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Date Posted: 14:12:24 10/27/04 Wed
Author: Chris
Subject: Example from Acts 6
In reply to:
Brother in Christ
's message, "Re: New thread on doctrine" on 09:23:05 10/25/04 Mon
Here is a well-known passage from Acts 6:1-6:
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. 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. 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 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
First, the passage teaches that, as a matter of course it was considered a scope of duties of the church to care for the widows, i.e. charity was considered as an important task of the church. This is not question in this passage. The only problem was that the twelve apostles were burdened with too many organisatorial things, and thus could not concentrate to prayer and teaching what they had learned from Jesus, which was their main responsibility. At that time there was no written New Testament, so it was of utmost importance that the twelve apostles payed attention to the ministry of the word. On the other hand, they saw that the church also had resposibilty for charity issues. The solution was not to neglect this charity aspect, but to turn over this responsibility, to have a division of labor. The work of charity, including all financial issues was handed over to other people who were trustworthy, but were not needed so urgently for the ministry of the word, because they had not been so close to Jesus and his teachings. You can also say that they split the duties between “elders” (the Twelve) and “deacons” (the Seven). At the same time, it was a separation of offices. It is not good that those whose task it is to teach and to preach are the same who care for organisatorial and financial issues. Not only because they will have more time, but also because of the temptation for the leaders to become like power mongers or businessmen. Another important thing that we can learn from this passage is that the apostles did not simply make a decision on their own, despite of the enormous authority they had. No, they made a proposal, presented it to the whole group, and only when the whole group agreed, it was accepted. Also, the seven deacons were not chosen by the apostles, but by the group, who preented them to the apostles. It was an amazingly democratic process, much different from the authoritarism excerted in groups like UBF.
Oh, and there is another aspect you can learn from Acts 6, namely how church leaders should respond to complaints and criticism in the church which was the starting point here in verse 1. Probably the apostles had tried their best to care for all widows similarly. They used the money which had been laid down to their feets. The money was used immediately for those who were in need, it was not piled up over decades in hidden bank accounts, as it happened in UBF. Acts 4 says, They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Of course, they tried to distribute the money as fair and just as possible. So, perhaps this complaint in Acts 6:1 was groundless and unjust. But nevertheless, the apostles took that criticism seriously and tried to change something. Probably they also felt that it was simply not good for them as apostles to handle so much money. So they delegated all financial issues to others, a wise decision. The apostles were responsive to criticism and they turned over responsibility or organisatorial and financial issues to others, something I haven’t seen in UBF.
Now take any UBF message on Acts 6:1-6. You will see the typical “selective” UBF Bible study. They pick those aspects they like (the apostles chose to care for the ministry of the word, instead of charity issues), and they suppress the other aspects which do not fit into their ideology (the apostles were very concerned about charity issues and delegated that work to other reputable Christians, they involved the whole church in a democratic process, they established had a separation of offices).
I will quote from London UBF 2001’ Acts Study, 21 July 2002, Lecture 4:
III. The apostles paid attention to prayer and the ministry of the word
Look at verse 1. As the ministry grew, a problem arose. The Grecian Jews complained about the Hebraic Jews and how their widows were being overlooked in the food distribution. It was a sensitive issue because widows had to be cared for and the Grecian Jews could have felt inferior to the Hebraic Jews because they did not live in Israel. The devil would certainly use people’s grumbling to split the early church. The apostles reached their limit in looking after the matters of the church. They needed a new direction. What was their decision? Look at verses 2-4.
The decision of the apostles had two meanings. First, they put prayer and the ministry of word as their first priority. The decision of the apostles had an important implication. They put soul saving through prayer and the word as of first importance. The apostles could have taken other things as their main work. But they clearly set up their spiritual direction by devoting themselves to prayer and the word of God. We can see a similar example from Jesus. In Mark chapter l, Jesus became very popular among people and he was in demand to heal the sick and help the poor. But Jesus made his mission clear. Jesus said, "Let us go somewhere else-- to the nearby villages --so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." (Mk 1:38) When God’s ministry grows, many demands in many areas arise because believers need practical support. One cannot simply ignore these practical issues. But when leaders pay to much attention to these matters, they are in danger of becoming too involved. Then they cannot pay attention to prayer and the word. This is another form of Satan’s attack to the church. In history many churches were defeated by this subtle attack of the devil and they loose their main focus – to preach the gospel. Gradually many churches lost the gospel spirit and became humanistic.
Second, they decided to solve the problem through prayer and the word. The apostles did not think the problem was just a problem of food. The root problem was that the believers lacked prayer and the word of God. Giving more food to the people never solves the problem. This kind of matter always causes problems. People's complaining comes from their spiritual thirst. This applies to us as well. Improving one's human condition can never be a solution. When we repent of our sins and become humble by the grace of Jesus, we can overcome most of our problems. This is why when we have a problem we must pray and study the word of God all the more.
When the apostles decided to pay attention to prayer and the ministry of the word of God, the church grew. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a great number of priests became obedient to the faith. The work of God was so powerful that even many of the priests repented and believed in Jesus.
You see clearly how all other aspects of the teachings are completely suppressed.
The message does not even contain the word “charity.” It is a “non-word” in UBF, though, as Mike recently quoted from James, Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. This teaching and all the other aspects I talked about are completely suppressed. The word “deacon” is not mentioned either. It is another “non-word” in UBF. Everybody has to be a shepherd (which is the same as an elder in the Bible), but nobody a deacon.
Please also note how even this one aspect only contradicts UBF practice: “But when leaders pay to much attention to these matters, they are in danger of becoming too involved. Then they cannot pay attention to prayer and the word.” What about UBF leaders who care for arranged marriages, buying real estate and many things different from “prayer and the word.”
The problem is not only that UBF’s doctrine is wrong, one-sided or uncomplete. The problem is that UBF does not even practice their own settings of doctrine. As Steven Hassan says in his Book “Releasing the Bonds,” “cults often say one thing and then practice something else.” This is the case for UBF as well. Therefore it is not enough to simply look at UBF messages if you want to show the full extent of UBF’s deviation from the Bibly.
In conclusion, I want to compare with Bible commentaries, again. Matthew Henry summarises Acts 6:1-6:
In this chapter we have, I. The discontent that was among the disciples about the distribution of the public charity (Act 6:1). II. The election and ordination of seven men, who should take care of that matter, and ease the apostles of the burden (Act 6:2-6).
Clarke’s commentary summarises:
The Hellenistic Jews complain against the Hebrews, that their widows were neglected in the daily ministration, 1. To remedy the evil complained of, the apostles appoint seven deacons to superintend the temporal affairs of the Church,
Please compare this with Mr. Yoon’s summary of the passage “The apostles paid attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
You can read as much commentaries on Acts 6 as you like (here is another one), they are all very different from UBF’s teaching.
This was only one of many examples that show how UBF reads the Bible through a kind of colored glasses, filtering out everything that does not fit into UBF’s ideology and distorting even the rest of the colors of the Bible.
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