In this special message on a day of elder and deacon commissioning, Pastor Joe Babij explains the biblical basis, qualifications, and function of the two offices of the church: elder and deacon.
Full Transcript:
This morning, we’re going to do something a little bit different in our service. It comes time in a church where we have to do what the Lord says to do in the Word of God. Covid kind of put us off on making this plan, but we want to do it before the end of the year. That’s really the commissioning of our deacons and also the licensing of our Associate Pastor.
I want to let you know that when I first came here 38 years ago, pretty much the small group of people we had did not have an understanding of church government and how it should function, and how it should work. Most people would just have the understanding that a single pastor did everything. In July of about 1987, the first two years I spent here, I spent on evangelism and just teaching the Word of God verse-by-verse. And then finding out what I need to prioritize.
What happened is that I began to say: “Well, you know, people don’t really understand a biblical form of church government.” And what I mean by that is a Biblical eldership, a plurality of elders in the church, and a plurality of deacons in the church, and what they actually do.
I began to preach on that. If a person first hears about it from the Word of God, it usually will be the first time they ever heard it. If they did hear it, or they heard bits and pieces of it, they still didn’t understand how it all functioned in the church and what deacons or elders are supposed to do. A lot of churches just have deacons doing everything, and then they have one preaching pastor.
No passage suggests in any place in the Word of God that there should be one person—there’s always a plurality. Now, there may be one person initially when they start a church, but eventually, as that church grows and matures, deacons and elders will be put in place.
The passage that I want to really focus on this Lord’s Day will focus on elders and deacons. I’ll use many passages, and I’ll put some things on the screen so that you don’t have to turn to every one of them.
There are only two offices in the church. That is the office of elder and the office of deacon. And in light of the teaching of scripture, the duty of the church is to appoint elders and deacons. I bring really this responsibility before you of our church and those who are visiting and supporting those who are involved in this service today.
As a gathered body at Calvary Community Church, we need to ordain our elders and deacons. We’ve done this formally at least three times, and this would be the fourth time. There is a scripture that comes to mind, and that is in Titus 1, that we did not read, but in verses four and five, which I’ve highlighted there, says,
4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. 5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you.
The Church was given the mandate right in the beginning of the birth of the Church, that the Church would have leaders that would take care of the Church spiritually and make sure the mercy ministries of the Church were taking place.
There are three words that sometimes people get mixed up in their minds when they’re reading scripture. These three words are really focused on one person. That one person and their different functions and responsibilities within the Church.
The first one is the word elder. That’s the Greek word ‘Presbuteros.’ This word emphasizes who the man is, the character of his heart, and life. An elder also includes someone who is older. He has an increasing level of spiritual maturity and is full of the Spirit and wisdom.
The second word is bishop or overseer. We get the Greek word ‘Episkopos.’ Epi means over, and the second part of that, skopos, would be that of someone who has a guardianship and who guards over other people. The word really emphasizes what he does, his function.
Then there is a third word that is used, and that is the word pastor. Maybe the most common one that we understand. But it’s the word shepherd. Poimen is the Greek word. The word emphasizes his attitude, how he feels toward his sheep and who has been entrusted to him. And a shepherd is really one who takes of a community of believers, including guiding and caring for, and looking after with emphasis on the governing aspects of his administrative rules.
There are several passages of scripture in Acts that brings all these words together. It is the passage in Acts 20:17, which is on the screen. It says this, in verse 17,
From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. 18 And when they had come to him, he said to them…
28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood”
Those three words coming together really focus in on the one person and the many responsibilities the elder would have in the church. It’s not three different things. It’s the one person with his different functions.
Now there are two areas that I would like to bring to your attention that the Bible actually emphasizes. We read the passage of scripture this morning, in the eldership, the character and the qualities of church elders. In other words, God’s looking for a few good men. You know, I think the Marine Corps robbed that. Right? That’s why when you read through this passage of scripture, you find that’s exactly what He is doing. He’s looking for a few good men.
These are all of the things. I just want to mention them briefly through the passage from Titus and also from 1 Timothy 3. It says, number one, if any man is above reproach (Titus 1:6). That means somebody who can’t really be criticized. Or, in other words, blameless or unpeachable. This is a controlling characteristic, that any accusation leveled against this particular person cannot really take any footing against him. He’s a man above reproach and lives a dignified life.
Also, he is the husband of one wife. That he’s a one-woman man. The Bible stresses that. Thirdly, that he has children who believe. Now, here in Timothy and Titus, it could also mean children that are faithful, not necessarily that they have believed in Christ yet. But they’re faithful to their father’s rule in the home. That is a rule in which he is directing and guiding them and leading them. His children are not some that are involved in reckless living or just senseless deeds and just recklessness about their life. His children are under his authority, and they are obeying him, in other words.
Then, he’s not accused of dispensation or rebellion. Here he is one who is really not a partier or a rebel, but he is one who, being God’s steward, takes seriously the task that God gives to him as not only a father but also one who wants to manage his home and the sacred trust that God gives to him. He’s also someone who is not self-willed nor arrogant. Meaning he doesn’t seek his own will as a priority, but he seeks God’s will in the Word of God and is willing to hear sound and wise reasoning and make decisions based on a balanced thought. That’s the kind of person he is.
He is also not quick-tempered. He’s slow to anger. And he knows that the anger of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God, as the Epistle of James tells us. He walks not in the flesh but in the Spirit. He’s not a perfect man, but he’s a man who’s heading in a direction and stepping in a way that God is pleased with him.
Also, he’s not addicted to wine. He doesn’t habitually drink too much. He’s not a drunkard, in other words. Of course, this means that an office of the church doesn’t have to be a teetotaler. He may be a responsible user of alcohol, but he must not be controlled by any substance at all, whether it be alcohol or any kind of drugs, whether it’s prescription or otherwise. He is to be a man who has that kind of stamina that he can say no to things and know when to use them and when not to.
He’s also not pugnacious. He’s not a violent brawler. He doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder. He’s also not fond of sordid gain, meaning that he’s not greedy about profit or about material things. He doesn’t set his heart on the accumulation of things in this world. He has a good grasp of the biblical view of money, and he gives generously and sacrificially.
He’s also hospitable. He has an open hand toward people to help them. He also loves what is good, that he has an open heart toward people, and he wants to help those who come his way.
He’s also self-controlled. That means he knows his strengths, and he knows his weakness and endeavors to bring them under the power of the Holy Spirit.
Lastly, he holds fast to the faithful Word, which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able to exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict. He has a growing knowledge of the Word of God, and he knows what his gifts and abilities are. And of course, he wants to put them into practice in God’s church.
The elder is continually growing and maturing in all of these characteristics. It doesn’t mean that he’s arrived at them, it just means that he’s growing in them. They’re recognizable in his life.
That is the character. God is looking for character. He’s not looking for degrees. He’s not looking for somebody who could just do everything correctly. He’s looking for people who have a heart and a character about them. They live that way in public and in private. They’re the same, and they know that they’re under the watchful eye of God. See, that’s the kind of man God is looking for to be an elder.
A second thing is that when we consider elders, we’re considering their function too. That the office of an elder, bishop, or pastor came from the Jewish element of society and stood for the wise aged. Somebody who has dignity. Someone who has respect.
One of the analogies given in scripture to understand the oversight that an elder has in his functioning in the church is an analogy of a shepherd who is in the field watching the sheep. Where do we get that from? We get that right from Acts 20:28, where it says,
28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”
In other words, God’s giving the people that he saved and died for over to the care of these men. He’s given that responsibility to them. It is a responsibility that we have to really take seriously. So, a shepherd, then, is responsible for the total welfare of a sheep. He is to guard them from savage wolves or false teachers, especially warning them when he, the elder, is not present to watch over them.
In other words, teaching them so that they have the teaching. And when they do hear something that is incorrect or wrong or something that could lead them astray, they automatically know because they were taught it. Like the Apostle Paul says in Acts 20:29-30, he says,
29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
And here is the most frightening thing. It says,
30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples from them.
We’re to warn people that. That’s why it’s so important to know who your elders are and know who your deacons are. So, the elders and deacons together, as they are functioning in the church, you can know who to go to if you don’t really have the answer to a particular teaching you heard.
A second thing that we see in the function of an elder is that an elder functions as a governor in the assembly, ruling over the flock. See, God has given elders a sphere of rule. The extent of his rule is in his own household and all who come under the sphere of his rule in the local church. This is why passages like this one bears out the authority of the pastoral office, using politically incorrect words such as obey and submit. These are biblical terms.
It says there, in Hebrews 13:17,
Obey your leaders and submit to them for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.
That’s a heavy thing for an elder to know that they’re to give an account to God for the people they’ve shepherded. It says,
Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.
In other words, we are working together, maturing together, to strengthen God’s church so the work can get done. This governorship is also in his home. The Bible says wives are to submit. Like it says in Ephesians 5:22,
22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be subject to their husbands in everything.
In other words, Christ is the elder’s example that Christ’s rule over the church is a considerate, faithful, gracious, and tender rule. So the elders, the pastors, are to have this rule also in their home and in the church. So, he is to rule his wife lovingly, and the wife who submits to the rule of Christ in the home, when that both comes together, it becomes a beautiful picture of what God intended, as the husband lovingly rules in his home with a fair and a firm and affectionate rule towards his wife and towards his children.
Of course, the Bible also says that his children ought to submit. Where it tells us in the Word of God in 1 Timothy 3:4, it says,
He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity.
Children are to obey him with proper respect. The mark of a submissive child is: “I will do what pleases my father.”
A man with that character and a man with this calling will live that way in his home. It’s a given to him. He wants to do it because he wants to please the Lord Himself, for the Bible says, children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right to do.
Then, of course, the church, his flock, is to submit. I already read the passage in Hebrews. You are to submit to the elders there as we bring them before you, that these men have the character, this is their function, we’ve recognized that, and then finally, in the end, we’ll lay hands on them as the Bible tells us to do and present them to you as the leaders of this church.
Then, there is a third area that an elder functions in. That is the area as a teacher. This is what really sets them apart from deacons. Here it says, in the passage, that an elder or an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach (1 Timothy 3:2b; Titus 1:9). There it is there.
An elder is responsible for feeding his flock by declaring to them the whole purpose of God, the whole counsel of God. Acts 20:27, where Paul says to the church,
For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.
All elders are to have the aptitude to teach, and some are given over to this responsibility in a full-time basis, some are not, but all elders should be able to teach. He needs to continue to grow in his God-given gift to teach the assembly. Some are going to be teaching more in private or one-on-one settings or a Sunday School setting. Some are going to be preaching and teaching. Some are going to be doing evangelism.
They must be apt to teach. That means one who is both able and willing to communicate to others the knowledge which God has given him so that he is fit to teach and ready to take all the opportunities given to him to be able to communicate and instruct in the things of the kingdom of God and the things that God wants us to know.
Of course, God may give a greater measure of a gift to a particular man, as it says in Corinthians. And some He may give a lesser measure, but nonetheless, God will give a measure of a gift to a man where he’s able to teach the word of God to people.
Some of the minimum requirements for elders is that he must have a character growing in sync with scripture. He must have a grasp of the basic content and doctrine of the Holy Word of God. And a biblical elder must stick to the Word of God and not his own opinion or notions. He must give them the Word of God because the truth does not change. It never changes.
He must have a proven ability to clearly communicate that particular truth. As it says in 2 Timothy 2:2 and 15, it says,
2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
In other words, men, you may not be a man this morning who is going to be up here and getting commissioned or ordained, but it should be the goal that you have as a man, whether you ever become an elder in the church, to have these characteristics. To have this kind of attitude toward the things of God.
In this short life we live, do you know what we need today? In our feminized society, we need men. We need men who are going to be men. And they know they’re men and no one is going to tell them otherwise. And they live as men of God.
See, those are the powerful influences in society. Those are the ones who hedge against all of the garbage that’s coming our way every day. Every time you turn on your TV, you look at this and that; it’s all being feminized. All of the roles are being confused and fuzzy. Nobody knows who they are anymore.
No. We need to know who we are. The church is one place where men ought to be men and women ought to be women. Amen? I need a big amen on that one.
That leads me to the diaconate. This is a different office in the church, but it’s the same thing. God is looking for character in deacons. These men are called. They’re selected from out of the congregation, and of course, they are then tested. These men, like it says in the book of Acts, who do we look for? We look for men who have a good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, and whom we may put in charge of tasks in the church (Acts 6:3). That’s who these men are.
If you notice on the screen, following Timothy and the Titus passages, first of all, these are men who are worthy of respect. That means they have men who are befitting good behavior, implying a dignity and respect about them. Men that you want to give respect and honor to because they have a good character and they are serious about their Christian faith.
Secondly, they’re sincere. That means that they’re genuine. Again, no accusation can be leveled against them and stick. Also, they are not to be indulging in much wine, the same thing as elders. They are responsible users of anything that can control them or have any kind of control over their flesh or mind. They are in control of that.
They also are not pursuing dishonest gain. That means pertaining to shamefully being greedy for material gain or profit. He’s a man who does not have his heart set on the accumulation of material things. He has a good grasp, again, of the biblical view of money. He also gives generously and sacrificially.
Then notice that he’s not double-tongued. That’s pertaining to contradictory behavior based upon the pretense or hypocrisy, double tongue, two-faced. In other words, he does not speak out of both sides of his mouth different things to one person and a different thing to another person. He is straight with his words. He shoots from the hip, and he’s clear about what he stands for.
The character quality is really not limited to one’s speech, it’s also limited to one’s behavior. His verbal message matches his living. They both go together. He doesn’t do one thing in his actions and one thing in his speech. He does the same thing. He’s the same person all of the time.
Also, he must hold the truths of the faith with a clear conscience. That means he has a genuine faith and pure faith. He believes God’s Word. He has a firm grasp on sound doctrine. Don’t ever think that deacons are not to grow in doctrine. They are to be doctrinal, right? Because they’re going to be doing counseling with people. If they’re going to be coming alongside people, they need to know the Word of God to be able to use the Word of God to counsel people. They believe and have a firm grasp of sound doctrine. They have a firm grasp of how to live sound doctrine in their daily lives.
Also, it says in Timothy that their men but first be tested. And then, if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons. Tested means they are proven to be faithful in serving the Lord. All of the men that are coming up here in just a few minutes are men that have proved themselves in the church. They have been faithful to the things they already know in the Word of God and who they are as a man.
Also, a deacon must be the husband of one wife. That means he’s a one-woman-man. He is absolutely above reproach concerning his marital relationship.
Then, of course, deacons must manage his children and his household well. That means that he’s a good household manager. He guides, directs, and leads them. He has faithful children; not accused of riotous living or rebellion.
Lastly, it says there that those who have served well gain an excellent standing and a great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus. In other words, they have a heavenly reward connected to their faithful office. So, a smile of Jesus when deacons have functioned in their office well, that’s what it’s saying there.
Considering that, the Bible also says something else. That there’s a biblical character quality for the wives of the deacons. The wives of the elders and the deacons. It says in scripture that women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things (1 Timothy 3:11). So, I believe the scripture teaches that these are the wives of their elders and deacons. Why? Because an elder and a deacon is going to be involved with ministering the people on all kinds of levels, with all kinds of problems, and all kinds of information they’re going to have about people. And they can’t be talking about it with other people.
They both have to be on the same page when it comes to that. They cannot be gossips, right? And they must be dignified just like their husbands. They have a character about them. They’re temperate and faithful in all things. As a woman, they are faithful in all things. Remember, the man holds the office, but the woman is to be qualified as the wife of that man holding the office because she’s ministering alongside him. But she does not hold the office.
In our church, Yiyin Ho, Sherrian Crumbley, Ema Capoccia, and Jayne Babij are elder’s wives. Then our deacon wives are Rebecca Fantuzzo, Natalie Gussis, Noel Riccardi, Naomi Van-Treuren, and Juliana Dagnall.
There’s a special thanks that I have for Ermanno and Shae, who were ministering with us for quite some time and served well. They’re stepping aside for now. So, we want to thank them for their service to our church and the influence and blessing they’ve been in people’s lives. Also, thankful for all of those who held the office in the past, and now you’re not holding or functioning in that office right now for different reasons.
That is what we have going on in our church. Considering all of that, there’s also the function of deacons. There are two functions of a deacon.
The first one is that of a minister of relief to the elders. Deacons are to make sure the task of the church stays primary. What is the task of the church? We see in this passage of scripture, especially in verse number four, it says, but we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. So they are to pick out deacons from the congregation of people who are of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, who will be in charge of tasks so that the elders, in this case, the apostles, can devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word of God.
We are here reminded that the church’s primary task is prayer and preaching. First, let me say that the preaching and teaching of the Word of God and prayer are and should always be the primary business of the church. Everything else is secondary.
The practical care for the needy is important, yes, but it is not the first priority. It does come in a close second, or better, in conjunction with carrying out the primary tasks. The mercy task is always presented and needs attention, and this is where the diaconate comes in. That’s where they become vital.
Where the Bible says in Acts, when the disciples were increasing in number, and then they had to feed the Hellenistic Jews and the native Hebrews, then the deacons were formed to take care of that task so that it would not pull the Apostles away from the task of the preaching of the Word of God and prayer.
They are to relieve the elders so that they might devote their time to the Word of God and prayer. That’s what part of their job is, to relieve the shepherds.
The church has been given the responsibility of ministering to the needy, and ultimately it is the eldership that must give an account for a given congregations’ participation in the ministry of mercy. In other words, are they calling out deacons from the congregation so those needs can be taken care of properly?
That means that these two particular things in the Word of God must make sure the two priorities stay priorities. That’s their primary function. It’s too burdensome to do both, and that’s why I believe the Lord has given two offices. The ministry of the Word and the mercy ministry are both weighty tasks in the church. God has ordained the diaconate to be the administrative body that sees the mercy needs in the congregation so as to relieve the shepherds of the congregation of this activity so that they may devote themselves to the Word of God and prayer.
As they do that, they also serve and care for the table of the pastors. They also serve and care for the table of the Lord. They’re the ones who are preparing the Lord’s table every first Sunday of the month. They are making sure things are being ordered, done, and set up. They are preparing candidates for baptism like we’re going to see this morning.
Also, they are preparing the properties of the church, making sure that everything is used so the teaching ministry can go on. That means classrooms, nurseries, building, and grounds are all included, but that’s not the primary thing. Many times, the focus has been that a deacon is somebody who takes care of the building and grounds only. That’s only part of what they do. Of course, they make sure that they’re handling the money that they’re responsible for in a responsible way.
The second function is that the deacons function as a minister of relief for the needy. To relieve the needy of the burden of their physical impoverishment, poverty, misery. The needy people need relief. It says in Galatians 6:10,
We have also learned that we are to do good to all men, especially to those of the household of faith.
In this passage of scripture, it gives us a priority. The church and the needs of the church come first. If someone comes from outside the church, and we’re able to provide for them too, then we should. What I mean by that is that as they serve and care for the table of the poor, it is the duty of the deacons to be aware of those in the assembly with monetary and physical needs. Those who need help with their daily sustenance. The true widows of the church, the orphans of the church, children who do not have fathers to oversee them and be a male figure to them. Also, people who have lost jobs who suddenly become poor of health. We’re to provide, as elders and deacons, the basic needs. Food, clothing, and shelter. Those are the basic needs that we all have.
In Acts 6, we can glean along with the distinction and offices of elders and deacons, and along with the priority in the church of helping the poor, it seems most certain that the deacon’s job is to support and relieve the elders so that the people of God may be served in spheres outside the elder’s primary task which are clearly seen in Acts 6:4,
But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.
It was Alexander Strauch who wrote a book on deacons, which I use in our training. He said this: As long as the deacons of the church enable the shepherds of the church to carry out their primary duties, and as long as the deacons minister to the congregation’s welfare needs, they are doing their job.
We’re really given the real reason for the appointing of these deacons in Acts, where it says, whatever tasks the elders assign them, in order to relieve the elders from getting involved in activities that would hinder them from accomplishing their tasks, that’s what the deacon’s primary tasks do. Prayer and preaching, the two go hand-in-hand, and the deacons are the key to making sure they stay hand-in-hand.
That means that once we get to that point, these men need to be commissioned. They need to be ordained. And the Word of God does tell us that we ought to do that. You may say, what is commissioning? What is ordination in this sense?
Ordination is really simply a confirmation by the church of a man’s call to serve in the office of elder and/or the office of deacon. Ordination by Calvary Community Church constitutes a formal recognition of one’s call to the Christian ministry, his biblical qualification, and his preparation for service.
Also, the Bible tells us that once we do that, we are to lay hands on them. In scripture, what is that? The New Testament indicates that the elders/deacons were formally installed into the office before the congregation by the ‘laying on of hands and prayer.’ The ceremony is a public appointment to the office of elder and the office of deacon in which fellow elders, and oftentimes the remaining deacons, by the laying on of hands on the individuals. That communicates to the church our approval, blessing, prayers, recognition, and fellowship that we are all to have together as we do the work of God.
It tells us in scripture, and these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them (Acts 6:6). All the official gifts within the community come from Christ. The laying on of hands was a commissioning service to affirm the choice of these individuals for a particular task.
We’re to look out in the future in the congregation to see who else is coming up. Who else is giving us the sense that they have the character to be a deacon or an elder? Who else is coming up in the congregation who has the ability in character and teaching to be an elder? We should be looking for that all the time. Once we get them, we bring them before the church, and we lay our hands on them. That, in a sense, is ordination.
I thank the Lord for the men that have given evidence of this particular calling and are ready. I believe that it’s a high privilege to ordain and commission men to the church as deacons and elders. Also, this morning, we will be licensing Pastor Dave Capoccia as our fellow elder in the Gospel ministry because he has given evidence of God’s call upon him.
Again, it’s also my high privilege to ordain and commission Bruce Wyder, Erik Van-Treuren, Joseph P. Riccardi, and Caleb Dagnall as our newest deacons. These men have worked and served in our ministry for some time.
During the testing period, it became clear to me and to the congregation that these men have exhibited the gifts and faithfulness needed to fulfill the church offices of elder and deacon. They have shown their faithfulness to the Lord, His Word, and to His people.