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The New Testament Deacon: The Church's Minister of Mercy

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Overall, this is a great biblical study dealing with all the passages which address deacons. Strauch stresses the importance of deacons and the need for biblically functioning deacons in any New Testament church. I recommend it for any pastor wanting to train deacons.

There are 3 criticisms that I have and anyone who uses the book should be aware of them.

1. Based on the Acts 6 passage, Strauch seems to limit the realm of the deacon to ministering to the poor and needy. It seems that the thrust of Acts 6 is the the deacons really ministered by taking some of the load off of the apostles--in this case it happened to involve ministry to the poor. In modern times, it might involve a whole range of issues that need to be done to free up the elders in a local church.

2. His decisions on when the term "deacon" ("servant") is technical or not seems to depend on preconcieved notions without much discussion.

3. His discussion of the possibility of women deacons seems weak. On one hand he stresses that deacons do not occupy positions of authority (which are reserved for elders) yet on the other seems to indicate that women should not be deacons since they indeed do have authority in the church.

Still, I think any evangelical pastor can use this work personally or in a group setting to much benefit.

This is a good book on the scriptual history and authority of the early church deacons. Through the example of scripture, this book lays out why the early church needed deacons. Be prepared to be challenged and to examine your self in light of the biblical qualifications of deaconship.

I have great respect for Alexander Strauch. His book "Biblical Eldership" has not only been tremendously influential in my own life and ministry, it has helped to bring solid, healthy, biblical leadership structure to churches all over the world. I believe "Biblical Eldership" has had--and is still having--an historically significant impact on the evangelical church. I expect it to be remembered as a classic work of pastoral theology.

But that's "Biblical Eldership;" I'm now reviewing "The New Testament Deacon." And, I have to admit, despite my admiration for Alexander Strauch as a leader and a biblical exegete, I'm somewhat disappointed with this book.

Now, there is much of value included here. Strauch rightly counters the idea that deacons are ruling executives or building and property managers. He stresses the need for pastoral elders to devote themselves to the priorities of their ministry without being drawn into needs that are real but distracting. He notes the need for effective organization in the church.

He also gives us much helpful background information specifically regarding deacons. Discussions of the Greek wording, how deacons relate to overseers/elders, the scriptural qualifications for deacons, etc. are all illuminating (though many will disagree with his views concerning female deacons). Most of his exegesis of Acts 6 is sound, although he interjects a distinction between ministry of "word" and "deed" that isn't really borne out by Scripture even considering the references he gives--certainly not enough to extrapolate the nature of church offices.

Practically everyone will agree that the office of deacon is normative for the church today. The problem is that Strauch goes to great length to define the specific, unvarying nature of this church office when Scripture decidedly does not. He does this on the basis of a single example from Acts 6. Is this conclusion warranted?

I agree with Strauch that this passage is likely showing the prototype for deacons. But we must tread carefully here because the text does not identify them as such. While we may agree that this passage shows an early example of deacons, some scholars do not, and there simply isn't enough in the text here to allow us to be dogmatic in our insistence that these men are deacons.

But even assuming that we could unquestionably establish that these are deacons in Acts 6, does this one example define the nature of their ministry? Ironically, on p. 43, Strauch cautions us that we are not to take this passage as a strict blueprint to be followed in every detail. He continues, "Thus a local church today has flexibility in how its deacons are chosen, how many are selected, and what they are specifically to do." I completely agree. But then he later notes, ". . . as long as the deacons minister to the congregation's welfare needs, they are doing their job." So apparently we're careful not to take Acts 6 as a strict blueprint except for the fact that--in this lone example--these leaders saw to the distribution of food.

It's clear from the rest of the book that Strauch sees this not as just one possible example of `deaconing,' but as the primary, scriptural duty of all deacons. Unfortunately, in many key places in his argument he relies on conjecture. Perhaps his conjecture is correct, but it is conjecture nonetheless, and not supported through clear exegesis of the text. Many other scholars have concluded that the biblical principle illustrated in Acts 6 is simply that whenever a ministry need would take the elders away from their pastoral duties, then it is appropriate and healthy to appoint other leaders to meet this ministry need. This view seems to be much more careful with the text, and doesn't go beyond what the Bible clearly teaches. This lack of definition need not be burdensome or confusing to deacons (or their elders); it actually frees churches to fill whatever non-elder ministry roles they have in their specific contexts. This will often include the care of the physical needs of the people, but also provides a model for the leadership of any church ministry that would tend to distract the elders from their primary pastoral ministry.

To so truncate the church office of deacon, based solely on one, single example from a narrative passage of Scripture, does not seem to be the soundest of hermeneutics. It's unfortunate that much of the content in the book rests on this conjecture and goes beyond what Scripture clearly teaches about deacons. While this book includes much of value and was written by an elder/pastor whom I highly respect, sadly, I cannot recommend it.

There are nine books about deacons on my bookshelf. This is the best of the bunch. Strauch starts at the right place--in the Book of Acts. He goes back to the foundations of the church and builds his arguments from there.

Upon this foundation, Strauch then goes on to discuss the calling and work of the deacon, how it differs from that of the elder, and what qualifies a man to serve.

Most of all, I appreciate his emphasis on mercy and service. Too often, deacons get wrapped up in the budget and the building--because those aren't as difficult as people.

But deacons are called to serve people: widows and orphans. We must love the forgotten and thereby reveal Christ's compassion to them in the midst of their hurting. This book will get your deaconate moving in that direction.

They answered my emails and kept me informed. I can tell they wanted me to be satisfied. It was exactly what I wanted. I am very satisfied.

Many churches are not using their deacons the way God intended them to. This book helps churches realize what deacons should be doing to begin with. Very practical. Easy to implement. A must for every deacon who wants to know what his job is supposed to be.

This book raises the office of deacon from some guys who just take care of the building to ministers of mercy. They are the ones who handle many of the tasks that keep the body of Christ ministering to one another.

As a candiadate to become a deacon, I went to scripture to help me understand what it means to be a deacon. In addition, I wanted to read some books written by ministers that had experience with deacons and their roles. This book was of great support in my search for additional knowledge. I highly recommend present and future deacons read this book.

Although I thought he could have saved a chapter or two by not rehashing some points he already made, I believe this is as close to the mark as you can get. I think it should be a "must read" for all churches - especially church planters. Get off on the right foot.

This book is a superb resource for researching the responsibilities of a Deacon. The author has fully research the topic and provides arguements for early and more contemporary teachings. All those who wish to grow and imporve their church ministies of mercy.