Good Morning Friends,
“In those days when the number of disciples
was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews
because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So
the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, ‘It would not be right
for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers,
choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and
wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our
attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.’ This proposal pleased the whole group.” (Acts
6:1-4)
One of the principles that I see in so many
biblical teachings is the principle of balance. Balance between two competing
priorities is one of the principles that is illustrated in the early verses of Acts
6.
In this passage we see the importance of
meeting the physical needs of people competing with the value of meeting their
spiritual needs.
There was a group of widows who felt their
physical needs were being neglected by the early church. No one among the
leaders of the early church argued that these widows were wrong in their
perception. They also seemed to recognize the problem and wanted to do
something about it. But the apostles also knew that if they took on the task of
organizing the church to meet the physical needs of the widows, then there
would be other work that would not get done. The ministry of the Word and
prayer would be neglected if the apostles devoted themselves to the physical
needs of the people in the church.
The biblical solution was to find a way to
meet both kinds of needs. The apostles would continue to devote themselves to
the ministry of the Word and to prayer – the primary responsibilities that God
had assigned to them. A new group of leaders would be identified to organize
the meeting of the physical needs of the widows of the church.
The result of this balanced solution was that
the word of God spread and the number of disciples increased. The balanced
solution resulted in a healthier church than if either of these two competing
priorities had been allowed to dominate to the neglect of the other priority.
Balance – look for this principle in other
biblical teachings and seek to practice it in your own life.
His, by Grace,
Steve
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