1 Timothy 3:8 Commentary and Bible Study

The term ‘deacon’ doesn't actually appear very much in the New Testament. Deacons are not mentioned anything like as much as elders or overseers. In fact it's quite a rare term. Nevertheless such references as there are, are quite long, so we get a very clear idea of their purpose in the church. In the opening of the letter to the Philippians deacons are mentioned alongside elders, but second to elders, so it is an inferior office in a sense. It’s second in position or in authority in the church of Jesus Christ. But the fact that deacons are linked with elders shows that deacons had some measure of authority, and in some way share or are involved in an aspect of the rule of the local church. A minority of exegetes think the elders had all the rule, and the mere deacons or servants did a few practical things and assisted in the ministry of compassion in a very lowly way. But that is not borne out by the qualities required of deacons and by the way in which they are ranked alongside elders. No, the deacons obviously are much more than just servants to the elders. Are they the same as the almoners of Acts 6? The overwhelming response of Christian expositors is, yes, without any doubt. There in Acts 6 you have the preachers, the elders of the church, the apostles, and then in order to relieve them and assist them – so that they can get on with the ministry of the word – these first almoners are appointed. Although they are not called deacons in Acts 6, they are appointed to see to the ministry of compassion and to look after it. That was a ministry of some considerable significance, which involved authority and rule and which involved no doubt a degree of ministry. But it was largely practical also, and the deacons had to steward the resources to make sure the benevolent money of the ancient church was properly spent and that the people were fairly looked after. They had to be men of great ability and quality who had authority over that whole department of ministry. So their main function in Acts 6 was to relieve the preachers, so that they could concentrate on prayer and the ministry of the word, which implies almost everything else might well have fallen to those almoners. The deacons have similar qualifications to elders on the whole with one or two exceptions – there's no mention of the deacons needing to be apt to teach – and that underlines the significance of their office.‘Likewise must the deacons be grave’, which means dignified or respectable, capable of being respected. It is used here because they are responsible and they do have a measure of authority, therefore they are to be people who you can respect. They are not to be two-faced or double-tongued, saying one thing to one person, and something else to another. There again that is suggestive of some areas of authority. They often find themselves mediating between people. They may be involved in the resolution of problems and disputes among the people of God. They may have to operate departments within the church and therefore they have got to be people who are not double-tongued. Why would anybody be double-tongued? You don't want dishonest people in the church. But it may be that a person who is quite honest can nevertheless be a weak character, and may be too timid to tell people the whole truth and may therefore find it much easier to please all parties, so that in mediating in some dispute, they say one thing to one party, and something else to another. So this may not be because the person is downright dishonest though but because the person is timid and cannot come clean or be straightforward.‘Not given to much wine.’ We have discussed that before, and also ‘not greedy of filthy lucre’ in connection with elders (verse 3).