Seven Chosen to Serve
TRANSLATION
(1) In those days when the number of the disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. (2) So the twelve called all the disciples together and said, “It is not right for us to neglect preaching the Word of God to serve tables. (3) Therefore, brothers and sisters, choose from among yourselves seven men known to be full of the Spirit and of wisdom. These we will appoint over this responsibility (4) so that we may devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.” (5) What they proposed pleased the entire group. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a convert from Antioch. (6) These they presented to the apostles who prayed and laid their hands on them.
(7) And the Word of God spread, and the number of the disciples increased rapidly in Jerusalem, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
OBSERVATIONS
As the church grew in number, the leadership was faced with issues that needed wise solutions. Two expressions were repeated in these seven verses: “disciples” three times (in vss. 1, 2, & 7) and “the word” three times, twice modified by “of God” (in vss. 2, 4, & 7). The larger the church became, the more an organized structure was needed. This principle has held true throughout the history of the church.
OUTLINE
I. The problem: the Hellenists complained regarding the distribution of food to their widows. (1)
II. The solution: the apostles appointed seven godly men to deal with the need so that they could continue ministering the Word of God. (2-6)
III. The result: the church continued to grow. (7)
IDEA STATEMENT
The delegation of ministry responsibilities to gifted leaders within the body of believers became necessary as the early church continued to grow.
APPLICATION
The events described by Luke in this segment illustrate an important principle of governance: the larger the group, the greater the need for an organizational structure. In the first months after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the growth of the newborn church had become exponential in scope. While we don’t have precise statistics, the number of believers in the early church may have exceeded several thousand by the time the “Hellenists” voiced their complaint against the “Hebrews.” With such a large group of adherents, it is no wonder that the apostles felt it important to delegate the responsibility of caring for the needy among them to a secondary group of qualified leaders.
The reason why this need had arisen had to do with the difference between two groups of Jews who lived in Jerusalem. The “Hellenists” refers to Jews born outside Palestine whose mother tongue was Greek and who used the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament. Many of these had returned to Jerusalem to end their days in their ancestral homeland. The “Hebrews” refers to Jews born in Palestine who spoke Aramaic and used the Hebrew Old Testament. The likely reason for this complaint was that the Hebrew widows had their extended families to fall back on while many of the Hellenist widows did not have a sufficient means of support when their husbands died. They were left to depend on the generosity of others represented by the meals that were being distributed. The delegation of this responsibility to qualified leaders among the Hellenists enabled the apostles to devote themselves to the essential ministries of prayer and teaching. In the ensuing years, the church would quickly learn the vital importance of recognizing the “spiritual gifts” of each member of the body so that all could maximize their effectiveness in ministry.