Acts 6
Read: Acts 6
Here in this chapter we see the need for delegation in church leadership. Many people today expect that it is the pastor’s job to do the ministry and they leave it at that. They give to the church to support the pastor and his family so he can dedicate time to work in the ministry. To a certain extent, there is nothing wrong with this expectation. A pastor certainly shouldn’t get paid to do nothing. The problem arises when people expect a pastor to do all of the ministry by himself.
In Acts 6, we clearly see that the apostles cannot do everything; they need help. Because of other obligations, the Greek-speaking Jewish widows were being neglected. When confronted with this issue, the apostles responded that “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables.” At first reaction, this can sound kind of prideful… like, “we’re above that…” But I don’t think that is what they are trying to say. Jesus clearly taught and demonstrated that the greatest among us is the one who serves (Matthew 23:11, Luke 22:26). So what do the apostles really mean here?
I think they mean that they need to prioritize things. Jesus entrusted the gospel message to these twelve men. It was their primary responsibility to reach out to the world around them to share the message and teach others the things that Jesus had taught them. If they served the widows, they would have had to step back from their primary calling, yet they realized that it was still an important concern. Thus they appointed a group of seven men to take care of this task.
Today, we need to look at our church and ask ourselves: “Where am I serving?” We cannot expect our pastors to preach on Sunday mornings, lead the kids ministry, lead the youth group, plan socials, lead all the Bible studies, take care of the administrative work, serve the poor and needy, visit the sick, speak at funerals, officiate marriages, and the list goes on and on. Instead, each of us should look at the ways God has gifted us personally, and seek to serve in a way so that God can use us as part of his mission to allow our church leaders to focus on serving in the gifting and calling God has given to them.
