Authority Figures in the Church — Deacons

The New Testament provides for deacons as servants of the local church, administering alms to its widows, orphans and poor members. They are not spoken of as being in charge, but those who serve well obtain good standing and great boldness, as the martyr Stephen and Phillip the Evangelist did.

Modern Protestant churches often place in command of local church bodies two classes of leaders who, though mentioned in the New Testament, are not identified in it as the primary leaders of any church—namely, deacons and pastors. The word “deacon” is transliterated from the Greek word diakonos, meaning primarily a household servant, also a waiter or an administrator of a household. Vine notes that this word is derived from dioko, to pursue, and may have originally meant “runner.” In any event, the first deacons were appointed in the church in Jerusalem in Acts 6. They were appointed because, in the daily distribution of food to the widows in the church, the Hellenistic Jewish (“Grecian”) widows were being neglected, leading to murmuring in the church. Therefore, the Apostles asked the church to choose seven honest men, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, who could be appointed to distribute food, so that the Apostles could once again give their full attention to the Word of God and prayer. When the church nominated these seven men, the Apostles laid their hands on them and appointed them to the work—not of ruling the church, but of feeding its widows¹. The first Board of Table Waiters (or Runners? or Administrators of alms?) was born.

            The function of the deacons was found to be useful in other churches, and Paul provided a list of qualifications for deacons in 1 Timothy 3:8-12. These qualifications are essentially the same as those for elders or overseers, except that a deacon does not need to have an aptitude for teaching and that there appears to be express provision for women serving in this capacity². Although the function of a deacon is primarily to administer alms, a deacon must have a stable family and personal character indicating commitment and self-control. Paul goes on to say that those who have done well as deacons obtain good standing and great boldness³, something that is certainly demonstrated by two of the original Jerusalem deacons—Stephen, the first martyr, who developed such wisdom and boldness that the Jewish leadership could only ignore him by killing him, and Phillip, later known as “Phillip the evangelist.” Still, Paul does not say that deacons who serve well are in command of the church, only that they obtain good standing and great boldness. Service to the poor in the church as one appointed to that ministry is a step on the way to greater fruitfulness, not necessarily the end of the line. For more discussion of the importance of this ministry, see “God Provides for Our Needs through Our Unity” on this blog and “Worship, Giving and the Tithe” on another site.

            Many churches also recognize their pastors, or their senior pastor, as the “boss,” the king of the church. However, this is not the proper function of pastors, who are given to the church to prepare its members for works of service, not to be in sole command of the church, as is discussed further in the next section.

NEXT: The Ephesians 4 “Offices” are Jesus’ Gifts to the Church Not Fixed “Offices” of Authority.