In Acts 6 the apostles encountered a problem related to language and race. They exercised their wisdom to solve the problem and to take care of all the different saints.
Acts 6:2 says, “And the twelve, having called the multitude of the disciples to them, said, It is not fitting for us to leave the word of God to serve tables.” Here we see that in the church life some things are major and others are minor. To minister the word and pray are major matters, but to serve tables is a minor matter.
In verses 3 and 4 the apostles went on to say, “Now brothers, select seven well-attested men from among you, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we shall appoint over this need. But we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word.” The Greek word for “full” in verse 3 is pleres, an adjective form of pleroo, according to the usage here and in 6:5; 7:55; 11:24; and Luke 4:1. Full of the Spirit is one’s condition after being filled with the Spirit inwardly and essentially, as mentioned in 13:52. This refers to life, not to work. The word “wisdom” in 6:3 also indicates that in this verse to be full of the Spirit is for life, as in Luke 2:52.
In verse 4 the apostles said that they would continue in prayer and in the ministry of the word. To pray is not only to entreat the Lord to do things for His move, but also to cause our spirit to be exercised and to be strengthened. Hence, prayer should precede the word just as the apostles practiced. Without such prayer, the ministry may not be enlivened and empowered.
The apostles told the multitude to select seven well-attested men from among them to be appointed over the need. Verses 5 and 6 say, “And the word pleased all the multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch, whom they set before the apostles; and having prayed, they laid their hands on them.” Since these seven were chosen to serve tables, they may be considered deacons, just as those whom Paul and his co-workers appointed later in the churches (Rom. 16:1; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:8).
According to verse 6 the apostles laid their hands on the seven serving ones. In the Bible laying on of hands has two functions: one for identification, as in Leviticus 1:4; and the other for impartation, as in 1 Timothy 4:14.
Because Peter and the other apostles bore the responsibility of ministering the word, they distributed the serving of tables to other saints. This is a pattern we need to follow today. According to this pattern, we should not keep all the responsibilities on our own shoulders, but distribute the responsibilities to all the saints. This is an important principle. We have learned much from the pattern in Acts, and we have been following this pattern in the church life for more than fifty years.
Allow me to testify concerning my experience of distributing responsibilities to others. Some may think that I am capable and able to do many things. Actually, I am not unusually capable. However, I have learned to distribute responsibility to other saints. For example, the Lord blessed the work in Chefoo. When it was time for me to leave that city, it was very easy to do so. There was no need to talk to the brothers about the work, the church service, and other things, because I had learned not to keep matters in my hands. For years, the things concerning the church and the work had been distributed to the saints, and they were bearing the responsibility for these things. Therefore, when the time came for me to leave, I simply left.
I had a similar experience in the church in Shanghai. Some had the concept that many things related to the church were in my hands. Actually, that was not the situation at all. When I received word from Brother Nee that I should leave Mainland China, I left within a couple of days. The things in the church had been distributed to the brothers.
This has also been my practice in the church life in this country. If you inquire of the brothers who know the history among us, they will be able to tell you that I have not kept the matters of the church to myself. Once again, I have had the practice of distributing the responsibility to others. For this reason, there are many things concerning the local churches that I do not know. If you ask me about these things, I would refer you to the elders or to the church service office. My point here is that by the Lord’s mercy we have learned to distribute responsibility to others.
According to our human nature, we either do not care at all to do certain things, or we want to do those things in such a way that all the matters related to them are in our “pocket.” At first, our pocket may be “flat.” But eventually it will become filled with things that we reserved for ourselves. Therefore, I would emphasize the need for us to learn to distribute responsibility to others. First, we may give a responsibility to a certain brother. Then we shall give a different responsibility to another brother. This distribution of responsibility is needed for the spread of the Lord’s testimony.
To those who think that I am especially capable and have carried on a great work throughout the world I would say this: “Please do not think that I am so capable. I have only done a little. You need to give credit to all the saints, who have done many things and carried much responsibility. I have only done my portion.” Like the apostles in Acts, may we all learn to do our portion and to distribute the responsibility for other things to all the saints.
We need to see that whatever is recorded in Acts is a pattern for us to follow. In the initiation of the church life we have the pattern of distributing responsibilities to others. The appointing of the seven serving ones to care for the particular need is a very good pattern, and we need to follow it in the church life today.