Yesterday I wrote about the matter that was going on in Acts chapter six with the church. I shared with you that there were two main groups, and one didn’t feel like their widows were receiving as kind of treatment as the others were. When the Apostles got this news, they realized the severity of the problem and immediately started working on a solution.
The issue at hand was not an intentional oversight on the part of the ministry; it was simply a need arising from a growing church. It was now time to appoint people to help in the leading and administration of this body. The same thing happens in churches today. The enemy would love to convince certain ones that an oversight is being done on purpose when the truth many times is there is a need for more help and administration. Oh, how I wish people wouldn’t choose to criticize first, but rather present the need and not assume something is being done intentionally.
Although the Apostles knew this was an important issue, I find their response to be interesting and powerful.
Acts 6:2 (ESV)
And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.
They were establishing a precedent in the church with their reply. Yes, they recognized the need but made it perfectly clear that it wouldn’t be right for them to stop studying and preaching the Word of God to meet the need. There is no doubt they wanted the widows to be taken care of, but the top priority in the church had to be the Word of God, and everything else should come after that.
I firmly believe that we should feel the same way about the church today. The number one priority must be the Word of God, and let everything else follow. The strength of each generation is hinging on their Biblical knowledge. When we raise our children in the Word of God, we don’t have to worry about them when they are faced with the temptations of the world. The most dangerous thing we could do is raise our children without a knowledge of the Bible in a society that is turning away from God.
- We need pastors, preachers, and teachers to know the Word, preach the Word, and live the Word.
- The church needs to meet the needs of its community, but not at the expense of neglecting the Word of God.
When the Word of God is our foundation, amazing things will follow.
Hebrews 4:12 ESV
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Romans 10:17 ESV
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
2 Timothy 3:16 ESV
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
James 1:22 ESV
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
