1 THE BIBLE ON DEACONS I. The Meaning of Deacon While the office of elder was adopted from the Old Testament and the Jewish synagogue model, the early church adopted something new with the order of deacons. Initially, the Greek word diakonos referred to a waiter at a meal (like in John 2:5, 9). This was expanded to include the idea of servants in general (for example the state is called God s servant/ diakonos in Rom. 13:4, also kings have servants in Matt. 22:13). There is also a sense in which all Christians are called to be servants/ diakonoi (which is the plural form of diakonos, John 12:26; Matt. 20:26). Finally, in the official sense, diakonos refers to the church office of deacon (Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:8-13). II. The Formation & Purpose of Deacons The beginning of the formal office of deacon is traced back to Acts 6. A problem in the distribution of aid to widows, led to the appointment of seven men who took over this physical care end of ministry for the apostles. To that end, the apostles were freed to focus on their calling of serving the church through prayer and the teaching ministry of God s Word (Acts 6:4). From Jerusalem the deaconate spread to the Gentile churches (Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:8-13). From the beginning, early congregations followed this example set forth in Acts 6. Namely, as the apostles became overextended, distracted from their calling and ineffective in meeting people s physical needs pastoral assistants were chosen to care for aspects of the physical need's part of ministry. Correspondingly, the simple pattern for churches became that of the senior leaders (pastor-elders) doing a work until it becomes too large or burdensome for them to continue. At which point, pastoral assistants called deacons are appointed to aid them. Practically speaking elders and deacons work together like left and right hands. Elders specialize in leading by their word or speech based ministry to the church (Acts 6:4), and deacons by their work or service based ministry to the church (Acts 6:1-3). This difference is further seen, in that while the biblical qualifications for elders and deacons are very similar (see 1 Timothy 3:1-13), a striking dissimilarity is that while elders are required to be able to teach (1 Tim. 3:2) deacons are not. Conversely, as one writer puts it, Based partially on hints from within the New Testament and partially on the later institution of the deaconate, it is likely that deacons were charged with visitation of the sick, poor relief, and perhaps financial oversight. 1 Again, elders focus toward a word based ministry and deacons toward a service based ministry. Together these two offices compose the big picture of formal ministry to the church of Jesus. III. Qualifications for Deacons (1 Timothy 3:8-13) A. Deacons Must Be: 1 Douglas Moo, The Epistles to the Romans, pg. 914.
2 1. Dignified- worthy of respect, no blatant character faults, holy. 2. Not double tongued- sincere, honest, authentic. 3. Not addicted to much wine- without addictions, self controlled. 4. Not fond of sordid gain- not greedy, not a lover of money, financially content & upright. 5. Hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience- sound biblical theology held with deep conviction. 6. Tested- proven worthy over time. B. Deacons Wives or Female Deacons Must Be: 7. Dignified- worthy of respect, no blatant character faults, holy. 8. Not malicious gossips- not malicious talkers, not prone to sins of the tongue such as gossip, and slander. 9. Temperate- self controlled, balanced, not prone to emotionalism. 10. Faithful in all things- trustworthy in everything, faithful in all life roles (e.g. wife, mother, daughter, church member, employee ). C. Additional Requirements for Male Deacons: 11. Husband of one wife- a one woman man, sexually pure. 12. Properly manages his children & household- godly husband and father who leads and provides for his family. D. Rewards for Deacons: 1. A high standing- honored and respected by God s people in the church. 2. Great confidence in the faith- assurance in the faith, a deep confidence in the power of the gospel and the security of their relationship with God. III. A Debate: Can Women Be Deacons? This question is not easily answered. In fact there is a significant difference of viewpoint among evangelicals on this subject. 2 Some argue for only male deacons and some for female deacons too. 2 Stated by Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, pg. 944.
3 A. Arguments for Women Deacons 1. In Rom. 16:1 the woman Phoebe might be called a deacon. The passage reads, I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant [diakonos] of the church which is at Cenchrea. Those who argue for women deacons take this as a reference to the office of deacon. Those who argue for male deacons take it in the generic Christian sense of a servant (as in John 12:26 & Matt. 20:26). The text can read either way. 3 2. Women deacons appear early in church history. They are mentioned as early as 112AD. They are also referred to by some church fathers and by the 3 rd century AD the office of deaconess is fully intact. Those counter to this say that though women deacons are found in history, this tells us nothing, necessarily, about the biblical verses on the subject. 3. 1 Timothy 3:8-13 is a key passage in this debate as it lists the qualifications for deacons. And 1 Tim. 3:11 can either be speaking of women deacons or the wives of deacons (the Greek term gune can mean either women or wives). Those who see 1 Tim. 3:11 as referring to female deacons see the text as follows: 1 Timothy 3:8-10 departs from the subject of elders (in 1 Tim. 3:1-7) and begins the new subject of male deacons with the words Deacons likewise (v 8). Then, in verse 11 Paul begins the subject of women deacons, as indicated by the repeat word likewise (this time women likewise i.e. woman deacons). Paul then essentially applies verses 8-10 to woman deacons by briefly summing up the requirements in the rest of verse 11. Finally, verse 12 returns to the subject of male deacons by speaking of his marriage and family. B. Arguments for Male Deacons 1. Acts 6: It is acknowledged by both sides that the first deacons (and even the majority of deacons historically) were men. For in Acts 6:3 the apostles have the people choose 7 men. The Greek here is not generic, it means males. Those counter to this, remind us that Acts 6 is descriptive not prescriptive. In other words, while it is interesting to note that men were the first people to be selected to what would develop into a formal deaconate, it does not follow that the apostles were necessarily mandating that no female deacons could be incorporated for any reason in the future. 2. 1 Tim. 3:8-13: Those who view verse 11 as the wives of deacons see 1 Tim. 3 as follows: verses 8-10 are basic qualifications for deacons. Verse 11 does not 3 Some argue that Paul is not speaking of the deaconate here, for if he were he would have called Phoebe a deaconess (diakonissa which is the feminine form of the masculine noun diakonos). This argument, however, is anachronistic, for the feminine term deaconess had not been invent yet, and did not come into common use until the 3 rd century AD (William Mounce, Word Biblical Commentary: Pastoral Epistles, pg. 202 & 210; Walter Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, pg. 321; see also A Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament & Other Early Christian Literature, pg. 184 for early historical mentions of women as deacons using the masculine term diakonos).
4 switch topics to women deacons but is addressing the male deacon s family. Namely, their wives must be blameless (v 11), he must be faithful in marriage (v 12a) and his kids and home well managed (v 12b). C. Other Things to Consider: 1. The male deacons explanation of 1 Tim. 3 flows nicely and seems less awkward than viewing Paul as discussing male deacons (v 8-10), switching topics to female deacons (v 11), then going back to male deacons (v 12). This doesn t prove that "awkward" is not in fact what Paul did, but the text does flow better in the male deacon sense of things. 2. The word Gune (woman or wife) appears in verse 12 where it clearly refers to a deacon s wife. So it seems likely that Paul is addressing the deacon s wife in the preceding verse (v 11), rather than female deacons. Again, this is likely, not definite. 3. The deacon s wife view is often rebutted by the question: If the apostle was putting forth qualifications for a deacon s wife in verse 11, why doesn t he do so for the elder s wife in 1 Tim. 3 or in Titus 1, especially given the fact that elders occupy a higher role than deacons? In response, some claim: since a deacon is more involved in activities surrounding people (visitation, benevolence etc) it is more likely that his wife would be involved in his ministry firsthand, than an elders wife would be in his teaching ministry. Therefore, because of a job centered in dealing personally with people, we see the extra qualifications of dignity and guarded speech etc, for the deacon s wife. 4. The qualification of a deacon being the husband of one wife (v 12), seems to preclude women. In response, some say: the marital omission for female deacons could be explained if it were understood that the statement about marital fidelity for male deacons is perhaps assumed in the case of female deacons. 4 Conclusion: From this study, we hope you see that neither view has an iron clad case. As one scholar puts it, Both interpretations have their strong points, and both are possible. 5 In the end it comes down to which view you find more compelling. Then you hold it humbly (not dogmatically) as you may be wrong. In light of the Bible s teaching, Pathway views deacons as assistants to the pastor-elders, appointed to meet various physical needs that arise in the body of Christ. This in turn 4 Elwell, Baker Commentary on the Bible, pg. 1106. Also Mounce states, The fact that Paul focuses on the deacon s wife [in v 12] shows that for the most part deacons were men, but the passage does not require all deacons to be men, just as it does not require all deacons to have more than one child (cf. tekna, children, in v 12) ( one woman man assumes male deacons but does not require it), and presumably in this case her husband s character would be examined. Mounce, 205. 5 Mounce, 204.
5 frees pastors to focus on their primary calling of prayer and the teaching ministry of God s Word. At Pathway we lean toward the male deacon position as more compelling. Yet, due to the lack of absolute, biblical clarity we are flexible in our conclusion, and open to the leading of the Holy Spirit as He guides case by case.