Deacon of the High Degree
September 19, 2019
David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061
866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org
866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org
This report is excerpted from the up-coming Way of Life Commentary Series “The Pastoral Epistles” to be released later this year —
“Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 3:8-13).
Again, we would observe that the standards for church leaders and officer show the character of a true New Testament church. It is a church that can produce this type of men, this type of woman, this type of family. This is not the work of a Bible college or any parachurch organization; it is the work of a church. It is the work of a church that is the serious Bible training, discipling institution that God intends for it to be. We believe in Bible colleges, but only as part of a church’s work of training leaders and workers. Every church should be a Bible School to educate and disciple all of the members, and every church should have a special Bible School training program for preachers.
We will see in this passage that the biblically qualified deacon is a special Christian man with high spiritual character and excellent reputation. He is blameless in his personal life and in his family life. He has a wife of high spiritual character. This is not a job for someone who is just hanging around with nothing else to do. It is not the job of a man who happens to be good with finances. The office of a deacon is an important position and must be filled by men who meet God’s standards. The qualified deacon is a servant, but he is not a lackey.
Godly deacons were a great benefit to the first church (Acts 6), and they were gifted men. Stephen was a powerful preacher who knew the Word of God and became the first Christian martyr because of his boldness for the gospel (Acts 6:8 - 7:60).
If a church will honor God’s standards in the appointment of elders and deacons, this will go a long way in making the church what God intends it to be. These are truly foundational things.
The meaning of the word “deacon”
The Greek word for deacon (diakonos) means “servant.” Diakonos is translated “servant” in Col. 4:12. Consider the following definition by W.E. Vine: “Diakonos ... primarily denotes a servant, whether as doing servile work, or as an attendant rendering free service, without particular reference to its character. The word is probably connected with the verb ‘dioko,’ to hasten after, pursue (perhaps originally said of a runner).”
The biblical usage of the word “deacon”
The term “deacon” is used in the New Testament primarily in two ways.
1. Deacon refers to Christian workers in general. Diakonos is translated “minister” in 1 Co. 3:5; 1 Th. 3:2; 1 Ti. 4:6, and other places. In this sense, the apostle Paul, Timothy, Epaphras, and other preachers were called “deacons.” Yea, every Christian is to be a deacon, a servant, in this general sense, a servant of Christ, a minister of the gospel, a humble worker in the church.
2. Deacon also refers to a certain office in the church: an office with definite and high standards, and an office which only properly qualified and chosen Christians are to hold (Php. 1:1; 1 Ti. 3:13). It is in this sense that the word “deacon” is most commonly used in churches today.
The Deacon’s Work
The office of a deacon is reserved for men who become servants of the church and of the pastors in a special sense beyond that which is expected of every Christian.
Though the actual term “deacon” is not used in Acts 6:1-4, this is clearly the biblical pattern for the work of deacons.
Notice that certain qualified men were chosen when a definite need arose, and their primary function was to allow the pastors to be free to carry on the spiritual ministry of the Word of God and prayer.
Of course, the deacons can do any work assigned by the pastor and the church, but they should especially look after things like finances, property, and social projects (such as care for widows).
The main work of the deacon is to free the pastor to dedicate his entire attention to the pastoral ministry—oversight of the church, study, teaching, preaching, visitation, counseling, prayer.
Acts 6:2 emphasizes that the first deacons were waiters on tables. “Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.” Biblical deacons are humble waiters!
The deacon might or might not be a teacher and/or a preacher. “Apt to teach” is not one of his qualifications. But we see that Stephen, one of the first “table waiters” in the church in Jerusalem, was also a mighty disputer for the truth and a preacher (Ac. 6:8-10; 7:1-53). Another of the first deacons was Philip, the evangelist (Ac. 6:5; 8:5-6, 26-27).
“In what idea did the office originate? In the necessity of the division of labor. One man cannot do everything. Old Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, was a wise man in his generation. He observed Moses trying to do everything in the administration of the affairs of a nation, and fortunately for succeeding administrations freed his mind, saying in substance: ‘This is not a wise thing you do. You weary yourself and the people who have to wait for attention. You attend to things Godward, and appoint others to attend to secular matters.’ The good advice for a division of labor resulted in the appointment of graded judges, to the great dispatch of business and the relief of the overburdened Moses and the weary people. (See full account, Ex. 18:13-26.) Certainly the judicious division of labor is one of the greatest elements of success in the administration of the world’s affairs. From the account in Ac. 6:1-6, it is evident that this was the ruling idea in the institution of the deacon’s office. The ministerial office was overtaxed in giving attention to the distribution of the charity fund, to the detriment of its spiritual work. This was bad policy in economics and unreasonable. It left unemployed competent talent. People to be interested in any enterprise must have something to do. … the office of the deacon is supplemental to the preaching office. It was designed to free the preacher’s mind and heart from unnecessary cares with a view to the concentration of his powers in spiritual matters” (B.H. Carroll).
Women Deacons?
1. Women can be deacons in the general sense of being servants to the church and ministers of Christ. An example is Phebe. She is called a servant (diakonos) in Ro. 16:1.
2. But only men can hold the office of deacon. The qualifications require that the deacon “be the husband of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well” (1 Ti. 3:12).
The Deacon’s Authority
1. Nowhere in the New Testament are deacons referred to as rulers in the church, and nowhere are they seen ruling over or alongside the pastors.
2. The terms “pastor,” “elder,” and “bishop” are used interchangeably in the New Testament and refer to the same office in the assembly. The different words are used to describe the major aspects of his office--shepherding, instructing, and overseeing. Deacons are never referred to as overseers, rulers, or leaders. A church must not set up overseers over the overseer! In the New Testament we read about elders ruling well (1 Ti. 5:17), but there is no reference to deacons ruling well.
3. Anytime a committee or board of deacons or other men set themselves up over the pastors in authority, or try to be equal in authority, the men involved are sinning against the Word of God.
4. If a pastor is living in unrepentant sin or is teaching doctrinal error, the other pastors are to exercise biblical discipline to whatever extent the situation requires. If there are no other pastors, the task must fall upon the deacons or other mature men in the assembly, or, better, the church should ask for help from pastors in likeminded churches.
The Deacon’s Qualifications
“grave” (1 Ti. 3:8)
This is the Greek word semnos, which means “venerable, honorable, respectable” It “combines the thoughts both of gravity and dignity” (Vine). It speaks of “both seriousness of purpose and self-respect in conduct” (Moule). It refers to a man who is respected for his Christian testimony, who is serious about the things of Christ, who loves the truth, not a flippant, carefree man.
“not doubletongued” (1 Ti. 3:8)
This speaks of honesty, integrity, trustworthiness. The qualified deacon is a man of his word. He isn’t a liar. He doesn’t say one thing but mean another. He does not say one thing to one person and a different thing to another person. He is able to keep confidence and not spread things that should be private. I think of two men who participated in a church’s weekly leadership meetings and heard things about various members in the context of pastoral ministry and deciding on disciplinary matters. Unknown to the pastor at the time, they went directly to the people involved and told them what the pastor had said. They did this to hurt his ministry and to poison the people’s minds against him, and it worked very well and would have destroyed the church had God not intervened. “A man who earns the reputation of being conversationally unreliable is rendered useless in his office, for no one really wants to confide in a loose-tongued deacon” (John Phillips).
“Not doubletongued” speaks of candor and courage. It means not telling people what they want to hear, not being “all things to all men” because you are afraid to speak your mind, afraid to take your stand. It is a Nathanael “in whom is no guile” (Joh. 1:45-47).
“Not doubletongued” speaks of Christian love. The Bible warns that a lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it” (Pr. 26:28). The doubletongued are selfish, caring only about themselves and their agendas. An example is David’s wife, Michal. She helped David escape from Saul, but fearing her father, she lied about the matter, claiming that David had threatened to kill her (1 Sa. 19:10-17). This doubletongued statement was a slander against the good character of her own husband, but she cared only about her own wellbeing.
The devil is the chief of the doubletongued (e.g., Ge. 3:1-4; Joh. 8:44), and those who practice this sin are following his wicked example.
The doubletongued are extremely destructive to churches, and this is even more so if they are in some ministry position.
“not given to much wine” (1 Ti. 3:8)
This means that the deacon must not be under the influence of alcoholic beverages. “‘given to” is the Greek prosecho, often translated “give heed to” (1 Ti. 1:4; 4:1, 13). “Not holding the mind on much wine” (Robertson’s Word Pictures). “The words ‘not given to’ mean not only not paying attention to but not giving assent to” (Everyman’s Bible Commentary). Compare 1 Pe. 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant…”
See the commentary on 1 Timothy 3:3 for more about this.
“not greedy of filthy lucre” (1 Ti. 3:8)
“Greedy of filthy lucre” is the Greek aischrokerdes, which is a compound of three Greek terms--a (not) aischros (filthy) kerdos (lucre or gain). It means one who is greedy of improper gain.
“Greedy of filthy lucre” refers first of all to a love of money and personal gain. It is the man who is not content with godliness but who seeks to be rich (I Ti. 6:6-10). He puts money and personal gain before Christ. He does not seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Mt. 6:33). The deacons are often in charge of finances and church property, and as such it is doubly imperative that they not be greedy.
See comment on 1 Timothy 3:3 for more about this.
“holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience” (1 Ti. 3:9)
This means the deacon is a genuine believer and not a hypocrite. To “hold the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience” refers to having genuine faith in Christ. The opposite of this is the “faith” of Judas, which was a hypocritical faith. He pretended to be like the other disciples, but in reality he was a deceiver and a thief. There are multitudes like Judas who profess to believe the gospel, but they do not hold this profession with a pure conscience. Profession is not necessarily possession (Tit. 1:16).
This means the deacon is sound in doctrine. The “mystery of the faith” refers to the doctrines of the New Testament. Compare Jude 3, where “the faith” describes the doctrines of the faith. The term “mystery” refers to those things that were hidden in the Old Testament but revealed in the New (Col. 1:26-27). While it isn’t required that a deacon be trained in doctrine to the level of a pastor or that he be apt to teach, he must have a good understanding of fundamental Bible doctrines such as law and grace, repentance and faith, justification, propitiation, redemption, and sanctification.
“And let these also first be proved” (1 Ti.3:10)
Before a deacon is ordained to hold office, it must be shown that he is the type of man described in these standards and that he has the faithfulness and the commitment to Jesus Christ and to the church that is required.
This qualification is an important principle for appointing people to any position of church ministry. They should first demonstrate that they have the Christian character and ability to do that particular job. When churches are careful to abide by this principle and not be hasty, they are protected to a large degree from hypocrites.
“being found blameless” (1 Ti. 3:10)
As we have seen, this means having no just cause for reproach, having no handle for blame, in the areas of qualification that are laid out in Scripture.
Now we will turn to Acts 6:3-5 to examine a few more standards for the deacon. The first deacons are mentioned here, and the qualifications that were given by the apostles in that circumstance should be included with those that Paul gave in 1 Timothy 3.
“honest report” (Ac. 6:3)
The deacons must have an honest report. This speaks of his reputation in the church and the community. A man who steals or lies or does not pay his debts in a timely fashion or is not faithful to his employee (e.g., stealing time), and does not otherwise have an honest reputation, is not qualified to be a deacon.
“full of the Holy Ghost” (Ac. 6:3)
The deacon must be filled with the Holy Spirit, which means he is controlled by the Spirit not the flesh. He is a spiritual man. He walks with Christ. He sets his affection on things above (Col. 3:1-4).
“wisdom” (Ac. 6:3)
The deacon must have wisdom. He must be a man not only of Bible knowledge but of practical wisdom in the good use of knowledge. Acts 6:3 tells us that such wisdom comes by being controlled by the Holy Spirit. The deacon is not a simple man. He is a man of wisdom. He knows how to solve problems such as the one described in Acts 6:1-6. Wise deacons can help counsel the pastors, and wise pastors will want their counsel. It is the pastors who make the final decisions, but they need all of the help they can get.
“full of faith” (Ac. 6:5)
The deacons must have both godly wisdom and faith. Many financial decisions and other practical matters handled by the deacons must be made before God through much prayer and BY FAITH rather than sight. The deacons, then, must be more than good businessmen. They must have faith in God and understand the spiritual aspects of God’s financial and church program. Churches have often been hindered from supporting missionaries or doing other things God was directing them to do simply because some men involved were not men of faith.
In the early 1990s, Bethel Baptist Church of London, Ontario, was meeting in a storefront building and though they had a growing building fund, they saw no reasonable possibility of purchasing their own property because of the high price of real estate in the area. Pastor Wilbert Unger had a burden to start a printing ministry to send out the Word of God and sound Bible teaching via the printed page across this needy world. He approached the congregation about using a large portion of the building fund to establish a print shop and to hire a printer. The people agreed, and the project was completed. From the Bethel Baptist print shop, hundreds of thousands of books and Scriptures and magazines in many languages have since been distributed to the glory of God. Within one year of their decision to use part of the building fund to print the Word of God, the Lord opened the door for them to get into their own building and that building has long been debt free.
When Tri-County Baptist Church in Katy, Texas, was starting out in the late ‘70s, they were meeting in a storefront building and were saving toward the purchase of their own property. Eventually they obtained some acreage north of town and had $10,000 in the bank toward a building fund. At that time they received a letter from a missionary they supported, requesting help to put the roof on a missionary church. The missionary congregation had poured the foundation and put up the walls of their building, but they needed help to finish the roof before the rainy season began. It did not seem reasonable for Tri-County Baptist to use their money to help this missionary church with its building when Tri-County did not have its own building; yet this is exactly what the Lord led Pastor Rick Shrader to do. His men agreed, and the church sent its entire building fund to the mission field! God richly blessed this sacrificial step of faith, and within one year, Tri-County had its own building debt free!
What if there had been men involved in the above decisions who were not men of faith and evangelistic burden--worldly-minded deacons, for example? They would no doubt have discouraged the idea of helping missionaries by faith, saying it would not be reasonable “under their circumstances.” Rather than praying and ascertaining the will of God in the matter, they would have complained and resisted. If men who lack faith and spiritual burden are appointed as officers, the people will be discouraged about following God by faith, just as the children of Israel were discouraged by the ten faithless spies (Nu. 13-14).
“Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things” (1 Ti. 3:11)
The same qualifications are given for the wives of both pastors and deacons. See the comments under the pastor’s qualifications. The man’s wife is a very important part of his life and ministry, and her spiritual condition will greatly affect the man and his work.
“Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well” (1 Ti. 3:12)
The deacon should be a married man. Some believe that this means that if the man is married, he should be the husband of one wife, but that is not the way the standard is worded.
The deacon is the husband of one wife. This means, first, that the deacon cannot be a polygamist. Second, the deacon should not be divorced and remarried. Third, the husband of one wife refers to a man who is content with his wife and doesn’t have a roving eye. The “husband of one wife” means “a one-woman sort of man” (Wuest).
Notice that God requires that the deacon be a man who rules his household “well.” He must be a godly father and husband with a good family life. He must be doing a good job in his home. Any serious problems in the home should be worked out before a man is considered for a church office. It is not uncommon for a man to have problems in his life and family which must be worked out by the Spirit of God before he can be the kind of church officer God describes in the Scriptures. In Christ any spiritual and moral problem can be healed. Indeed, we read that “his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Pe. 1:3). Thus, there is always the possibility of working out problems in the home and developing the kind of family life demanded by God. The Bible makes it plain, though, that until the man has the right home he is not qualified for church office. He must rule his family “well.”
Again we see that the New Testament church described in the Epistles is a church that can produce this type of man and woman, this type of family.
The Deacon’s Reward (1 Ti. 3:13)
The reward is for those who “use the office of a deacon well.” It is not for the lukewarm, the half-hearted, the lazy, the undependable, the mediocre. The rewards is for the deacon who serves his God and his church and his leaders with integrity, enthusiasm, cheerfulness, faithfulness, and persistence.
God loves to reward. The redeemed sinner has been “bought with a price” and therefore owes all he is and has to his Redeemer, but God rewards His faithful servants. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the world of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Co. 15:58).
The deacon “purchases to himself” these things. This is the Greek peripoieo, meaning to purchase, to acquire for oneself. It is used in Acts 20:28 for God purchasing the church by His blood. How does the deacon purchase a good degree? By his godly, zealous service. The believer has “coin” that he can invest in making spiritual progress and in laying up treasures in heaven, and that “coin” is his faithful service to God in this present life. In 1 Ti. 6:17-19, we see the same principle for wealthy saints. By being rich in good works and by giving, they lay up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come.
“a good degree”
Degree is the Greek bathmos, meaning “to go, to step.” It refers to a standing, a rank. It means “an advance in dignity, in respectability, or in influence” (Barnes).
A good degree refers to the following things: First, it refers to a good standing before men in this life. A deacon who serves God well gains godly respect, and he advances in that respect. Second, it refers to God’s blessing upon the faithful deacon in this life. God rewards faithful service in His churches. Third, it refers to reward at the judgment seat of Christ. “To obtain this good degree ought to become so exalted that it would become every deacon’s inspiration and guiding star. As a meritorious distinction, it should outrank the badge of the Legion of Honor, the Collar of the Golden Fleece, or the degree of Ph.D. conferred by earth’s greatest university” (B.H. Carroll).
Though many deacons have been troublesome to the church, many others have also been a great blessing. We think of the deacons who supported the pastorate of Charles Spurgeon at Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, England. They were men of high spiritual character. They were capable men. They played a large role in that church’s great success in those days, and they had the respect of their pastor and of the entire congregation and beyond. They called Spurgeon when he was a merely 20 years old, and they supported him faithfully until his death at age 57. “I talked a short time ago to an old man, 92 years, a man who was one of Spurgeon’s deacons. He told me how the deacons would pray for the great preacher. He was absolutely in the hands of the deacons, how they prayed, and how they carried the burdens! Many times when they knew his heart was crushed under the heavy load they would call a prayer meeting and not a word would be said but they would fall on their faces and pray. Knowing that, I could understand how that great preacher’s messages in the printed page have girdled the globe, how thousands of hearts have been blessed” (J. Frank Norris, The Inside Story of First Baptist Church). During Lee Roberson’s 40-year pastorate at Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, he had dozens of deacons, eventually 100. They included lawyers, top realtors, and city auditors. Of them, Roberson said, “I pause to pay tribute to the deacons of our church. In all of the years that I was pastor, I had only the finest fellowship with our deacons. Our men have been progressive, spiritually minded and largely faithful” (Roberson, “Some Deacons Excel”).
When J. Frank Norris was called to be the pastor of First Baptist Church of Fort Worth, Texas, in 1909, the church was a typical Southern Baptist church in that it was controlled by the deacons and their wives. They had fired pastors prior to Norris, and when he began preaching against their sin and worldliness, they tried to fire him. But instead, he fired them! And he fired the worldly choir director. And he shut down all of the women’s committees. He took the authority that God’s Word gave him as the pastor. It was a battle royal, but when it was over the church was unified in the Word of God and every deacon, teacher, choir member was required to separate from worldly practices. “No disgruntled individual, however good, or high, they may be or have stood, will be tolerated to go around trying to sow seeds of discord.” Years later he said, “What is needed today in the churches is wholesale destructive work. Use the broad axe of John the Baptist, not a little pearl handle pen knife on the worldly card-playing, dancing, hell-raising choir, the board of deacons, and the teaching force. Clean out all worldliness. There can be no revival in a church that is run and dominated by the worldly element. ‘For the time is come when judgment must begin in the house of God’” (The Inside Story of First Baptist Church).
Many years later Norris described the value of a good deacon as follows: “Oh, my friends, not till eternity’s last cycle rolls around will we know the value of a good deacon in the Church of Jesus Christ. The deacons can create an atmosphere. They can create an atmosphere of wholesomeness, an atmosphere of fellowship, a frank atmosphere, an atmosphere of confidence. There are no factions, no backbiting where all are one and sit down together and talk things over frankly and freely. How different, and how happy, not to have a deacon run out from the meeting and go around and whisper ... criticizing everything and everybody. Oh, it is a glorious victory that we have passed all that. When we meet together, we talk frankly, freely, and when a matter is settled, it is agreed upon that is both settled inside and outside, and they pronounce the verdict, the expression of every deacon in the church, and that has a happy effect on all the membership--the whole church--all the young people--all the old people--all new members. ... It is a settled policy of the deacons ... that after a full happy discussion and a decision has been reached that becomes the voice of everybody and not for one-ten-thousandth fraction of a second would there be tolerated any man who would vote one way, talk to his brethren in the deaconship or in the church, then get on the telephone, or permit even his wife to get on the telephone, and talk another way” (The Inside Story of First Baptist Church).
“great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus”
A good deacon makes special progress in spiritual growth, power, and zeal. We think of Stephen, who was ordained a deacon by the church at Jerusalem (Ac. 6:5). He became the first martyr of the Christian era because of his great boldness (Ac. 6:8 - 7:60). Integrity and uprightness “will give a man great boldness in the faith, whereas a want of integrity and uprightness will make a man timorous, and ready to tremble at his own shadow (Pr. 28:1)” (Matthew Henry).
Spiritual growth comes by wholehearted discipleship and service.
“Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 3:8-13).
Again, we would observe that the standards for church leaders and officer show the character of a true New Testament church. It is a church that can produce this type of men, this type of woman, this type of family. This is not the work of a Bible college or any parachurch organization; it is the work of a church. It is the work of a church that is the serious Bible training, discipling institution that God intends for it to be. We believe in Bible colleges, but only as part of a church’s work of training leaders and workers. Every church should be a Bible School to educate and disciple all of the members, and every church should have a special Bible School training program for preachers.
We will see in this passage that the biblically qualified deacon is a special Christian man with high spiritual character and excellent reputation. He is blameless in his personal life and in his family life. He has a wife of high spiritual character. This is not a job for someone who is just hanging around with nothing else to do. It is not the job of a man who happens to be good with finances. The office of a deacon is an important position and must be filled by men who meet God’s standards. The qualified deacon is a servant, but he is not a lackey.
Godly deacons were a great benefit to the first church (Acts 6), and they were gifted men. Stephen was a powerful preacher who knew the Word of God and became the first Christian martyr because of his boldness for the gospel (Acts 6:8 - 7:60).
If a church will honor God’s standards in the appointment of elders and deacons, this will go a long way in making the church what God intends it to be. These are truly foundational things.
The meaning of the word “deacon”
The Greek word for deacon (diakonos) means “servant.” Diakonos is translated “servant” in Col. 4:12. Consider the following definition by W.E. Vine: “Diakonos ... primarily denotes a servant, whether as doing servile work, or as an attendant rendering free service, without particular reference to its character. The word is probably connected with the verb ‘dioko,’ to hasten after, pursue (perhaps originally said of a runner).”
The biblical usage of the word “deacon”
The term “deacon” is used in the New Testament primarily in two ways.
1. Deacon refers to Christian workers in general. Diakonos is translated “minister” in 1 Co. 3:5; 1 Th. 3:2; 1 Ti. 4:6, and other places. In this sense, the apostle Paul, Timothy, Epaphras, and other preachers were called “deacons.” Yea, every Christian is to be a deacon, a servant, in this general sense, a servant of Christ, a minister of the gospel, a humble worker in the church.
2. Deacon also refers to a certain office in the church: an office with definite and high standards, and an office which only properly qualified and chosen Christians are to hold (Php. 1:1; 1 Ti. 3:13). It is in this sense that the word “deacon” is most commonly used in churches today.
The Deacon’s Work
The office of a deacon is reserved for men who become servants of the church and of the pastors in a special sense beyond that which is expected of every Christian.
Though the actual term “deacon” is not used in Acts 6:1-4, this is clearly the biblical pattern for the work of deacons.
Notice that certain qualified men were chosen when a definite need arose, and their primary function was to allow the pastors to be free to carry on the spiritual ministry of the Word of God and prayer.
Of course, the deacons can do any work assigned by the pastor and the church, but they should especially look after things like finances, property, and social projects (such as care for widows).
The main work of the deacon is to free the pastor to dedicate his entire attention to the pastoral ministry—oversight of the church, study, teaching, preaching, visitation, counseling, prayer.
Acts 6:2 emphasizes that the first deacons were waiters on tables. “Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.” Biblical deacons are humble waiters!
The deacon might or might not be a teacher and/or a preacher. “Apt to teach” is not one of his qualifications. But we see that Stephen, one of the first “table waiters” in the church in Jerusalem, was also a mighty disputer for the truth and a preacher (Ac. 6:8-10; 7:1-53). Another of the first deacons was Philip, the evangelist (Ac. 6:5; 8:5-6, 26-27).
“In what idea did the office originate? In the necessity of the division of labor. One man cannot do everything. Old Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, was a wise man in his generation. He observed Moses trying to do everything in the administration of the affairs of a nation, and fortunately for succeeding administrations freed his mind, saying in substance: ‘This is not a wise thing you do. You weary yourself and the people who have to wait for attention. You attend to things Godward, and appoint others to attend to secular matters.’ The good advice for a division of labor resulted in the appointment of graded judges, to the great dispatch of business and the relief of the overburdened Moses and the weary people. (See full account, Ex. 18:13-26.) Certainly the judicious division of labor is one of the greatest elements of success in the administration of the world’s affairs. From the account in Ac. 6:1-6, it is evident that this was the ruling idea in the institution of the deacon’s office. The ministerial office was overtaxed in giving attention to the distribution of the charity fund, to the detriment of its spiritual work. This was bad policy in economics and unreasonable. It left unemployed competent talent. People to be interested in any enterprise must have something to do. … the office of the deacon is supplemental to the preaching office. It was designed to free the preacher’s mind and heart from unnecessary cares with a view to the concentration of his powers in spiritual matters” (B.H. Carroll).
Women Deacons?
1. Women can be deacons in the general sense of being servants to the church and ministers of Christ. An example is Phebe. She is called a servant (diakonos) in Ro. 16:1.
2. But only men can hold the office of deacon. The qualifications require that the deacon “be the husband of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well” (1 Ti. 3:12).
The Deacon’s Authority
1. Nowhere in the New Testament are deacons referred to as rulers in the church, and nowhere are they seen ruling over or alongside the pastors.
2. The terms “pastor,” “elder,” and “bishop” are used interchangeably in the New Testament and refer to the same office in the assembly. The different words are used to describe the major aspects of his office--shepherding, instructing, and overseeing. Deacons are never referred to as overseers, rulers, or leaders. A church must not set up overseers over the overseer! In the New Testament we read about elders ruling well (1 Ti. 5:17), but there is no reference to deacons ruling well.
3. Anytime a committee or board of deacons or other men set themselves up over the pastors in authority, or try to be equal in authority, the men involved are sinning against the Word of God.
4. If a pastor is living in unrepentant sin or is teaching doctrinal error, the other pastors are to exercise biblical discipline to whatever extent the situation requires. If there are no other pastors, the task must fall upon the deacons or other mature men in the assembly, or, better, the church should ask for help from pastors in likeminded churches.
The Deacon’s Qualifications
“grave” (1 Ti. 3:8)
This is the Greek word semnos, which means “venerable, honorable, respectable” It “combines the thoughts both of gravity and dignity” (Vine). It speaks of “both seriousness of purpose and self-respect in conduct” (Moule). It refers to a man who is respected for his Christian testimony, who is serious about the things of Christ, who loves the truth, not a flippant, carefree man.
“not doubletongued” (1 Ti. 3:8)
This speaks of honesty, integrity, trustworthiness. The qualified deacon is a man of his word. He isn’t a liar. He doesn’t say one thing but mean another. He does not say one thing to one person and a different thing to another person. He is able to keep confidence and not spread things that should be private. I think of two men who participated in a church’s weekly leadership meetings and heard things about various members in the context of pastoral ministry and deciding on disciplinary matters. Unknown to the pastor at the time, they went directly to the people involved and told them what the pastor had said. They did this to hurt his ministry and to poison the people’s minds against him, and it worked very well and would have destroyed the church had God not intervened. “A man who earns the reputation of being conversationally unreliable is rendered useless in his office, for no one really wants to confide in a loose-tongued deacon” (John Phillips).
“Not doubletongued” speaks of candor and courage. It means not telling people what they want to hear, not being “all things to all men” because you are afraid to speak your mind, afraid to take your stand. It is a Nathanael “in whom is no guile” (Joh. 1:45-47).
“Not doubletongued” speaks of Christian love. The Bible warns that a lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it” (Pr. 26:28). The doubletongued are selfish, caring only about themselves and their agendas. An example is David’s wife, Michal. She helped David escape from Saul, but fearing her father, she lied about the matter, claiming that David had threatened to kill her (1 Sa. 19:10-17). This doubletongued statement was a slander against the good character of her own husband, but she cared only about her own wellbeing.
The devil is the chief of the doubletongued (e.g., Ge. 3:1-4; Joh. 8:44), and those who practice this sin are following his wicked example.
The doubletongued are extremely destructive to churches, and this is even more so if they are in some ministry position.
“not given to much wine” (1 Ti. 3:8)
This means that the deacon must not be under the influence of alcoholic beverages. “‘given to” is the Greek prosecho, often translated “give heed to” (1 Ti. 1:4; 4:1, 13). “Not holding the mind on much wine” (Robertson’s Word Pictures). “The words ‘not given to’ mean not only not paying attention to but not giving assent to” (Everyman’s Bible Commentary). Compare 1 Pe. 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant…”
See the commentary on 1 Timothy 3:3 for more about this.
“not greedy of filthy lucre” (1 Ti. 3:8)
“Greedy of filthy lucre” is the Greek aischrokerdes, which is a compound of three Greek terms--a (not) aischros (filthy) kerdos (lucre or gain). It means one who is greedy of improper gain.
“Greedy of filthy lucre” refers first of all to a love of money and personal gain. It is the man who is not content with godliness but who seeks to be rich (I Ti. 6:6-10). He puts money and personal gain before Christ. He does not seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Mt. 6:33). The deacons are often in charge of finances and church property, and as such it is doubly imperative that they not be greedy.
See comment on 1 Timothy 3:3 for more about this.
“holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience” (1 Ti. 3:9)
This means the deacon is a genuine believer and not a hypocrite. To “hold the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience” refers to having genuine faith in Christ. The opposite of this is the “faith” of Judas, which was a hypocritical faith. He pretended to be like the other disciples, but in reality he was a deceiver and a thief. There are multitudes like Judas who profess to believe the gospel, but they do not hold this profession with a pure conscience. Profession is not necessarily possession (Tit. 1:16).
This means the deacon is sound in doctrine. The “mystery of the faith” refers to the doctrines of the New Testament. Compare Jude 3, where “the faith” describes the doctrines of the faith. The term “mystery” refers to those things that were hidden in the Old Testament but revealed in the New (Col. 1:26-27). While it isn’t required that a deacon be trained in doctrine to the level of a pastor or that he be apt to teach, he must have a good understanding of fundamental Bible doctrines such as law and grace, repentance and faith, justification, propitiation, redemption, and sanctification.
“And let these also first be proved” (1 Ti.3:10)
Before a deacon is ordained to hold office, it must be shown that he is the type of man described in these standards and that he has the faithfulness and the commitment to Jesus Christ and to the church that is required.
This qualification is an important principle for appointing people to any position of church ministry. They should first demonstrate that they have the Christian character and ability to do that particular job. When churches are careful to abide by this principle and not be hasty, they are protected to a large degree from hypocrites.
“being found blameless” (1 Ti. 3:10)
As we have seen, this means having no just cause for reproach, having no handle for blame, in the areas of qualification that are laid out in Scripture.
Now we will turn to Acts 6:3-5 to examine a few more standards for the deacon. The first deacons are mentioned here, and the qualifications that were given by the apostles in that circumstance should be included with those that Paul gave in 1 Timothy 3.
“honest report” (Ac. 6:3)
The deacons must have an honest report. This speaks of his reputation in the church and the community. A man who steals or lies or does not pay his debts in a timely fashion or is not faithful to his employee (e.g., stealing time), and does not otherwise have an honest reputation, is not qualified to be a deacon.
“full of the Holy Ghost” (Ac. 6:3)
The deacon must be filled with the Holy Spirit, which means he is controlled by the Spirit not the flesh. He is a spiritual man. He walks with Christ. He sets his affection on things above (Col. 3:1-4).
“wisdom” (Ac. 6:3)
The deacon must have wisdom. He must be a man not only of Bible knowledge but of practical wisdom in the good use of knowledge. Acts 6:3 tells us that such wisdom comes by being controlled by the Holy Spirit. The deacon is not a simple man. He is a man of wisdom. He knows how to solve problems such as the one described in Acts 6:1-6. Wise deacons can help counsel the pastors, and wise pastors will want their counsel. It is the pastors who make the final decisions, but they need all of the help they can get.
“full of faith” (Ac. 6:5)
The deacons must have both godly wisdom and faith. Many financial decisions and other practical matters handled by the deacons must be made before God through much prayer and BY FAITH rather than sight. The deacons, then, must be more than good businessmen. They must have faith in God and understand the spiritual aspects of God’s financial and church program. Churches have often been hindered from supporting missionaries or doing other things God was directing them to do simply because some men involved were not men of faith.
In the early 1990s, Bethel Baptist Church of London, Ontario, was meeting in a storefront building and though they had a growing building fund, they saw no reasonable possibility of purchasing their own property because of the high price of real estate in the area. Pastor Wilbert Unger had a burden to start a printing ministry to send out the Word of God and sound Bible teaching via the printed page across this needy world. He approached the congregation about using a large portion of the building fund to establish a print shop and to hire a printer. The people agreed, and the project was completed. From the Bethel Baptist print shop, hundreds of thousands of books and Scriptures and magazines in many languages have since been distributed to the glory of God. Within one year of their decision to use part of the building fund to print the Word of God, the Lord opened the door for them to get into their own building and that building has long been debt free.
When Tri-County Baptist Church in Katy, Texas, was starting out in the late ‘70s, they were meeting in a storefront building and were saving toward the purchase of their own property. Eventually they obtained some acreage north of town and had $10,000 in the bank toward a building fund. At that time they received a letter from a missionary they supported, requesting help to put the roof on a missionary church. The missionary congregation had poured the foundation and put up the walls of their building, but they needed help to finish the roof before the rainy season began. It did not seem reasonable for Tri-County Baptist to use their money to help this missionary church with its building when Tri-County did not have its own building; yet this is exactly what the Lord led Pastor Rick Shrader to do. His men agreed, and the church sent its entire building fund to the mission field! God richly blessed this sacrificial step of faith, and within one year, Tri-County had its own building debt free!
What if there had been men involved in the above decisions who were not men of faith and evangelistic burden--worldly-minded deacons, for example? They would no doubt have discouraged the idea of helping missionaries by faith, saying it would not be reasonable “under their circumstances.” Rather than praying and ascertaining the will of God in the matter, they would have complained and resisted. If men who lack faith and spiritual burden are appointed as officers, the people will be discouraged about following God by faith, just as the children of Israel were discouraged by the ten faithless spies (Nu. 13-14).
“Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things” (1 Ti. 3:11)
The same qualifications are given for the wives of both pastors and deacons. See the comments under the pastor’s qualifications. The man’s wife is a very important part of his life and ministry, and her spiritual condition will greatly affect the man and his work.
“Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well” (1 Ti. 3:12)
The deacon should be a married man. Some believe that this means that if the man is married, he should be the husband of one wife, but that is not the way the standard is worded.
The deacon is the husband of one wife. This means, first, that the deacon cannot be a polygamist. Second, the deacon should not be divorced and remarried. Third, the husband of one wife refers to a man who is content with his wife and doesn’t have a roving eye. The “husband of one wife” means “a one-woman sort of man” (Wuest).
Notice that God requires that the deacon be a man who rules his household “well.” He must be a godly father and husband with a good family life. He must be doing a good job in his home. Any serious problems in the home should be worked out before a man is considered for a church office. It is not uncommon for a man to have problems in his life and family which must be worked out by the Spirit of God before he can be the kind of church officer God describes in the Scriptures. In Christ any spiritual and moral problem can be healed. Indeed, we read that “his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Pe. 1:3). Thus, there is always the possibility of working out problems in the home and developing the kind of family life demanded by God. The Bible makes it plain, though, that until the man has the right home he is not qualified for church office. He must rule his family “well.”
Again we see that the New Testament church described in the Epistles is a church that can produce this type of man and woman, this type of family.
The Deacon’s Reward (1 Ti. 3:13)
The reward is for those who “use the office of a deacon well.” It is not for the lukewarm, the half-hearted, the lazy, the undependable, the mediocre. The rewards is for the deacon who serves his God and his church and his leaders with integrity, enthusiasm, cheerfulness, faithfulness, and persistence.
God loves to reward. The redeemed sinner has been “bought with a price” and therefore owes all he is and has to his Redeemer, but God rewards His faithful servants. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the world of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Co. 15:58).
The deacon “purchases to himself” these things. This is the Greek peripoieo, meaning to purchase, to acquire for oneself. It is used in Acts 20:28 for God purchasing the church by His blood. How does the deacon purchase a good degree? By his godly, zealous service. The believer has “coin” that he can invest in making spiritual progress and in laying up treasures in heaven, and that “coin” is his faithful service to God in this present life. In 1 Ti. 6:17-19, we see the same principle for wealthy saints. By being rich in good works and by giving, they lay up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come.
“a good degree”
Degree is the Greek bathmos, meaning “to go, to step.” It refers to a standing, a rank. It means “an advance in dignity, in respectability, or in influence” (Barnes).
A good degree refers to the following things: First, it refers to a good standing before men in this life. A deacon who serves God well gains godly respect, and he advances in that respect. Second, it refers to God’s blessing upon the faithful deacon in this life. God rewards faithful service in His churches. Third, it refers to reward at the judgment seat of Christ. “To obtain this good degree ought to become so exalted that it would become every deacon’s inspiration and guiding star. As a meritorious distinction, it should outrank the badge of the Legion of Honor, the Collar of the Golden Fleece, or the degree of Ph.D. conferred by earth’s greatest university” (B.H. Carroll).
Though many deacons have been troublesome to the church, many others have also been a great blessing. We think of the deacons who supported the pastorate of Charles Spurgeon at Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, England. They were men of high spiritual character. They were capable men. They played a large role in that church’s great success in those days, and they had the respect of their pastor and of the entire congregation and beyond. They called Spurgeon when he was a merely 20 years old, and they supported him faithfully until his death at age 57. “I talked a short time ago to an old man, 92 years, a man who was one of Spurgeon’s deacons. He told me how the deacons would pray for the great preacher. He was absolutely in the hands of the deacons, how they prayed, and how they carried the burdens! Many times when they knew his heart was crushed under the heavy load they would call a prayer meeting and not a word would be said but they would fall on their faces and pray. Knowing that, I could understand how that great preacher’s messages in the printed page have girdled the globe, how thousands of hearts have been blessed” (J. Frank Norris, The Inside Story of First Baptist Church). During Lee Roberson’s 40-year pastorate at Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, he had dozens of deacons, eventually 100. They included lawyers, top realtors, and city auditors. Of them, Roberson said, “I pause to pay tribute to the deacons of our church. In all of the years that I was pastor, I had only the finest fellowship with our deacons. Our men have been progressive, spiritually minded and largely faithful” (Roberson, “Some Deacons Excel”).
When J. Frank Norris was called to be the pastor of First Baptist Church of Fort Worth, Texas, in 1909, the church was a typical Southern Baptist church in that it was controlled by the deacons and their wives. They had fired pastors prior to Norris, and when he began preaching against their sin and worldliness, they tried to fire him. But instead, he fired them! And he fired the worldly choir director. And he shut down all of the women’s committees. He took the authority that God’s Word gave him as the pastor. It was a battle royal, but when it was over the church was unified in the Word of God and every deacon, teacher, choir member was required to separate from worldly practices. “No disgruntled individual, however good, or high, they may be or have stood, will be tolerated to go around trying to sow seeds of discord.” Years later he said, “What is needed today in the churches is wholesale destructive work. Use the broad axe of John the Baptist, not a little pearl handle pen knife on the worldly card-playing, dancing, hell-raising choir, the board of deacons, and the teaching force. Clean out all worldliness. There can be no revival in a church that is run and dominated by the worldly element. ‘For the time is come when judgment must begin in the house of God’” (The Inside Story of First Baptist Church).
Many years later Norris described the value of a good deacon as follows: “Oh, my friends, not till eternity’s last cycle rolls around will we know the value of a good deacon in the Church of Jesus Christ. The deacons can create an atmosphere. They can create an atmosphere of wholesomeness, an atmosphere of fellowship, a frank atmosphere, an atmosphere of confidence. There are no factions, no backbiting where all are one and sit down together and talk things over frankly and freely. How different, and how happy, not to have a deacon run out from the meeting and go around and whisper ... criticizing everything and everybody. Oh, it is a glorious victory that we have passed all that. When we meet together, we talk frankly, freely, and when a matter is settled, it is agreed upon that is both settled inside and outside, and they pronounce the verdict, the expression of every deacon in the church, and that has a happy effect on all the membership--the whole church--all the young people--all the old people--all new members. ... It is a settled policy of the deacons ... that after a full happy discussion and a decision has been reached that becomes the voice of everybody and not for one-ten-thousandth fraction of a second would there be tolerated any man who would vote one way, talk to his brethren in the deaconship or in the church, then get on the telephone, or permit even his wife to get on the telephone, and talk another way” (The Inside Story of First Baptist Church).
“great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus”
A good deacon makes special progress in spiritual growth, power, and zeal. We think of Stephen, who was ordained a deacon by the church at Jerusalem (Ac. 6:5). He became the first martyr of the Christian era because of his great boldness (Ac. 6:8 - 7:60). Integrity and uprightness “will give a man great boldness in the faith, whereas a want of integrity and uprightness will make a man timorous, and ready to tremble at his own shadow (Pr. 28:1)” (Matthew Henry).
Spiritual growth comes by wholehearted discipleship and service.
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