Is there a difference in the Bible between deacons and elders?

Is there a distinction in their spiritual requirements and functions? Is one role more important than the other?

Can a church have one without the other?

Alistair Begg provides answers to these questions today on Truth For Life.

He's continuing our study in 1 Timothy.

1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 8 is where we resume our studies here in this portion of Scripture as we're looking at the nature of the church as Paul provides Timothy with instruction concerning how things are to be conducted within the household of God.

We discover a twofold pattern for the official ministry of the church.

One group, the elders, the Episcopoi are responsible for the oversight and care of the church and this other group, the Diacanoi are responsible for the service elements that emerge from the elders jurisdiction.

This is something that we find developing in the New Testament and the emphasis on this twofold aspect is not as often as we might have anticipated.

I think this is largely due to the fact that the great concern, which is an understandable concern on the part of the Apostles, was simply that the right kind of leadership, rule, care, oversight and instruction would be present amongst the companies of God's people as they were established.

But we do have hints of this twofold dimension. For example, in the greeting that Paul gives to the church at Philippi when he writes to them, he writes there to all the saints that are in Christ Jesus, namely all the members of the church, along or together with the overseers and the deacons.

And what I want to do this morning is consider this with you. And I'd like to ask and seek to answer four straightforward questions.

First question is simply this, what is the relationship between elders and deacons? The answer to that will not be a new one to those of us who've been around for a while.

It will simply reinforce things we know. But for some of us who may never have thought this through, you may want to note this and consider it at your leisure.

Well, first of all, we notice that elders and pastors are given to the church for the spiritual direction, the rule, care and teaching of God's people.

That in the purpose of God, some are responsible for the leadership of others, while all are responsible to the leadership of Christ through His Word.

And so elders are set to the task of ruling, caring, shepherding, providing direction and instruction.

Deacons are those to whom specific tasks of service are assigned. And indeed the word, the verb, diacana, is there in the scriptures, not always translated in the official way as a deacon, but often simply translated as a servant.

Because the role of a deacon is simply that which their name connotes, namely the role of service.

Now the early division in the church is seen, as I said to you in a number of areas. Interestingly, the pattern, although not the designation of the initial deacons I don't think, is provided for as in Acts chapter 6,

where in a familiar passage, if you turn to it, you will see it before you. In Acts chapter 6, there was a pressing and practical need for the apostles to make sure that they did not give up the primary task which was theirs, namely to give themselves to prayer and the preaching of the Word of God.

And so in order to deal with the practical matters which were before them, and primarily as it had to do with the distribution of food to various widows in the burgeoning church, then these seven men were set apart to this responsibility.

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