Corona Devo 771

In the earliest days of the very first "church", people were ignited to follow Jesus whole-heartedly. People were excited to spread the good and life-changing news of Jesus Christ to others. And...people were people..."But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent." (Acts 6:1).

Can I get an "Amen"?

I can recall members in one of my past church congregations leaving the church because of disagreements over the color of carpet being purchased for the sanctuary. You are only in disbelief of such a thing happening if you have never served on the "insides" of a church (or any team).

Anyone who has been a part of a church/business/team/group/or family can attest that even when good things are happening, and in the midst of positive progression (as the believers rapidly multiplied) there is somehow always the disintegration of unity too (there were rumblings of discontent), and we must be on our guard to wisely combat the rumblings of discontent.

Dissension is a part of our sinful nature, but how we deal with rumblings of discontent within ourselves/our churches/our businesses/our schools/our families will determine the success of their efforts and of our crusades for Christ.

God's Word gives overarching ideas in directing how we should deal with others (Love thy neighbor... ~Matthew 22:39), but the Bible gets specific sometimes too. 

The "details" of our group disagreements or rumblings of discontent will vary, but we can heed the wisdom of our earliest church leaders in dealing" with the discontent, and we too can use their methods to restore health and unity (for the glory of God) to our groups/churches/families too.

But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food.

(2) So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. (3) And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. (4) Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.” ~Acts 6:1-6

The Bible really is a How-To Manual in so many ways. We can't miss the Fortune 500 business savvy that the Twelve applied to "solving" the internal discontent issue facing them and their "church".

First, they realized and blatantly reminded the believers that those who have been gifted to publicly share the word-of-God should remain free and untethered by other responsibilities that may deter them from this first (and most important) cause.

Explaining God's Word to others is an intimidating, stressful, and large responsibility and burden---most of us don't want this "call" on our shoulders and would be shaking in our boots if it was. And so we should get out of the way of those that have answered that call and feel led to teach and preach the Bible. They have enough going on without our rumblings of discontent, and they needn't be bothered with running a food program, choosing carpet colors or fielding complaints about which songs were sung Sunday morning.

But wise leaders do just throw up their hands and say, "It's not my job", they seek solutions and problem solvers, which is just what the Twelve did.

So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. ~Acts 6:2

This is two thousand years ago, and yet these disciples are exercising text-book business and team-building practices! First of all, they called a meeting of all the believers. Not just the wealthy believers, not just the educated believers, not just the most-involved believers, and not just the believers in the pastor's/bosses/coaches "inner circle"...but everyone. The Twelve included everyone so that everyone had a say and felt a part of the process--which is rule-number-one in gaining team buy-in for a decision and an outcome--and that is our rule-number-one for the family of believers as we make decisions together.

Then the Twelve delegated/trusted/shared the responsibility by allowing all the believers to select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3). In doing this, the believers felt ownership, involved, and they had a voice and a role in the decision. The believers would have then had buy-in and contentment with the leaders that were appointed and these are the very best conditions to establish unity and favorable outcomes for any group/team/effort. And these benefits are multiplied when we carry them out in the house of God or in our efforts to serve Him.

So, it should come as no surprise that Everyone liked this idea (Acts 6:1).

And while there is much satisfaction and accomplishment in completing a nomination and election process, there was one final business-ethics "test" for the Twelve to pass, and that was their "approval" on all that had transpired.

What more powerful and encouraging way for the "church leaders (the Twelve) to wrap up the "dealings" of this process, which began with rumblings of discontent and ended with church involvement and unified decisions, than for them to give their approval.

We are not told of any doubt/questioning/disapproval/lack-of-acceptance by the Twelve about the selected men--just acceptance (These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them. ~Acts 6:6), which showed their trust in their congregation's competence.

Trust and approval are powerful team builders in any organization. If we are given a task and we spend the time and effort to complete it to the best of our (and our groups) ability, then the icing on the cake is if our superior (boss/coach/teacher/parent) will accept and approve our efforts.

And the Twelve did.

The best test of a process are the results and outcomes it produces.  

How did the first church do?  Well, you and I are continued proof of that answer... 

So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.  ~Acts 6:7

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Today, if we are ignited to follow Jesus whole-heartedly but we are getting tripped up in rumblings of discontent, let's take some sound business practices from the Bible.

The goal of the very first believers is still our goal today: for God’s message to continue to spread and for the number of believers to greatly increase (Acts 6:7).

Let's figure out where we fit in the process and get to work...together!

Blessings,

Sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com