When I was in elementary school, a man was called to our church to shepherd the flock. Soon

after he arrived, he sensed that he could not preach and pastor AND do all the business

necessary in a growing church. So, the church instituted the committee system so that others

could fill in the gaps, and he could focus on preaching and pastoring. Everyone liked the idea.

Something similar happened in the early church. Let’s listen in:

But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-

speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their

widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve

called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time

teaching the word of God, not running a food program. And so, brothers, select seven

men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this

responsibility. Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.

 Everyone liked this idea… (Acts 6:1-5 NLT)

The apostles were not saying the food program for widows was unimportant. Nor were they

saying the task of feeding the widows was beneath them. They were merely admitting they

couldn’t do it all – praying and preaching the Gospel, feeding the widows, and anything else that

might pop up in the life of the church. They knew their calling was to wholeheartedly teach the

word of God, and they were not to be distracted.

The apostles further emphasized the importance of the food distribution program by listing the

qualifications needed in those chosen for the task. There was no volunteer signup sheet – nor

were a bunch of names thrown into a basket and a certain number pulled out. Seven men were

prayerfully chosen – men who were well respected and full of the Spirit and wisdom – men of

good reputation, men of godly character and moral integrity, endowed with exceptional wisdom,

practical, trustworthy, having good sense. The apostles knew that the food distribution problems

could be resolved by men of good character.



As I was thinking about this process in the early church, it dawned on me that those

qualifications of godly character, moral integrity, and good sense really should be the standard

for any Kingdom work! And did you notice that Everyone liked this idea? How sweet when the

church agrees that the work of the church should be done by the body of Christ in the power of

the Holy Spirit – not by one individual. Let’s praise God for opportunities to serve and do it with

integrity and good sense.

By Judy Shrout