7Acts 6:1-7: Growing Pains

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v. 1 – The problem

·   “the daily distribution”

o   cf. 2:45; 4:32, 34-35

o   Widows will often need help when there is no family to provide for them, and God has been abundantly clear about this subject—his people are to help those who cannot help themselves.

§  Ex. 22:22; Deut. 10:17-18; 14:28-29; 24:17-18; 26:12; Ps. 146:9; Is. 1:17, 23; Jer. 7:5-7; 22:3; Ezek. 22:6-7; Mal. 3:5

§  1 Tim. 5:9-16; James 1:27

·   Hellenists vs Hebrews

o   Likely Jews whose primary language was Greek instead of Aramaic

o   Maybe diaspora Jews, not native to Jerusalem or Judea

·   What was the problem?

o   Was the problem race/prejudice issue? i.e. You speak a different language, and come from a different culture, so we’re not going to share our food and resources with you?

o   Or, was it an administrative problem? i.e. Things got so big so fast that, unfortunately, some people fell between the cracks, but not because of malice.

§  Bock – “The way the problem is eventually solved indicates that it may well have surfaced not because of ethnic malice but because of a lack of administrative organization caused by the new community’s growth across diverse ethnic lines.”

·   Practical note

o   The church was growing (fast!), and this is a good thing. (e.g. 1:15 – 120; 2:41 – 3000; 2:47; 4:4 - 5000; 5:14)

o   But the reality is that growing (especially growing fast) means growing pains. There were problems that needed to be sorted out.

o   There is an important lesson in this: There is no such thing as a perfect church.

§  1:15-16 – Judas, a traitor, had to be replaced

§  1:21-22 – The church had to work together to pick a replacement

§  5:1-11 – Ananias & Sapphira (dishonesty over material possessions)

§  5:13 – Some Christians (“the rest”) were too afraid to make their faith public

§  6:1-7 – Hellenistic widows being overlooked

§  I am impressed that Luke did not omit this information or minimize it. This is just a part of what it means to be a part of God’s family.

The solution

·       vv. 2-4 – Don’t stop working.

o   This is legit problem, and a big problem (i.e. food for widows); and it needs to be figured out.

o   BUT not at the expense of stopping the primary work.

o   The lesson is that we need to keep the main thing the main thing, while sorting out problems at the same time.

v. 3 – Step 1: Leaders provide direction.

·   cf. 1:21-22

·   The apostles set parameters:

o   Seven

o   Men

o   Of good repute (i.e. character matters)

o   Full of the Spirit

§  Bock – “In this context, to be filled with the Spirit means that their lives are directed by God’s Spirit so that they are spiritually sensitive, able to make good judgments, a sign of spiritual maturity…”

o   Full of wisdom (i.e. problem solvers who can figure things out)

·   Another quality is implied by those who were selected: That they be able to do the job in a functional way. They were the best people for the job.

o   v. 5 – All seven names are Greek.

o   Quotes

§  Bock – “Most of the names in question here are not commonly used in Judaism.”

§  Witherington – “The list of seven in v. 5 includes only men with Greek names, which is surely no accident. This seems to suggest that the community as a whole, in order to avoid even the appearance of favoritism, named mostly if not exclusively Greek-speaking Jewish Christians to administer the food distribution.”

§  Bock – “Since the problem involves Hellenists, Hellenists are given responsibility to solve it.”

o   Just because a Christian has all the listed qualities doesn’t necessarily mean that they are the right person for the job. For example, Ryan Awwad and I may have similar spiritual traits, but he’s good at fixing things, and I’m good at breaking things. You would not appoint me to take care of his responsibilities.

Step 2: Figure it out and get it done!

·   cf. 1:23

·   v. 2 – “the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples”

·   v. 3 – “Therefore, brothers, pick out (2nd person plural) from among you…”

·   Great quotes from Bock:

o   “The decision is that those who raised the problem should provide qualified people to solve it so that the apostles can stay on task.”

o   “The early Hebrew-Hellenist tension is largely resolved when both parties take responsibility to solve the problem.”

o   “In sum, this unit shows the community using its own people to solve its own problems. The community hears the complaint, owns up to the problem, allows those closest to it to solve it, delegates the authority to get it done, and then goes to work.”

·   The pattern is not to bring your gripe to the leaders and let them solve it. The apostles provided direction for people, and those people took responsibility for their own problems and sought out a workable solution.

Step 3: Formal appointment / commission

·   cf. 1:26

·   6:3b, 6

·   The leaders are still the leaders, and that doesn’t change when they’ve delegated responsibility.

o   For example, sometimes when tasks are delegate to people they become possessive and isolated in those tasks. But elders and shepherds are still overseers.

v. 7 – The ideal conclusion when a problem is worked out in a good way

·   “the word of God continued to increase”

o   Don’t stop the work!

·   “the number of the disciples multiplied greatly”

o   “multiplied” is passive and should be “was multiplied” (cf. 2:47; 1 Cor. 3:6).

o   God was working among this flawed group of people.

·   “and a great many of the priests became obedience to the faith”

o   The church worked together to solve their problems and did not become enemies with each other.

o   The result is that the enemies of the church became Christians.