Deacons

           In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.

          In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.

         A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well. Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus. (I Timothy 3:8-13)

        Yesterday’s post centered on overseers or pastors. Some folks may suggest that the overseers were the elders of the church. I’ll grant that possibility. I believe today’s passage takes a step down from that. These aren’t the decision-makers of the church. Deacons were the servants who saw to the needs of the congregation. Read Acts 6 if you want to review the choice of the first deacons.

          The requirements aren’t that much different. Deacons were to be respectable, self-controlled, good men with strong Scriptural standards and good families. I suspect that part of this was because the family was a means by which to evaluate the deacon, and partly because a man with strong attachments to his family was less likely to be tempted. But there’s one major difference. While the discussion of overseers made no mention of women, a sentence about women is in the middle of the passage on deacons.

          Some claim the women are the deacon’s wives. That’s possible, but I think it refers to female deacons, whether or not they are married to the deacons.  Culturally, it fits with the role of women as heads of domestic households, and with the fact that women tend to be relationally stronger than men.

          This ties into something I’ve thought for years. There should be females who represent women to the church when the women haven’t families to stand by them. Acts 6 speaks directly to this problem, and the deacons were elected specifically to fill that need. All those who were elected at the time were men, and it was their job to see to it that the widows who weren’t of Jewish persuasion were to be treated well at church suppers.

          Whenever I think about the church, the elders, and the deacons and their roles, I tend to end up wanting to suck my thumb and whimper. “Poor little me,” I’m not a widow, but I’m an older orphan – a spinster, one of the people who is supposed to have a deacon looking out for me. Sniffle. Never mind the fact that I have great friends who do help (if I let them know I need help. They’re not great mind-readers.) Given the opportunity, it’s easy to whine and murmur.

          But the purpose of deacons isn’t to establish a class of victims who must be tended. I believe deacons have several functions. One is to care for those who need it. Another is to teach us how to treat one another. It’s an honor to be a deacon, so it’s an honor to serve. The solution, then, to my sniveling, is to look for opportunities to serve others. And that begins where we are. In other words, whether or not we are elected as deacons, we should make it our goal to live as one.