Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, It is not reason that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables. Acts 6:2
One of the familiar sights at our annual Sussex conference is that of Murray McCandless in his green John Deere apron. Because he is usually in charge of directing traffic to the various tables in the dining hall, pretty much everybody gets to see that apron. Most of us working on the meal preparation and serving use the regular brown aprons, but Murray has an idea that John Deere makes good farm equipment, and he delights in letting his opinion be known. He takes a little good natured ribbing from others who disagree with his opinion, and you are encouraged to join them. Does our text today suggest that maybe Murray should not be wearing that apron at all, or any other apron? I don’t think so! But I do think our text indicates that we need to recognize the valuable contributions of our full-time workers.
Preachers today are not apostles, and have neither the authority nor the personal experience with the Lord Jesus that those apostles did. The apostles’ role was critical for those early believers, because they did not have the New Testament Scriptures as we do. The apostles were involved in preaching, teaching, and in guiding and directing the activities of that first Assembly. The Holy Spirit directed them to actions and proclamations that would seem to be highly unusual to us today. But their role came to a conclusion with the completion of the canon of Scripture, and we have no apostles today. Those who say otherwise are either deluded or liars. But we do have full-time workers, just as they had in those early days. You will note through the book of Acts and in the epistles that many of those early workers came in for some high praise and warm commendation. They were recognized and respected. Just like workers today, they were busy in the work of the Gospel and in ministry, and being a help to the Lord’s people. God has provided us with an invaluable resource in His servants, and we do well to acknowledge and support them to the fullest degree possible. We also need to be careful in what we expect of them.
Just like the rest of us, the full-time workers are members of a local Assembly. The fact that they are often away from home involved in Gospel work, attending conferences, and in ministry for other Assemblies does not lessen their commitment to their home fellowship, just as it does not lessen the home Assembly’s commitment to those workers. As members of their home Assembly, these men delight in participating in such events as conferences, where their participation is both enjoyed and appreciated. But their uncertain presence usually prevents full-time workers from serving as members of an Assembly’s oversight. Their advice and guidance is always appreciated, but their role is usually not one of eldership. For all their help and counselling abilities, we should not dump onto the preachers the responsibility of resolving Assembly problems.
Our workers deserve respect from us all. They are not our slaves. – Jim MacIntosh