This past Sunday we had the delight of baptizing new followers of Jesus and members, celebrating the Lord’s Supper, and setting aside some excellent servant leaders for the deacon ministry. Just before going through the official ordination process, I offered some observations on deacon ministry and servant leadership more generally to the congregation. Here’s what I had to say.

The position of deacon in the church was created because the church wasn’t handling their meal service very well. If only they had all been Baptists from the start, deacons might not have ever existed. But, as it stands, they weren’t getting their food distribution right for a variety of reasons, and they needed some folks who were specifically tasked with getting that sorted out. The apostles knew this wasn’t something they needed to be focusing their time and attention on, so they told the church to raise up some godly men who would be appointed to take the lead in organizing this aspect of the church’s service ministry. Because this was going to be an official position in the church going forward, they decided to give it a title. They called these new leaders in service “servants.” Clever, right? The title they chose isn’t just a generic servant, though. The word referred to someone who waited on tables as in a restaurant. Had the position been created today, we might have called them “waiters” instead of “deacons.” And this made sense as a title because, again, these guys were going to be taking charge of the food ministries of the church. 

From the start, the idea of deacons was countercultural. It turned the basic thinking of the world then on its head. In the broader culture of the day, being a servant was not considered a good or noble thing. Servants, or slaves (the same Greek word carries both senses indicating that they didn’t differentiate much between the two positions like we do today), were the absolute bottom rung of the social ladder. In fact, they didn’t even rise high enough to make the first rung. Nobody wanted to be a servant. That meant you had been conquered by another person. It meant you were weak. It meant you were without honor. It meant you were utterly expendable. So, for the church to call these new leaders “servants” was a much bigger deal than it seems like it should have been to us. 

Contrary to the world, in the culture of the church, being a servant was a good and noble thing. It was a celebrated and highly acclaimed position. Being a servant was something to aspire to. Servants were afforded greater honor and recognition than anybody else. All of this, while wildly different from how the world around them thought, was perfectly consistent with the example of Christ. Jesus was a servant. He served us. He called us to serve one another after the pattern of service He set for us. He made clear that the path to greatness, which all people desire to walk in one way or another, was through service. The last shall be first, and all that. 

One day, when the disciples were arguing about who was the greatest, demonstrating a mindset that accurately reflected the preferences and biases of their culture, Jesus stopped them and got them pointed in the direction of the ethics of His kingdom. Matthew wrote about this in His Gospel. Listen to what he wrote starting at Matthew 20:25: “Jesus called them over and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them.’” Now, Jesus started this little bit with, “You know,” because He knew they knew it. That’s how leadership worked in that day. That’s how leadership has always worked anywhere the Christian worldview hasn’t been the dominant force in terms of setting the patterns and boundaries of culture. Now, it far too often works like that in places and in organizations where the Christian worldview is the dominant force, but it definitely operates like that where it is not. 

So, the disciples knew how leadership was “supposed” to work just like everybody around them did. That’s why they were arguing and jockeying for position in the administration of Jesus’ coming kingdom. This was silly, though, and for two reasons. First, Jesus hadn’t promised any of them any kind of position in His kingdom, so they were fighting over something they didn’t even know they had. Second, and more importantly for our purposes right now, God’s kingdom doesn’t work the way they imagined it does. 

In light of this, look at what Jesus says next: “It must not be like that among you.” Don’t behave like people who don’t know God. They are operating on a different set of rules and expectations than you are. You are not to be like them. “It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” 

The world looks at power and authority as an opportunity to advance personal goals, often at the expense of those who are being led. In God’s kingdom, on the other hand, power and authority are an opportunity to selflessly advance the interests of those around us. It is a chance for us to raise them up at our own expense. It is a chance for us to serve. 

Here’s how all this translates for us: Serving is normal in the church. That’s a baseline expectation for every single member of the church. We are all called to use the gifts God has given us to advance His kingdom purposes. As the apostle Paul makes clear: If you are following Jesus, He has equipped you to advance His kingdom in a way that is totally unique to you, and you need to be doing that. There’s really not an exception to that or excuse for not doing it. 

“For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of ones’ faith; if service, use it in service, if teaching, in teaching; if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness.” And because we all belong to one another as members of the one body of Christ, if one of us drops the ball in what God has called us to do, everyone else suffers for it. 

This is all foundational for the church. This is the baseline. This is what is expected of every single part of the body. But just as nothing happens when no one is leading it, and just as one person (the pastor) can’t do all the ministry that needs to be done—and especially in a growing body like this one—there are some whose role in the body is to help take the lead in seeing that the various ministries of the church run smoothly and well. And in this church like in so many others, following on the example of the first church, we call these folks the body has collectively recognized as called, equipped, and suited for this special work deacons. 

The position of deacon in the church is a valuable one. It is an honorable one. But it isn’t an honor someone actively seeks or campaigns for. It is an honor the church bestows in obedience to the direction of the Spirit and the recognition of the spiritual maturity and servant leadership someone has demonstrated. It is no light duty. The expectations are high. Deacons are to take the lead in the serving that happens in the church. They help set the culture. They set the tone for what gets done and how. That doesn’t mean they do everything. They can’t do that any more than I can. They are to serve as they are gifted just like everyone else, but they take the lead in doing that. They’re the first in and last out. It’s a lot. There’s a reason we only ask guys to serve for three years, before giving them a break. And they can’t do any of this on their own. This is why we call them specifically to this task at the direction of the Spirit, and with His intentional invitation into the effort. It’s why we pray over them, even laying hands on them to symbolize our support and our recognition that it is indeed the Holy Spirit who has set them apart for this work. 

To the deacons, your call is to work hard for the Lord, leading the rest of the congregation by your good example to be fully a people with whom anyone can connect to grow in Christ and reach out for His kingdom. When we are fully the church God made us to be, we get to have more days like this. Seems like a pretty good deal to me. 

To the church, your job is to support these individuals with prayer, encouragement, and words of affirmation. The more you lift them up, the more they will be able to return the favor. This way, all of us together can move toward the great future God has planned for us. As we celebrate being the church today, we rejoice, not in ourselves and what we have done, but in our God and who He is. We celebrate being able to serve. We celebrate new life. We celebrate the life of the One who made it all possible. We celebrate His growing kingdom. And we celebrate servant leaders raised up to follow Jesus faithfully, and to lead us in that effort.