Also in Acts 6, we see another very vital role of deacons, which I think is often overlooked,

and that is protecting and promoting church unity.

Because the very crisis that the 7 in Act 6 were raised up to resolve was a crisis of unity. There was mistrust,

there was conflict brewing in that congregation, and the deacons or the seven are deputized

in order to solve that problem, which was threatening to fracture the very unity for which Christ died to achieve.

And so I talk about deacons as shock absorbers in the life of a congregation.

Your deacons should not be your most contentious members.

Your deacons should be those who relieve conflict, not accelerate it.

Welcome to the Crossway podcast, a show where we sit down with authors each week

for thoughtful interviews about the Bible,

theology, church history, and the Christian life.

I'm Matt Tully, and today I'm talking with Matt Smethurst.

Matt serves as managing editor of the Gospel Coalition, and is currently in the process of

planting River City Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia.

He's also the author of Deacons, How They Serve and Strengthen the Church from Crossway. Today, Matt and I discuss the important role that deacons model servants should play in the life of a local church.

He walks us through the biblical basis for viewing the

deaconate as a formal office. He explains the proper relationship between deacons and

a church's pastors and elders. And he answers the often asked question, can women be deacons too?

Let's get started. Matt, thank you so much for joining me on the Crossway podcast.

Thanks for having me. Glad to be here.

So you open your new book with a sentence that puts two words together that I don't think I've ever heard put together before in a single sentence.

You write, the Nazis, it turns out, did not like deacons,

...