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There is no such thing as a perfect church. That statement does not come as a shock to any of us, whether we are a part of a church … or not. However, i do believe that those of us inside the church often tend to want everyone to believe we have it all together. We have a tendency to hide the “real me” behind a mask and cover up the things, the hurts, the doubts, and the imperfections that we don’t want anyone else to see. (It’s similar to the way most of us – believers and non-believers alike – tend to portray ourselves on social media.)

i also believe that those outside the church often project that false impression – that we think we’re perfect – upon the church, and enjoy highlighting the downfall of those within the church when they fall.

No, the church isn’t perfect, but then again, it never has been! But we endeavor to worship, follow, and follow the example of the only One who is and ever was perfect.

Two thousand years ago, the church, at its very beginning, was experiencing amazing growth. In three years, it is estimated that the church had grown to twenty-five thousand men and women. It was a supernatural movement, but it was not pure. The apostles were casting nets into the sea of the world as fishers of men empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Not all of the “fish” who were drawn in were Spirit-filled believers. They all had been gripped by the power of God, but they were not all truly born again. They were all touched by the Spirit of God, but not all were transformed. They were all excited about the supernatural power they were witnessing, but not all had truly been crucified in their flesh. They were all caught up in the movement, but not all had experienced true brokenness for sin or passion for holiness.

There were the likes of the deceitful Ananias and Sapphira in the Jerusalem movement,(1) the power-hungry magician Simon in the Samaritan movement,(2) the doctrinally confused Apollos in the Asian movement,(3)the professing Christians in Ephesus who for some time concealed their black magic,(4) and so on. But none of that should come as a shock to us, since the same is true today.

We also need to be mindful that Satan was never able to defeat Jesus!! So, he turned his attention on trying to defeat His bride – the Church. Satan was never going to sit idly by while a movement of God was taking place. He began his effort by stirring up rumblings of discontent within the body, which then grew into complaints and accusations of discrimination.

At the time, the apostles were doing absolutely everything.  Everyone turned to them for everything, and they realized that they could no longer handle the demands at the level that was needed.  The demands were not being adequately met. And the apostles knew that they could not neglect the Word of God in order to meet the demands.

The conflict initially came to a head in the matter we will delve into this week(5) – between the Hellenists (the Greek-speaking Jews) and the Hebrews (the Hebrew- or Aramaic-speaking Jews), and the failure of the church to properly nurture the Greek-speaking widows. It was a two-fold threat to the movement of the gospel.

First, the system the emerging church had developed(6) to take care of the needs within the body was not working for the Hellenist group. If that failure to properly care for the Hellenist widows continued, the church would fail in loving and caring for one another, the glory of Christ would be diminished in the eyes of the world, and the movement of the gospel would experience a serious reversal.

The second threat to the movement would be if the apostles left their primary calling to the ministry of the Word in order to serve those needs. The felt needs would be met but the advance of the gospel would suffer. The “best” was being threatened by the “good,” not something “bad.” And that is usually the case.

The Spirit of God led the apostles to respond immediately so that Satan could not use the issue to gain a foothold in the growing church. He led the apostles to respond in a way that brought unity rather than further division within the church. The apostles instructed the church to appoint seven Hellenistic leaders (their Greek names tell us their ethnicity), who were trustworthy and full of the Spirit and wisdom, to take care of the need. They delegated the responsibility, enabling the apostles to keep on devoting themselves to the ministry of the Word and prayer. The widows were cared for and the ministry of the Word of God was not forsaken. Both were utterly crucial. Either threat could have undermined the church and ended its amazing growth. The issue was resolved by utilizing the full diversity of gifts and abilities that God had already placed within the church.

Everyone agreed with the solution, and seven men were chosen as the precursors of those who would soon become known as deacons. It is interesting to note that six of the seven men were subsequently used by God in the spread of the gospel throughout Jerusalem, Samaria and the uttermost parts. The exception was Nicolas of Antioch, who later demonstrated that his understanding of the gospel was more syncretistic, being caught up in the fusion of religious beliefs instead of truly entering into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Of the six who became passionate evangelists, all but Philip were subsequently martyred for their faith, the first of whom was Stephen.

The result of the selection of these seven men was that “God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem….”(7) Attention to the Word of God and the mission of God was not forsaken or diminished. The apostles and the church did not become so inwardly focused that they forsook the mission of Christ, but they also remained faithful to the ministry to the saints. The outcome was a new breakthrough in evangelistic power. Now, even priests, who had been heretofore hostile to the gospel,(8) were responding to the Word of God and choosing to follow Jesus. It is estimated that there were eight thousand priests attached to the Temple in Jerusalem – and now “many” of them were responding. The church had been tested. She had passed the test by nurturing the widows and guarding the Word. And God honored this triumph with new power and fruitfulness.

So, what is the application for us today? First, let us be mindful that our priorities as followers of Jesus have not changed from two thousand years ago. We must never lose sight that we have been charged by our Lord to be His witnesses – to make disciples. It is easy for us to allow other activities to consume our attentions and our energies. However, we must be as passionate as the apostles to stay rightly focused.

And second, we must never lose sight of the ministry opportunities God continues to place before the body today. The same Holy Spirit who placed within the early church seven men who were uniquely equipped to carry out their specific ministry function has also equipped the body today to carry out His ministry purposes. We must remain watchful and obedient to His direction.

God has uniquely equipped each one of us for His purpose, and He has chosen us for His service. God raised up those seven men, including Nicolas, for that hour. We must pray that there are no obstacles – inside our lives or inside the church – that will hinder the work of the Spirit of God through the Word of God in each of our lives and in and through the churches in which we serve, and that the same power that brought thousands into the family of faith two thousand years ago will do the same today – until He returns – in our Jerusalem and throughout the world.

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You can read about the selection of these men in the sixth chapter of the Book of Acts.

This post is taken from chapter 18 of my book, Until He Returns. For more information about the book, click here.

 

(1)  Acts 5:1-11

(2)  Acts 8:13-24

(3)  Acts 18:24-28

(4)  Acts 19:17-20

(5)  Acts 6:1-7 (NLT)

But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.” Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith). These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them. So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.

(6)  Acts 4:34

(7)  Acts 6:7 (NLT)

(8)  Acts 4:1, 4

 

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