A
STUDY COURSE
FOR
PROSPECTIVE
DEACONS
by
Dr. Harold Davis
A STUDY COURSE FOR PROSPECTIVE DEACONS
"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth,"
II Tim. 2:15.
Introduction: The Biblical word for deacon means
servant. To be a servant of Christ and a
servant of a New Testament church is
a
great honor. The Psalmist said, "I
had rather be a
doorkeeper
in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents
of
the wicked," Psalm 84:10. One may
truly say today, "I had
rather
be a servant of the Lord in a church than to dwell in
the
penthouses of the world."
The following are some questions which the prospective
deacon
should ask himself:
1.
If this church should ordain me as a deacon, will I
faithfully serve both the Lord and this church? Will I
be faithful in attendance to the church?
2.
If, as I study the qualifications of deacons, I should
see that I just could not qualify, would I have the grace
to decline the office of deacon?
3.
If, after being ordained, I should see that I do not
qualify as a deacon, would I have the grace to resign the
deaconship?
4. If, for some reason, the church does not ordain me, would
I still faithfully serve the Lord? Would I continue to
work for Him in this church?
Would I feel that I had
been honored just to even be considered?
5.
Do I know of any reason why I cannot work in harmony with
the deacons presently serving this church? Do I hold any
grudge against any of them?
6.
Knowing how I expect other Christian leaders to live and
knowing how I will be expected to set a good example, do
I feel that this would be too restrictive on my
lifestyle?
7.
Can I work with my present pastor and cooperate with him?
Can I work with a new pastor?
a. If I
should not like a pastor, would I continue to
give my best to the Lord and to the church?
b. If I
should feel that a pastor did not like me,
would I let that hinder my service to my Lord
and to
my church?
c. Would
the wrong doing of anyone else justify me for
not doing my job?
8.
If ordained as a deacon by this church, would I seek to
do my best in this office?
I.
Qualifications of a deacon
(There are two passages of Scripture for analysis: I
Tim. 3:8-13 and Acts 6:1-6.)
A. I Timothy 3:8-13 lists several
qualifications for
deacons.
1. A deacon must be grave, I Tim.
3:8.
a. The Greek word translated grave is
defined
by
Harper as grave, serious, dignified.1
b. Grave is defined by Webster as sedate,
dignified,
solemn.2
C. This
does not mean that the deacon should
not smile nor
laugh, Acts 13: ; Gal.
d. It does mean that the deacon is to be
one
who
is not frivolous, but rather he is to
be
serious in his desire to serve his God,
his fellow man, and
his church. It means
also
that he is to have some dignity in
his
behavior.
2. A deacon must not be
double-tongued, I Tim.3:8.
a. This term is equivalent to the term
two-
faced.
b. It is bad to have any person in the
church
membership
who is double-tongued and two-
faced.
c. It is much worse to have a
double-tongued,
two-faced
deacon. (A church could not
long
maintain harmony with any such
leader.)
3. A deacon must not be given to
alcoholic drink,
I Tim. 3:8.
a. Many jokes have been made about the
deacon
being
limited to only "not much" wine,
whereas
the preacher is not to be given to
wine
at all.
b. This may be good for a few laughs, but
when
the laughing is over any serious
minded
(grave) person will realize that
alcoholic
drink is treacherous and should
be
avoided altogether, Pro. 20:1.
c. Please, for your sake, for your
family's
sake,
for the church's sake, and for the
Lord's sake leave liquor
alone in all its
forms!
1 Harper's
Analytical Greek Lexicon, pg. 365.
2 Webster's New
Collegiate Dictionary, pg. 361.
4. A deacon must not be greedy, I
Tim. 3:8.
a. A person who is primarily interested
in
promoting
self is not likely to be
interested
in promoting Christ nor His
church.
b. His interest in others is likely to be
governed
by business opportunities.
c. His time, which will be in demand as a
deacon,
will be constantly unavailable
when
needed on church matters.
d. With his affections set on the things
of
the
world, it is evident that they are not
set
on the things of
5. A deacon is to hold the
mystery of the faith in
a pure
conscience, I Tim. 3:9.
a. This involves salvation. (The non-
Christian does not hold the
mystery of the
faith
at all. A deacon should not only be
one
who has professed salvation, but he
should
give evidence in his life that he
is
saved.)
b. It involves doctrinal belief. (His
beliefs
should be such that he is sound in
"the
(doctrinal) faith," Jude 3.
c. This involves stability. (A deacon should
not
be unstable in his beliefs, constantly
changing
from one belief to another. A
man
should be willing to change when he is
wrong. This is essential and is
commendable. However, a man who is
constantly
switching back and forth is
unstable
and undependable.)
6. A deacon should be a man who is
proven and
tried, I
Tim. 3:10.
a. One should not be ordained in hopes
that
he
will make deacon material. (It should
already
be demonstrated that he is deacon
material
before he is ordained.)
b. A man may be proven by the following
ways:
(1) If he has held membership in other
places,
his conduct there may either
disqualify
him or recommend his as
being
worthy of the deaconship.
(2) His life in the church of his
present
membership may either
disqualify
him or recommend him as
being
worthy of the deaconship.
(3) Any training program given by the
ordaining
church may be part of the
proving
process.
(4) Being questioned by the presbytery
at
the ordination service will be a
part
of the proving process.
7. A deacon must be of good
reputation, I Tim.
a. Blameless in this verse does not mean
perfection. (If it did, there would be
none
to qualify.)
b. It does set a high standard of living
for
deacons.
c. The word translated blameless means
not
accused
or called in and carries the idea
of
being a person whose life is not called
in
serious question.1
8. A deacon's wife must be grave,
I Tim.
a. The Lord has given the wife as a help-
meet. (He said, "...they shall be one
flesh," Gen. 2:24.
There is hardly a
greater
opportunity for a woman to serve
her
Maker than as a help-meet in the noble
task
of the deaconship. It is essential
that
the deacon and his wife be ONE in
purpose
in this God serving work. This is
necessary
not only because of the help
that
a wife can give to her deacon
husband,
but also because of the hindrance
that
she could become if she isn't.)
b. The same things said of the deacon
being
grave
may also said of his wife. (See
page
2.)
9. A deacon's wife must not be a
slanderer, I Tim.
a. Any slanderer in a church is a
dangerous
person,
Jer. 9:8.
b. The wife of a deacon can be especially
destructive
to the cause of Christ because
more
people are watching her and are more
apt
to listen to her.
1 Young's Analytical Concordance To The Bible, pg. 97.
2 Webster's New
Vest Pocket Dictionary, pg. 202.
c. She should be careful to avoid both
voluntary
slander and slander which others
may
try to pick out of her.
10. A deacon's wife must be
sober, I Tim.
a. Webster defined sober as Not drunk,
temperate,
grave.2
b. Self-control seems to be the primary
thought. (Of course, they should not be
drunk
with alcohol either.)
11. A deacon's wife must be
faithful in all things,
I Tim. 3:11.
a. Faithfulness, dependability,
is a valuable
trait.
b. To be faithful in all things takes in
such
things as Sunday
School, preaching
services,
B. T. C., and other activities
of
the church. (It also requires that she
be
a faithful companion, true to her
husband
and to her family.)
12. The deacon is to be the
husband of one wife, I
Tim. 3:12.
a. There are two primary views of this
verse:
(1) That it means that the deacon should
never
marry but one woman period (the only
exception
being in the case of a deceased
wife);
(2) That the Scripture meant only
to
forbid polygamy which was in common
practice
among the Gentiles in that day.
b. Either way the verse was intended, it
may
bring much criticism upon a deacon
and
upon his church if he has been
involved
in a divorce or has remarried.
13. The deacon is to rule his
house well, I Tim.
a. A deacon's children are watched almost
as
closely
as a those of a preacher.
b. Wild, unruly children in the deacon's
family
are
a reproach to him and to his church.
c. A caution is in order: Being overly hard
on
the children, without exercising
patience
and kindness, is not ruling one's
house
well.
d. The deacon is to be the head of his
house.
(However, to rule does not
mean to rule
with
an iron clad fist. It does mean to
exercise
wisdom and leadership. One who
is
a good leader at home will probably be
a
good worker in the church.)
B. The selection of the first
deacons reveals some
qualifications
which all deacons should have, Acts
6:1-6.
1. A deacon must be a man of honest
report, Acts
6:3. There are at least two good reasons
why
this
requirement was made:
a. These men were going to handle
finances
which
belonged to the church. Therefore,
they were to be men
of unquestionable
honesty.
b. Few things can hurt a church more
quickly
or
more permanently than deacons who will
not
pay their debts or who are dishonest
in
any way in their dealings with others.
2. A deacon should be a man who
is full of the
Holy Spirit,
Acts 6:3.
a. How can the people of a church tell if
a
man
is full of the Holy Ghost?
b. They cannot look into his heart and
see
the
condition of his heart.
c. But they can look into his life and
see if
the
fruitage of the Spirit in his life,
Gal. 5:22-23.
3. A deacon should be full of
wisdom, Acts 6:3.
a. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of
wisdom,
Psalm 111:10.
b. Wisdom is needed in the handling of
the
material
affairs of the church.
c. Wisdom is needed in dealing with other
people
both inside and outside the
membership
of the church.
4. A deacon must have practical
knowledge and
ability
to oversee material projects and tasks,
Acts 6:3.
a. There might have been other good men
in
the
church at
seek
out men who could carry out the work
assigned
to them.
b. Regardless of one's other
qualifications,
if
a person is not capable of handling
material
affairs, there is little use of
selecting
him to handle them.
C. There are some common misconceptions about
the
qualifications
for the deaconship:
1. Some have the misconception
that the Bible
requires
a deacon to be able to lead public
prayer.
a. There is no such requirement of the
deacon
in
the Bible.
b. The closest thing to such a
requirement is
that
he must be full of the Holy Ghost and
wisdom.
c. It is good for a deacon to be able to
lead
public
prayer, but it is not required that
he
do so.
2. Some have the misconception
that the Bible
requires
a deacon to be apt to teach.
a. The Bible does not require a deacon to
be
apt
to teach.
b. This requirement is made for pastors,
I
Tim. 3:2.
c. Of the seven deacons named in Acts
6:5,
one can be certain
that only two were good
teachers,
Stephen and Philip, Acts 6:9;
II. The doctrinal belief of the deacon
(It has been noted in I Timothy 3:9 that a deacon must
hold the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. This
involves the doctrinal faith of the deacon. See page 3.)
A. A deacon should believe the
Genesis account of the
creation of the universe.
1. Mythology and idolatry have
produced many
fanciful
stories about how and why the gods
made the
earth and the heavens.
2. Scientific theories have
varied in a large
degree. However, those who reject the Bible
account
have one basic theme: According to them
the
universe evolved from material substance
already
in existence.
3. Genesis 1:1 reveals that God
created the whole
universe,
including the material substance.
(The Bible believer accepts
that as a fact.)
B. A deacon should believe the
Genesis account of the
creation of man.
1. Some scientists theorize that
man developed
from the
lower forms of life through the
process
of evolution.
2. Genesis 2:7 declares,
"And the Lord God formed
man of
the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his
nostrils the breath of life; and the
man
became a living soul."
C. A deacon should believe that
the Bible is the
inspired Word of God.
1. The Old Testament is inspired
of God, II Peter
2. The New Testament is inspired
of God, John
3. Both are inspired of God, II
Tim. 3:16-17.
D. A deacon should believe in one
God, with the God-
head consisting of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy
Spirit.
1. Scriptures concerning the
Father are numerous.
A few are: Matt. 3:16-17; Luke 22:29; and John
5:17-20.
2. A few Scriptures concerning
Jesus as the Son of
God are: Matt. 3:17; Mark 14:61-62; Luke
3. The terms Holy Ghost and Holy
Spirit speak of
the same
person in the Trinity. A few which
speak of
the Third Person of the Trinity are:
Matt. 12:32; Mark 13:11; and Luke 11:13.
4. Scriptures which speak of all
three in the
Trinity are: Matt. 28:19 and Matt. 3:16-17.
5. The Hebrew word, Elohim, which in Genesis 1:26
and
other passages is translated God, allows
for a
Trinity. Elohim
is a plural form and
would
very definitely allow for a Trinity.
Other Bible passages require the
Trinity. See
number 4
above.
6. Yet there is but one God, I
Tim. 2:5.
E. A deacon should believe in the
miracles of the
Bible.
1. An example of Old Testament
miracles is the
leading
of the Children of Israel across the
2. An example of New Testament
miracles is the
calling
of Lazarus from the grave, John 11:39-
44.
3. An example of miracles
performed by the
disciples
of Jesus is the healing of the lame
man at
the gate Beautiful, Acts 3:1-8.
F. A deacon should understand
that the gift of miracles
and the gift of tongues ended with the
completion of
the Bible, I Cor.
12:1; 13:8-13.
G. A deacon should believe that
salvation is entirely
of grace.
1. Grace means unmerited favor.
2.
Since salvation is unmerited, it is obtained
without
works, Eph. 2:8-10;
3. Salvation is also kept by
grace and not by the
works of
man, I Peter 1:5.
H. A deacon should believe in the
security of the
believer, I Peter 1:5; John
I. A deacon should believe that
the Lord established
His church at
on earth.
1. Jesus instructed the disciples
to "...tell it
to the
church," Matt. 18:17. If there were no
church
to tell it to, this would have been
impossible.
2. The church at
Pentecost as many believe.
3. The following are some of the
negative
arguments
showing that the church was not
established
on Pentecost:
a. There was no prophecy showing that the
organization
of the church would take
place
on Pentecost.
b. There is no record of any organization
taking
place on Pentecost.
c. There was no authority given on
Pentecost
except
for the speaking in tongues.
d. There were no apostles set in the
church
on
Pentecost, I Cor. 12:28.
e. There were no rules or instructions
given
on
Pentecost.
f. There was no commission given on
Pentecost
outlining
the work to be done.
g. There were no ordinances given on
Pentecost.
h. There was no field of labor assigned
on
Pentecost.
i.
There was no form of church government
given
on Pentecost.
j. There was only one new spiritual gift
added
on Pentecost, the gift of tongues.
k. The only change in the work of the Holy
Spirit on Pentecost was that
the Spirit
was
to empower, to enlighten, to lead and
to
comfort the church, Acts 1:8; John
Spirit was not active in the world until
Pentecost and there could be
no church
without
the Holy Spirit. But the truth is
that
the Holy Spirit was active in the
world
before Pentecost, Luke 1:41, 67;
John 3:5-6.)
4. The following are some of the
positive
arguments
showing that Christ established His
church
before Pentecost:
a. There was already a called out
assembly
before
Pentecost, John
b. The twelve apostles had already been
called
and ordained before Pentecost, Mark
3:14-19.
c. The church had already been
commissioned
before
Pentecost, Matt. 28:18-20.
d. Jesus already had a flock before
Pentecost, Luke 12:32. A church is called
a
flock in Acts
e. The two pictorial ordinances had
already
been
given before Pentecost, Matt. 26:26-
30; Matt. 28:19.
f. The field of labor had already been
outlined
for the church before Pentecost,
Matt. 28:19; Acts 1:8.
g. Jesus had already instructed His
church
concerning
discipline before Pentecost,
Matt. 18:15-17.
h. A new apostle had already been elected
to
take
the place of Judas before Pentecost,
Acts 1:22-24.
i.
There was a church roll before Pentecost,
Acts
j. On the day of Pentecost about three-
thousand
were added to the roll, Acts
2:41-42.
k. Jesus instructed His church to tarry
at
high, Luke 24:49.
J.
A deacon should believe that a
church is a
local visible body
and not a universal
invisible body.
There are a number of proofs
showing that a
church is a local body:
1. The Biblical word for church
means a called-out
assembly.
2. A church can meet for
business, Acts 1:26.
3. The church at
discipline
her membership, I Cor. 5:1-5.
4. The New Testament speaks of
many churches, Gal.
1:2.
5. A church man be small enough
to meet in a
house, I
Cor. 16:19.
6. There is no basis for
believing in a universal
church,
because one is born into the family of
God and not
into a church, I John 5:1.
7. One can speak to a local
church, but not to a
universal
church, Matt. 18:17.
K. A deacon should believe in
church discipline, II
Thes. 3:6, 11-15; I Cor.
5:1-13; Titus 3:10; I
Tim. 5:19.
L. He should believe that the
Great Commission was
given to a local church, Matt. 28:18-20.
1. It was first given to the
church which was
organized
in
2. Each successive New Testament
church would fall
heir to
that same Commission.
3. Therefore, the authority to
baptize rests in a
local
New Testament church and not in
individuals.
4. Therefore, no
association nor any other
ecclasiastical organization has a right to tell
a church
what she must or must not do, Mark
10:42-43.
M. A deacon should believe in the
virgin birth of
Jesus, Isaiah 7:14; Matt. 20-23.
N. A deacon should believe in the
bodily resurrection
of Jesus, Matt. 28:5-7; John 20:24-29.
O. A deacon should believe in the
bodily return of
Jesus to the earth, Acts 1:10-11.
There are two
phases of His return:
1. Jesus will return for His
saints, I Thes. 4:13-
18.
2. Jesus will return with His
saints, I Thes.
P. A deacon should believe in a
place of everlasting
punishment for the lost, Mark
Q. A deacon should believe in a
place of everlasting
bliss for the saved, Matt. 5:3.
R. A deacon should be firm
against union services with
those who teach works for salvation and other
such
perversions of the gospel, Gal. 1:8-9.
III. The work of the deacon
A. The work of a deacon can be
better understood by
understanding the original purpose of a deacon.
1. The church at
the
purpose of taking some of the material
responsibilities
off the preachers so that they
could
give themselves to prayer and the
ministry
of the Word, Acts 6:3,4.
2. Therefore the responsibilities
of a deacon
today is
to take some of the material
responsibilities
off the preacher so that he
can give
himself to prayer and the ministry of
the Word
of God.
3. These material
responsibilities originally
involved
only the daily feeding of the widows
and
orphans, Acts 6:1.
4. However, any way that the
deacon can relieve
the
preacher of material responsibility and
give him
more time for prayer, study of God's
Word, and the preaching of God's
Word is a way
of
fulfilling the purpose for which he was
selected.
B. A word of caution is in
order: It is not the work
of the deacon to run the business of the
church,
Matt. 20:26.
1. It is not the business of the
deacons to hire
or fire
the pastor.
2. It is not the business of the
deacons to make
decisions
for the church and then expect the
church
to rubber-stamp their decisions. (Any
recommendation
presented to the church by the
deacons
should be given due consideration by
the
church. But the church is under no
obligation
to adopt them. The church may
either
adopt, reject, or amend the
recommendations
made by the deacons.)
3. The deacon has no greater
authority after his
ordination
than he did before his ordination.
(He does have a greater
responsibility and a
greater
place of leadership. But he has no
authority
over the church whatsoever. Neither
does
his wife.)
C. There are several practical
ways a deacon can
fulfill this purpose. The material needs of a
church are divided into three general headings:
building, finance, and benevolence. (There is, of
course,
some overlapping of these headings.)
1. Here are some building needs
which deacons may
oversee
as directed by the church:
a. Custodial services
b. Repairs
c. expansion programs (planning and
executing
the
building program)
d. Miscellaneous building needs such as
heating,
cooling, lighting, filling or
draining
the baptistry, etc.
e. Trusteeship of the property (It is not
required
that a trustee be a deacon, but
he
may be.)
2. There are some financial needs
which the
deacons
may oversee as directed by the church:
a. All monies raised by a church should
be
spent
according to the vote of the church.
Yet a church may authorize
deacons to
spend
monies for miscellaneous items
without
having to come before the church
for
a vote on each item. Light bulbs,
toilet
tissue, cleansers, and waxes are
examples. All monies spent by the deacons
which
come out of the church treasury
should
be verified by a receipt, bill, or
statement
marked paid. This is for the
protection
of the treasurer as well as for
the
protection of the purchaser.
b. During the ministry of Jesus, Judas
Iscariot, one of the
apostles, carried the
money
bag, John 13:29. After the death of
Judas, it seems that all of
the apostles
shared
in the responsibility of keeping
the
money, Acts 4:32-37. Since deacons
were
elected to oversee the distribution
to
widows, it seems that they collectively
oversaw
the handling of the money of the
church. It is more practical, however, to
have
one man responsible for the handling
of
the money. While it may not be
required
that the treasurer be a deacon,
it seems that
this would be best. It is,
at
least, in keeping with the original
responsibility
of deacons.
c. It is the responsibility of the
deacons to
lead
in the raising of finances for the
church. Not that the should have bear the
brunt
of the financial load themselves,
but
they should take the lead in raising
funds
for the regular budget and raising
funds
for special goals. This kind of
leadership
requires a lot of patience and
tact.
3. There are benevolent needs
which the deacons
may
oversee as directed by the church.
a. Widows and orphans in the
were
the objects of material assistance
from
the church, Acts 6:1-3; James 1:27.
There are others who may
need help and the
church
is to assist in these cases when
possible,
Gal.
greater
responsibility to help Christians
than
it does those who are not Christians.
b. Caution should be used before spending
money
on those who seem to be in need.
The widow who has children
capable of
supporting
her is not the responsibility
of
the church, I Tim. 5:3-4.
c. The responsibility of leading in
benevolent
work belongs primarily upon the
deacons
rather than upon the pastor. (No
doubt,
he will be glad to help, but the
time
consuming part should be assumed by
the
deacons.)
4. The field of advertising is a
growing need for
every
church in which deacons may assist.
5. Yet in all these areas it
should be remembered
that
the decision making process belongs to the
church
and not to the deacons. (A suggestion
or
motion does not have to originate with the
deacons
or come through the deacons. It may
originate
with any member in good standing and
may be
presented directly to the church by that
member
without prior consultation with the
deacons.)
6. Any way that a deacon can help take the
load
off the
pastor and allow him to give more time
for
prayer and the ministry of the Word is
fulfilling
the purpose of a deacon.
Conclusion:
1.
The deacon is to be willing, qualified, doctrinally
sound, and informed as to his task.
2.
Paul said, "For they that have used the office of a
deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and
great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus,"
I Tim. 3:13.
3.
Brethren, you have a great work.
Pray daily and, by
God's
grace, be equal to the task. May God
bless you
always.