1 Timothy 3:8-16 | Determine Deacons

You have a Bible, you can go and grab it and turn it to the book of 1 Timothy. If you don't have a Bible, you can use a pew Bible; it's right there in front of you. If you don't own a physical Bible, we would love for you to keep that Bible as a gift from us to you. We would love for you to have a copy of God's Word. We'll be looking at 1 Timothy chapter 3, verses 8 through 13.

So we've been slowly going through the book of 1 Timothy. Two weeks ago, we were able to look at the role of women in the life of the church. Last week, we were able to look at the office of an elder or an overseer and what they do as a pastor of the church. This Sunday, we're going to be looking at the office of Deacon: what a Deacon is and what a Deacon is to do.

So we'll be looking at 1 Timothy chapter 3, verses 8 through 13. It says this:

Deacons, likewise, should be worthy of respect, not hypocritical, not drinking a lot of wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. They must also be tested first; if they prove blameless, then they can serve as deacons. Wives, likewise, should be worthy of respect, not slanderers, self-controlled, faithful in everything. Deacons are to be husbands of one wife, managing their children and their own households competently. For those who have served well as deacons acquire a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. — 1 Timothy 3:8-13 (CSB)

Let's pray. Lord, even as we look at these standards of godliness here for deacons, we are reminded of our own inadequacy. Lord, if you don't help us by your Spirit this morning, we will completely ignore your Word. So we ask God that you would help us by your Spirit to pierce our hearts and we will see the goodness and truthfulness of your Word. Help us as a church to be able to embody godly righteousness in our own lives. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

This sermon is about me telling other people what they should do. Last week it was a little trepidatious for me to go through the qualifications of an elder, and that's kind of like a mirror examining my own self and criticizing myself. I think it's scarier to try to criticize other people as they do their job. But I just want to express from the front end how deeply grateful I am for the deacons that serve at our church. I think Richard, Jess, Sergio, Orally, Allen, they have been such encouragement to me. I'm so grateful for them.

And my prayer is that as we go through the qualifications of a deacon, that the Lord will raise up more in our church. You see, you hear horror stories about deacons and pastors and churches all the time. It's like civil wars that happen inside churches, where different leaders fight and bicker and divide, and fight over the future or the authority of the church. That's the opposite of what you see in Scripture.

See, the word for deacons is the same word for servant. As we look at what the Bible teaches about what deacons are to be and what they are to do, I think we actually see a beautiful depiction of what service looks like for all Christians, and even a picture of Jesus Christ himself. And so here's our main idea for us this morning: we're going to try to determine our deacons, or determine your deacons, figure out who they should be. And so we're going to look at three things in particular this morning. Number one, we're going to look at a deacon's job. And if you'll allow me, I'll go ahead and detour into the first deacons as we look at that. Secondly, we'll overview the deacon's qualifications. And lastly, unlike the elders, we'll see that the deacons are promised a particular reward for their service. So, a deacon's job, a deacon's qualifications, a deacon's reward.

The Deacon's Job: Preserving Unity and Facilitating Service

Let's start with point number one: a deacon's job. God promises in verse 13 that those who serve well as deacons have a great reward. But how do we determine whether or not a deacon has actually served well? So when we look at the qualifications in 1 Timothy 3, they don't really say much about what an overseer or what a deacon does. It says more about who they should be, right?

So in order to determine what a deacon's job is, let's detour from this passage this morning and take a look at the very first deacons in the Bible. So I want you to turn back in your Bible to Acts chapter 6. Go and turn there. And what we see is that right after Pentecost, as the church in Jerusalem is continuing to grow, we see a need come up in the church and they address it in Acts chapter 6. We'll look at verses 1 through 7. It says this:

In those days, as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution. The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” This proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a convert from Antioch. They had them stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread, the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith. — Acts 6:1-7 (CSB)

So this is the early church, the first church that exists in Jerusalem, and it's continuing to grow and they encounter a problem. You have Hellenistic widows, or Greek widows, and you have Hebrew widows. And the Jewish widows are being fed and the Greek widows are not, and because of that, there's tension between the two groups. There is a racial division going on here in the church in Jerusalem, and the apostles summon the crowd. They bring the whole church together because of the division that's happening here.

And they say two things. The first thing that they say is that this issue of division is not a priority for them. There's actually not their job, that the apostles shouldn't be spending their time on this issue of widows being fed. Not that it's unimportant, but that the preaching of the Bible and prayer is more important. See, whenever you deal with life in the church, needs just keep stacking up. It's kind of like an infinite to-do list that shows up, and if a pastor spends all his time serving tables instead of serving the Word, if the sermons that get taught on Sundays start to suffer, if the lessons become less clear, if I'm coming up here and I'm just kind of winging it because I was so busy during the week, then I'm actually not fulfilling my duty as a pastor.

The apostles have a clear pecking order: that the Word ministry is more important than the table ministry. And because of that, the apostles are deliberately not solving the problem themselves. They're not going in and addressing the issue by organizing or facilitating themselves. They clearly state it's not their job. Second, while this issue isn't the first priority for the apostles, it's still a priority for the people. Just because it's not the apostles' job doesn't mean that it's not an important job.

It's so important that the apostles create a new office within the church. They tell the crowd, the group, to choose from among themselves seven men who can perform this duty, and they do. They select seven men, and if you look at the names, they're not just old Bible names, they're difficult to pronounce. They're actually Greek names. They recognize men who will be particularly sensitive and attentive to their need, and the crowd recognizes them, and the apostles pray and they lay hands on them.

And so from this story, we see the origination, the very first place where deacons show up in the Bible. And based on this story, we see that deacons really do two things. They do a lot of things, but they mainly do two things. Number one, deacons preserve unity. Deacons preserve unity in the church. The issue around widows being fed was causing divisions in the church, and the office of deacon is created to address this issue and help bring unity back. The church was about to split along racial lines because widows were being neglected.

You see, the division that's happening here in Acts 6, just like a lot of church splits, had nothing to do with doctrine. It had nothing to do over the doctrine of the Trinity or the deity of Christ. There was no theological debate that was going on here in the church. The issue wasn't doctrinal, it was practical. And this happens all the time, doesn't it? Disagreements over the budget or the color of the carpet, whether we have pews or chairs. Oftentimes the beef that people get caught up in in the church has nothing to do with Jesus at all, but the logistics of doing life together.

And that conflict doesn't happen because of a deep moral issue; it happens because there's feedback on the speakers. And deacons here function like shock absorbers. They pay attention to the areas of the church that bring tension, that frustrate people, and they work to lessen that burden, to preserve the unity in the church. Second, deacons facilitate practical service. Deacons facilitate practical service. The word used for "waiting on tables" and then for "the ministry of the word" are actually the exact same word: *service*.

The apostles are telling the church, find someone to serve tables because we will pray and serve the word. Same word, same action, different subjects, different focuses. Serving tables, serving the word, can't serve tables because we're serving the word. There is a clear bifurcation there. So I, as a pastor, should not be spending all my time doing practical stuff that pulls me away from Word ministry. So if you guys were to examine my work week as a full-time pastor at the church, if I'm spending the majority of my time doing table-based ministry work, then I'm actually not doing my job. I need to be prioritizing the teaching of God's Word.

In a sense, you can kind of play Mad Libs. Have you ever played Mad Libs before where you have that booklet with a bunch of blanks? You ask someone to give a noun or whatever, and you tell a story that sounds super silly because you have no context for the story before. You can kind of play Mad Libs with Acts 6. So I would say, like, the pastor would be serving tables when he's supposed to serve the Word. You can replace that word 'tables' with all sorts of practical ministry work. It's not right for the pastor to serve counting, I would say, serving the Word. Is that right for the pastor to serve the Word? It's not right for the pastor to be serving sound. If that sentence makes sense when you replace the word 'tables' with something else, then that is a great role for a deacon to be responsible for.

It's not right for pastors to be serving taxes when you're supposed to serve the Word. And deacons are removing barriers that prevent the Word of God from being prepared and presented to God's people. And that is a wonderful, glorious thing. Why do we thank God for the volunteers at our church? It's not because volunteering itself is inherently just good, as though we just need someone to take the trash out. The reason why volunteers are so valuable at our church is because they free the rest of us to be able to focus on God's Word being preached.

I'm so grateful for the volunteers that help us with the sound so that you can hear my voice. And anyone who has worked sound before will tell you, your attention is divided. Nobody notices a sound guy until something goes wrong. But their attention is divided so that your attention doesn't have to be. And in the same way, deacons serve the practical needs of the church so that the leaders of the church that teach God's Word and the members of the church can fully focus and dedicate themselves to the ministry of the Word so that they can grow and focus.

Now, this doesn't mean that deacons are the only ones that do the work, but they're the ones who facilitate the work of the ministry. In other words, these seven men here in Acts 6, they're the ones that are responsible for making sure that Greek widows get fed. So if someone goes up to the apostles and says, "Hey, my grandma who's a widow isn't getting fed," the apostles will tell them, "Well, you're not supposed to talk to me, go talk to Prochorus or Parmenas or any of the other deacons." Does that make sense?

So they're not necessarily the ones that are themselves providing lunch boxes to every single one of the widows, but they are the point people to make sure that they're facilitating that work of the ministry. In the same way, a deacon alleviates that responsibility from teachers of God's Word to themselves. They organize, they facilitate under the authority and the oversight of the pastors. And that is an important work. I would even say it's a vital work for the church. It's a glorious work for the church. And that's why Paul wants to make sure that these servants reflect a character that's worthy of their work.

The Deacon's Qualifications

So as we walk through these qualifications in 1 Timothy 3, it's easy to just kind of mentally detach yourself if you're not a deacon, right? To say, "Yeah, that's not me. That's not something that I'm called to do." Here's the reality: I talked about this at the end of the sermon last week as well. These qualifications are given to every single Christian elsewhere in the Bible, apart from the qualification for an elder to be able to teach. And so as we go through these qualifications, as we look at what the model of a Christian leader is supposed to be, ask yourself whether you meet those qualifications. Ask yourself whether or not your character reflects the character of Christ.

And I would even go as far, especially when it comes to the qualifications of a deacon, to prayerfully ask yourself if that's something that the Lord may be calling you to do, right? To serve as a deacon, to be able to serve the church. I would love for our church to be a church known for raising up more leaders than we need, to be raising up more pastors, to be raising up more deacons to serve than we need. I think that actually benefits the whole body and results in churches being planted, churches being helped, missionaries being sent, right?

So that brings me to point number two: a deacon's qualifications. So let's turn back to 1 Timothy and look at the qualifications of a deacon. Again, similar to last Sunday, these aren't really organized in a super like rhyme and reasoned kind of way. It's really meant to be vignettes. Another angle on a godly person over and over and over again as we do, we get to composite those images together to get a 3D model of what a godly deacon is supposed to look like.

Qualification number one: worthy of respect. A deacon has to be worthy of respect. In both the qualification for the pastor and the deacon, it starts with people that are worthy of respect. I think it's interesting that it starts the qualification for a deacon that way. Often when we think about service in the church, we focus on the amount of stuff that needs to get done, right? We think about the need for children's ministry volunteers or people that help with the bulletin or folks to help with the sound; we're constantly trying to motivate people to volunteer for work.

When you start to get motivated primarily in terms of the vacuums of needs that you have in the church, you start to compromise on the type of people that might be participating in that kind of role, right? "Whoever helps to get it done." But Paul actually starts not with their ability to get things done, but who they are as people. More important than making sure that the sound is working properly is making sure that the people that are leading and facilitating that group is godly, right? He focuses on their character as being worthy of respect. In other words, Christians are not utilitarians. We do not care ultimately about the bottom line. We don't care about our ability to get things done primarily. We understand that who we follow matters just as much as what gets done. Character matters. A deacon's qualification starts with his character, not his competence.

Qualification number two: not hypocritical. A deacon has to live a consistent life; a consistent life. They cannot be a hypocrite. The word for hypocrite here isn't just talking about their walk, it's actually particularly focusing on their talk. A deacon cannot be double-tongued, like a serpent. A deacon cannot be fake. Smiling, shaking hands, talking sweet to folks, giving them warm hugs while stabbing them in the back. This is especially important given that deacons are primarily in a supporting role.

They're not the ones in the front of the church who are leading the way. That would be those who labor in preaching and teaching. I'm the one who has to be on stage and open God's Word every single Sunday morning. Deacons don't serve primarily in the front. They serve in the back. They serve in supporting roles. And if you serve in the back, it is easy to start whispering. It's easy to slip a word in here, a word in there, and as James 3 says, "a small fire can set a whole forest ablaze overnight." They need to be marked by a selfless, consistent character. They need to wield their words responsibly. They need to be known for matching up their walk with their talk, for being people of integrity.

Qualification number three: not drinking a lot of wine. A deacon cannot be dependent on any substance that would impair his or her judgment. And notice there, it says "a lot of wine." We talked last week about how God isn't forbidding here any use of alcohol. In 1 Timothy 5, Paul tells Timothy to "drink a little bit of wine for his stomach." So he's not disqualifying Timothy from the ministry there. But a deacon or a leader cannot be dependent on any substance. They can't be known for being drunk or losing their self-control.

If you think about the responsibility deacons have in Acts 6, they are responsible for the care of the least of these in the church, the needy widows. And when you're looking at people that are commonly neglected or disenfranchised or taken advantage of, you need to give them your best attention, not your worst. Think about this: would you trust your loved ones in a retirement home where you know that the nurses are getting drunk? Absolutely not. You would not have your kids have a drunk babysitter. You need your caregivers to be alert and ready to assist. It's the same way for the deacon.

Qualification number four: not greedy for money. Greed is a sneaky sin because it's really difficult to discern. He's not even talking here about if someone's embezzling money or cooking the books or taking advantage of oneself. He's talking about what goes on inside the heart. Greed is not really tangible. It's about your affection. It's about what's going on inside, and it's unbefitting of a deacon. Because if your job involves meeting the practical needs of the church, if your focus is primarily around helping, around tangible needs in the church, while you yourself desire money for selfish gain, then you will have competing motives in your heart.

John 12 tells the story of Judas being upset that Mary wiped Jesus' feet with expensive perfume. She broke the jar, wipes it on his feet, and Judas says, "Why wasn't this perfume sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" But verse 6, in John chapter 12, reveals Judas' heart. It says:

“Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the money-bag and would steal part of what was put in it. — John 12:5-6 (CSB)

See, that's a divided heart. It's not just about having a lot of money, it's about being detached from it. You view money as a tool and you leverage it to serve other people. Don't use it to serve yourself. You cannot love the poor and your pocketbook at the same time. You have to make decisions that do not make sense to the world, but only make sense if Jesus actually rose from the dead. That type of sacrificial loving care.

Qualification number five: hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. You see that in verse 9: "holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience." Deacons are called to teach the mystery of the faith, being the gospel. Deacons, however, are not called to teach the mystery of the faith. They're not the teachers, but they are required to hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. In other words, deacons need to know the gospel. They need to know the gospel. This isn't about driving or creating a hard line between those who are spiritual and those who are practical. A lot of people think about it that way. They think that pastors are the ones that care about spiritual things and deacons are the ones that take care of all the practical things. That's not so much true.

Deacons are practical. They do take care of practical needs, but deacons are not pragmatic. They're not the realists in contrast to the pastors being spiritual. Deacons need to know the Word of God. Not only do they need to know, they need to love the truth of the gospel, and they need to be able to hold it with a clear conscience. In other words, the qualification for deacons needs to be whether or not they're actually a Christian, whether they can say that they trust the true gospel, and not just do they know it. Can they hold it? Can they protect it? Can they have a clear conscience and say, "Yeah, I am unabashedly 100% with Jesus. Do I trust that he died for my sins? He rose from the dead, my following after him?"

George Washington, first president of the country, was a committed member of his church. He was even appointed as a vestryman and a warden who was tasked with caring for the poor at his church, basically functioned like a deacon. He was respected in his society. He came to church every single Sunday, and yet he would leave church early every Sunday right at the beginning of communion. In fact, in private conversations in his writing, his faith was often not considered to be Christian at all, but at best a deist, a God who is completely separated from the actions and behaviors of the world today.

And it's easy to see why George Washington would be appointed for a position of leadership in the church. He's articulate, he's wise. We want to talk about someone of good reputation, of stature. He literally turned down becoming the king of the United States. And I am telling you this morning, George Washington is disqualified from being a deacon. He was disqualified from the ministry. His belief in the gospel was murky at best. No clear conscience there. And his conscience would not permit him to even partake in the most basic of Christian practice: communion. It doesn't matter how great a man may be, even if he is the commander in chief, if he does not hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience, he should not be a deacon.

Let me ask you this morning, do you know the gospel? Would you be able to articulate the gospel if someone asked you to share it with them? Are you able to hold the truth of the gospel with zero reservations, with a clear conscience, and say, "Yes, Christ is my Lord. I will follow after him"? That is the expectation for all Christians. Now, certainly, it is the expectation for a deacon.

Qualification number six: they must be tested first. If they prove blameless, then they can serve as deacons. They need to be proved blameless. They must be tested. And the qualification being blameless is not that you need to be perfect in everything. If that's the case, then we won't have any deacons, amen? But they must live their lives in a way that they're characterized by godliness, not sinfulness. And not only do they have to be blameless, they have to be proven blameless. In other words, we need to actually evaluate someone's character. This isn't something that just gets assumed. It's something that's evaluated.

So the process that we would have as a church, that I would lead us as a church as we prove and appoint and have deacons, would be similar to the way that we would appoint pastors at our church. I ask you guys, and I'll continue to ask you guys regularly, that if there's anyone that you think is qualified to be a pastor or deacon at this church, then please tell me. What will happen is, over time, you start hearing the same names over and over again. Kind of gets through and you're like, okay, you know what? Maybe Richard should be a deacon, right?

And then you talk to him. You test him. You evaluate him. So I would probably talk to him and be like, "Okay, is there anything going on in your life right now that I would need to know about?" And there may be all sorts of things going on in someone's life that I don't understand that would be good reasons for that person not to serve in leadership or as a deacon at the church, or serve as a pastor or a deacon. But assuming everything is okay, assuming that the person wants to serve as a deacon or as a pastor at the church, I'll present them at a members' meeting.

I'd say, "Hey, I want to nominate this person to serve in this position." And then the church would then have two months to evaluate and test that person as well. We don't ask any questions they have, or do people spend time with that person and be able to evaluate their character? Members who may have concerns, because you know something about them during the week that I don't know about, will be able to share or be able to express their disagreement on that. And then after two months, there will be a congregational vote where the church actually affirms or does not affirm that person for leadership. That's our way as a church of being able to test someone to see if they're actually blameless.

See, the layers of accountability exist there. It's not just me unilaterally anointing someone into a church position. It's also not church people going guerrilla warfare and kind of like appointing their people and trying to do politics, right? It's about seeing who God has called and raised up to serve in our church and recognizing that while making sure that we do our due diligence, right? That's our way of appointing deacons and elders at our church. And if there are any reasons why a deacon would not be above reproach, it's good that we take our time to make sure that those things can come to light and that we don't end up appointing people to serve that are actually duplicitous or deceitful in the background. We want to make sure that they're proven blameless.

Qualification number seven: faithful women. "May be worthy of respect, not slanderers, self-controlled, and faithful in everything." May you notice that your verse there in verse 11 looks a little different than what I just said. This says "wives." But Paul here isn't just talking about men, but calling women who are deacons to be faithful in their own lives and to be qualified to be deacons as well. There's much debate in church history and today as to whether or not women may serve as deacons.

The reason is because many churches treat deacons as though they are leaders in authority, especially in churches that have a deacon board that operates kind of like a check-and-balance to the pastor or churches that have no pastor at all. They end up deferring to deacons to kind of be their main leadership source. And in those cases, I would say that the deacons are functionally pastors in dictating the direction for the church. They're kind of like the council that's leading the church and where they should go. And if that's the case, I totally understand why people would have hesitations about having women in that type of position, given the sermon that I gave two weeks ago.

That sounds really harsh. I don't have time to get into it. I talked about it two weeks ago, and feel free to ask me about it later. And in most of those churches, they needed those kinds of deacons. And so I'm not saying that with any animosity or vice in my heart at all. If you've served in that capacity, or if you've been part of a church that functioned that way, I thank God for being able to raise up leaders who faithfully served in those types of churches. I'm so grateful that deacons have served by leading needy churches in that way.

But that's not what deacons primarily do, right? If you're curious, the way that we have checks and balances on me as a pastor at this church isn't by having the deacon board do a vote of no confidence. It's by you guys at a members' meeting just voting me out, right? You guys are the check and balance, right? Ultimately, there's nothing that I can do that cannot be overturned by a congregational vote. Actually, that's right. I think that's a great way that God has designed it, that I don't have authoritarian, kind of Pope-like powers here at the church, right?

But deacons don't lead in the same way that pastors do. They're not here to set the direction of the church. They don't lead. They serve. They support. You see that in Acts 6. They're not the ones that are determining what ought to be done. They're the ones that are facilitating the work of the ministry. In some sense, deacons support the pastor's leadership, in a similar way to a way that a wife supports her husband's leadership, right? And given that, it's no surprise that Paul provides these qualifications for women serving as deacons as well.

So let me just give you a couple of reasons why I think women deacons are supported in the Bible. Okay? In case you're curious about that. Number one, the word for "wife" is the same Greek word for "woman." In fact, in the letter 1 Timothy, the word for "woman" gets used a lot. And every single time this word in this letter is used, it's referring to women generally. It's referring to women generally, even the qualification for elders and being a "one-woman man," right? Obviously, it's talking to wives, but he uses a general term, "be a one-woman man," right? And every single time that you see these words show up in 1 Timothy, it's talking generally about women.

Number two: the qualifications for women mirror the qualifications that are given for deacons. The requirement for both start with the same qualification, being "worthy of respect," followed by three overlapping, similar qualifications, right? Not being a "slanderer," not being "double-tongued," "self-controlled," "not giving into wine" or "being greedy," "faithful in everything," "being proved blameless." You see the parallels that go down with each one, right? The word for deacon is inherently masculine, so it makes sense within the language that Paul would mention women specifically as a statement of inclusion, right?

Number three: the Bible has a specific example of a female deacon in Romans 16, Phoebe, right? So Phoebe is identified in Romans 16, verse 1, as the deacon of the church in Cenchrea. It's a super weird-spelled word. I have to look up how to pronounce it. Cenchrea, right? Phoebe is identified as a deacon of the church at Cenchrea. Now it would be one thing if Phoebe was just identified as a servant generally, because the word for deacon is used for servant or minister. It could be one thing if Phoebe is just a servant of the Lord, right? But she's identified as a specific role, a deacon, at a specific church, the church of Cenchrea. It would be like if I said that I was the pastor at First Baptist Church of Artesia, right? Saying that I'm the pastor at First Baptist Church of Artesia doesn't mean that I'm a shepherd vocationally that go out and I oversee my flock of sheep on the hills, on the way to Riverside, right? That's not what I am. I'm a pastor of this specific church, and in the same way, Phoebe is a deaconess or a deacon at the church in Cenchrea.

Number four, and this is the last one: deaconesses are supported by church history. Deaconesses are supported by church history, unlike female pastors, which I talked about two weeks ago. We have examples of female deacons dating back as early as the second century. Just a few decades after this letter was even written, from secular governors who don't share any faith all the way to the early church fathers, like Clement of Alexandria or Chrysostom, deaconesses were regularly recognized by the early church and continued to be recognized throughout church history. In fact, usually deaconesses were the ones that prepared women for baptism, right? So they're the ones that helped women get ready for baptism. Quite frankly, I don't think a dude should be doing that.

So I think that the Bible heartily supports women in this supporting role of deacon. Now, if at a church or at this church deacons were to function with any kind of authority, right? Kind of like a pastoral oversight that I totally understand why people would be hesitant to have female deacons, because we talked two weeks ago about having pictures and patterns and principles, right? We don't want to be out of step with the normal pattern of God's creation. But the office of deacon, when understood rightly, is understood as a supporting role. I think when they support, it's actually a beautiful and good thing for deacons to be actively serving the church in the same way that Phoebe did. So I pray that the Lord will raise up many respectable, not slandering, self-controlled, faithful deaconesses in this church who can support the work of the ministry here. And that's why they supplant or replace leadership so that they can support the ministry, right? So that they can support the life of the ministry here. And that position is the consistent position of the Baptist churches, generally speaking, as well.

And then one last qualification, qualification number eight. Deacons are to be "the husbands of one wife, managing their children and their own households competently." If deacons are to be the model for Christian living, they ought to model that in their own life. So they need to be faithful to their spouse. They cannot be given to sexual immorality or neglecting their responsibilities as a parent. And that's not just a command that's given to men. A command to manage your own household is a command that Paul gives to younger women in 1 Timothy 5, verse 14, right? Younger women are to manage their households. And their house is a window into how they would handle the house of God, especially if you're going to be facilitating the practical needs of the church, you need to be able to facilitate, to manage the practical needs of your own family. So deacons, like pastors, are called to be godly examples of the church.

The Deacon's Reward: Boldness in Christ

But unlike pastors, Paul ends the qualifications for a deacon with an additional statement, not one of another qualification, but of a promise. You can see that in verse 13. Let's read that together: "For those who have served well as deacons acquire a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus." Paul gives a promise to the deacon. If you serve well, your reward is great in heaven. And pastors don't get that promise, but deacons do. Deacons get a reward: a good standing for themselves and boldness in the faith. That is incredible guarantee from God for anyone who serves as a deacon, that they gain good standing for themselves. They earn the respect of the people.

You gain the opportunity to display influence in a godly reputation, not above the people, among them. You get to display the beauty and worthiness of Christ in a way that stands out to people. And you don't do that by teaching publicly and by modeling, but by modeling. You see, a lot of people are going to excuse all sorts of things that I do to follow Jesus. And quite frankly, following Jesus is hard, even if you're a pastor. People are going to look at things that I do in my life and say, "Yeah, but you get paid to do that. Your job security is kind of dependent on whether or not you're a good guy." If you're a deacon, you get to model that from the pew. Your life operates like a sermon. People can see your life and gain an understanding of what godliness should be. You can understand what it looks like to serve faithfully.

Not only that, you gain "great boldness in the faith" and not just great boldness in the faith. You get "great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus." In other words, deacons get to display the faith that is in Christ in a way that pastors are not explicitly stated that they get to do. In a way that I would argue that pastors simply can't, at least to the same degree. In Mark chapter 10, James and John, disciples of Jesus, go to Jesus and they ask him if they can sit at his right and his left hand in the kingdom. They're basically asking if they can be his right hand and left hand guys. They're kind of undercutting their ten other bros to get the top positions. When the disciples find out about it, they're all furious.

And Jesus calls them over in Mark 10 and he says this:

Jesus called them over and said to them, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. But it is not so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” — Mark 10:42-45 (CSB)

Do you want to embody the mighty, kingly authority of Christ, his majesty, his boldness? When you deacon or you serve, that when you serve, you serve God's people and place their needs above your own. When deacons take the active role in serving God's people and facilitating practical needs, they free pastors for the work of the ministry. When they proactively submit themselves for the sake of the rest of the body, when they sacrifice their own preferences, their own needs for the betterment of the body as a whole, you are demonstrating true greatness. You are ascending to the right and the left hand of Christ. You are displaying the exact heart of Jesus, not being served, but choosing to serve, that this act of sacrificial deaconal service is a mirror image of the sacrificial deaconal work of our Savior Jesus Christ. You are exemplifying the gospel.

The Spiritual Significance of Practical Service

When Christ died for us, giving Himself up as a ransom for us, paying that penalty in full and rising from the dead, Jesus views His work for you and I in our salvation through a deaconal lens. He served as the chief deacon serving us. If you're not a Christian, that is the good news of the gospel: that we serve a God who doesn't just lord over us. He's not just sending down orders from heaven, expecting you to obey and follow, but He came to us and took on the form of a servant, a deacon, and laid down His life for you. That He embodies His ministry by kneeling at the feet of His followers and washing them.

And Christ died for your sins too. You can turn from your sin and you can trust in this Jesus. There is no other God like this in the entire world who is willing to take the form of a servant and serve you and I. And for all of us, deacons included, every time that you serve, especially every time that a deacon serves the church, is another practical reminder that Jesus loves you and He will serve you until the very end.

You see, every practical need that you have is a deeply spiritual need. Have you ever wondered why when you're really stressed out about your life, your prayer life tends to increase? That when the budget gets tighter, you find yourself on your knees more often, or when tragedy strikes your house suddenly, you become more interested in spiritual things? It's because your practical needs that you have are intertwined with your spiritual soul, right? "If God is going to take care of my practical needs, I'm not sure, will he take care of my spiritual needs as well?" Right? It's a question that we ask. It's a natural thing that every human being does, and every single time that a church member serves another member, we give them a ride to church, we help them with their computer needs like I did last week, or you help out with sound or you show up on a workday, every single time that you do that small act of practical service, you are reminding them spiritually that if you're willing to care for this tiny practical need for them, that their chief servant, Jesus Christ, cares for every single spiritual need that you have too. Does that make sense? Every little thing matters, and every single act of service displays the ultimate value of Christ.

Matt Smethurst tells the story of Deacon Lawrence in 258 AD. His task was to oversee the church's money and the distribution of the poor. In August, the news hits: Decius' successor, Valerian, has issued a chilling edict, "All bishops, priests, and deacons must be rounded up and killed." Lawrence is soon taken before the magistrate. The offer: "Surrender the treasure of the church and you will be freed." The deacon agrees. He only requests three days to retrieve it. And leaving the court, Lawrence wastes no time. He entrusts the church's money to safe hands, and then he gathers together the sick, the aged, the poor, the widowed, and the orphaned, and alas, he returns to the court, pitiful band in tow. And incensed by the commotion, the magistrate demands an explanation, and Lawrence responds, "Sir, I have brought what you asked for," and gesturing towards the people he gathered, he declared, "These are the treasures of the church." Subsequently, sentenced to a martyr's death, the deacon endures the flames with startling calm, even quipping to his executioners, "You may turn me over. I'm done on this side." And the spectacle of Lawrence's profound courage makes a great impression on the people of Rome, leading to many conversions.

Thank you, deacons, for showing the treasures of the church in the way that you serve us. And I pray that as we all serve, as we deacon, that we would take advantage of the opportunity to do the same. Let's pray. Lord, I pray that you would help us. I pray that you raise up deacons in our church that love you and want to serve you. I pray, Lord, that you would help us to see service as a beautiful, glorious thing. We thank you, God, that you sent your Son to do the ultimate deaconal work for us, giving up your life as a ransom for many. We are so grateful for this good news of the gospel, that you help us celebrate that even this morning. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.