Growing Pains - Life of Diakoneor: Called to Serve
Acts 6:1-7
In a few months, All Nations Fellowship (ANF) will be celebrating our 8-year anniversary. As ANF continues to grow, we also recognize that like early churches, we may experience growing pains. As the number of attendees and members grow within the church, so too comes an increased need. More people mean more responsibilities, demand, and may come with conflicts when these needs are not met.
As we continue our sermon series on the book of Acts, chapter 6 gives us some insight and guidance when early churches faced similar concerns.
Identity in serving. The apostles in Acts 6 appointed seven men to oversee the daily distribution of food because widows were being neglected. Although this ministry differed from the apostles’ ministry of prayer, both are described as diakonia, the Greek translation of service in the New Testament. Their responsibilities were different, but the essence of ministry remained the same: to serve faithfully. Instead of being identified by way of the ministry we are assigned in our walks of life, we instead should look to identities as followers of Christ, an identity as diakoneor, or ministers of service.
Qualities of Diakoneor. To the apostles, the quality they sought is someone who has the Holy Spirit. Rather than through our own strength or desires, they sought someone who serves by laying down their own desire and strength to serve others. The Holy Spirit gives us a new desire and strength, not out of a desire to be loved by God, but because we are already loved by Christ.
How do we apply this passage to our daily lives?
It is not possible to follow Christ without serving. The life of serving is central to the life of Jesus Christ, who came to serve. At the same time, serving does not mean that we are expected to carry everything. The church has a weight that must be carried by its members, but this weight is not necessarily distributed equally. Each person has different gifts, qualities, strengths, and limitations. We should carry what God has given us the capacity to carry and allow room for growth.
Like our physical muscles, we should exercise our spiritual muscles, allowing room for growth by going just slightly beyond our level of comfort. However, when one person carries more than what they can sustain, something that was once joyful can eventually become exhaustion. In these times, they should take a full, healthy rest -- long enough to be spiritually renewed to return to service with the right heart and strength.
As we celebrate our eighth year, we can see in Acts 6 that growth is not simply growing numerically. The answer to growing pains is not limited to the few carrying more, but for all of us to adopt an identity as diakoneor, to share the weight of ministry with our brothers and sisters in Christ, not with strength and effort from ourselves, but through the Holy Spirit.
Reflection Questions:
What were your main takeaways from this week’s sermon?
Where do I see God asking me to serve in this season?
If someone were to observe me in my ministries, would they see someone who serves in an abundance of love or simply as something that I do? Why or why not?
