Servant Pastor and Deacon

II Peter 1: 1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

Do we really comprehend what it means to be a SERVANT of Jesus Christ . . . “to comprehend” means to “realize” the truth – or to grasp the “realization of the consequences”.

Peter says two things about himself in this first verse . . . 1) that he is a servant of Jesus and 2) that he is an apostle of Jesus . . .

Now the office of an apostle no longer exists in our churches . . . but the concept of being a servant of Jesus Christ is still in effect.

Peter points out that even though he is “an apostle” of Jesus (which was a position of great honor) . . . humility teaches Peter that even though he holds a position of honor in

“The Kingdom of God” (or in the church of the New Testament) in spite of the position that he holds - he still remains a servant of Jesus.

The apostles were the first twelve disciples that Jesus “called out” just after His baptism.

An apostle was a position or an “office” that only existed in the early church and its purpose was to basically teach “the first church” how Jesus wanted them worship.

Today – The Bible teaches us the meaning of true worship as opposed to false worship – so "the office" of an apostle to answer any “church questions” is no longer needed.

Today the two remaining “offices” or positions in the church . . . are the office of pastor and deacon . . . The deacon is to help the pastor . . . but the deacon is NOT the assistant pastor

I Tim 3: 1 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop (or pastor) he desireth a good work.

8 Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;

The pastor is the man who uses God’s Word to instruct (teach) righteousness and to allow his love for God’s people in the church 

to motivate him “to lead” the church in accordance to God’s will by the example of his personal life – as well as by “teaching”

from his study of God’s Word . . . Everything that the pastor does SHOULD BE for the spiritual benefit of the church – he should

never allow himself to be motivated by what might be best for him personally (or for his ministry) so he can advance to a larger

church . . . but like a father would suffer anything before he allowed his children to be harmed . . . even so – a good pastor “if the need arose” would choose to suffer personally so that

his church might be spared any degree of harm – the “office” of a pastor does include teaching – but it is mainly a vocation

of love and self-sacrifice . . . a pastor teaches MORE “through the love” that he does or does not have for the congregation – than

he will ever be able to teach from the pulpit in the form of a good sermon . . . The office a deacon is to . . . provide help to the pastor . . . so that

the pastor can devote his time to the study of God’s Word – as opposed to being distracted with the necessary “physical tasks” that are often associated with church-work . . .

Acts 6: 1  And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied (as the church was growing) there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

In the days of the scriptures – there were no welfare programs to provide for the necessities of those who could not provide for themselves . . . “the daily ministration” refers to the “daily relief” which the church provided 

to those who had no husbands (or to the widows) Because without husbands – these widows had no means of support . . . 

Because the church was growing (the disciples were being multiplied) this responsibility (feeding the widows) was being neglected because it was too much for the

local pastors to handle by themselves . . . they needed help to do this – and the office the deacon was “the hand” that provided this help.

2 Then the twelve (the twelve apostles) called the multitude of the disciples (all the other followers of Jesus – the church-members) unto them, and said,

It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables (or to provide for the needs of these widows). 

Granted these widows should be provided for – but the job has simply grown too large for the local pastors to distribute food to the

widows in addition to fulfilling their other responsibilities as pastor.   3 Wherefore, brethren (the apostles told them to) look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

 4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

The men whom this church appointed – were called deacons . . . and the business unto which they were appointed - was to

make sure the widows were not neglected in regard to their daily quota of food.

As one of the apostles – Peter understood that pride in his heart (because of a position that he held in the church) would immediately

disqualify him from being what God wanted him to be . . .

(no matter how “good” a speaker he was) if his heart was not right – then his "service" could not be right either.

So the first step to comprehending the idea of being a servant of Jesus Christ . . . is to recognize humility and to make humility part of our everyday life.