How Should Work Get Done Around the Church?

The Choosing of the Seven

6 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

In any growing movement there is a need to develop a structure to meet the increasing amount of needs that occur within that movement. In this case, the Hellenistic Jews (Greek speaking Jews) were complaining that their widows were being passed over in favor of the Hebraic Jews (Hebrew speaking Jews) in the passing of our the daily food rations.  Though the two cultures had merged there was still some division present as evidenced by this issue.  So the twelve apostles decided to call the whole community together to discuss the issue.  There were three ways they could have handled the issue.

1. The apostles could have felt responsible to solve the problem themselves.

2. The apostle could have let the problem go on hoping the two groups would figure it out.

3. Discern then pick a specific group within their midst to the solve the problem. 

You can see by the passage they picked #3.  But probably more importantly was the reason they used to make the decision.  They said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God to wait on tables."  Someone might ask, "Was waiting on tables beneath them?"  My answer to that question would be no, but that the apostles realized that they could not commit themselves to both tasks.  They couldn't have done both jobs well.  So in this case they prayed and set apart seven other men to meet this important ministry need.  

So note they didn't sweep the problem under the rug, but they also didn't try to do it all themselves. They created the first ministry team in the church and found people gifted to carry it out in the power of God's spirit and love.  What a great model for the church.  Why was it a great model?  For one, it saved the apostles from burnout and being ineffective in spreading God's word.  Secondly, this ministry was given to others who had the time and gifts to devote to it.  They received the joy of knowing they were serving God and meeting this important need, which would keep the community united not divided.  

I love this passage because it shows how the Church works best.  It works best when ministry is distributed across the body of Christ based on the needs of the people and the gifts God has given to various people to meet them.  It works best when each person has a ministry and no one person is trying to do ALL of the work of ministry.  In the early church there was no distinction between clergy and laity.  But unfortunately over time we have tended to relegagte ministry to the "paid staff". After all that is what we are paying them for right!  Wrong.  

One of the main jobs of paid staff, including pastors, is to equip the saints for the work of ministry. When paid staff equip and delegate ministry to the right people for the right reasons, the amount of needs a church can meet in Jesus' name increases exponentially.  Leaders can lead. Pastors can pastor. Teachers can teach. Servants can serve.  Organizers can organize.  Makes sense right!?

What has God called you to do in the body of Christ?  Don't wait for somebody to ask you go.  Instead go to your pastor and say, "Hi pastor I feel called to help in this existing ministry!"  Or, "Hi pastor I feel that God might be leading me to start this ministry in the church, does it fit with our mission and vision?"

The greatest part of this passage is it says, "So the word of God spread!" Apparently this way of the solving the problem worked!