1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
Acts 6.1-4
Administration is one of those things that not everyone gets excited about. In fact, few do. The mental picture we have of the typical administrator is the red-tape loving bureaucrat who would have you fill forms in triplicate if he only needed duplicates. Tedious and tiresome, bureaucratic administrators figured in Kafka’s labyrinthine The Castle as an apt depiction of the meaninglessness and directionlessness of life.
Yet the Bible states that the Spirit gives gifts of administration to some of his children (1 Corinthians 12.28). In Acts 6, we have an early instance of just how important and dynamic (and un-bureaucratic) the Spirit’s gift of administration proved to be in the growing church community at Jerusalem.
The background to this Lucan narrative is interesting. Luke notes that the early church grew in numbers. Supposing (quite reasonably) that these early Christians were ethnic Jews with a few Gentile proselytes thrown in, the reference to Grecian Jews probably refers to the Jews of the Diaspora who had returned to live in Jerusalem. Given the distinction between “Grecian Jews” and “Hebraic Jews”, it is evident that these returnees were linguistically and culturally Greek in contrast to their Aramaic-speaking counterparts. Having returned to Jerusalem, these Greek-speaking Jews would have become Christians, and thus joined the Christian-Jewish community.
Why did they complain that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food? Many Jews of the Diaspora returned to Jerusalem to live out their twilight years. As the men died, they left behind widows who were needy and far away from family and friends. Widows in ancient Jewish society were among the most needy and dependent of persons. Scripture singles them out as objects of charity. These Grecian widows must have been of a sizable number, and their need for the daily distribution of food was such that without such acts of charity, they would starve.
In Judaism, there was a system of weekly food distribution to the poor and needy called quppah. This was money given out every Friday enough for 14 meals. In addition, there was a daily distribution of food and drink called the tamhuy, delivered from house to house where the needy dwelt. It was most probable that the Christian practice of distribution grew out of this Jewish practice.
The tension involving fair distribution of food may have been just one of other tensions and grievances between the Hellenistic Jews and the Hebraic Jews, given the difference in their language and culture. In any case, when the apostles heard of the matter, they were concerned to call the assembly of Christians together to resolve it (v. 2).
As the spiritual leaders and ultimately, administrators of the community, it was the duty of the apostles to find a solution. They did a few things right: they did not choose to ignore the issue, realizing the relation between legitimate spiritual and material concerns; they did not blame anyone; they did not act in a paternalistic fashion. Instead, they called the assembly of God together to participate in its resolution.
Verses 2 and 4 suggest the priorities of the Twelve: prayer and the ministry of the Word. To be directly involved in sorting out an administrative glitch of the sort they were facing would be distracting themselves from what was their primary duty and responsibility (v. 2). They proposed a solution: “choose seven men from among you” (v. 3). It was a Hellenistic problem involving the Greek-speaking arm of the church community. It could be best resolved by choosing seven administrators from among the people. These seven men would be familiar with the problems of the widows, and they would be able to see their way to resolving what, after all, began as an administrative problem. Further tension was defused. We know that because we do not encounter this problem again in the book of Acts. The assembly was involved and participated in the resolution of their own problems through the timely election of seven godly men.
The other criteria that were needed for these administrators were that they should be full of the Spirit and wisdom. Evidently, these two criteria referred to the guidance of the Spirit and the kind of practical skill in general administration and management of finances and funding. The Spirit’s gift of administration is certainly in view here.
As mentioned, this problem is never mentioned again in Acts. We may conclude that the selection and appointment of these seven gifted men did much to alleviate the situation and defuse unnecessary tension. We can read into scripture’s silence that their ministry must have been pretty effective! The apostles got back to preaching the Word and prayer, the Greek widows were fed … seven men gifted with the Spirit’s gift of administrative wisdom and know-how dealt efficiently with a potentially divisive problem that could have torn the early church apart …
The thing with good administration is that it is background and often invisible. The only time you notice it is when it is absent. Bad administration is, on the other hand, intrusive. But when administration is energized by the Spirit’s brilliance and his power, look how it works! Acts 6 tells a wonderful story of the church’s concern for unity and fellowship among its people. And the Spirit paved the way for such harmony through the execution and expression of a gift not many find desirable.
