A Deacon's Requirements?

I don't know about you, but i don't know many churches where the main prerequisite for being a deacon is that one must be "full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom"! A good reputation in business or leadership in the community...maybe. Someone whose willing to sit through long committee meetings and serve tirelessly on Sunday morning...maybe. But, someone who is full of the Holy Spirit of God and whose able to give a thorough retelling of Israel's history in a hostile environment and whose willing to lay down his life for Christ, literally? I just don't think that that is what we are looking for out of deacons in our churches nowadays.

It's true that we (in the USA) aren't living in a hostile environment...and, maybe that's caused us to lower our standards. But, that doesn't change the fact that what God required from the "deacon role" in the first church was that the man be a serious spiritual leader! And, i think it's clear to see why as we read the testimony of Stephen's life! It was necessary for the first deacons to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom because even they were going to be put in situations where they would have to give testimony of Jesus in hostile environments where their lives would be on the line! They weren't just called to "wait tables" only...you don't have to be full of the Holy Spirit to do that. But, it does require the fullness of the Holy Spirit to give a man the capacity of love and power to testify in the face of your enemies, and to forgive them as they stone you to death! Yes, that requires an all-together different kind of person than what many churches are looking for out their deacons today! But, this is the kind of "spiritual leadership" that God desires to fill all of our churches! What might our churches and culture look like if even our deacons were men like Stephen?

Stephen, one who was called on to meet the practical needs of the widows in his church, was also a man who was full of the Word of God, and a man who prayed for God to forgive even his murderers. This is both a challenge and an encouragement. That God desires for even our deacons to be "full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom" is a call up and a sign of His willingness to work.

Lord, may it be that all of our leadership be described this way! May it be that you continue to make our own requirements ones that call forth spiritual men! Men who are full of Your Spirit and full of Your Wisdom! Start with me, God! Let this be said of me! Let me not prioritize other matters over being a man after Your own heart!

Created over 2 years ago