Imagine being in a church where every Sunday thousands of new people came through the doors. We would certainly rejoice that so many were coming to Christ, right? But I’m guessing that most every church would struggle to meet the needs of all these people. They would have to find a way to accommodate the masses... both space-wise and leaders. This is what was happening in the early days of the church. Thousands were joining almost daily. And for all these people, there were twelve apostles leading them. We cannot imagine the pressure, right? And then the problems began. In Acts 6, we learn of a major problem – discord between the Hebrew Jews and the Greek Jews. And it was growing.
So, the leaders had to quickly find a solution. After meeting together, they decided to choose seven men to help get this problem quickly under wraps. But they didn’t just choose any, they put together a list of qualifications that each of these men needed to meet. Out of the seven, one seemed to stand heads taller than the rest: Stephen. I want to hone in today on the qualifications that these men needed to meet and qualifications that Stephen possessed… qualifications needed for leadership. I’m going to list them (this isn’t an exhaustive list) because I believe every believer should walk this way and every church should look for these qualifications when selecting leaders, especially teachers.
Well-respected! These are people who walk with the highest integrity, always trying to do what’s right. People in the church and in their circle speak highly of them. They treat everyone with respect and they are the same person in their home as they are in public. They don’t gossip, argue, judge, or cause discord. They treat everyone fairly. People only have good words to say about them.
Full of the Spirit and wisdom! Wisdom is a gift and a treasure. Wisdom is a by-product of walking by the Spirit. Wisdom is needed more in the church. Wisdom is not just knowledge. I heard it said like this… knowledge is knowing how to use a gun. Wisdom is the ability to know when to use the gun and when to holster it. How much stronger the church would be if the people of God walked in wisdom. The Spirit of God is the source of wisdom.
James tells us that if we lack wisdom, all we have to do is ask and God will give it to us generously (James 1:5). But when we ask, we need to make sure that we are asking in faith and not wavering. In other words, when we ask for wisdom, we must not waver between God’s will and our will. We must want God’s will above everything.
Full of faith! These are the people who trust God in everything. They pray before acting. They follow God even if they don’t know where they’re going. They trust rather than fret. They know that God has a plan and they have submitted to His plan rather than their own desires.
Of course, there is much more I could say about these qualifications and what we learn about these seven men, especially Stephen. These are the things the church should look for when choosing people to lead. And these are the things we should strive for. They won’t be perfect in us, but they will be growing in us. These things make the church stronger. Let this encourage you today.