It’s become an annual tradition on this blog to post thoughts concerning church leaders around the time that Faith Church installs its new elders and deacons, with past posts including 2021 – Elders and Deacons, Shepherds and Servants; 2020 – Remembering Leaders in This Time; 2019 – Church Officers: Elders and Deacons, and 2018 – Church Leadership in 3 P’s.
That time is upon us once again, and this year I have been thinking about why these offices exist. Of course, one answer to that question is that we see them in the Bible, as the Apostle Paul addresses his letter to the Philippians to the “overseers and deacons” (Philippians 1:1) and sets forth the qualifications for these offices in 1 Timothy 3. These passages show that these offices are not things our church made up or invented, however, they don’t necessarily answer the deeper question: Why do they even exist?
As I have pondered that question anew in this season, my mind was drawn to passages that highlight why each office was needed in the early church – and why they are still needed today. Essentially, we need shepherds (elders) because wolves still exist, and we need servants (deacons) because there are widows.
Acts 20 – Shepherds and Wolves
Acts 20:17-35 features Paul’s speech at Miletus to the Ephesian elders. After reminding them in verses 18-27 of his example and declaring his intention to go to Jerusalem (even in the face of certain suffering and permanent separation from his friends), Paul gives a charge to the elders. He states they are to “pay attention” to themselves and the flock that God appointed them over which was purchased by God through the blood of Jesus (20:28). The reason they need to pay attention is because “fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them” (20:29-30, ESV). Elders are shepherds, and the reason shepherds exist is because there are wolves that threaten the sheep. Thus, we have elders to keep watch over the church, to make sure false teachings do not penetrate the church and that people are not led astray by these teachings.
A place where the shepherding analogy might break down is that the greatest danger to the flock is not found outside the community but rather inside the community. Wolves will not just attack from the outside, but will come into the church. This is why it is essential the elders watch themselves and the flock – they need to pay attention to themselves to ensure they do not become one of these wolves. Unfortunately, during the past few years, there have been many examples of individuals who started out as faithful shepherds, but perhaps by not paying attention to themselves (and not having others pay attention to them), they became wolves who ended up damaging the church. This is why we need multiple shepherds – what we often call “the plurality of elders.” We need multiple elders to pay attention to the flock and to make sure their souls are being watched over as well.
The elders also need to be sure these wolves don’t draw “disciples” after them: to make sure the false teachings and ideologies that often sound good (but are destructive) do not invade and infect the church community. The best defense is a good offense, so this means being proactive in instruction and exhortation. They need to set forth the right belief and behavior as well as warning and rebuking principles, patterns, and practices that come from wolves and not from our Good Shepherd. As long as we remain in this sin-cursed world, we need these shepherds.
Acts 6 – Servants and Widows
While the term “deacon” does not appear in Acts 6:1-7, the verbal form of the Greek word “deacon” does, so this passage is often deemed to be the “origin story” for deacons. We discover here that the early church was not free of conflict, as a dispute arose concerning the care being given to the Greek-speaking widows in their midst. The apostles’ solution to this problem was not to get directly involved but to appoint from among the people “men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (6:3, ESV). This plan allowed the apostles to focus upon prayer and sharing the Word of God. It also ensured that the practical needs of these widows would be met both in this moment but also moving forward. If elders guard against deception, then you could say that deacons help us guard against distraction.
Deacons thus serve as servants on two different fronts: they serve the church leaders who lead and feed the church (the role of elders today; see 1 Timothy 5:17-18) and those in the church community who are in need. Or to frame it the way that two of my favorite books on deacons do, deacons are those “who get things done” (as highlighted in Matt Smethurst’s Deacons) and are to be “ministers of mercy” (as highlighted in Alexander Strauch’s The New Testament Deacon). Deacons are necessary because practical needs arise, and they seek to make sure these needs not only don’t get in the way of the mission of the church, but also get tended to in a way that reflects the church’s call to care for the “least of these.”
Because deacons get things done, they can be (and often are) delegated important tasks like maintaining the budget and the building, but those tasks should not cause one to forget the mercy ministry – the care for those often forgotten, who are embodied by, but not exclusively composed, of widows. In fact, the issue in Acts 6 is not just that widows were being overlooked, but specifically that the Greek-speaking widows were being overlooked. This implies the Hebrew-speaking widows were being taken care of, and thus a particular subgroup was being forgotten, likely because of linguistic and cultural differences. We have a natural tendency to focus on our own needs and potentially those who are like us or close to us, but we sometimes forget about others who are in need. The role of the deacon is to help keep those needs in front of us.
Shepherds and Servants of Pure and Undefiled Religion
James 1:27 tells us “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (ESV). The respective calls of our elders and deacons is to make sure we have such pure and undefiled religion before God. Elders seek to help us stay unstained from the world, and deacons care for those in their affliction. Shepherds/elders and servants/deacons were needed in the New Testament, and they are still needed today.
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