What Is Worship?

Being in church for the first time in two weeks today just reminded me again of how sweet it is to worship God corporately. There is nothing much else like it. Let's be reminded of the definition of worship I came across years ago from Calvin Miller, "Worship is the church busy at the business of loving God." Worship has nothing to do with music style or even preaching style. It has everything to do with the heart. Whether the music is liturgical or contemporary; whether the preaching is expository or topical (as long as it is biblical), the believer can worship. It makes no difference who is leading in worship. It makes no difference what the instrumentation is. Worship begins and ends with the heart of the individual. Did you show God you loved Him today? If you did you worshiped. If you didn't, well….

ACTS 6 AND DEACON MINISTRY

The recent edition of Bibliotheca Sacra has an interesting article by Phillip Sell, "The Seven in Acts as a Ministry Team." Traditionally, this passage assumes the Seven chosen to wait on tables to be the beginning of deacon ministry. For several years I've questioned that, and the article by Sell convinces me that I've been on the right track. Sell writes, "The continual growth of the church seems to have made the distribution of goods to the needy a large task that needed attention so as not to disrupt the unity of the church. This division of labor is situational not paradigmatic for the church for all times. It reflects their practical situation" [61]. Sell also believes that the laying on of hands in the passage was not 'ordination' to a lifetime office but the authorization of the apostles to act in their stead and confirming the selection of the Seven by the congregation.

I've believed for some time that Acts 6 was situational and that the Seven were simply carrying out a temporary ministry. Stephen and Philip, the only two of the Seven that we know anything about, certainly had preaching/teaching ministries—Philip being a church planter/missionary. Neither seems to have been a deacon in the church office sense. Certainly by the time Paul writes the Prison and Pastoral Epistles, the office of deacon was part of the church. The Apostle greets them in Philippians 1:1 and gives presents a list of characteristics to look for in deacons in 1 Timothy 3. It's not altogether clear what their primary responsibilities were, although practical ministry may have been the bulk of it. However, overseers were also to be involved in serving others. Certainly deacons were and are to be spiritual leaders involved in helping the overseer minister to God's people.

In his commentary, Bock writes that the actions of Acts 6 may have led to the creation of the office at a later time. Perhaps that is true, but that may be going too far as well. All we can really say is that the office developed over time—the need for the overseer to have help in ministering to God's people would be obvious so he can spend the bulk of his time in prayer and in the Word. However, the deacon's ministry probably should not be limited to waiting on tables.