Exploring the Book of Acts: Leadership as ServanthoodSample

Sharing Authority

The rapid growth of the Christian community in Jerusalem brought new challenges. The church was committed to caring for the needy, but as the church grew it became difficult to manage the practical aspects of distributing food. The apostles’ solution was to appoint a set of officers to handle these administrative challenges. Their willingness to create an organisational structure and to give others authority in leadership was crucial to the health and growth of the church. The new structure enabled the apostles to maintain their commitment to prayer and the word, to ensure that widows were cared for, and to elevate a group of competent men into central leadership. Two of them, Stephen and Philip, became powerful evangelists.

Read Acts 6:1-7 and then consider:

1. In addressing the problem of the Hellenized widows being neglected in the distribution of food, why did the twelve call together the whole community?
2. What criteria was used to select leaders to oversee the daily distribution of food? Why is it significant that the community was asked to make the selection?
3. Both sets of leaders were servants. The twelve were committed to serving the community by leading prayer meetings and preaching. The seven were committed to serving the needs of the widows in their community. How did the apostles’ clarity about their calling help them to share authority?
4. What was the significance of the apostles laying their hands on the new leaders and praying for them? How did this public commissioning serve the seven? How did it serve the community?