Acts 6:1-7

There may be a reasonable gap between the events at the end of chapter 5 and what is reported here. The church continued to grow, but some problems arose, namely between the Greek and Hebrew Jews. This is a reminder that just because we are the church, it does not mean that we will be immune from human problems. One of the groups felt that their widows were not being treated fairly.

The Twelve gathered all the disciples together.There are a number of points that can be learnt from the way they dealt with the problem:

• They did not allow it to distract them from the main task, namely preaching the good news.
• They still treated the problem seriously.
• They delegated responsibility for the solving the problem.
• In doing this they did not engender a dependency culture. There is always a great danger that in seeking to help people we can make them dependent, God's way is to liberate and empower people.
• They gave them guidance.
• The men chosen to implement the solution were to be full of the Spirit and wisdom, ie the task was not seen as being menial.

So the problem was solved and the church continued to grow. Indeed it seems that they started to make new inroads, for a number of priests were saved.