

Importance

of

the Diaconate

D

ac

ons

, along with all other

c

hurch

officers, are the g'racious

gifts

of Jesus Christ to

his

church,

Eph. 4:11,

to move her toward

unity, stability, and full maturity in

Christ,

Ep h

.

4:

12f. Without the dia

conate, the entire church suffers,

be-

cause, in a very reai sense, the diaconate

is

the health, education and welfare de

partment

of

the church.

The

socialistic

welfare state mentality in America

would

e v ~

have arisen had the church

been faithful to her diaconal responsi

bilities.

The office of deacon is based upon

the solicitude

and

love

of

Christ for his

own people

. So tender is our

Lord

's

interest

in

their ·temporal needs that he

considers

what

is

done

unto

one

of

the

least of

his brethren as done unto

him.

For he will say

to

those who · have

ministered

to

his little ones: 'I was huri- ·

·

gry

, and ye gave

me to

eat; I was

·thirsty

and

ye

gave me

to drink; I was a

stranger and

ye

took me in; naked, and

ye clothed me; I was sick,

and

ye

visited me; I was in prison and ye came

to me. ' (Directory of the Orthodox

Presbyterian

Church

for the Public

Worship of God.)

The office of deacon is setforth in

the Scriptures as ordinary and perpetual

in the church. The office is one of

s,Ympathy

and

service, after the example

of the Lord Jesus;

it

expresses cilso the

communion

of

saints, especially in ·

the

ir

keeping one another in time of

need. (The

Book

of Church Order of

the Presbyterian Church ·in America.)

Abraham

KuyPer' wrote that: a

deacon occupies an office. . . . given

him by Christ just as important as that.

·o preacher

or

as that of elder. To say

that deacons only labor in material

things ·

and

are therefore inferior to

-preachers

and

elders who

labor

in

spiritual things, is

to

adopt a false

dichotomy. . . .

The

diaconate is the

office of Christian love, and in Christ's

church the diaconate must stand along

side the eldership

and

preaching

minis-

try in order

to

exhibit the official ser

vice of divine mercy.

Again, the South African scholar and

poet, Totius, writes: The deacon needs

the congregation, but the congregation

needs

th

deacon too. l the congrega

tion has

no

love, the deacon will

not

be

able. to exhibit love. Alld conversely

too, if here is no diaconate, the congre

gation then lacks its actUal instrument

oflove.

The diaconate was established by

Christ

through

his apostles in Acts

6: lf, in

a

rowing church under

perse-

cution. When a church court, such as

the apostolate

or

presbytery, acts

and

issues declarations

and

policies in

accordance with the

word of

Christ, the

Head of

the Church, that action or de-

·

·

.·:'·1

The Counsel

of

Chalcadon • Jan.-Feb. 1990 • pag«t

cision

is

to be considered as Christ

acdpg mt i'ssuing

ord

ers. Church courts

based upan the Bible are the tribunals

of

Christ.

The Functions

of

the

Diaconate

. I1te diaconate is called

by

G<)d to

priestly, c o m p ~ s i o n t e ministry

and

service in supplying the total needs of

needy Christians.

In

Acts

6:

1;2

the

newly ordained deacons were appointed

to care for widows by serving food

and

by

serVing tables. The per

manent functions

of

the Old Testa'ment

Levites thus became the responsibility

ofthe New testament deacons; they re

ceived .and distril)uted food from believ

ers to needy believers.

The

Scottish theologian, Macpher

son, remarked: The passage in ·Acts

which records the institution of the of

fice, deacon, already

e ~ r m i . n e s

the duty

of

devolving

on

th9se who

fil l

that of

fice. They are. here described under the

general designation

of

a diaconate minis

try or service

of

tables. Undoubtedly the

idea present is that

of

tables

on

.which

food was laid, Acts 6:1f. In the church

of the early centuries, alms were com

monly brought by the Christian people

to their assembly in the shape of actual

gifts of bread

and

wine which were col

lected for immediate cUstribution among

· the poQr.

If

, however, aid

was

giv

en

in

the

form of money, Acts. 4:34; 5:5,

it

would clearly belong to the deacons

to

expend this. The deacons seemed from

the first

to

have acted under the guid

ance.

and

according to the counsel

ofthe

spiritual officebearers

of

·the church,

i.e., the apostolic preacher and/or the

elders. According to Acts 11:29-30 the

alms of the churches were carried

by

the

apostles

to

the elders

of

the congre

gations ·at Jerusalem, under

whom

the

deacons wouM act as dislributors. In a

broad and general way the functions

of

these

men

referred

to in

Acts and 6

were concerned wjth the outward affairs

of the Christian community, which in

their days happened to be the diligent

collection

and

faithful distribution of

alms

to

the poor. In other words, the

deacon

is to

be concerned with the total

material needs of

the

family members

of the congregation.

The deacons must be familiar with

the needs

of

the

c o n g r e g

~ o n so as . o

encourage all Christians

to

participate



in the relief of those needs and to distri

bute help to those in need. This

is

priestly service. It requires that close

identification with the congregation and

that intense love for the congregation,

they serve and represent, similar to that

close identification with and sympathy

of

the Levitical priests for Israel,

Hebrews 5:1f. In this priestly role,

deacons are

not

only to receive and

distribute food in the congregation, they

are to intercede in behalf

of

the needy

with God; to provide, materially, for

the ministers of the Lord; to care for the

sanctuary and grounds, keeping them

clean and in good repair and order; to

supervise the treasury, to serve

as

door

keepers and ushers in the sanctuary; to

announce the beginning of public wor

ship; to assist in congregational wor

ship; to promote the health, education

and welfare

of

God's people; to be in

charge

of

the funeral arrangements of

Christians,

to

care for the needy in the

church, especially

of

widows, resident

aliens, underprivileged prisoners,· hos

pitalized shut-ins, etc. All

of

these

priestly functions were those

of

the

Levites in the Old Testament and the

deacons in the New Testament In fact,

in Acts 6:1, when

the

people saw the

New Testament diaconate faithfully

ministering the compassion and love

of

Christ to the needy in genuine Old

Testament priestly fashion, the word

of God kept on spreading; and the

number

of

the disciples continued

to

in

crease greatly

in

Jerusalem, and a great

many

of

the priests were becoming

obedient to the Faith, vs. 7

(F.

Nigel

Lee has written

an

excellent paper on

the priestly functions

of

the diaconate,

entitled, h£ Diaconate.

The Roots

of

the Diaconate

The office

of deacon is rooted in the

office and duty

of

all Christians to serve

one another in Christ-like fashion. It

could

be

said that the diaconate

is

the

intensification of the priestly office and

service all believers have toward God

and each other. The Bible is clear that

believers are to deacon to one another

materially and spiritually, i.e., to serve

one another and to make sure that each

other is provided for materially, spir

itually and emotionally. The deacon at

tempts to intensify that priestly concern

forneedy brethren in all the members of

Covenant Presbyterian

Church,

Cedar

Bluff,

VIrginia

congregation. He

not

only takes the

lead, instructs, and provides outlets for

diaconal service for the congregation,

but he himself is an example and model

of

what real priestly sympathy for the

brethren should be.

Our

primary example for knowing

how to deacon to one another is Jesus

Christ-- The Son of Man came

not

to

be 'deaconed' unto, but

to

'deacon', and

to give his life a ransom for many,

Mark

10:45. (The Greek word for

serve or minister in this verse is the

word

from which

we

get our word,

deacon. ) A true Christian is not con

cerned with being served, but with

serving, satisfying, fulfilling, and

ministering to other people, even to the

point

of

self-sacrifice, or the laying

down

of his own life for others, James

2:26; Psa. 72:45. Jesus said that the

test

of

greatness is how we deacon

to

one another in Matthew 20:26-28:

You know that the rulers

of

the Gen

tiles lord it over them, and their high

officials exercise authority over them.

Not so with you. Instead, whoever

wants to become great among you must

be your servant and whoever wants

to

be first must e your slave.

The objective of deaconing is set

forth in Matthew 25:42-44. There

we

learn that true deaconing involves

concrete, observable service to other

people.

It

involves the practical,

down-

to-earth giving

of

food and drink, ex

tending shelter, providing clothes,

visiting the sick, loaning or giving

money to the needy, giving work to the

needy, expressing sympathy and com

passion

in

conspicuous and practical

ways, being present in times

of

crises,

etc.

George Grant has written two ex-

cellent books on deaconing in. modem

America, with its problems of unem

ployment, welfarism, poverty and

o m ~

lessness. Those books are:

Bringing in

the Sheaves: Transforming Poverty into

Productivity, and The Dispossessed:

Homelessness in America.

Hebrews 6:9-10 makes two pertinent

points concerning deaconing

to

one

another: Beloved, we are convinced

of

better things concerning you, and

things that accompany salvation. . . .

For

God

is not unjust so as to forget

your work and

the

love

which you have

shown toward

His

Name,

in

having

ministered (deaconed) and in still

ministering (deaconing)

to

the saints.

1 Deaconing is done not for the ap

plause or the thanks of men, but for the

glory

of

the

Name

of

Christ and

in

order

to

please

Him

. Deaconing

to

one

another always means extending mercy

not in our own name,

or

in the name of

our church, but in the Name

of

the Lord

Jesus Christ, whose servants we are.

We serve men in order to serve Christ.

2. Deaconing one another always

accompanies true salvation. In verse

11

we are told that each one

of

us is to

show great diligence in our deaconing

to

each other, so as

to

realize the full

assurance of hope until the end. As

surance of salvation is experienced by

us, when

we

believe the promise

of

the

gospel, when the Spirit witnesses with

our spirit,

and

when those things that

accompany salvation, such as deacon

ing, are manifested in our lives.

There is nothing base or 'unspiritual'

about deaconing to the material, phy

sical, and social needs

of

each other. In

Revelation 2:19, Jesus commends the

church at Thyatira for her increased

deaconing to one another, because He

The Counsel

o

Chalcedon • Jan.-Feb., 1990 • page 23



considered it a highly spiritual minis- ·

try.

It can

also

be

said that deaconing

helps

the believer find his place in the

local

body

of

Christ, I Cor. 12:20ff;

and to

function in that body

by

using

his spiritual gifts for the building

up

and spiritual edification of one another,

Rom. 12:6-8.

Because

of this spiritual :role

of

the

diaconate

in

the

Body

of

Christ, deacons . ·

would do

well to

study the responsibili

ties

to one qnother

which they are

to

teach

and

·encourage Christians .

fulfill. (See

my

paper entitled, Building

up One Another in the Local Church) .

f deacons

would

be models, imple

menters,

and

stimulators in the con

gregation with reference to these

One

Another responsibilities, their minis-

tians of:

.Christian care· homes for wandering

youth_& unwed mothers .

Christian adoption agencies

Cluistian rehabilitation centers (drugs

and alcohol) - ·

. Christian family vacation resorts and

·rest homes

Christian arbitration centers (manage-

ment

and

labor)

Christian financial planning centers

Christian inissionary relief work

Christian marriage counseling centers.

Christian nursing homes

and

retire-

ment communities

Christian health centers

Christian housing projects

Christian credit unions

Christian hospitals

arid

health clinics .

As the word, oversight ;or overseer,

summarizes the work of the Elder,

so the word, service or server,

summarizes the work of the Deacon.

try

and

influence

would

make a major

contribution

toward

the Christian

Reconstruction

of

the church

and

the

society

of

America. .

The Book of

Church Order

of

the

Presbyterian

Church

in America defines

the duty

of

deacons

as

follows:

It

is

the duty

of the

deacons

to

minister

to

those

who are in

need,

to

the sick, . o

the friendless,

and

to

any

who

may

be

jn distress.· It is their duty also to

develop the

grace

of liberality in the

members of .the church,

to

devise

ef-

fective methods

of

collecting

the

gifts

of

the people

and

to distribute these

gifts among

the

objects to which they

were contributed. They shall have the

care

of the

property

of

the congregation

both real

and

personal

and

shalllceep in

repm the church edifice and other

buildings belonging to the congrega

tion."

With

his typical vision

for

the fu

ture, F. Nigel

Lee

gives the diaconate

some

long-r U)ge goals

for

diaconal

_ ministries. Many

of

these suggested

ministries, all of which fall in the

biblical domain of the diaconate, have

at ·one time or another,

to

some degree

or

another, · been carried out

by

the

Christian Church in the

past

Deacon

ing for the future should include work

ing toward

the

establishment

by

Chris-

Christi3n ecological research centers

.Christian funeral services

Christian emergency relief funds

etc., etc., etc.

The Requirements for

the Offic;e o Deacon

Acts 6:1-4 requires that a deacon

must have a good reputation, i.e., s o c i e ~

ty

must admit to his integrity and trust

worthiness. He

must be

full

of

the

Holy

Spiiit, i.e.,

he must be

producing

the fruit of the Spirit, exercising the

giftS of the Spirit, witnessing and pray

ing with the.boldness of the Spirit. He

must have an intense priestly sympathy

and

concern for the material artd s p i r ~

itual welfare of · the people of God,

which concern only God's Spirit can

give. He

must

be full of wisdom, i.e.,

he

must

not only know well the con

tent, theology, and ethics·

of

the Bible,

he must

have the ability

to

apply that

biblical knowledge practically

to

the

daily issues

of

life.

He must be

a man

who

can be put in charge

of

things,

who will take the initiative and who

will get the job done, when 'he sees

something

that

must be done. He must

have the ability

·

to recognize needs and

to distribute help wisely and carefully.

He must

have the ability

to

manage

finances

and

encourage giving •to the

The ounsel of Chalcedon • Jan.-Feb. 1990 • page 24

Lord

in the full sense

of

the word:

time,

n'loney; energy.

According to I Timothy 3:8-13, a dea

con

must

be

grave, i.e., worthy

of

re

spect

and

bonor--a noble, dignified man.

He ,

must not be

double-tongued, i.e., a

. man who

does not have a repuQ tion

of

saying

one

thing

to one

person and

something else

to

another,

or

who says

one

thing and does another.

He

·must

not be given to .much wine, but must

be

.known

for. self-discipline. He .must

not be

. greedy, which is an important

quality in a Dian handling the Lord's

money. He must hold to the mystery

of

the faith

in a

pllfe conscience, i.e., he

must

have

a

good grasp

of

and

be

thoroughly committed tQ sound dc Jc-

trine. And believing in th.at Oo< trine

makes him walk before Qod and :qten

with a tender conscience.

He

· must be

proven

and

tested,

not

rushed into of

fice,

but

given

the

opportunity to prove

himself

in

his gifts, usefulness and sym

pathy

.first. fie

must.be a faithful fami

ly

man

; because a man's home life

will

~ i t h e r commend his piety

or

betray his

lack

of

i t

Conclusion

As

. the word, oversight or overseer,

summarizes the work of the Elder, so

the wot(l, service or server, summarizes

the

wprk of

the Deacon.

It

·

is

·a phy

sical, . material work, . n

that

it is

concemed

with the

reliefof

physical and

material

needs

·arid irt syrrtpathetically

and sufficiently ptqviditig

for

needy

Christians. It is also a spiritual work in

.

hat

the aUthority of . he deacon · is

bound

up with the authority

of

Christ.

Its concern is love, in that

it

really

teaches Christians how love one

another practically

and

observably. Be

cause

of the d i a c o ~ a t e s spiritual, serv

ing,

taring

nature, ·its · proper func

tioning draws a sharp line between the

church ·

and

the world.

It

stresses the

difference between the ·two. It differs

from th charitY

of

the w c i r ~ d in that it

serves

in

the .naine

of

Christ and · is

c t u ~

by the love ·

of

Christ. The

church dispenses the

mercy of

Christ

to

Christ's people, and

to

the world Christ

made

. By caring for

the

needy un

believer a door is opened to engage in

effective evangelism. Signincantly, the

Bible tells us that of the seven deacons

chosen

by

the church

at

Jerusalem,

Stephen and

Philip were actiye also a.s

evangelists. ' . 0

Documents

1990 Issue 1 - The Diaconal Ministry of the Church - Counsel of Chalcedon