The biblical account of the selection of deacons in the first-century Christian church is recorded in Acts 6:1–8. Ellen G. White gives the background surrounding the selection of these deacons. She states that “the early church was made up of many classes of people, of various nationalities.”1 This was due to the converting power of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2 informs us that the Holy Spirit fell upon many of the dispersed Jews of every nation that had gathered at Jerusalem for this feast day. Among that group were those commonly known as Grecians or Hellenistic Jews. There was a division between the Grecian Jews and the Palestinian Jews. They were divided by their language and culture. One group spoke Greek and grew up absorbed by the Greek culture. The other group spoke Hebrew or Aramaic and grew up in Palestine. Despite the existing differences of these two groups, the Holy Spirit brought them together in harmony and in love. They were of one accord and had all things in common. They sold what they had and divided it among themselves. They visited each other daily, and ate together with gladness and singleness of heart (see Acts 2:1, 44–46).
THEY WERE OF ONE ACCORD AND HAD ALL THINGS IN COMMON. THEY SOLD WHAT THEY HAD AND DIVIDED IT AMONG THEMSELVES. THEY VISITED EACH OTHER DAILY, AND ATE TOGETHER WITH GLADNESS AND SINGLENESS OF HEART.
Unfortunately, this unity of spirit was short-lived, as old prejudices of the past resurfaced. Feelings of distrust, jealousy, and suspicion brought about faultfinding and murmuring. Allegations were made that the Grecian widows were being neglected in the “daily ministration” (Acts 6:1, KJV). The ESV translation calls it the “daily distribution.” Ellen White refers to it as the “daily distribution of assistance.”2 However, the Greek word for “ministration” is diakonia. This is the office and the work of a diakonos (deacon). Henry Webb observes,
English Bibles usually translate the Greek word diakonos as “servant” or “minister.” However in Philippians 1:1 and 1 Timothy 3:8–13 the translators created from the Greek word diakonos a new English word, deacon. These passages seem to refer to specific church leaders or officers who were closely linked with bishops (pastors). Apparently, as the number of believers increased and new churches were begun, the congregations formalized the servant role into a more specific church office. The high qualifications for deacons indicate that the New Testament congregations looked to these church leaders as examples in ministry to persons.3
As we trace the roots of the office of deacons, we discover that they were elected to serve the church by solving problems. Ellen White describes the problem at hand as follows: “Thus it came to pass that as disciples were multiplied, the enemy succeeded in arousing the suspicions of some who had formerly been in the habit of looking with jealousy on their brethren in the faith and of finding fault with their spiritual leaders, and so ‘there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews.’”4
From this, it can be concluded that Satan had launched a spiritual attack against the church in an attempt to hinder it from growing and ultimately to destroy it. Therefore, the church needed men of “honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom” (Acts 6:3, KJV) to look beyond the symptoms and see the real issues, then bring about resolution. The spiritual qualities required of the deacons of the firstcentury Christian church strongly imply that their calling was a spiritual calling, and their role was far greater than waiting on tables.
1 Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Boise, ID: Pacific Press, 1911), 87.
2 Ibid., 88.
3 Henry Webb, Deacons: Servant Models in the Church (Nashville: Convention Press, 1980), 74–75.
4 White, The Acts of the Apostles, 88.
Vincent E. White, Sr., DMin, is a retired pastor and author of The Twenty-First Century Deacon and Deaconess: Reflecting the Biblical Model, The Twenty-First Century Deacon and Deaconess: Reflecting the Biblical Model Workbook, and Problem Solvers and Soul Winners: A Handbook for Deacons and Deaconesses.
