Responsibilities in the Church

Acts 6:7 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.

There was a complaint against the Church’s administration and this happened while the church was growing (Acts 6:1). But the apostles did not concentrate on the adding members alone but they prioritized this problem and addressed immediately so that the numbers started multiplying even more greatly. This time even priests became obedient to the faith which is an enormous change to the Church. Priests who had dedicated their whole lives to God and knew theology really well had not just accepted but became obedient because the administration was well organized in the Church.

Verse 1 says that the Hellenists had complained that their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. The problem was simple that the ones who had responsibilities were predominantly Hebrews. And they had to serve their relatives first and so, the Hellenist widows were neglected. This problem was to be addressed in the Church. We can see a similar situation in any church because there are a few people who are fed or encouraged because they are closer to the pastor or leaders and the rest were neglected. James 2:1-4 says that we become men with evil motives if we practice partiality in the Church. It may not seem right in the beginning or outwardly but the motive clearly changes to get more recognition or revenue. The church should be very careful in this decision.

The solution is immediately identified by looking for men with good reputation, full of Spirit and full of wisdom. These qualities are mandatory for any person to hold any responsibility in the Church. God allowed the simplest of responsibilities to be documented here and we have to learn that every action or responsibility in the Church is totally different that that we hold in our homes or businesses. These designations do not require talent or resources because we depend of the Holy Spirit here.

We see the first occurrence of democracy here as the decision was made by the people and not the apostles themselves. In Luke 22:17 also we read Jesus wanting us to divide the bread among ourselves. The New Testament clearly wants us to follow this example where another person does not dominate the Church as the head being Christ alone. That’s why it was more than one person who went to minister always. Also God trusts people more now than during the Old Testament. Before Christ, God nominated men to hold responsibilities but when the Church was formed, the apostles gave the instructions to the believers so that they could choose among themselves.

The second thing we have to notice here is that if a person is spirit filled, the believers were able to identify that person. But now a days, preachers have the necessity to prove themselves to survive. If we are looking to bring the old original church now, it is very much required that people should be able to see a person and identify that he is full of spirit and wisdom. As per Hebrews 5:12-14, a spirit of discernment is very much required for Christians to mature. Accepting every preacher or leader just because he has a great talent is not discernment.

As the person matures, even non-believers would be able to identify such a person (Verse 15). This transformation is a promise to us (Mathew 13:43). This transformation can be found in 4 stages in this chapter. Firstly they were looking for people with full of Spirit, wisdom and reputation(v3). But instead the people took another method of searching, men full of faith and spirit(v5). Reputation and wisdom comes from faith. All we have to do is believe that Jesus will lead us and trust our church and future to Him. In verse 8, we see as Stephen was holding this responsibility, power and more grace is entrusted. In the end just before death, we can see that Stephen’s face changed to be a face of an angel. This is a great method shown how God blesses us in the New Testament. Let us pursue this by starting with faith and Spirit.

Amen.

Trials and Temptations

Acts 5:41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

There are two incidents in Chapter 5 which is of a failure and the other, a success. In the first one, people had trouble giving up their property. In the second, they had given up everything and counted suffering as joy. We should not consider Ananias and Sapphira as deadly sinners whereas Peter and John were saints. But rather the incident became fatal in case of Ananias and the second one gave life to them. The difference between these incidents is that one is a trial and another is a temptation.

Bible clearly wants us to handle these two differently. Mathew 6:13 says “Lead us not into temptation” which is one very important demand Jesus wants us to ask God. But in James 1:2-3, we are asked to rejoice during trials. It is important that we know how to handle both these differently.

Temptations and Trials have different motives. Temptations are organized so that one should fail and die. They are brought by the devil. This is why in Acts 5:3, we read Satan had filled him and gave him some greed so that he could lie to the Holy Spirit directly. Jesus wants us to clearly not go through this process where there are many chances that we could fail. In Mathew 26:41 at the garden of Gethsamane, Jesus advises his disciples not to sleep but to keep watching and pray or they would fall into temptation. Once they are into temptation, it become even harder for men to endure and survive. Temptations are not in God’s plans. All we should do is take Jesus’ advise of being watchful. 

Satan is very cunning and plans vigorously for every single person to fail. The art of being watchful is to expect temptation at any moment.  Ananias and Sapphira are among the first Christians but after selling their property and while holding the money in their hands, Satan could easily deceive them. In their minds they should have thought that they are contributing a huge amount to the Church and God’s kingdom and would have felt like saints. In that least expected moment Satan could crawl in, tempt and make them fail. In Daniel 11:22, we can read that this victory over temptation belong to those who know God.

Trials are given so that we are conforming to the likeness of God according to Romans 12:2. In Mathew 5:10-12, Jesus clearly explains that those who are persecuted for righteousness own the kingdom of God.  According to Romans 14:17, the kingdom of God is not food and drink but of righteousness and so, peace and so, joy in the Holy Spirit.  If righteousness is the core of heaven, God clearly wants us to hold righteousness even though we are persecuted. This means, if given an opportunity to stand up for God and lose the earth and its belongings, we are blessed. This is trials where God sees the goodness or usefulness in us.

In Acts 5:19, we can clearly see that the angel had brought the apostles out of the prison but not to some safety. We are not called to be safe and idle in Christendom. The deliverance there was just a sign so that Gamaliel’s speech would become effective. We have to understand that it is God’s will that we are tested and persecuted for Righteousness.  1 Peter 1:6-9 says that it is required for us to suffer.

So, the apostles considered this persecution as honor. If God sets you trials in your life for molding, it is because God considers you worthy for a greater plan in His kingdom and losing such an opportunity is foolishness. As in 1 Peter 4:12-13, this suffering for righteousness is a share from that of Christ. We become partakers of a heavenly plan that God is executing in this world by being ourselves to be persecuted. As in James 1:12, the destiny is a crown like Jesus has. We share in the glory by sharing in the labor.

In Revelation 3:10,11 the church in Philadelphia has given the comfort of escaping the last trial because of its endurance. But God still warns that this crown can be lost and so, we have to watch and hold the crown fast. The perfect example of this is Jesus. As in Hebrews 4:15,16 He was tempted (not tested) but still endured and if we could come close to this throne of grace which does not expect us to be tempted in the beginning and when in need, we can get grace as a help. This one victory of our Lord, gives us a way (I am the way) towards glory.

Amen.