Biblical Leadership:
Elders and Deacons at Mercy Hill(Part 3)
Let’s turn to Philippians chapter 1. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we’ll bring one to you. Philippians 1 is on page 980 in the Bibles we are passing out.
Today we are wrapping up a three-week series on elders and deacons. Here’s why we’re talking about elders and deacons:
First, because it’s been a long time since we’ve taught on how Jesus wants His church structured. It’s crucial that all of us understand from the Bible how Jesus has structured his church, and how we are pursuing that here at Mercy Hill.
Second, because we need to add more elders. We have two elders right now, but a church of our size could use four or even five. So I am praying that Jesus will use this series to stir some of you men to consider eldership and to take steps to grow into that responsibility.
Third, because we need to raise up deacons. We have never had official deacons. But Jerry and I have become convinced that this is important. We believe it would be helpful to teach on what deacons are so we can recognize those who are already functioning as deacons, and raise up more.
Fourth, because we have learned some new things about eldership. Over the past months Jerry and I have been studying this topic. And we’ve learned some new things about who elders should be, and about how to raise up and train elders, which I’ve been sharing with you.
Like I said last week, at Mercy Hill we are passionate about raising up Christ-treasuring men and women and children. We are passionate about establishing Christ-treasuring families who love Jesus, care for each other, and shine Jesus’ love into their neighborhoods. We are passionate about seeing Christ-treasuring Home Groups established throughout the South Bay – where children and singles and marrieds join together to worship Christ, love each other, and advance the Gospel together. And as God blesses we long to plant Christ-treasuring churches in Los Gatos, Cupertino, North Valley, and Santa Teresa.
But to do this we need more leaders and workers. And in the New Testament, leaders and workers are called elders and deacons. So that’s why we are doing a series on elders and deacons.
You can see these two offices mentioned in Philippians 1:1 –
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
Notice that the church in Philippi had two offices: there’s overseers, more commonly called “elders,” who are a team of men who together lead the church, care for the church, teach the church, protect the church. And there’s deacons – women and men who help the elders by taking on official positions of service in the church.
I’ve spent two weeks talking about elders, and now this morning we are going to wrap up this series by talking about deacons.
Let’s start by asking: what do deacons do? The New Testament does not give us a lot of detail about what deacons do. The most clear evidence of what they do is found right there in Philippians 1:1 with the word “deacons.”
The word “deacons” is the Greek word diakonos which has the meanings of “servant,” or “helper.” So deacons are those who serve and help. But isn’t every saint a servant and helper? Yes. But the fact that some are specially called “deacons” shows that some have a recognized position of service in the church.
So what kind of service are we talking about? The Holy Spirit has chosen not to give us a list, probably because different churches in different cultures at different times will need different kinds of service.
But Luke may have given us an example in Acts 6. Let’s turn there (page 914). In the early church there were two ethnic groups – those with a Jewish background, called “the Hebrews,” and those with a Greek background, called “the Hellenists.” And these two groups developed a conflict over the way their widows were being cared for. Look at what we read in v.1 --
1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.
2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.
3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.
4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word."
5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.
6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.
Luke does not call these helpers “deacons.” But here we see that some are specially set apart for a work of service – helping care for the widows. That’s a helpful picture of how elders and deacons function. Elders are responsible to lead the church, and the deacons help the elders by taking on official positions of service in the church.
And why do we believe deacons are both women and men? To see that let’s turn to I Timothy 3 (page 992), where Paul lists qualifications for deacons.
Here at Mercy Hill we believe deacons can be either women or men. This is a point on which people who love Jesus and the Bible can agree to disagree. But I want to help you see why we believe what we believe.
The crucial passage is I Timothy 3:8-13 where Paul lists qualifications of deacons. Those who have official positions of serving must meet certain qualifications. Look at what Paul says --
8 Deacons likewise must be dignified [respectable, mature, and wise], not double-tongued [not slandering or gossiping], not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.
9 They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. [They must have strong trust in Jesus Christ as He is revealed in Gods’ Word.]
10 And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless [“blameless” doesn’t mean perfect, but faithful, consistent]
11 Their wives [we’ll come back to that phrase in a moment] likewise must be dignified [respectable and wise], not slanderers [no gossip and talking behind people’s backs], but sober-minded [not rash, but prayerful and thoughtful], faithful in all things [they do what they say they will do].
12 Let deacons each be the husband of one wife [passionately committed to his one wife], managing their children and their own households well [the house is not in chaos, there’s love and fun but also order and structure].
13 For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
So there’s the list of qualifications. And the fact that v.11 talks about “their wives” makes it sound like there’s deacons, and that the women in this passage are deacons’ wives, which would mean there’s no women deacons.
But the ESV has a note at the bottom of the page about v.11. The word “their” is not in the Greek. And the word “wives” can just as easily be translated “women.” So there’s two very different ways you could translate v.11. Paul could be talking to “wives” – the wives of deacons. Or Paul could be talking to “women” – women deacons.
So is Paul talking about the wives of deacons, or women deacons? Our passion should be to do the best we can praying, studying, and thinking, to understand what Paul meant. Here’s three reasons given by Tom Schreiner in Piper and Grudem’s book Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood that persuaded me that Paul is talking about women deacons.
First, Paul’s word-choice most naturally refers to women deacons. If Paul wanted to talk about deacons’ wives, he could have used the phrase “wives of deacons.” But he didn’t, which makes it more likely that’s he’s just talking about “women” – women deacons.
Second, there’s no special requirements for elders’ wives. If Paul is giving special requirements for deacon’s wives, why would he not do the same for elder’s wives – especially when elders have higher qualifications than deacons. That makes it seem that these qualifications are for women deacons, not the wives of deacons.
Third, Romans 16:1 probably describes a woman deacon. Let’s turn there (p.950). Look at what Paul says –
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant [deacon] of the church at Cenchreae,
Paul commends this sister Phoebe as a servant of the church at Cenchreae. The word “servant” is the word translated elsewhere as “deacon.” I agree with Tom Schreiner and Doug Moo in their Romans commentaries that this probably meant she was a woman deacon in that church.
So our conclusion is that there are to be women deacons. They will operate within the roles that God has established for men and women, where in the home and church God calls men to bear primary responsibility for leadership. But within those guidelines we believe there are to be women deacons.
So why is it important to recognize deacons? Up to this point we have not had official deacons. But Jerry and I think this is important, for three reasons.
One is because the New Testament sees this as important. The New Testament church had two offices – elders and deacons – and since we are committed to following the New Testament, we are going to do the same.
Another is because this will help us make sure that those serving as deacons are qualified. The New Testament teaches that those who serve in official capacities need to be tested and meet certain qualifications. So if a position is deacon-level, then we will be have a process by which we will assess the deacons to make sure they are biblically qualified.
A third is because this will enable those serving as deacons be appropriately commended and encouraged. Look again at I Timothy 3:13 (p.992) –
13 For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
There’s lots of ways to gain a good standing and great confidence in the faith. But one of those ways is to serve well as a deacon. So we want to recognize those who are deacons in our midst so they can be commended and encouraged.
So who are the deacons at Mercy Hill? This list will be growing, but here’s those who are presently serving in the capacity of deacon.
Dave Clark is a deacon, leading worship and the high school group.
Joe and Cindy Garcia are both deacons, in their work leading the children’s ministry.
Brandon and Michelle Ramazzina are deacons, in leading the junior high group.
Dave Strouss is a deacon, serving as Jerry’s right-hand man for set-up and take-down.
Dee Dee Shipp is a deacon, in her capacity of helping Jerry lead their home group.
Ian and Maria Gregg are deacons, in leading their home group.
Rick and Yvonne Park are deacons, in leading their home group.
My wife Jan is a deacon, in helping me lead our home group.
Now again, this list will be growing. But those are the ones in our midst who are presently serving in the capacity of deacon.
Any questions?
What does this mean for us? Deacons are those who help the elders by serving in official capacities. But we are all called to serve. And I think Jesus wants me to close this teaching by calling all of us to grow in being servants.
Here’s what Paul says in Galatians 5:13 (page 975) --
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Through love serve one another. Think about those in your home group. Look around you at your brothers and sisters here. These are tangible, flesh-and-blood people that we are called to serve. We are also called to serve our wife, husband, children, parents. We are called to serve at the workplace.
We are all called to be servants. If you are a servant, then when you see a need your heart is filled with love and compassion to meet that need.But that doesn’t happen naturally. Our sin makes us empty, so instead of serving others, we want to be served. So what can change our hearts?
Remember what Jesus says in Matthew 10:8? He says “Freely you received; freely give.”
That’s the key. The reason we serve is because we are receiving from Jesus. Because Jesus died in the Cross for our sins, when we turn to Him and trust Him not only are we completely forgiven, but Jesus will become a pipeline pouring the living water of the Holy Spirit into our souls, satisfying and filling us.
And when we live under the pipeline, using God’s Word and prayer and fellowship to let Jesus satisfy our hearts – we will be so full that our hearts will flow out in desire to serve others.
So when John Farris and Steve and Kathy Wilson and Brandon and Michelle Ramazzina heard Friday that we’re moving our children’s ministry – Jesus was filling their hearts with Himself so their hearts flowed out in a desire to come help.
And week after week our set-up and take-down crew knows of our need to have a well-set up place to meet – and Jesus fills their hearts so they desire to help --
Jerry and Dee Dee Shipp
Dave and Lisa Strouss
Scott Sacks
Steve and Kathy Wilson
Chuck and Josh Kuehn
Jed Dershimer
Justin Henson
Steve Marsh
Steve Darrow
Frank and Terri Rocco
Mike LeMoine
John Brewer
Brandon Ramazzina
Rick Park
Al Flores
And many of you know that our babies need to be held and young people need to be taught God’s Word – and Jesus fills your heart so your heart flows out in desire to serve our babies and children Sunday mornings in children’s ministry.
So let me challenge you. Are you a servant? When you see a need, does your heart move you to want to do something? If not, spend more time under the pipeline. Because once you do – your heart will be filled – so filled that when you see a need, your heart will want to help.
For some of you, women and men, this may mean you end up being a deacon. For some of you men, this may mean you end up being an elder. But all of us are called to serve. All of us are called to receive so much that we are passionate about serving others.