What is a Deacon to Be? (1 Timothy 3:8-13)

Caring for the church is a big task. This quickly became evident in the early church. As the apostles preached and the church grew, the needs grew along with it. In short order, a conflict arose because some felt that they were not being adequately cared for. We see this in Acts 6. Interestingly, the apostles did not step in to solve the problem. Instead, they instructed the church to select a group of men to oversee the care for these individuals. The spiritual care of the church is demanding and requires much time for prayer, study and discipleship. Rather than pull the pastors from this noble task, the solution was to institute godly men who would see to these issues. The title deacon is not found in the text, but all indications are that this group of men are the precursor to what became known as the office of the deacon. By the time that Paul penned 1 Timothy (around 30 years later), the office of deacon had been firmly established.

But we must ask, what is a deacon? What is a deacon to be? There is a lot of confusion about these questions today. As we consider the church, we understand that there are two God ordained offices in the church: that of the pastor and the deacon. We spent three weeks looking at what a pastor is to be. Next, Paul addresses the other God ordained office: the office of the deacon. In this section he addresses that a deacon is to be. 

As we work through this, I hope that this will be a help to you as a body. Each year you select from among yourself, men who will serve in this office. In many places and in many churches, these kinds of selections turn into a kind of popularity contest based on likability or business acumen. However, as we look at this text, I believe that we will discover that there is much more that needs to be considered as we select deacons.