Serving in the Vintage Church: 1 Timothy 3:8-13
What is a deacon?
In
the early church, there emerged two offices: elders (or overseers) and
deacons. Paul addresses both in his
letter to the Philippians: “Paul . . . to all the saints which are at Philippi,
with the bishops and deacons” (1:1).
Both offices functioned in the church at Ephesus, and thus Paul
specifies the qualifications of both.
Having laid out the credentials for eldership, Paul now moves to the
diaconate.
It
isn’t entirely clear what the deacons actually did; the New Testament does not
tell us their duties. The passage before
us lists their qualifications, not their function. However, it is generally agreed that deacons
served the physical and material needs of the church. Mounce writes in his commentary on this text,
“It may be surmised that a deacon was responsible for the daily serving
required in the church. Deacons probably
had daily contact with the people in visitation and disbursement of the funds
for the poor.”[1] There are two reasons why we think this was
the job of the diaconate.
First,
the name “deacon” in Greek means “table waiter.” It referred to someone who waited on the
needs of others. More generally, both
the noun and verb forms denote service of any kind. What kind of service is involved in the
office of deacon? Since the overseer is
clearly primarily responsible for the spiritual leadership of the church, and
the deacon is distinct from the elder, his sphere of responsibility must lie in
those types of service not covered by the office of elder. The most logical conclusion would be that
their duties lay in ministering to the physical and daily needs of the
congregation.
Second,
we have a clue as to their role in Acts 6, when the Jerusalem church chose
seven men to oversee the distribution of food to the widows of the church. Though these men are not technically called
“deacons,” their job description is given in 6:2, when the apostles tell the
church that “It is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.” The last two words in the Greek are diakonein trapezais, and the verbal form
of the word corresponding to “deacon” is used here. This is not conclusive evidence, but this
seems to be the formation of a proto-diaconate.
Since the early church emanated from the Jerusalem church, it would not
be surprising if the other churches in the first century world took their cue
from them as to the formation of a recognizable body of men who would minister
and serve the physical needs of the congregation, as the elders did for the
spiritual needs of the church.
Deacon
and Deaconess?
It
is often asserted that Paul is referring to both male and female “deacons” in
this text, for in verse 11, Paul says, “Even so must their wives be
grave….” The word for “wives” in the
Greek could also be translated more generally as “women,” and thus it is
claimed that Paul is not referring to the wives of the deacons, but to women
who serve in the role of deacon just as their male counterparts do.
This
is a possible interpretation, and its plausibility is buttressed by the fact
that Paul does not refer to the wives of elders in the list above. If Paul is referring to the wives of deacons,
why did he not refer to the wives of overseers?
Furthermore, in Romans 16:1, Phebe is described as “our sister, which is
a servant [Greek: “deacon” – same word Paul uses here] of the church which is
at Cenchrea.” Here, it is claimed, is a
clear example in the early church of a woman functioning in the role of deacon.
However,
it is improbable that Paul is in fact referring to deaconesses in verse
11. The main reason is that Paul returns
in verses 12-13 to the qualifications and rewards of male deacons: “Let the
deacons be the husbands of one wife….”
It is improbable to suppose that Paul gives the qualifications of male
deacons, switches abruptly to deaconesses, and then back again to male deacons
when there is no clue in verse 12 that the topic has changed. It seems that verse 11 is actually a part of
the qualifications of men who serve in the role of deacon: they must have wives
who are “faithful in all things” (ver. 11) as well as being one-woman men and
“ruling their children and their own houses well” (ver. 12). Moreover, in verse 12 Paul uses the same word for "wife" as he does for "wives" in verse 11. The word in verse 12 is indisputably a reference to the deacon's wife; it would be strange to think that Paul meant something else in the previous verse.
As
to the problem of Paul referring to wives of deacons but not of elders, we must
remember that this is not a formal but an ad hoc list that Paul is giving to
Timothy to address a very specific situation in the church at Ephesus. We do not know all the details and it could
very well be that the situation at Ephesus required Paul to address the wives
of deacons but not of the elders.
Further, as B.B. Warfield has noted, the absence of any reference to the
wives of overseers can be “explained by the circumstance that women could take
no part either in ruling or in teaching (ii. 12), which constituted the
functions of the bishop.”[2]
Warfield’s
comment, and Paul’s argument in the text, however, is very revealing in another
direction. The supposition that the wives
of bishops are not mentioned because they
could not function in such a role, suggests that since the wives of deacons
are mentioned, they are mentioned
precisely because they most likely assisted their husbands in their role as
deacon. Thus, the husbands functioned
officially in the role of deacon, but were assisted in that role by their
wives. It would therefore not be without
exegetical warrant to speak of husband-wife teams functioning as deacons. Thus, though I am not sure we can say the New
Testament speaks of deaconesses in a formal sense (the reference to Phebe in
Romans 16:1 is probably more general, and the KJV translates the word correctly
as “servant” instead of “deaconess”), yet we can say from this text that
Scripture does not forbid women assisting their husbands who are serving in the
role of deacon (in fact, it would almost seem to require it!).
Their
Qualifications
Paul
mentions nine qualifications for serving in the office of a deacon in verse
8-12 and then ends this list in verse 13 with a note of encouragement to those
who have faithfully served in such a role.
1. First, they (and their wives) must be “grave”
(ver. 8, 11). The word means
“dignified,” and suggests the ideas of one who is noble, worthy, and esteemed.[3] Paul uses the same word in Philippians 4:8 as
a descriptor of what the believer should think about: he/she should think on
things that are “honest” (KJV). One
commentator says that this word “refers to lofty things, majestic things,
things that lift the mind from the cheap and tawdry to that which is noble and
good and of moral worth.”[4] Paul is absolutely insistent that those who
occupy positions in the church are not just put there because no one else will
do it, or just because they want to do it.
They must be men who have the respect of those closest to them, both
inside and outside the church.
2. They must be self-controlled with respect to
their tongue: they must not be “double-tongued” (ver. 8). That is, they must not speak one thing to one
person and another thing to someone else.
They must be honest. They must be
circumspect with respect to their language.
They must not gossip. Similarly,
their wives must not be “slanderers” (ver. 11).
One’s heart is revealed by what comes out of their mouth (Luke 6:45),
and so the profession of the purity of the deacon’s heart must be backed up by
their tongue.
3. They must be self-controlled with respect to
drink: they must not be “given to much wine” (ver. 8). He must not be a drunk. But I think this generalizes to the principle
that he must not be addicted to anything that would warp his mind or judgment.
4. They must be self-controlled with respect to
money: they must not be “greedy of filthy lucre” (ver. 8). Of course, no Christian should be
characterized by greed, but those who hold public office should be pure even
from the taint of such an accusation.
Probably one of the reasons Paul makes this a qualification of the
deacon is because they had access to the church’s funds in order to distribute
it to those who had need. The temptation
to use the money of others for one’s own use could be very tempting unless a
man is absolutely so in love with Jesus that they are oblivious to its
lure. That is the kind of man that Paul
wants in the office of a deacon.
5. They must hold “the mystery of the faith in a
pure conscience” (ver. 9). The phrase
“mystery of the faith” is a reference to gospel. In the Bible, a “mystery” is not something
you can’t know, but something that has to be revealed to you. In Christ, the gospel which could never have
been discovered by unaided reason has been revealed to men. Therefore it is called a mystery. To this mystery the deacon must hold. Though deacons do not function in a teaching
role in the church, yet they are required to understand the faith and be able
to defend it to others. Moreover, their
knowledge must not just be intellectual, but must be held “in a pure
conscience.” Belief in the gospel spills
over into their lives and produces holiness in their thoughts and affections
and words and actions.
6. They must be examined: “And let these also
first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found
blameless” (ver. 10). The qualifications
that Paul lists here must be proved; their background must be known. As a novice could not enter into the role of
elder, neither should an unproven believer serve the church in a public
capacity in the role of deacon. Paul is
concerned for the reputation of the church.
The false teachers have been tearing it down by their lives and
teaching. Paul wants to correct such
abuses by putting men of respect in positions of leadership.
7. As we’ve already argued, in verse 11 Paul
adds the qualification that the deacon’s wife must also be of blameless
character. In particular, they must be
“grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.”
8. Moreover, the deacon must be a “one-woman
man” (ver. 12). He must be sexually
pure, faithful to his wife. This does
not mean that something could not have happened in his past, but that as a
believer he has proven the constancy of his integrity in loving his wife.
9. Finally, Paul says that the deacon must rule
“their children and their own houses well” (ver. 12). They must have the respect and love of their
children. They are in control, but rule
their homes with a gentle firmness.
Paul
ends in verse 13 with a note of encouragement: “For they that have used the
office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree and great boldness
in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
A “good degree” means a “good standing” in the church. As they labor among believers, and serve
others, they will enhance their reputation in the believing community and
increase their confidence in representing the gospel before an unbelieving
world. In other words, a deacon has two
rewards in the here and now for his labor: (1) he is rewarded by the love and
gratitude of the other believers that he is ministering to. That is what I think Paul means by “a good
standing”. But that is not all, for he
is (2) rewarded by the fact that such labors do not go unnoticed by the
unbelieving world: “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if
you have love one for another” (Jn. 13:34).
As deacons serve in love, the world takes notice. And thus deacons become in some sense a
platform for further advancements of the gospel among men. For “boldness in the faith” in Paul is often
a reference to the advance of the gospel: “Praying . . . for me, that utterance
may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel” (Eph. 6:19).
The
Implications of the dual offices of elder and deacon
1. God
cares for both the spiritual and physical needs of people.
It
needs to be said that the office of deacon was not intended to be a stepping
stone to the office of elder. This was a
later development in the history of the church, and also brought with it the
idea that deacons are meant to serve under the elders and bishops. In our text, deacons do not serve the elder. Rather, they serve the church. Elder and deacon are not two manifestations
of the same office but two distinct offices with two distinct goals.
Elders
are meant to provide overall direction and spiritual leadership. Deacons are meant to minister to the physical
and material needs of the congregation.
The fact that God provided both elders and deacons to the church means
that he is concerned for the goals for which these offices have been
provided. Thus, the fact that God
provided elders for the church means that he wants his people to be shepherded
– to be fed, protected, and guided by his Word though the means of men called
to preach and teach it. The fact that
God provided deacons for the church means that he wants his people to be
provided for in very tangible, physical ways.
In Acts 6, he led his apostles to ordain seven men to make sure that the
widows in the church were taken care of and fed. In the diaconate, he continues with this
concern. Through the bishops, God cares
for his people spiritually. Through the
diaconate, God cares for his people materially.
It
is easy to think that God only cares for the soul. In fact, this gnostic belief has resurfaced
again and again in history. Thus, some
have equated spirituality with asceticism – the neglect of the body. On the other hand, some have taken this to
mean that it does not matter what we do to the body; we can neglect it or we
can abuse it through gluttony or immorality, and God doesn’t care. However, our text points to the fact that God
does care about the body as he does
about the soul. And coupled with the
doctrine of the resurrection of the body, we can confidently say that God cares
just as much for the body as he does for the soul. He has made both, and when Christ wrought
redemption on the cross, he redeemed both.
This
is illustrated in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. What did
Jesus do? Peter sums it up for us in
Acts 10:38, when he described how “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy
Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were
oppressed with the devil; for God was with him.” Jesus went about doing good – doing good to
the sick and lame and blind and dead by healing and giving physical life, and
doing good to sinners and harlots and tax collectors by healing their souls and
forgiving their sins and giving them spiritual life (cf. Acts 10:43). Jesus did both; and often at the same
time. He did not do one to the exclusion
of the other, and when people flocked to Jesus only to eat bread, he turned
them away with the words, “Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but
because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but
for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall
give unto you” (John 6:27).
It
is also illustrated in the way Jesus taught his disciples to pray. In Matthew 7:11, he says, “If ye then, being
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your
Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” The context here demands that the “good
things” we ask for include food and clothing (cf. 6:26-34; 7:9-10). On the other hand, in Luke 11:13, Jesus says,
“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how
much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
him?” Here Jesus specifies the Holy
Spirit as the good gift we are to pray for.
It is not one or the other; it is both.
Even
when he was dying on the cross, working redemption for the lost, Jesus made
sure that the physical and material needs of his mother would be provided for
(John 19:25-27).
That
is not to say that there are not priorities.
Jesus clearly demanded the priority of the spiritual over the material;
the next world over the present. We are
to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and trust that God will
provide for the other things of food and clothing (Mt. 6:33).
All
this leads to the following observation.
2. We
should care both for our body and soul and the spiritual and physical needs of others.
The
elders and deacons are God’s expressions of concern for physical and spiritual
need. But elders and deacons are not
God; they are men. And this teaches us
that God expects his concern for these two goals to be reflected in our own
lives and hearts. As believers, we ought
not only to be concerned about the spiritual needs to the exclusion of the
physical, or vice versa. In fact, James
tells us that “pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this,
To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself
unspotted from the world” (Jm. 1:27).
The reason why James underlined their responsibility to widows and
orphans was because in that culture, these were the people who were most
vulnerable. The first century world was
a man’s world without a safety net, and a widow was not likely to find work to
support herself. If she could not get
remarried, she was likely to starve to death.
The same was true of orphans.
James therefore calls the church to care for them. In the same way, we as a church are obligated
to care for those who cannot care for themselves. We are to be like the Good Samaritan and love
our neighbor. And you know what? If we can’t do this, we’re not a church,
because we’re not being like Jesus.
On
the other hand, we need to resist the temptation of completely defining the
role of the believer and the church in the world in terms of social
justice. As Paul will explain to Timothy
in the next few verses, the church is the “house of God, which is the church of
the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth,” and its mission is to
proclaim the truth about Jesus (1 Tim. 3:14-16). If all a church does is fill empty stomachs
without addressing empty souls, then we’re not a church, because we’re not
being like Jesus and we’re not pointing people to Jesus. More than bread that meets the need of
physical hunger and water that meets the need of physical thirst, people need
the Bread of Life who meets the need of spiritual hunger and the Water of Life
who meets the need of spiritual thirst.
“I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he
that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).
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