Journal Acts 6 (all references are from the ESV; changes in punctuation and notes are mine)
Scripture: 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.
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…And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen (a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit) and Phillip, and [5 others]. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid hands on them.
And the word of God continued to increase…
And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (etc.)…, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. (excerpted from Acts 6:2-10)
Observation: I see the advent of the deacons; the separation of church leadership from operational functionality in the local church; a form of church polity emerging; and how being a deacon is more than just the muscle for the local church…
Application: Goodness, that wrote harsh—but it is possible that it is directionally accurate, despite lacking in flowery and wordy language.
This all started because discrimination was rearing its ugly head in the local church: Greek believers (gentiles) were being treated as second class citizens in the predominantly Jewish congregation of believers.
So what did the core leadership do? Calling the entire local church together, the apostles said, “Choose among yourselves candidates for this new, next level of leadership”, a shrewd move, perhaps remembering what Jesus taught them, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves…” (Matt 10:16) Maybe they never thought that could be applicable in dealing with the local church… (Is this the beginning of Congregationalism as church polity? I must think about it more…)
Out of the task to choose seven guys, Stephen and Phillip predominate in the Acts narrative, if only because stuff happens with them and is recorded by Luke.
Stephen was observed to be a man “full of grace and power (interesting to meditate how these go together) and was doing great wonders and signs among the people.” He was so full of the Spirit of God that men could not withstand his wisdom. He also is martyred in the next chapter.
Phil was the evangelist recorded in Acts 8. Looks like a whole chapter was appointed to show the works of Phillip.
The other 5 weren’t talked about much in the scriptures, except for Nicolaus (a proselyte of Antioch). According to some google research I did, this guy may have been a budding heretic and may have been responsible for the heresy recorded by John in Revelations, the Nicolaitan movement influencing churches (Ephesus and Pergamum) and which Jesus spoke specifically against. Nicolaus may have been a political choice, and if so, sort of proves that the gift of discernment should be desired to be sharpened daily.
Sometimes the narrative supplies a lot of stuff to think about…
Prayer: Father, thanks for letting me write. These things bounce around between my ears and putting them in writing allows me to review and tackle them point by point in the future.
AMEN.
Ricky Two Shoes