Seven Values of Spiritual Leadership | Acts 6:1-8
Luke's account of a problem in the early church reveals seven values that should still guide us today: (1) unity; (2) meeting needs; (3) the word of God; (4) integrity; (5) prayer; (6) responsibility; and (7) multiplication. This sermon is part 10 of “Building the Church,” Bryan Craddock’s verse-by-verse sermon series on Acts 1-7.
Kids seem to approach playing with Legos in one of two ways. Some want precise directions to follow. What they build ends up looking exactly like the picture on the box. But others completely ignore the directions. They build their own creations, and for boys it always seems to end up looking like a plane or a gun.
Christians have similar tendencies in our approach to the church. Some insist on making their own creation. But that often results in an organization that looks more like a multi-level marketing company than the body of Christ. Others want precise directions for every aspect of church life. But as you read through the New Testament, you find that it does not give us an exact plan. Some leaders claim to have one, but such schemes rely upon reading various traditions and ideas into the Scriptures.
Jesus focused on the heart in his ministry, and we have seen that Luke’s account of the early church does the same. In the first part of Acts 5, he tells us about Ananias and Sapphira, who do a good deed with a wrong motive and face God’s judgment because of it. Then in the rest of the chapter, he exposes the motives that prompt the Jewish authorities to oppose the apostles--jealous control, intellectual closed-mindedness, the fear of man, and barely restrained rage. In contrast, the apostles demonstrate a heart to impart the life and freedom of salvation through patiently teaching the gospel in humble obedience to God with joy in the midst of suffering.
As we begin Acts 6, Luke tells us about a problem that arose in the early church. His account of how the apostles handle it does not give us a specific procedure to follow. Instead, it reveals the values that shape their approach to spiritual leadership. There are seven of them, and we will see that they are reiterated elsewhere in the New Testament as imperatives.
So, these values must guide our understanding of spiritual leadership today, and they are not just for those who fill formal leadership roles. We are all in this together! These values are essential for each of us to be a godly influence in the lives of others. Plus, they will not shape us as a church unless we all understand and embrace them. If we don’t, we are bound to experience conflicting expectations. So, what are these values?
Unity
I think that a lot of people confuse unity and uniformity. Uniformity is like a cookie cutter. Force is applied to shape people on the outside by cutting off anything that doesn’t fit the mold. It seems efficient, but it’s superficial. Unity, on the other hand, flows from within the heart and is cultivated through the patient development of shared understanding and convictions like we are talking about.
John 17:22-23 tells us that Jesus prayed for all his followers to be one. Our union with him is the foundation for our unity, but we must all still value that and work to maintain it. In Ephesians 4:2-3, Paul calls Christians to walk worthy,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Later in the chapter, he speaks of us all growing in the fullness of Christ. In Romans 8:29, he also says that God has predestined us to be conformed to his image. That may sound like a cookie cutter process, but it does not erase our differences in personality and culture. It seems to me that we might even carry some of those characteristics into eternity, since Revelation 5:9 speaks of Christ ransoming people from every tribe, language, people, and nation.
But here and now those differences can cause tension and conflict. Luke describes one of those situations in Acts 6:1. He says,
Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.
For hundreds of years, many Jewish people had been scattered around the world as various empires conquered their homeland. Some return early on, so their descendants are raised in Hebrew society. Hellenist Jews, however, are those who grow up in places with Greek language and culture. Many of them return to the land during the First Century. But their background provokes mutual suspicion between them and the Hebrews.
After Pentecost, people from both groups come to faith in Christ. They should be united as disciples of Jesus, but they still carry that cultural baggage. I’ll say more about the problem with widows in a moment. But if it had not been for that issue, some other conflict would have probably arisen.
So, the Hellenists raise a complaint, but it’s not clear how it comes out. Do they meet with the apostles to share their concern? That approach would best preserve the church’s unity, but it is probably not what happens. The Greek word for “complaint” that Luke uses here almost always carries a negative connotation. It speaks of grumbling and murmuring, the kind of behavior that undermines unity and stirs up division.
How do the apostles respond? Do they start their own whispering campaign against their critics? Do they come down hard on the Hellenists to silence them? No. We’ll see that they listen, they recognize the legitimacy of the concern, and they take action to solve it. Their response deepens the unity of the church. So, healthy spiritual leadership values unity, but we also see another value here.
Meeting Needs
The lowest point on the surface of the earth is the Dead Sea. Water flows into it, but not out, staying there until it evaporates and leaves behind various minerals. That makes the Dead Sea one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world. Nothing can live there but some unusual bacteria and micro-organisms.
Something similar can happen to us spiritually. The material and spiritual blessings of God are meant to flow through us. So, if we just keep receiving without responding, serving, or giving, we are missing the point, and those blessings will have a deadening effect upon our hearts. John warns us of this in 1 John 3:17 by asking,
But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?
We have already seen that the early church valued meeting needs. Acts 2:45 and 4:34 speak of people selling possessions, houses, and fields, so that the proceeds can be distributed to anyone in need. Giving is so important that 23 of the 27 books in the New Testament address it in some way. But Acts 6:1 reveals that in those early days their system is not working. Luke says,
Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.
Why do these widows need support? We gain insight from Paul’s instructions about helping widows in 1 Timothy 5. They are believers who have no way to earn an income. They are on their own with no resources and no family members to help them. So, the church provides food for them every day.
Does the church also help widows who are not believers in Christ? Possibly. In Romans 12:13, Paul commands Christians to contribute to the needs of the saints. But in Galatians 6:10, he speaks of doing good to everyone, especially to those of the household of faith. So, while others may have been served, the priority is for the church to ensure that its members are cared for.
There is some evidence that synagogues provided for widows in a similar way. God’s concern for widows and orphans is clear throughout the Old Testament (Ex 22:22; Dt 10:18; 14:29; Ps 146:9; Jer 22:3; Zech 7:10). But with the opposition that was growing toward the church, synagogues might have stopped supporting a woman if she joined the church. We cannot say for sure.
How were the Hellenist widows neglected? Was it intentional or simply an oversight? Luke does not say. But as the church grows to include thousands, this ministry becomes a huge undertaking. Nevertheless, the apostles are committed to it. When word reaches them of what is happening, they recognize that they must make changes to do it faithfully.
Are we committed to meeting needs? It is never an easy undertaking. It requires sensitivity, cooperation, and wisdom. In both 2 Thessalonians 3 and 1 Timothy 5, Paul speaks of cases when financial support should not be given. But we must still have generous hearts that place a high value on meeting needs. As important as that is, the apostles prioritize a third value.
The Word of God
As much as we need our daily bread, there may be times when God chooses to withhold it. This is what happens to the people of Israel after the Exodus. As Moses reflects on that experience in Deuteronomy 8:3, he tells people that the Lord humbled them and let them hunger. He provided manna for them, but he was teaching them that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
So, as the apostles handle this concern about providing bread to widows, they also emphasize the high value of God’s word. In Acts 6:2, Luke says,
And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.
Now the word “preaching” is not in the Greek text. The apostles simply say that it is not right for them to give up the word of God. To explain the idea, many English translations add words like preaching, teaching, or ministry. We will see that the apostles speak of the ministry of the word down in verse 4, and that provides a good comparison. It is the noun form of the word that they use here to refer to serving tables. Serving tables is important, but serving up the word to people is more so. Back in Acts 5:42, Luke described their commitment to it by saying,
And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.
Their communication of the word takes different forms. When they speak in the temple, it is public and probably focuses on proclaiming the gospel and calling people to believe in Jesus. Their home meetings are probably like our worship gatherings. They help believers grow in understanding and obeying Christ.
The priority that the apostles place on the ministry of the word is grounded in the belief that it is the means that God uses to work in our lives. Psalm 119 says that the word keeps us from sinning against him (v. 11). It gives us life, strength, and hope (vv. 25, 28, 49). It guides us through this dark world as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (v. 105).
So, every believer should be involved in the ministry of the word. We should all seek to share the gospel with unbelievers and to help our fellow believers grow. But valuing God’s word leads the apostles to devote themselves fully to that ministry, and this pattern continues in the church. Later in 1 Timothy 5:17-18, Paul says that elders who labor in preaching and teaching should receive financial support. So, in spiritual leadership, the faithful ministry of the word must be our highest priority. That leads to a fourth value.
Integrity
Movies can make us feel as if we’re seeing real life in another time and place. But those sets are often nothing more than facades. They look convincing from a few angles. But from a different point of view, you would see how fake and flimsy they really are.
Sadly, people often have a similar experience with the church. Their first impression might be that lives are genuinely being transformed. But when they see it from a different point of view, they find out that it is fake. A lot of people just put up a flimsy spiritual facade that ends up discrediting the gospel. We need to be real. Spiritual leadership must value integrity.
The apostles reflect this concern as they address the problem with widows. Acts 6:3 tells us that they say,
Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.
There is no indication of why they needed seven men. You might expect them to seek twelve to replicate their own structure. Perhaps there were seven neighborhoods. Women would probably be a better choice than men to help widows. But we will see in a moment that the apostles were probably thinking beyond the immediate problem to the long-term leadership needs of the church.
They identify three criteria to be used in the selection process. First, these men must be of good repute. In other places, this word speaks of bearing witness. But here it is in the passive voice. It refers to the witness that other people bear about these men. Their testimony of faith in Christ must be clear and solid from every angle. Second, they must be full of the Spirit, submitting to his control and bearing his fruit. Finally, they must be full of wisdom, able to think through issues and make good choices.
Some people say that these men are the first deacons in the church. That title comes from the word that is translated as serve in verse 2 and as ministry in verse 4. But the title itself is not used here. Later, however, when Paul talks about selecting elders and deacons in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, we find the same focus on integrity and character.
He gives a fuller list of criteria in those chapters. He argues that a man’s life must be examined from a variety of angles: spiritual, intellectual, emotional, relational, marital, parental, and financial. The distinction with elders is that they must be able to teach. Two of his statements about deacons in 1 Timothy 3:9-10 sum up the value of integrity. He says,
They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless.
So, whether we are talking about formal roles or informal influence, all spiritual leadership must be anchored in the integrity of a faithful relationship with the Lord. We should all be pursuing that, and this next value is central to it.
Prayer
Jesus sends us to do something that is impossible for us to accomplish. He wants us to speak words of life to cold, stony hearts. Like him, we must call people to be born again when they cannot bring that about. Even with our fellow believers, we are supposed to build up one another even though we have no power to bring about spiritual growth.
Only God can do these things. So, to exercise spiritual leadership in the lives of people, we must rely entirely upon him. That reality leads us to two values. The first is the importance of the word of God, as we’ve already seen. But that ministry must be combined with seeking God in prayer. So, Acts 6:4 tells us that the apostles say,
But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.
What did they pray about? What should we pray about? The Lord’s prayer gives us a good outline to follow. Matthew’s record of it is found in Matthew 6:9-13. He tells us that Jesus said,
Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
We should thank God that we can come to him as his children. Praise him for his name and all his holy attributes, and ask that others would treat him as holy. Pray for Jesus to return and bring his kingdom in all its fullness. Pray that people would come to humbly obey him and do his will as we wait. Ask him to provide our daily bread and everything else that we need. Seek his forgiveness for any sin that you have committed, and pledge yourself to forgive others. Pray for his help to overcome the temptations that beset us, and ask him to rescue us from all evil.
For whom should we pray? For ourselves, our family, our fellow believers, our neighbors, and our coworkers. When Paul instructs Timothy about prayer in 1 Timothy 2:1, he says,
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,
That’s a lot of praying! But that is what God calls us to do. We must all seek the Lord, pleading with him to change people’s lives. Without his intervention, all our efforts at spiritual leadership are futile. So, we must value prayer and devote ourselves to it alongside our efforts to share his word.
Responsibility
In the days before digital cameras, we took pictures with film. When it was developed, you ended up with a negative image, the exact opposite of what you saw when you clicked the shutter. Light is dark, dark is light, and the colors are all reversed.
If you only saw the world through those negatives, your perception of reality would be completely distorted, but something similar happens with our view of leadership. We see it as being all about power, authority, and control. You might expect that from the world, but it happens in the church too. It colors our approach to society, work, ministry, parenting, and even marriage. Under the influence of sin, we look at Scripture and perceive the opposite of what it teaches us about leadership. It’s not about control but responsibility, and that must be reflected in our values.
Mark 10:42-45 tells us how Jesus corrects the disciples’ misunderstanding of leadership. It says,
And Jesus called them to him and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Jesus served us by taking on the responsibility of dealing with our sin. He bore the burden and paid the price on our behalf. So, rather than approaching leadership like the world does, he wants us to follow his example of sacrificially serving by taking responsibility.
Acts 6:5-6 gives us a glimpse of how valuing responsibility and servanthood shapes the apostles approach to leadership. It says,
And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.
They do not control the process, picking out the people they want. As we saw in verse 3, they tell the church to select the men. They share the responsibility for that choice with them by giving them criteria and trusting them to make a good decision.
The congregation puts forward seven men, and their names are all Greek. The last one in the list, Nicolaus, is not even of Jewish descent. He is a Gentile who had converted to Judaism and then became a Christian. So, these men are probably all Hellenists. This is a wise move to unify the church, and it comes from the congregation.
But the apostles do not absolve themselves from responsibility at that point. They pray for these men and lay hands on them. This practice is often construed as a bestowal of authority or even a magical transfer of power. But it shows that these seven men are now responsible for serving widows. Everyone sees that they now bear that burden, and yet they are not alone in it.
The laying on of hands also signifies that the apostles bear responsibility for these men and their conduct. We see this connection in 1 Timothy 5:22, where Paul tells Timothy,
Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.
So, a biblical view of spiritual leadership values and is even defined by this deep sense of responsibility. Is that how you see it? Are you always looking for control or do you seek to serve and lift up people? That shift leads to one more value.
Multiplication
Plants were created to grow and spread. But if you keep one in a small, shallow bowl, you constrain it. It may live for a long time, but it doesn’t spread or reproduce. For that to happen, you have to give it room.
By entrusting responsibility rather than maintaining control, the apostles allow the church to grow and spread. They demonstrate the value of multiplication. Acts 6:7-8 tells us,
And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.
Stephen is one of the men chosen to serve widows. Doing wonders and signs is not really in his job description, but, as I mentioned earlier, I think that the apostles have more in mind for these men. We’ll see that in addition to performing miracles, Stephen is a gifted preacher. One of the other men, Philip, becomes a powerful evangelist. So, their selection for the humble responsibility of serving widows is a step toward the multiplication of leaders in the church.
Having more leaders causes the word of God to increase. In other words, more people are proclaiming it. As a result, the number of disciples is multiplied. Even some of the priests are saved, and Luke describes their conversion as becoming obedient to the faith. They were acknowledging that Jesus Christ is Lord and starting to follow him.
Jesus himself articulated this multiplication mindset. Matthew 9:37-38 tells us,
Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
Is that how we pray? Ask God for more laborers, and, as you do, understand that you yourself might be part of the answer to that prayer. We must all value multiplication.
__________
In a sense, this passage leaves us with more questions than answers. God does not give us a step-by-step guide for spiritual leadership. He leaves it to us to figure out a lot of the details. But he reveals these seven values to guide us: unity, meeting needs, the word of God, integrity, prayer, responsibility, and multiplication.
Perhaps you are not part of the church. This list sums up what the heart of Christ’s church should be, and if you find it compelling, I encourage you to join us. It starts with becoming obedient to the faith. Acknowledge Christ as Lord. Confess your sins to him and trust his saving work on the cross. Start learning God’s word. If you want to find out more about the value of the word, I encourage you to spend some time reading Psalm 119.
If you’re already a believer, is your life aligned with these values? You are probably strong in some, but weak in others. What could you do to grow personally? What could we do to better reflect these values as a congregation? If you know of something, don’t grumble about it. Take responsibility. Work with those of us in leadership.
May God multiply his church!
Reflect
Which of these values are best reflected in your life? How so?
What could you change to better align your life with these values?
What could you do to help the church better reflect these values?