Were the Men Selected in Acts 6 Deacons?
Although many Christians consider the men in Acts 6 to be the first deacons, there is evidence to the contrary. This chapter is simply recording the beginnings of church leadership. These men were all the organization the church needed at that time. Later Paul divided church leadership into three distinct offices: elders, deacons, and deaconesses (1 Tim. 3). The ministries of Stephen and Philip, two of the men selected in Acts 6, went far beyond that of a deacon. Philip was an evangelist (Acts 8:26; 21:8). Stephen, although never referred to as an evangelist, ministered as an evangelist (Acts 6:8[en]7:60). Their ministries are closer to those of an elder than of a deacon. Neither Acts 6 nor any other passages ever call those men deacons. So God used those seven men to accommodate a specific need in the early church. Perhaps seven were selected because that was apparently the number of persons appointed to transact business publicly in Jewish towns. III. THE ROSTER OF THOSE SELECTED (v.
