Deacons involve everybody. And deacon is still an odd word. 1 Timothy 3:10

(10)  And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. 

God here continues to give a list of requirements that one must meet to be appointed as a ‘deacon’ in God’s Church.  It’s probably worth revisiting the importance of this position. 

Elders/Bishops/Pastors are called to lead Jesus’ Church – and that happens as they teach his word, and guide his people into greater obedience to him.  They announce God’s word so we can first, have our sins forgiven; second, be relationally connected to God, hearing from him and responding to him; and third, to instruct us in how to glorify God. 

Every Christian must serve God’s Church in some capacity.  And every Christian must bear witness to Christ and his Gospel outside of God’s Church. 

However, there are sometimes duties that must be taken care of in some official capacity as needs arise, that will rob Pastors of the time to do their duties well, and that will not happen organically without a structure in place. 

Jesus’ Church is his body – it exists on earth to represent him and to save sinners – and it must function properly.  Deacons are ‘hands’ and ‘feet’ in a sense – for Jesus.  They are to serve for the health of the body according to its needs – exercising the love of Jesus for the needs of the moment. 

And because they represent Jesus and his saving, merciful work in an official capacity, great things are required of them. 

That’s why this verse that God had written requires testing.  Simply put, God requires deacons to be tested and found blameless. 

One thing that’s very interesting here is that Paul says ‘let them be tested’; he doesn’t say ‘you test them.’  He commanded Titus to appoint pastors – but here he seems to be saying that there must be a community role in appointing deacons. 

In Acts 6:3, the Church in Jerusalem, massive as it was, is called together by the apostles to pick deacons.  The apostles then ordained them. 

So the whole Church picks deacons and tests them.  In Acts, we see this as an act of love – as the body comes together to decide how to love individuals in the body. 

We see that the pastors give them guidelines in terms of how to do so in Acts – and here as well, which means that instruction is received by the congregation in how to test people – what the requirements are.  Particularly, the requirement here is that they be tested morally – they must be blameless. 

Now, of course, that doesn’t mean ‘sinless.’  It does mean that they are living outwardly moral lives that will not bring the Good News about Jesus into bad repute. 

So then, the community comes together in love for those in need – knowing that Jesus’ love must be the life that runs through the whole body.  It is his bride, the collection of people he died for – and we must love them. 

And sometimes a system must be put in place to do so – and so those who are put in official positions must be called by the whole Church – people who are blameless – who represent our Savior well in their characters as they represent him in their actions of mercy to the people that he uniquely and savingly loves.

Summary:
1)  Deacons represent Jesus in official roles outside of the pastors' roles.
2)  Deacons are to be called and tested by the church.
3)  The church is to pick people who are blameless and represent Jesus well in their character


Prayer:
Father, thank you for loving us.  You have given us great mercy in giving us new birth through the resurrection of Jesus.  And you've given us mercy by calling us into your Church, in which we are sustained by the food that is your word.  It's your love that shows us your glory - what greater joy could we have?


And yet, you have mercy on us in tangible ways as well.  You've set up a system to meet our non-spiritual needs - and you've called us all to be involved in it.


I ask you to grant perseverance in holiness to the deacons at our church.  And I ask you to give us wisdom as we participate in testing and appointing them.  And I ask you to give our elders wisdom as they teach and apply your word to your flock - so that we will all grow deeper in our knowledge of and love for you.


Because of Christ's service to us we can ask for these things - amen.