Truths to Discover

Pastors are responsible to administrate (“oversee”) the affairs and care for (“shepherd”) the needs of a congregation. So, when financial and material needs arose at the start of the church, the pastoral leaders of the church at Jerusalem distributed donations to members in need (Acts 4:32-35).

When similar pressing needs continued to persist, however, the pastoral leaders faced a challenging dilemma. They were forced to choose between meeting the physical and material needs of the church or the spiritual needs of the church. That’s when deacons became necessary (Acts 6:2).

“Spiritual” needs are those needs in a church which are met with prayer and Bible teaching (Acts 6:4). Nonspiritual needs, then, are those which are physical, material, or financial nature. The word business, duty, or task (chreia) in Acts 6:3, for instance, refers to either a pressing need that is lacking or an activity that needs to be fulfilled.

Caring for widows in the church arose as the first such need (Acts 6:1). Similar needs today include visiting shut-ins and hospitals patients, or handling and distributing finances designated for ministry purposes.

By extension, we can conclude that deacons should meet whatever needs – whether physical, material, financial, or operational – are causing unrest in a congregation or inhibiting the pastors from meeting spiritual needs adequately.

Questions to Discuss

• When does a church need deacons?
• What are the primary responsibilities of pastoral leaders in the church?
• How do deacons help pastors fulfill their responsibilities effectively?
• What are some categories or kinds of needs which deacons can meet today?