Acts 6:1-4 - Dealing with complaints

6:1

In the first five chapters we have seen the beginnings of the church and its impact on Jerusalem, we have also seen the beginnings of persecution of the church. Now the church begins to have a greater impact. As well as the charismatic gifts, there were down to earth problems and practical solutions. This verse also shows that the church was quite well developed in having some sort of social care programme. Greek was the common language of the region. The Hebrews mentioned here were those whose roots were firmly in Jerusalem, and whose main language was Aramaic, though they would know some Greek (just as many Europeans speak English). The Hellenists were Greek speaking Jews, ie Greek was their main language. Through the course of history the Jews had been dispersed throughout many parts of the world, again as is true today. The gospel is for all peoples and reaches all peoples, but this does not mean that there are practical problems and issues that arise, as see here. The Hellenists felt that their widows were not being treated properly in daily distribution of food.

6:2-4

The twelve apostles called the disciples together. The disciples is probably those who were committed to serving the church. The primary task of the apostles was to preach the word of God, and to pray. Church leaders should not become managers or administrators, it is through the word of God that the kingdom grows, that is God’s chosen method. Preaching and teaching should be the primary task of church leaders. We also see that it was impossible for them to do both the preaching and to organise the practical aspects of the church. Nobody, not even apostles, can do everything! At the same time, serving at tables was not seen as unimportant. The apostles delegated the task of choosing seven deacons to the disciples. So the apostles did not see themselves as having to make every decision, they were not control freaks. They specified the qualities the seven were to have, and this makes clear that task of serving at tables was seen as important, for the men were to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.