Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
Selections are something you and I do every day, perhaps several times a day. We choose between options available to us, often MANY options! Elections are political selections. Draft days are athletic selections. Shopping is all about selections whether it’s in a physical store or online. Even dating and marriage is about selection, isn’t it?
Join me again in the middle of a nearly out of control spiritual movement in Jerusalem in which thousands of people are turning to Jesus as their Savior, Messiah and Lord. There was great need for a selection to be done! As we saw yesterday, in all the excitement, a problem is developing which is serious because the needs of certain dear widows are being overlooked. Yes, an unfortunate, prejudiced selection process seems to be leaving certain widows left unserved while others are more than adequately cared for. (Acts 6:1)
The apostles called a meeting to discuss and pray over the issue. This problem had the potential to breed jealousy, resentment, bitterness and so much more. These men who had been with Jesus also realized they were in way over their heads.
None of them had any background in leadership involving thousands of people. Nor had any of them received HR training for problem solving in a movement, as far as I know. As we saw yesterday these apostles made a clear line of demarcation between their role and the mandate Jesus had given them, and other matters which while important were not their responsibility. (Acts 6:4)
Let’s look at the criteria for selection which the apostles put forward as they challenged those who had become followers of Jesus to select certain qualified men who would deal with the widow problem. Acts 6:3 says: “Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them…” May I point out three observations I have from this one small but significant statement?
First, the apostles called together all those who were part of this movement, men and women, and entrusted them with the privilege of selecting the right people to handle the problem.
WHY? Because the problem was an ‘internal, organizational’ problem. The widows were among them. Those distributing the resources to widows were also among them. They did not need an outside group or person to solve their internal problem.
Second, do you see the apostles included the women in this Jesus movement with helping to make the selection of those who would be entrusted to solve the problem?
That’s important. Very few women in the first century had a voice in anything outside their home. (Lydia, a businesswoman in Philippi, was an exception in Acts 16:14,15; as was Joanna one of the women who cared for Jesus, Luke 8:3) Jesus honored women and I think it’s significant the apostles followed Jesus’ lead by including the women in this selection.
Third, the criteria put forth was specific and five-fold, do you see it? “Choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.” (Acts 6:3)
1. Men were to be selected. We don’t know exactly why only men, but it’s clear. Perhaps because there would be heavy physical work involved in distributing the resources. Perhaps because they might need to physically protect widows from those who might harm them.
2. The men selected were to be from among those who were experiencing this wonderful work of God. This privileged task was not to be ‘outsourced’ to people outside the group of Jesus followers. This was now a formal continuation of God’s people receiving resources from God and sharing them with those in need among them, as led by the Holy Spirit. (Acts 4:32-35)
3. Seven men were to be selected. I see no specific explanation for that number, but it’s clear it was one of the criteria for selection in this particular situation.
4. They were EACH and ALL to be men unquestionably FILLED by the Holy Spirit of God. Now this is important, friends. This is more than the Acts 2 initial anointing of the Holy Spirit. This criterion suggests these would be men whose lives reflected the ongoing, continual Presence and Work of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 4:8,31) We know that years later the apostle Paul wrote a great deal about evidence of the Presence and Work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a person as in Galatian 5:16-25 or Ephesians 4 & 5 or Colossians 3.
But here in Acts 6 the Holy Spirit had only been working in their lives for a matter of days, several weeks at the most! Yet it’s clear the people recognized a person who was profoundly filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
5. Wisdom was the fifth criteria. These Jews highly valued the book of Proverbs written by their revered King Solomon. They also knew the laws of God given to Moses very well. They particularly cherished this statement from God repeated several times in the Jewish Scriptures: “The FEAR of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom…” (Ps. 111:10; Prov. 9:10) They knew wisdom was God given and learned over time by a person who prioritized knowing God!
Now we need to pause and reflect on this selection criteria. If you had been in this discussion, what other criteria would you have added to the list? What might you have argued could be removed from the list as unnecessary? WHY?
A few years later as the apostle Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to give criteria for selecting leaders in the Church of Jesus, which was spreading across the Roman empire, 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 are two chapters where Paul was quite specific: “…above reproach, faithful to his wife, self-controlled, respectable…” etc.
Look around your part of our world. Do you see people developing wise and God honoring criteria when selecting people for trustworthy leadership roles? What leaders in your city meet the criteria they had put forth in Acts 6 for solving the inequality problem with the widows?
The ‘lessons learned’ notes at the link below will help you continue some deeper thinking on this leadership criteria issue and the worship song I hope will draw you to Jesus in worship. Tomorrow we’ll look at WHO the people in Jerusalem selected on the basis of this criterion.
Today’s Scripture: Acts 6:1-4.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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