Immediately upon starting this series of posts regarding deacons, I had to disable the comments section; because so many people have varying opinions about "their thoughts" on deacons. I truly believe the thoughts and positions I have been sharing are backed by Scripture and can be traced to the original languages and intent. Even as I have been writing, I do understand that your church and/or other churches may utilize deacons differently and I respect the right of local churches to exercise their prerogatives... even though I still contend that they should be based on the Bible, not church tradition!
In this blog, I have been communicating the biblical role of deacons as I truly believe it was meant to be. Each post has been adapted from the weekly bulletin inserts that we distributed to our church family for the first 10 years I was at EBC. I stopped distributing them several years ago and later discovered it to have been a mistake, as people continued to join the church from other Baptist churches who thought differently about deacons and even those who came to us from other denominations. The biblical position and practice of deacons should be taught annually in the local church to maintain purity in practice and strength in unity.
So, returning to the foundation I laid in the first post of this deacon series, I remind you that deacons are the servants of the church. Many church problems could be avoided by simply remembering that the role of a deacon is to serve in the church, not to rule over the church. A flow chart outlining the authority in the local church, based on biblical principles, would look like this:
1) God (It's HIS Church and He is the Good Shepherd.)
2) Pastor (Under-shepherd responsible to lead and feed the flock of God.)
3) Staff (Serve at the pleasure of the pastor as extensions of his ministry, but they are NOT equals to the Pastor. Much confusion about this in modern church models. i.e. - Remember, Moses was clearly the God-called leader. While Aaron and Joshua provided tremendous assistance to him, they did not try to usurp his authority.)
4) Congregation (Responsible to select their Pastor and he remains accountable to them. It would be the congregation's responsibility to follow him as he follows God; or to remove him for issues of unrepentant sin, heresy, etc.)
5) Deacons (Chosen by the congregation to carry out the tasks assigned by the Pastor/staff.)
Acts 6:3 – “Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business (task)”
Here is a partial list of what we viewed as responsibilities of deacons at Emmanuel Baptist Church:
• To Provide congregational care, especially care for benevolence needs, shut-ins, and widow(er)s. While other responsibilities have been added to deacons, Acts 6:1-3 reveals congregational care / benevolence to be the primary biblical responsibility.
• To serve as an advisory panel to the Pastor, ever mindful that the final authority and responsibility for leading the church rests with the Pastor/Elders. (1 Peter 5:1-4)
• To serve as ombudsmen to the Pastor regarding the spiritual climate of the church.
• To deal wisely and in a Scriptural manner with those who would cause division in the Body of Christ, doing everything possible to resolve the problems and restore the people.
• To serve as protectors of the man of God.
• To serve as personal workers during the invitation time.
• To prepare and serve the Lord’s Supper.
• To oversee the finances of the church and school.
• To oversee the care and compensation of our employees.
• To oversee maintenance/repairs of our facilities & equipment.
• To oversee and coordinate all changes and/or improvements to our facilities and campus.
• To serve as the missions committee.
• To serve with the Pastor as an arbitration panel, if necessary.
• To serve (as all Christians should) by actively sharing their faith.
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