Choosing Leaders With Integrity

When conflict threatened the early church over food distribution, the apostles wisely appointed seven godly leaders to handle the crisis, prioritizing spiritual ministry while addressing practical needs. Acts 6 Daily Word.

[Scripture]

[1] Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. [2] 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. [3] Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. [4] But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” [5] And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. (Acts 6:1-5, ESV)

[6] These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. [7] And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. [8] And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. [9] Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. [10] But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. (Acts 6:6-10, ESV)

[11] Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” [12] And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, [13] and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, [14] for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” [15] And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. (Acts 6:11-15, ESV)

[Daily Word]

The term “disciples” is used for the first time.

This is the first time the term “disciple” appears as a designation for Christians.

There was an internal problem threatening the unity of the early church: a conflict between the “Hellenistic Jews” and the “Hebraic Jews.” The Hellenistic Jews were diaspora Jews who spoke Greek. Because they had come to faith through Greek-speaking synagogue worship, their numbers were considerably smaller than those of the Hebraic Jews.

The Hebraic Jews, on the other hand, were native Palestinians who spoke Aramaic. A problem arose when the widows of the Hellenistic Jews were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. The “distribution” referred to here means the giving of food or money. Because of this, the Hellenistic Jews began to complain against the Hebraic Jews. Notably, the word translated “complaining” (Gk. goggysmos) appears nowhere else in the entire Gospel of Luke or the book of Acts. Because this term is so distinctive, Luke deliberately connects the grumbling of the Hellenistic Jews with the grumbling that the Israelites directed against God and Moses in the wilderness.

Caring for widows was, in fact, an important responsibility not only in the Old Testament but also among Jews in the New Testament era. Neglecting a widow was considered a great shame upon the community to which she belonged.¹Therefore, in the early church, the neglect of Hellenistic Jewish widows in the distribution was regarded as a disgrace, and this issue had the potential to undermine the church from within.

The apostles were responsible for the distribution of aid.

Therefore, the responsibility fell on them. In fact, the reason the Hellenistic widows were overlooked in the daily distribution was not that the apostles were showing favoritism toward them, but rather that the growing number of disciples had greatly increased the workload.(1) So the Twelve resolved to address this issue by drawing a clear line between what they should and should not be doing. They decided to distinguish between preaching the Word of God and handling “serving,” which included relief work and financial matters. This decision was made together with all the disciples — and here “all the disciples” refers not to every believer at the time, but to those who were able to gather for the meeting.

At this meeting, the apostles announced that they would hand over the work of relief to other workers so that they themselves could devote their full attention to “prayer and the ministry of the Word.” Accordingly, all the disciples appointed seven men. Their names are recorded in verse 5: “Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus.” Most of the seven men chosen here were Hellenistic Jews. It seems they were selected because resolving this particular issue called for men from within the Hellenistic Jewish community. Indeed, once these men were appointed, the problem was resolved immediately, and as a result, the Word of God spread more and more widely. (7)

Beginning in verse 8, the narrative turns to Stephen, one of the seven deacons. Luke records this episode in order to document the fact that the dispute that arose between Stephen and the Diaspora Jews was, in effect, an attack on the church from the outside.

There were two groups that opposed Stephen.

According to verse 9, one group consisted of Freedmen from Cyrene and Alexandria, and the other consisted of Jews from Cilicia and Asia. They belonged to a synagogue made up of freedmen — the reason they are called “freedmen” is that they had previously been slaves under Rome but had since been released and set free.

Realizing they could not defeat Stephen, who spoke with wisdom and the Holy Spirit, the Freedmen began to bring false accusations against him — claiming that Stephen had spoken blasphemy against Moses and against God. (v. 11) More specifically, verse 13 accuses Stephen of speaking against the temple and the law, which they argued amounted to blasphemy against God.

In the midst of this situation, Stephen’s face was transformed so that it looked like the face of an angel. How was it that his face shone like an angel’s? It was because Stephen was full of grace and power. Yet the wicked hypocrites found such a face deeply unsettling. In that sense, it makes us wonder — how does our own face appear to the people of this world? God caused everyone in the Sanhedrin to see Stephen’s face. Most members of the council were Sadducees, who did not believe in angels, and yet, ironically, God made them behold the face of an angel in Stephen.

In other words, God allowed them to see His own face through a man of faith. If we too desire to have a face like that of an angel, we must draw ever closer to God and live ever more centered on Him.

David confessed this very longing: [2] My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? [3] My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” (Ps 42:2-3, ESV)

Early church leadership, spiritual priorities, Stephen, miracles and witness, conflict of faith

Originally published in Korean at bible2u.com