-Deacons. These are servants. It is not about position, nor about subjegation. This is about what you do. This is about the work being done to benefit others (Colossians 1.25) - very often for very little or no pay. They’re not in it for the money, tho. It is the work of waiters (John 2.5, Luke 10.40) and of angels (Hebrews 1.14, Matthew 4.11). This serving, this angelic spiritual table-waiting is to be the default posture of every believer (1Peters 4.10), and of any and all who lead in the assembly of the redeemed (Luke 22.26) - as it was for our Founder and Leader (Matthew 20.28, Luke 22.27). There are also those who have been specially gifted to serve the body of Christ in this way (1Peter 4.11) - not necessarily on their knees in submission, but on their feet, doing something which needs to be done in order to benefit a brother or a sister (or several or more of them). And no, the pay is probably not very good - there usually aren't even any tips, but no doubt the benefits are out of this world...! :)
-But in the body of Christ, things need to be done. And someone(s) needs to do them. It is time to step up to the plate - church is not a spectator sport! This was the case in the early church - as the church grew, there came to be a glaring need, and somebody needed to step up. This was indeed work which would benefit others - widows, to be specific, who were being neglected in the daily serving of food (Acts 6.1-3). And so the apostles carefully selected seven men whom they could trust to be in charge of that work. The first deacons. While Paul here in this letter to Timothy is clearly singling out those who fill this specific role in a local assembly, I’m not sure that “deacon” was originally intended to be a perpetual title and an office per se. It is a very broad and general term - there are even “deacons” of Satan (2Cor 11.15)! Not everybody is in charge of something in any organization, but there is a general mandate for everyone to do their part. Once you make this "serving" a church office for a few, you run the risk of undermining the universal imperative which is given to all Christians. We are all called to serve, to step up and be at the ready to help, to do something for the benefit of another believer. Yes, there are some - overseers - who get put in charge of shepherding and overseeing the entire assembly. These are called to be servants even as they lead (Paul and Apollos were deacons in this sense - 1Corinthians 3.5). And there are these others, these more formal deacons, who get put in charge of other things. But additionally, these ones you select to serve, whatever their specific role, certain things must also be true of them.
-Reverent. If you recall, this is how the overseer’s children are supposed to be. They have an obedient and respectful heart for the Lord, and a healthy amount of fear. They know full well that the Lord is fully good but He is not fully safe. He is not a safe Lion...! He is holy and awesome and not to be trifled with. Deacons must also have this same reverence about them.
-Not double-tongued. In other words, their reverence, their faith is real, and not feigned. They don’t give lip-service to their faith. They don’t say one thing and act one way around the assembly and talk and act differently at other times, when they are around unbelievers, etc. Double-tongued is the same as being two-faced. A hypocrite. No place for that in the body, and especially not in those who are placed in positions of servant leadership.
-Not paying attention to much wine. This is not a prohibition per se - it is about control. There are things in life to which we give our attention, they get our attention more easily than other things. Sometimes they manage to keep our attention - and when taken to an extreme they control us. They change the way we live and relate to those around us. This is particularly true of wine (alcohol). It not only gains control of your faculties when you drink too much of it, but it can gain control of your life. You can become physically and mentally dependent on it. You feel you need it in order to relax or numb the pain or forget or for it to do whatever you feel you need it to do. There are certainly other earthly things to which we can and do pay attention and devote ourselves, and when taken to extremes those pastimes can indeed become time-wasting-times, distractions and unhealthy addictions. But wine (alcohol) is one of those things which if/when it gains control can have serious and even deadly consequences for the one who is controlled by it as well as for those around them. And since we’re talking about benefiting those around us, thus we have the imperative that those who would be put in charge of serving the church of Christ must be depending on and controlled not by wine but by His Spirit (Ephesians 5.18). They are not winos at all - they know how to and do step up and step out to serve the body of Christ in the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
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