In The Eye of the Storm
Intro 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Part II
Printer Friendly
The
Second
Phase of the Church
Corporate
Relationship Concept
Chapter 7D
God Gives Leadership Gifts
to Equip the Saints
Deacon
|
Deacon's Ministry |
||
|
|
|
In the early church, a problem arose. We read in Acts 6:2-6, that there were complaints and murmurings among the people in the church—the widows were being overlooked in the "daily serving of food." The house churches were an important part of the widows' lives and since they had pressing financial needs, the apostles knew they had to delegate someone to administrate their finances.
If the apostles tried to administrate this need, they would be pulled away from their true calling and responsibilities. So they decided to appoint deacons to collect money from the church and hand it over to the widows to take care of their needs.
Anointed For the Job
Acts 6:8 tells us they picked some of the very best men they had—and Stephen was one of them. "Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people." This man who was later unjustly stoned, was not a wimp! He was a man of power and anointing—what was he doing "waiting tables" and distributing money to the widows?
It's clear that Stephen was doing it because God asked Him to. He humbly embraced a "behind the scenes" job because he was called. In my experience in Russia, I have seen the tremendous pressure alcoholism puts on homes. Many women are virtual widows because of alcoholic husbands. These "widows" are part of cell churches, and just like the early church, they need the help of anointed deacons, called of God, to help administrate to their financial needs. That is exactly what a deacon is—a financial administrator.
A deacon needs to hear from God so that he can know when to give finances to individuals. This calls for the gift of discernment, knowledge and faith so that it can be plied with patience and charity to the people in need.
It's an important job, but can also be a thankless one because people are constantly making claims to the deacon's funds. The deacon needs to discern if people are becoming dependent on the finances or if the finances are, indeed, helping them to grow spiritually in their time of financial need.
Teaches People How to Manage Money
In the illustration of the ship, we compared a deacon to the person who helps a passenger prepare financially for his journey—he shows them how they can manage their money so that they can pay their fares without falling into financial debt.
There is also a teaching ministry that goes along with the responsibilities of a deacon because he will teach people how to handle their finances properly and not become enslaved to credit cards and heavy debt. On the cell level as well as the corporate level, deacons can have a tremendous ministry by teaching money management, either one-on-one or in classes and seminars.
Addressing he need for people to know how to handle finances is very important in the church today, especially in American society. Americans can easily become enslaved to credit card debt and pay enormous interest rates. This is poor stewardship of God's money. In extreme cases, Christians get into such heavy debt that they are in total bondage, even causing the breakup of their families rind their faith. Deacons can teach people how to bring their finances under the control of the Holy Spirit.
Money management, of course, must be understood in light of the particular culture one lives in. Deacons should work with the apostles as much as possible to find how to adapt money matters to various cultures and economic systems. The deacon must also work with leadership in the local area to find something that works within that culture so that he can understand the plight of the congregations and then make adaptations for their situations.
Intro 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Email us: Contact us by e-mail
Copyright © 2002 Home Fellowship Leaders Int'l. U.S.A. Website by Web Tek Computer Company