Structure is important. If buildings or other things are build on the right structure, they will turn out well. But if they are not, they could collapse or not last.
Many of you know I spend a few short years in the construction industry. We were a general contractors so I got to see a lot of different trades and I was on some pretty important buildings from very early on until the end. One building I was on for a year and a half was a convention center with a 14 story Marriott hotel on top. I came on site when they were preparing to pour the concrete for the 5th floor—that’s all the higher the building was. And I stayed until the building opened. It was quite the experience. But one thing I learned is that structure is important. Everything needed to be built to spec. I remember watching them pour the concrete for the floors. They had to get all the rebar right and tie it exactly how the blueprint demanded. Then they had these special cables called post motioning cables that ran through the concrete and held it all together. And there were certain specs and guidelines so that the structure was right—having the right structure made it work.
It’s the same way in the church. Having the right structure can make or break a ministry. Having a ministry structure that is based on Scripture and in the Bible is vitally important. Too often churches have the wrong structure. They have things we don’t find in the Bible. Or maybe they have the right structure—the right categories, but they misunderstand those categories or positions in the church. Whatever the case, the Bible needs to be our guide when it comes to the organizational structure and leadership structure within the church.
So as we come to our text today in Acts chapter 6, we are going to look at the office of deacon in the Bible, and how to understand deacon roles. Every year at the end of the year we have deacon elections for the upcoming year. And it is important that we understand the role of deacon—what a deacon is, what a deacon isn’t. So that we can know how God wants us to choose those men who serve us in this way. So today I’d like to look at the first passage that addresses deacons in Scripture, Acts 6. Here we see the first deacons, or some have called them proto-deacons. And I’d like us to consider the role and function of deacons as we prepare for nominations and elections coming up at the end of the year. This essentially is what I talk with our deacons about, this is a part of the training and instruction I give them on what I expect of them, but this will also shape our understanding of what God expects as well.
Big Idea: Churches need the right underlying structure in order to thrive. Because God has a specific structure for the church, we need to make sure our structure of deacon ministry is based on God’s expectations!
