The Divine Organization Of The Church -- No. XII.
In addition to the bishops or overseers of the church, the New Testament authorizes and includes a special class or order of servants known as Deacons.
The word "deacon" is from a Greek word meaning a "waiter, attendant, servant, or minister." The verb form of the word means "to wait upon, to serve, to minister," and this is derived from "daiko" meaning "to run, or hasten." The idea expressed, therefore, is active service. In this generic sense it is applied in the New Testament to Christ, the Apostles, Evangelists, and to every faithful servant of Christ. But in addition to these various applications of the word in its generic meaning, it is used also in a more limited sense to denote a particular class of. Christian servants. This is evident from Philippians 1:1. "Paul and Timotheus, the servants (general) of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and DEACONS" (specific). Here the deacons are distinguished from the saints in general and are associated with the bishops as an order of ministers or servants.
What They Are
1. THEY ARE SERVANTS. This is clearly implied in First Timothy 3:10, 13 where it is said that they are to "use the office of a deacon," or "let them serve as deacons." (A.S.V., v. 10). They have some special service different from that of Christians in general. They are to render service for the church in particular. There is work that the church as a group is to perform as distinguished from the work of individual Christians, and this is the field of operation for the deacons. Hence, a deacon is a servant of the church, doing the special work of the church.
2. THEY ARE ASSISTANTS TO THE ELDERS, and as such they are to serve the congregation under the direction of the elders. Much difficulty has been experienced by the appointment of deacons who are not fully qualified for the office, and then permitting them to assume the work and authority which belongs to the elders only. In some congregations there is a failure to distinguish between the elders and the deacons. The elders are the rulers of the congregation (I Tim. 5:17) and the deacons are servants. There is a vast difference between "rulers" and servants."
The truth of the matter is, the deacons are as much subject to the oversight of the elders (1 Pet. 5:2,3; Acts 20:28) as are the other members of the congregation. The elders are to "rule well," "take the oversight," make the decisions and the assignments and the deacons are to serve as directed by the elders.
The denominational world, generally speaking, has eliminated the office of the elder, delegating the doctrinal aspect Of their work to the evangelist (calling him the "Pastor") and all other affairs of the church are legislated and controlled by a board of directors whom they call deacons. The work then that belongs to deacons is placed in the hands of various committees, societies or clubs. This unscriptural arrangement, I am sorry to say, is finding its way into some churches of Christ. There is, in some congregations, a very definite trend toward the idea of making the deacons rulers, giving them the position and authority of elders. It is not unusual to hear preachers speak of their "board of elders and deacons." They have their "officers" business meetings in which the deacons are given the same voice as the elders in deciding and directing the affairs of the church. Such is a perversion of New Testament teaching, and a corruption of the office of the elders as well as that of the deacons. It is certain from the plain teaching of the Scriptures that the deacons are not to take the oversight or assume the duties of elders.
Number Of Deacons Required
This will depend upon the number of men in the congregation qualified to serve, and how extensive the kind of work to be done in any given or particular congregation. In New Testament times, if a congregation had one deacon it had more than one. They are always mentioned in the plural, as are also the elders. The larger the church, the more work there is to be done; and while each member has his or her part, there are special duties which devolve upon the deacons. The elders, therefore, should have at their disposal a sufficient number of deacons to assure the accomplishment of any particular assignment,.
Their Qualifications
The qualifications, position, and work of elders are given in several passages in the New Testament, while the qualifications of deacons are set forth in First Timothy 3:8-13. The specific work of deacons is nowhere mentioned, yet, notwithstanding this fact, the importance of their work is indicated by their qualifications.
All too often in the appointment of deacons the importance of these qualifications is overlooked, minimized, or disregarded entirely. There seems to be a general idea on the part of many brethren that the qualifications are unimportant; that so long as a man is fairly regular in church attendance, is well liked by the congregation and is willing to serve as a deacon, he may be appointed, whether he possesses any of the qualifications outlined by the Holy Spirit or not. There is a general recognition of the fact that a congregation is not fully organized without some sort of deacons and hence the attitude, "These are good fellows; let's put them in." Such a practice is unscriptural, and has led to many difficulties in many congregations. The Scriptures are very clear on these matters, and we ought to have enough respect for their instructions to follow them.
The qualifications of deacons are so nearly identical with those of the elders that reference to the latter as outlined in former articles in this series should be sufficient without further elaboration at this point. (Cf. I Tim. 3:8-13).
The deacon must he the husband of one wife — not a polygamist. This calls for high respect for morality and for God's ordained institution of marriage. "Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things." Just as in the eldership, some men are disqualified as deacons because of their wives. The right kind of a wife greatly enhances the usefulness of a deacon, an elder, or even a preacher. The wrong kind of a wife is a serious handicap to any man who is striving to serve in the kingdom of God. While the deacons are not to "rule the church," they are required to "rule their children and their own house well." By proper example, wise teaching and effective discipline, they must bring up their children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
The mistaken view held by some that the elders are to look after the spiritual affairs of the church while the deacons are to have charge of the material affairs of the church is wrong, and wholly without scriptural support. The inference is usually drawn from Acts 6: 1-6, where, the "seven" were appointed to look after the Grecian widows who had been neglected in the "daily ministration." But while the work assigned to these men is, no doubt, work which may be done by deacons, the Scriptures nowhere refer to these seven men selected as "deacons"; furthermore, the Jerusalem church was not, at that time, a fully organized congregation with bishops and deacons, but was under the personal direction and oversight of the inspired apostles. It is clear that the phrase "whom we may appoint" (V. 3) refers to the apostles and not to the elders. In other words, it was the apostles, not the elders, who would do the appointing "over this business;" and to the apostles these men would be subservient or amenable in the performance of the duties assigned to them. There was a special work to be done, and these men were selected to do it. When the disciples were "scattered" their work ended, and is nowhere mentioned as in progress again.
These men were required to have certain qualifications which would fit them for the work they were to do, but it will be observed that the qualifications of the "seven" (Acts 6:3) are far different from the qualifications of deacons in I Tim. 3:8-13. It may be urged that a deacon is a "servant" and as the seven were servants of the church, they were therefore deacons of the church. While it is true the word "deacon" means servant, and that all servants (Christians) are in a sense deacons, the fact remains that those spoken of as deacons in Phil. 1:1, and I Tim. 3:8-13 are servants of the church without their specific duties or work being mentioned.
How, then, shall their sphere of service be designed? Since each local church is a perfect unit and the specific work of deacons is not written, it is evident that their work is to be designated by the overseers of the particular congregation in which they serve as deacons. This, of course, places serious responsibility upon the bishops who must direct the work of the deacons in whatever phase of the church program they may engage. This being true, the qualifications of deacons obviously becomes of very serious importance, since they are to do so important a work in cooperation with and in subservience to the overseers.
It is an obvious fact that many congregations fail in the carrying out of a successful program of work, due to a lack of qualified active deacons to do service in and for the church. In many places the office of deacon has become little more than an honorary title. Some congregations are afflicted with a kind of "committeeitis," and instead of following the Lord's plan of church organization and work, much that should be done by the deacons, strictly under the supervision of the elders, is placed in the hands of various committees acting independent of the overseers. In such churches if there are deacons at all, they are only nominally so and have no specific work to do, no office to fill, no function to perform, only honorary listings in the church bulletins, directories and church stationery, then sit in the business meetings having, in many cases, the same voice and exercising the same authority as elders. Such honor bestowed upon some members to the neglect of other members is not only unscriptural, but anti-scriptural, and is a reproach upon the church of God. (See Jas. 2:1,2). One who will accept recognition as a deacon and neglect or refuse to perform the duties or render the service such a position demands is not worthy of the office.