The ‘qualification’ for overseers is followed by that for deacons. What is the mystery of faith they are to hold onto? How blameless should they be? Is it far from how Abraham was promised by God that he would be made blameless? Compare the following with your own standard for those who ‘deserve’ to be appointed as deacons.
8 In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain.
On the note of appointing leaders who will inspire the congregation to a prayerful and humble life that exhibits God’s will for the world, the quality of an overseer (equivalent to an elder or a pastor) has been mentioned. They have to be people who rely on Christ’s ‘noble deed’ and who wait on God in ‘quietness and full submission’, just as the rest of the believers should too.
Deacons have to be people who have ‘washed their clothes in the blood of the Lamb’ (Rev 7.14) in the same way. The word for deacon[1] is used in the Gospels to mean one who serves, the servant, e.g., ‘The greatest among you will be your servant’ (Matt 23:11). Here Jesus is also warning against the false leadership of the Pharisees, who neither enter the kingdom themselves nor let others enter (Matt 23:14). The mission of Jesus coming into the world was to save sinners, as declared in trustworthy saying number one in 1:15. But false leaders would be busy promoting that they were not sinners and proving themselves right all the time (cf. Matt 23:2–7). What deacons should not be, ‘indulging in much wine and pursuing dishonest gain’, is their true face, like what priests in the temple of Artemis explicitly pursue.[2]
9 They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.
Therefore, far from being ‘perfect’ on their own merit, leaders should be those who confess themselves as sinners and that only God can save them through his mercy brought about by Christ; this is the deep truth of the faith (the mystery of faith, ESV, NASB) they must hold onto.
10 They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.
Such sinners, cleansed by Christ’s work, are ‘blameless; no lie is found in their mouth’ (Rev 14:5), just as God had promised to Abraham how he would be: ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless’ (Gen 17:1). Turning the blameful into the blameless is the work of the Almighty. Deacons, just as overseers, should profess this with their lives.
Dear my Lord Almighty, Your word is trustworthy. Your word teaches me and consoles me every day. Before your perfect and purifying word, let me rest from trying to prove myself all the time. Rather, let me be proven wrong so that I know all the more every day how right you are and how strong your mercy is to call me right. From the moment you called me right and every moment since then, you have preserved me to be blameless. I am blameful, but because of Your desire, Christ’s work, and the Holy Spirit’s intercession, I am smeared in your almightiness and held blameless by you. Let me hold this mystery in me, live it, and testify to it, also by acknowledging the same work taking place in others. Gracious Lord, praise be to your almightiness.
Image: Illustration of Abraham contemplating the stars, by Ephraim Moses Lilien – The Books of the Bible, German edition. (Image: Wikimedia Commons, public domain)
[1] διάκονος (diakonos) ‘servant’ (G1249) servant, minister, a person who renders service and help to others, in some contexts with an implication of lower status; also transliterated as “deacon,” a trusted officer of helps and service in the local church
[2] ‘The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus’, University of Warwick. https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/intranets/students/modules/greekreligion/database/clumak/
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