Acts 6:1-7 NIV
[1] In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. [2] So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. [3] Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them [4] and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” [5] This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. [6] They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. [7] So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
Dear God, in this little series of scriptures I’m doing about Peter and John, I know this story doesn’t mention them by name, but they were both obviously involved in the decision to put this together.
I think it can be easy for a church to get wrapped up in its outreach and forget to be the body of Christ for each other. In this case, you had factions forming and causing division among the people. We just can’t help it, can we? The apostles were wise to put together a team to deal with this and pay attention to it. Satan attacks our unity first. As I’ve said before, that’s his Plan A and he rarely needs Plan B. He does it with marriages, families, friends, coworkers, churches, and I can look around and see that he’s doing it with our nation too. And of course, the world.
In my own world, I see it within my family and I see it at work. I can see divisions form and it all starts with the idea that someone sees some sort of injustice happening and then they respond to it destructively instead of constructively. Right now, I’m thinking of one particular thing at work that I need to address. It’s something that would be easier to ignore, but as the leader I need to ensure that it doesn’t develop into something that will damage the work we are doing with our patients.
Father, help me to do exactly what you need me to do to address issues of division around me. Make me part of the solution and not part of the problem. Give me empathy and help me to address problems at their core and not at the symptom level. Give me serenity, courage and wisdom.
In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen
Emails to God 