A Display of God's Glory/Deacons - Revision history

Kathyyee: Protected "A Display of God's Glory/Deacons" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

Kathyyee — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:56:27 GMT

Protected "A Display of God's Glory/Deacons" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

← Older revision

Revision as of 15:56, 29 June 2010

Bhkauflin at 14:51, 18 July 2008

Bhkauflin — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:51:33 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:51, 18 July 2008
Line 1:		Line 1:
-	{{info~~\|Deacons~~}}Let’s begin with one of the most familiar offices in churches today—the deacons. Depending on what kind of church you come from “deacon” may conjure up images of gray-haired bankers sitting around long, highly-varnished tables in opulently appointed church parlors. Or the word could bring to mind earnest servants of the church coordinating needs-based ministries, evangelistic outreach, or pastoral care. This is what deacons are in our churches. What are they in the Bible?	+	{{info}}Let’s begin with one of the most familiar offices in churches today—the deacons. Depending on what kind of church you come from “deacon” may conjure up images of gray-haired bankers sitting around long, highly-varnished tables in opulently appointed church parlors. Or the word could bring to mind earnest servants of the church coordinating needs-based ministries, evangelistic outreach, or pastoral care. This is what deacons are in our churches. What are they in the Bible?

	=== “Deacon Defined” ===		=== “Deacon Defined” ===

Bhkauflin: A Display of God's Glory/Chapter 1 moved to A Display of God's Glory/Deacons

Bhkauflin — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:51:10 GMT

A Display of God's Glory/Chapter 1 moved to A Display of God's Glory/Deacons

← Older revision

Revision as of 14:51, 18 July 2008

Bhkauflin at 14:06, 11 July 2008

Bhkauflin — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:06:53 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:06, 11 July 2008
Line 1:		Line 1:
-	{{info}}Let’s begin with one of the most familiar offices in churches today—the deacons. Depending on what kind of church you come from “deacon” may conjure up images of gray-haired bankers sitting around long, highly-varnished tables in opulently appointed church parlors. Or the word could bring to mind earnest servants of the church coordinating needs-based ministries, evangelistic outreach, or pastoral care. This is what deacons are in our churches. What are they in the Bible?	+	{{info\|Deacons}}Let’s begin with one of the most familiar offices in churches today—the deacons. Depending on what kind of church you come from “deacon” may conjure up images of gray-haired bankers sitting around long, highly-varnished tables in opulently appointed church parlors. Or the word could bring to mind earnest servants of the church coordinating needs-based ministries, evangelistic outreach, or pastoral care. This is what deacons are in our churches. What are they in the Bible?

	=== “Deacon Defined” ===		=== “Deacon Defined” ===

Bhkauflin at 16:55, 9 July 2008

Bhkauflin — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:55:44 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:55, 9 July 2008
Line 1:		Line 1:
-	~~<noinclude>~~	+	{{info}}Let’s begin with one of the most familiar offices in churches today—the deacons. Depending on what kind of church you come from “deacon” may conjure up images of gray-haired bankers sitting around long, highly-varnished tables in opulently appointed church parlors. Or the word could bring to mind earnest servants of the church coordinating needs-based ministries, evangelistic outreach, or pastoral care. This is what deacons are in our churches. What are they in the Bible?
-	{{~~MasterHeader~~	+
-	~~\|author= Mark Dever~~	+
-	~~\|partnerurl= http://www.9marks.org~~	+
-	~~\|partner= 9Marks~~	+
-	~~\|other=~~	+
-	~~\|mediatype= Chapter~~	+
-	~~\|lang= English~~	+
-	~~\|editor= n/a~~	+
-	~~\|translator= n/a~~	+
-	~~\|levels= 2~~	+
-	~~\|reviewed=Not Reviewed~~	+
-	~~\|newtitle=Deacons~~	+
-	~~\|series=A Display of God's Glory~~	+
-	~~\|topic=Church Leadership~~	+
-	~~\|subtopic=Church Government~~	+
-	~~\|month=~~	+
-	~~\|day=~~	+
-	~~\|year=2001~~}}~~</noinclude>~~Let’s begin with one of the most familiar offices in churches today—the deacons. Depending on what kind of church you come from “deacon” may conjure up images of gray-haired bankers sitting around long, highly-varnished tables in opulently appointed church parlors. Or the word could bring to mind earnest servants of the church coordinating needs-based ministries, evangelistic outreach, or pastoral care. This is what deacons are in our churches. What are they in the Bible?	+

	=== “Deacon Defined” ===		=== “Deacon Defined” ===

Bhkauflin at 18:12, 12 June 2008

Bhkauflin — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:12:54 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:12, 12 June 2008
Line 4:		Line 4:
	\|partnerurl= http://www.9marks.org		\|partnerurl= http://www.9marks.org
	\|partner= 9Marks		\|partner= 9Marks
-	~~\|date= 2001~~
	\|other=		\|other=
-	~~\|categorytopic= Church Government~~
	\|mediatype= Chapter		\|mediatype= Chapter
	\|lang= English		\|lang= English
Line 14:		Line 12:
	\|reviewed=Not Reviewed		\|reviewed=Not Reviewed
	\|newtitle=Deacons		\|newtitle=Deacons
-	}}</noinclude>	+	\|series=A Display of God's Glory
-		+	\|topic=Church Leadership
-	Let’s begin with one of the most familiar offices in churches today—the deacons. Depending on what kind of church you come from “deacon” may conjure up images of gray-haired bankers sitting around long, highly-varnished tables in opulently appointed church parlors. Or the word could bring to mind earnest servants of the church coordinating needs-based ministries, evangelistic outreach, or pastoral care. This is what deacons are in our churches. What are they in the Bible?	+	\|subtopic=Church Government
		+	\|month=
		+	\|day=
		+	\|year=2001}}</noinclude>Let’s begin with one of the most familiar offices in churches today—the deacons. Depending on what kind of church you come from “deacon” may conjure up images of gray-haired bankers sitting around long, highly-varnished tables in opulently appointed church parlors. Or the word could bring to mind earnest servants of the church coordinating needs-based ministries, evangelistic outreach, or pastoral care. This is what deacons are in our churches. What are they in the Bible?

	=== “Deacon Defined” ===		=== “Deacon Defined” ===

Bhkauflin at 20:16, 20 May 2008

Bhkauflin — Tue, 20 May 2008 20:16:06 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:16, 20 May 2008
Line 6:		Line 6:
	\|date= 2001		\|date= 2001
	\|other=		\|other=
-	\|categorytopic= ~~Polity~~	+	\|categorytopic= Church Government
	\|mediatype= Chapter		\|mediatype= Chapter
	\|lang= English		\|lang= English

Mahra at 20:09, 11 April 2008

Mahra — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:09:27 GMT

Show changes

Mahra: New page: {{MasterHeader |author= Mark Dever |partnerurl= http://www.9marks.org |partner= 9Marks |date= 2001 |other= |categorytopic= Polity |mediatype= Chapter |lang= English |editor= n...

Mahra — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:07:07 GMT

New page: <noinclude> {{MasterHeader |author= Mark Dever |partnerurl= http://www.9marks.org |partner= 9Marks |date= 2001 |other= |categorytopic= Polity |mediatype= Chapter |lang= English |editor= n...

New page

<noinclude>
{{MasterHeader
|author= Mark Dever
|partnerurl= http://www.9marks.org
|partner= 9Marks
|date= 2001
|other=
|categorytopic= Polity
|mediatype= Chapter
|lang= English
|editor= n/a
|translator= n/a
|levels= 1
|reviewed=Not Reviewed
|newtitle=Deacons
}}</noinclude>

Let’s begin with one of the most familiar offices in churches
today—the deacons. Depending on what kind of church
you come from “deacon” may conjure up images of
gray-haired bankers sitting around long, highly-varnished
tables in opulently appointed church parlors. Or the word
could bring to mind earnest servants of the church
coordinating needs-based ministries, evangelistic outreach,
or pastoral care. This is what deacons are in our churches.
What are they in the Bible?

===“Deacon Defined”===
====Service in the New Testament World====
The New Testament world was similar to our own in the
way it viewed servanthood. Service to others was not
admired by the Greeks. Instead, they primarily admired the
development of one’s own character and personality,
always with an eye to maintaining self-respect. Diaconal
service to others was seen as what we would describe by
the pejorative term “servile.”

====Service in the Bible====
The Bible, though, presents service quite differently. In
our modern translations of the New Testament, the word
diakonos is usually translated as “servant,” but sometimes
as “minister,” and sometimes it is just transliterated as
“deacon.” It can refer to service in general (e.g., Acts 1:17,
25; 19:22; Rom. 12:7; I Cor. 12:5; 16:15; Eph. 4:12; Col. 4:17; II
Tim. 1:18; Philemon 13;Heb. 6:10; I Pet 4:10-11; Rev. 2:19), to
rulers in particular (e.g., Rom. 13:4), or to caring for physical
needs (e.g., Matt. 25:44; Acts 11:29; 12:25; Rom. 15:25, 31; II
Cor. 8:4, 19-20; 9:1, 12-13; 11:8). It is clear in the New
Testament that women can do at least some of this serving
(e.g., Matt. 8:15; Mark 1:31; Luke 4:39; Matt. 27:55; Mark
15:41; cf. Luke 8:3; Luke 10:40; John 12:2; Rom. 16:1). Angels
serve in this way. (e.g.,Matt. 4:11;Mark 1:13). It sometimes
refers specifically to waiting tables (e.g., Matt. 22:13; Luke
10:40; 17:8; John 2:5, 9; 12:2), and though such service was
despised in the Greek world, Jesus regarded it very differently.
In John 12:26 Jesus said, “Whoever deacons me must
follow me; and where I am, my deacon also will be. My
Father will honor the one who deacons me.” Again in Matt.
20:26 (cf.Mark 9:35) Jesus said, “whoever wants to be great,
must be your deacon.” And in Matt. 23:11 (cf. Mark 10:43;
Luke 22:26-27) he said that “the greatest among you will be
your deacon.”

In fact, Jesus even presented himself as a type of deacon
(e.g., Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45; Luke 22:26-27; cf. John 13;
Luke 12:37; Romans 15:8). Christians are presented as
being deacons of Christ or His Gospel. That’s how the apostles
are depicted (Acts 6:1-7), and it is certainly how Paul
regularly refers to himself and to those who worked with
him (e.g., Acts 20:24: I Cor. 3:5; II Cor. 3:3, 6-9; 4:1; 5:18; 6:3-
4; 11:23; Eph. 3:7; Col. 1:23; I Tim. 1:12; II Tim. 4:11). He
referred to himself as a deacon among the Gentiles, the
particular group he was called specially to serve (Acts
21:19; Rom. 11:13). Paul calls Timothy a deacon of Christ
(e.g., I Tim. 4:6; II Tim. 4:5), and Peter says that the Old
Testament prophets were deacons to us Christians (I Pet.
1:12). Angels are called deacons (Heb. 1:14), and even
Satan, too, has his deacons (II Cor. 3:6-9; 11:15; Gal. 2:17).

====Maintaining a Distinction Between Deacons and Elders====
We should always be careful to maintain a distinction
between the ministry of deacons and the ministry of
elders. In one sense both elders and deacons are involved
in “deaconing,” but that service takes on two very different
forms. It is in the first seven verses of Acts 6 that we find the
crucial passage where deaconing is divided between traditional
deaconing (table-waiting, physical service), and the
kind of “deaconing” of the Word to which the apostles (and
later, elders) were called. The deacons described in Acts 6
are very much like the church’s waiters, at least in an
administrative sense. They are to care for the physical
needs of the church. Establishing a group with this particular
ministry is important because a failure to do so can result
in these two types of deaconing—of the Word (elders) and
of tables (deacons)—being confused with one another and
one of them thus forgotten. Churches should neglect neither
the preaching of the Word, nor the practical care for the
members that helps to foster unity and that fills out our
duties to love one another. Both of these aspects of a
church’s life and ministry are important. In order to assure
that we have both kinds of deaconing going on in our
churches, we should distinguish the diaconal ministries
from the ministry of the elders.

===Historical Background===
====The Early Church====
During the time of the apostles, the situation in churches
was fairly fluid, though a plurality of elders and a plurality of
deacons seem fairly constant. Immediately after New
Testament times, these separate offices of elders and
deacons continued. The role of elders began to be distinguished
between bishops and priests, but deacons continued
being always listed with and after the bishops and
priests, usually being seen as those who were tasked
fundamentally with assisting the bishops or overseers. In the
early church, the office generally seems to have been held for
life. The functions of the office, however, varied from place to
place. Deacons’ duties might include:
====Duties of Deacons====
* reading or singing Scripture in church,
* receiving the offerings and keeping records of who gave,
* distributing the offerings to the bishops, presbyters, and themselves, to the unmarried women and widows, and to the poor,
* distributing communion,
* leading prayers during service, and giving a signal for
those who were not to take communion to leave before
the ordinance was administered.

This would be a pretty good summary of the duties of
deacons from the 2nd through the 6th centuries.

====The Roman and Greek Churches====
As the monarchical episcopate developed, so did a kind
of monarchical diaconate beneath it. As the role of bishop
developed, so did the role of archdeacon. The archdeacon
was the chief deacon of a particular place, and might be
described as a deputy concerned with material matters. It
is not surprising to note that the archdeacon in Rome
became particularly important. Suffice it to say that abuses
crept in and that deacons, and especially archdeacons,
became quite wealthy. How ironic that those who were
meant to serve others instead used others to serve their
own desires! For a number of reasons, the deacons’ influence
declined in the middle ages. Caring for the poor became
more a vehicle for the contributors to gain credit with God
in order to, as they conceived it, lessen their time in
purgatory.

The Eastern Orthodox church has always kept separate
deacons—laymen who served in that capacity. In the west,
though, by the late Middle Ages being a deacon had
become merely a step on the way to being ordained as a
priest, that is, an elder. Deacons in the Roman Catholic and
the Episcopalian churches are still just that—trainee
ministers who serve as deacons for one year before
becoming full-fledged priests. The Second Vatican Council
has re-opened the possibility of a different, permanent,
more biblical kind of deacon in the Roman Catholic
Church.

====The Lutheran Church====
Luther recovered the church’s responsibility to care
physically for the church and especially for the poor in the
church, though Lutheran churches didn’t recover the idea
of the New Testament deacon. In the Lutheran churches
today, practice varies. In some places deacons are unordained,
but in other places any ordained assistant minister
would be called a deacon, particularly those with responsibilities
for pastoral care and evangelism.

====Deacons in the Reformation====
In many of the more evangelical Protestant churches
during the Reformation, the biblical practice of having
deacons distinct from elders or pastors was recognized. At
the time of the Reformation, some Protestants, like Martin
Butzer at Cambridge, urged that the duties of the deacons
should be re-established. In each church, they said, the
deacons should distinguish between the deserving and the
undeserving poor, discretely investigating and quietly caring
for the needs of the one and expelling the other from the
church. They should also keep written records, as they
were able, of funds given by church members.

====The Presbyterian Church====
In the Presbyterian church, deacons are those who
administer the alms and care for the poor and sick (though
we might argue that these functions have largely been
taken over by the secular state). The deacons are a separate
body from the elders and are responsible to them. This is
how many Baptist and Congregational churches were once
organized. Some still are organized in this way, and most
have at least to some degree maintained this structure.

====Baptist and Congregational Churches====
In many Baptist and Congregational churches, however,
more definitely spiritual functions are assigned to the deacons.
They assist the pastor in various ways, especially in
distributing the elements at the Lord’s Supper, and have
evolved into a kind of executive and financial board for the
church, particularly in congregations that no longer have
boards of elders. Deacons often serve actively for limited
periods of time, though the recognition of a person as a
deacon is usually considered permanent.

That’s how Christians have done it. Now, do the
Scriptures have any word for us by which to reform our
practices?

===Deacons in Acts 6===
As we have seen, the diakonos words appear many times
in the New Testament. The clearest picture, though, comes
perhaps from Acts 6, where we think the first deacons were
set aside. From that account, we may note three aspects of
the deacons’ ministry among us.

====Physical Needs====
First, deacons are to care for the physical needs of the
church. Read Acts 6:1. Some of the Christians “were being
overlooked in the daily distribution of food.”We have noted
that the root of the word deacon means minister or servant,
and particularly was used of table-waiters at the time, or of
various types of service, usually either physical or financial.
In Acts 6:2, the Apostles characterized this service as “waiting
on tables,” or literally “deaconing tables.” They were meeting
physical needs. This is the first aspect of this kind of deacon
ministry. It is important to note that the deacons in Acts 6
likely didn’t do all the deaconing themselves; rather these
few deacons likely organized many other Christians in the
church to ensure that the work would be done.

Caring for people, especially for other Christians—and
most especially for other members of our own congregation—
is important for the physical well-being of those
concerned, for their spiritual well-being, as an encouragement
to them, as an embodiment of and a reminder of
God’s care for them, and as a witness to those outside.
What did Jesus say in John 13? “This is how the world will
know that you are my disciples, by the love you have for one
another.” The physical care presented in this passage
demonstrates just that kind of Christ-like love.

Behind this, though, we see that there is a purpose not
just for those in need, but for the body as a whole. This is
the second aspect of the kind of deacon ministry we see in
Acts 6—it is centered on the unity of the body.

====Unity of the Body====
If you look at this passage in a more abstract way, you
could ask, “In caring for these widows, what were they really
doing?” They were working to make the food distribution
among the widows more equitable. That’s true, but why was
that important? Because this physical neglect was causing
a spiritual disunity in the body. That’s how the
passage begins in 6:1, “In those days, when the number of
disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained
against those of the Aramaic-speaking community
because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution
of food.” One group of Christians was beginning to
complain against another group. This seems to be what
arrested the attention of the Apostles. They were not merely
trying to rectify a problem in the benevolence ministry of the
church. They were trying to stop the church’s unity from fracturing
and being broken up, and that in a particularly dangerous
way: along traditional cultural lines of division. The
deacons were appointed to head off disunity in the church.

====The Goal of Spiritual Gifts====
Really, this is the goal for all the gifts that God’s Spirit
gives to His church—to build one another up and encourage
each other (e.g., Rom. 1:11-12). Paul says to the Corinthians
that God’s gifts are “for the common good,” (I Cor. 12:4-7,
12). He exhorts these early Christians, “Since you are eager
to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the
church,” (I Cor. 12:12). So Paul says in I Cor. 14:26, “all must
be done for strengthening.” As John Calvin said, commenting
on I Cor. 14:12, “The more anxious a person is to devote
himself to upbuilding, the more highly Paul wishes him to
be regarded.” So Peter wrote, “Each should use whatever
gift he has received to serve others administering God’s
grace,” (I Pet. 4:10).

====No Small-mindedness in Deacons====
Edifying and uniting the church is especially the ministry
of the deacons as we see it in Acts 6. Therefore, we cannot
have people serve us well as deacons who are unhappy
with the church. The deacons are not those in the church
who are complaining the loudest or jarring the church with
their actions or attitudes. Quite the opposite! The deacons
are to be the mufflers, the shock-absorbers.

====Support of the Ministry of the Word====
Therefore, among those who would serve a church as a
deacon there must be no small-mindedness. Such members
must not be given to “turfiness”—caring about their area,
their rights and prerogatives in that area, or even quietly
resenting service by others who would interlope into their
sphere! Deacons are not set apart to advocate their cause,
or argue for their corners like representatives or lobbyists.
Instead, they are to come on behalf of the whole—to serve
particular needs, yes—but with a sense of the whole, a
sense that their work contributes to the health of the
whole. Even more, they are to be able to help others come
to understand this particular ministry as a part of the uniting
and edifying of the church as a whole. They are to be
builders of the church by being servants who help to bind
us together with cords of kindness and of loving service.
At still another level, these men were appointed to support
the ministry of the apostles. In Acts 6:3, the Apostles seem
to acknowledge that caring for physical needs was a
responsibility that the church, and therefore in some sense
they themselves, had. But they said in 6:3 that they would
turn this responsibility over to another group within the
church. In that sense, these deacons were not only helping
the body as a whole, but by so doing, they were helping to
support these apostles/elders, whose main obligations lay
elsewhere.

====Deacons Are Not a Second House of the Legislature====
So the deacons were not a separate power block in the
church. They were not a second house of the legislature,
through which bills needed to be passed. They were servants
who served the church as a whole by helping with the
responsibilities that the main teachers could not perform.
Deacons supported the teachers of the Word in their ministry.
They were fundamentally encouragers and supporters
of the ministry of the elders. If this is the case, then it is the
most supportive people in the church who should serve
the church as the deacons. We should look for gifts of
encouragement, so that more, not fewer, people will be
blessed by their service.

====Deacons Coordinate Particular Ministries====
At our church in Washington, D.C., we recognize our
deacons not as a deliberative body, but rather as those people
in our church who coordinate particular needed ministries
in the church. What we hope and pray is that each
one of those who serve as deacons will help to unify us
through various ministries, helping individuals, helping
the body, and glorifying God in it all. We have a deacon who
supervises our ministry of hospitality, another who coordinates
our ministry through the radio and website, another
who handles our sound system, and another for member
care. At this writing we have fourteen different deacons
serving us in diaconal positions. We regularly retire positions
that no longer seem to need coordination, and split burgeoning
ones into two, or even create new ones as needs
and opportunities in the body become apparent to us.

We hope that these deacons will be some of the leading
utilizers of the church’s human resources. We hope that
they will be diligent in praying for us, in getting to know the
whole body, in seeing how the services that they coordinate
can forward the ministry of the church as a whole. We
recognize that this service that they perform for us is costly.
They must understand their deaconship as their main
ministry in the church while they serve in that position.
But what a blessing such servants are to us as they develop
hearts of service in other brothers and sisters, training
them to see the role of this or that particular ministry in
building up the church! Through their activity and creativity,
our deacons will bless our church for far longer than they
have the actual responsibility to coordinate the particular
ministry in which they now work.

===Qualifications of Deacons===
====1 Timothy 3====
In I Timothy 3:8-13, Paul spells out to Timothy, the pastor
of the church in Ephesus, what these deacons should be
like. Combining the characteristics listed there with the
qualities of those selected in Acts 6, we can certainly say
that those who serve us as deacons should be known to be
full of the Holy Spirit (because though concerned with
physical things, theirs is certainly a spiritual ministry).
These deacons should be known to be full of wisdom. They
should be chosen by the congregation, with the congregation’s
confidence. They should willingly and diligently take
on the responsibility for the particular needs their ministry
is meant to serve. They should be worthy of respect, sincere,
not indulging in much wine, not pursuing dishonest
gain, keeping hold of the deep truths of the faith with a
clear conscience, tested and approved servants who are
the husband of but one wife and who manage their own
children and household well.

====Women as Deacons====
That deacons are commanded to be the “husband of
one wife” does not preclude the service of women in diaconal
positions. The example of Phoebe in Romans 16:1,
the use of the deacon words elsewhere of women in the
Scriptures, and to a lesser degree, the long history of deaconnesses
in Baptist churches, has led our own church
happily to embrace the ministry of women serving us as
deacons. Yet because of I Timothy 2 and of the larger
Biblical picture of male headship, we would discourage
churches from recognizing women as deacons if their
office was confused with that of the elders (as deacons are
in so many churches today). It is our clarity about the distinct
role of elders, and the fact that those elders must be
males, that enables us to encourage freely the service of
our sisters as deacons or deaconesses recognized by the
church.

===Summary===
In summary, the New Testament would seem to bring
together the three aspects of deacon ministry that we’ve
noted in Acts 6—care for physical needs to the end of uniting
the Body under the ministers of the Word. Deacons are to
support the ministry of the elders, unite the Body, and care
for the needy. They are to be encouragers, peace-makers
and servants. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “The church
does not need brilliant personalities but faithful servants
of Jesus and the brethren,” (Bonhoeffer, Life Together, p. 109).

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:55, 9 July 2008
Line 1:		Line 1:
-	~~<noinclude>~~	+	{{info}}Let’s begin with one of the most familiar offices in churches today—the deacons. Depending on what kind of church you come from “deacon” may conjure up images of gray-haired bankers sitting around long, highly-varnished tables in opulently appointed church parlors. Or the word could bring to mind earnest servants of the church coordinating needs-based ministries, evangelistic outreach, or pastoral care. This is what deacons are in our churches. What are they in the Bible?
-	{{~~MasterHeader~~	+
-	~~\|author= Mark Dever~~	+
-	~~\|partnerurl= http://www.9marks.org~~	+
-	~~\|partner= 9Marks~~	+
-	~~\|other=~~	+
-	~~\|mediatype= Chapter~~	+
-	~~\|lang= English~~	+
-	~~\|editor= n/a~~	+
-	~~\|translator= n/a~~	+
-	~~\|levels= 2~~	+
-	~~\|reviewed=Not Reviewed~~	+
-	~~\|newtitle=Deacons~~	+
-	~~\|series=A Display of God's Glory~~	+
-	~~\|topic=Church Leadership~~	+
-	~~\|subtopic=Church Government~~	+
-	~~\|month=~~	+
-	~~\|day=~~	+
-	~~\|year=2001~~}}~~</noinclude>~~Let’s begin with one of the most familiar offices in churches today—the deacons. Depending on what kind of church you come from “deacon” may conjure up images of gray-haired bankers sitting around long, highly-varnished tables in opulently appointed church parlors. Or the word could bring to mind earnest servants of the church coordinating needs-based ministries, evangelistic outreach, or pastoral care. This is what deacons are in our churches. What are they in the Bible?	+

	=== “Deacon Defined” ===		=== “Deacon Defined” ===