Yes. You read the title correctly. Problems build the church. Certainly, in a fallen world this is not always true. But when properly sanctified, problems do indeed make the church stronger. When heresy and false teaching infiltrate the church, the church must rise up and defend the truth which only makes her witness more formidable. Those doctrines that are attacked move to the forefront and the Bible is searched in order to know truth more certainly.
At our church, I just completed a series on church officers; elders and deacons. Acts chapter six is the quintessential passage on problems strengthening the church. There were two problems that arose in that very young congregation that could have destroyed it. But rather, in God’s providence the church was greatly strengthened.
The first problem was God orchestrated. Now I know that some of you might believe that God never brings problem to His church nor to His people. We often forget that difficulties are God’s way of teaching us something. This God orchestrated problem was that the church had rapidly increased in number. We know what the Apostle Paul said about growth. He stated that some plant and water, but it is God who gives the increase. In Acts chapter six, God had increased the number of disciples.
The second problem was that there were two language groups represented in this fast growing church. There were the Greek speaking Jews and the Aramaic speaking Jews. The Greek speaking Jewish widows were being slighted in the daily distribution of food. So much was at stake in the life of the church. If human tendencies were to creep in there could be schism, hurt feelings, infighting, territorialism, and a whole host of problems that would lead to disunity and the mission of the church being harmed. So often, when faced with problems, we have a tendency to rush in and try to fix it rather than stepping back for a moment and seeing what God might be doing.
The Apostles stepped in because it was time for something that would strengthen Christ’s church down through the ages. What these men did was establish the office of deacon to oversee the benevolence ministry of the church. This was the way that God worked in and through this stressful situation the church faced. Just think for a moment if the church would have acted fleshly rather than prayerfully.
Here was the solution to the problem. The Apostles called a congregational meeting. Some of you call them business meetings. They instructed the congregation to choose seven men qualified and trusted to carry out the ministry of serving these widows in their need. The congregation chose seven men. Here is what is interesting about their choices and it is something that we should all learn. The seven men all had Greek names. That does not necessarily mean that these men were all Greek speaking Jews. But even the last man named, Nicolaus, was a Gentile from Antioch who had converted to Judaism at some point and was now a Christian.
The fact that they all had Greek names tells us something important about the early church. They were concerned with truth, unity, love, and mission. They were willing to avoid the temptation to divide along any earthly line and do what was best for the church, the people involved, and the mission. These two problems teach us something very valuable. God is always in the problems that come our way. When we seek the Lord in the midst of these problems, we find His grace, love, and power. The results of this action by the church is found in verse seven of Acts chapter six. The church continued to grow and it even made inroads into the place where they found much of their opposition; the temple and the priests. May the Lord sanctify the problems that come our way just as He did in the early church.
Pastor Joe Tolin
Kingman Presbyterian Church
