Growing Pains
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Acts: The Final Chapter • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 30:05
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· 370 viewsAs the Jerusalem church continues to grow it begins to encounter new problems - growing pains. What can we learn for church life today from how that first church responded?
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Introduce me
This morning we’re going to be talking and thinking about growing pains as we follow the very first church through another phase of growth. But before we get into that, we have to ask whether this is really relevant to us here in Scotland, two thousand years later. Thinking about all the churches in Scotland as a whole, growing pains really aren’t our problem - it’s shrinking pains! The church in Scotland isn’t growing - it’s shrinking - shrinking really, really fast. 50 years ago 50% of Scotland was in church on any Sunday morning. 17% in 1984. 7% in 2016. And that’s just church attendance, not life-changing faith.
So we’re going to talk about growing pains? Really? is this at all relevant? Well, in the middle of a wider picture of decline for much of the church in Scotland, Hope City is a bit of an anomaly in that we are growing as a church - we’re not the only ones by any means, but it is at least unusual in the bigger picture. I don’t mean to blow our own trumpet - it’s God who adds to the church. And I’m certainly not ready to sit back and coast. Our focus is winning as many as possible, multiplying disciples. But it is exciting and somewhat unusual to see the sort of progress we’ve seen as a church.
We’re just three years old this Easter - I know we didn’t have much of a party but it is something worth celebrating: there were 36 adults formally committed to Hope City at our launch - now we have 69 formally connected. We’ve seen the team grow considerably. We’ve gone from a borrowed room to a hotel conference room to our own building to a screen back to a digital hybrid. And though attendance is hard to figure accurately right now, it looks like we’ve grown even through this difficult lockdown year.
But here’s the thing: growth for us, just like for that first church, brings with it growing pains. So let’s take a look at this week’s passage and see what we can learn from it.
Last time we were in Acts, we saw the apostles arrested for teaching about Jesus, threatened and flogged - but ultimately released. Next thing you know, they’re right back at it: boldly speaking about Jesus and the events of that first Easter - events which were still fresh for them.
As we turn the page into the next chapter, we see the impact this message of hope is having: the number of disciples is growing. Already we knew there were hundreds, then thousands of new followers of Jesus - now there are even more - and growth, like it so often does, brings with it growing pains. Let’s hear the story - El is reading for us this morning - Acts chapter 6, verses 1-7
In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic 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 and sisters, 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. So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
Healthy things grow - it’s wired into living things: plants; people; waistlines in lockdown; healthy organisations grow too - it’s as if they, too, are living things: businesses; groups; churches - healthy things grow. But growth often brings challenges with it.
A few chapters back, there were only 120 people in that first church, they could all just about squeeze into one room. Probably everyone knew everyone - they’d been through a lot together. They’d all know everything that was going on. They’d all feel a part of it. If anyone was in need, everyone would know - no one could be missed or overlooked.
Now when there are three thousand, five thousand, more even - well, there’s no room big enough, no voice loud enough, no way everyone can be connected to everyone in the same way. Things are more complicated than they were - even simple-seeming things get complicated when they get really large - I mean think about vaccinating ten people. That’s pretty easy: a syringe, a doctor, stab stab stab, we’re done. Now think about trying to vaccinate 60 million people - it’s a mammoth problem. At the bottom it’s still simple - stab stab stab - but there’s so much more complexity involved in figuring out how to do that with millions of people without producing earth’s biggest traffic jam or just taking forever.
So, often growth means ways of doing things, ways which were working just fine, begin to break down. And these breakdowns have the potential to take down whole organisations which refuse to adapt - or at least to slow their growth, and ultimately put a lid on it. Think about the danger here for this new church: rising tensions between the Greek-speaking and Hebrew-speaking groups, these Hellenist and Hebraic Jews - think how that so easily could have lead to division, hostility, and an end to the amazing unity and care which we’ve looked at a bunch of times over these past weeks.
Healthy things grow, and growing pains are normal - but growth demands change.
Tim Keller, a bigwig Christian leader in NewYork, wrote about growth stages a church goes through, highlighting the new challenges that come with each step up in size. Here’s one example: there’s something lovely about everyone knowing everyone at church - but because humans have a limited capacity for relational connections, there’s a size where that’s no longer possible - everyone just can’t know everyone anymore. I think we’re right about there just now and there’s a sadness to this - it feels like we’re losing something, some of the intimacy and connection we had as a smaller group. Things which used to just work because everyone knew everyone will break down - it’s easier to accidentally leave people out, or to feel like you’re the outsider. It becomes impossible to keep up with everyone’s news.
What do we do about something like that? We have to change if we’re going to grow. Keller talks about people beginning to find their relational networks through small groups and serving teams instead of just in the main gathering - exactly why we’re so keen on encouraging you all to join us for our small group gatherings on Sunday evenings - 5pm on zoom by the way! - or to join in serving somewhere in the life of the church. I’m not saying we have it all sorted by the way - there’s loads of room for improvement, but we’re trying to respond to some of these growing pains.
And that’s what this first church is doing here. It looks like the old relational networks and informal processes, or the old systems which depended on the apostles being able to get round everyone, are breaking down. One group, the Greek-speaking contingent, are feeling excluded and overlooked - one theory is they’re people who joined the church from the international crowd assembled at Pentecost and so they’re less connected. Another theory is there just weren’t many relational connections between the majority Hebraic Jews and this minority group - so they got overlooked more easily.
Either way, things are breaking down. I know I said a few weeks back this looked like racism, but as I’ve thought about it here, particularly looking at the way the apostles responded, I think that’s unlikely. Because if it was racism, you’d see a teaching response, a challenge to live our our new family identity through Jesus, rather than the practical response we get. I think it’s just the old system not working at the new size. Growing pains.
Before we look at their response, the fix, I want us to notice a bunch of other routes out of this problem which the apostles didn’t take - because there are things to learn here:
First up, notice with me that care for the church family is a non-negotiable priority. We rightly place emphasis on what’s called here “the ministry of the word”, that is, serving the message of new life which comes through the Easter story, working to see it advance and spread. It wouldn’t be appropriate for the apostles to neglect this - they had a particular role to play as Jesus’ specially selected witnesses to his life, and especially to that first Easter.
But the solution to this growing challenge of looking after the needy within the church wasn’t just to give it up, to decide that, yeah it had been nice to see that new community of care and love flourish, and it was a shame - but we can’t manage it all, and something’s got to go. The solution wasn’t deciding the only thing that really mattered was the ministry of the word.
Care for the church family is a non-negotiable priority - even though it gets harder as the church grows, even if it’s challenged by diversity within the church. So where we’re tempted to make an either/or decision, either we do this, or we do that, here the right answer was both/and. Now there are things churches get tied up in doing which aren’t fundamental priorities - things which turn into burdens and distractions. I’m not saying churches have to do everything - but it is clear from this passage that there are priorities which are non-negotiable for the church, and caring for one another is one of them.
Let me give you another door out which the apostles didn’t take, another one which has something to show us: You could have solved this problem of growth, of scale, by saying “you know, it’s been nice to be one big happy family, but the megachurch days are over and time has come for us to go our separate ways. Churches shouldn’t grow beyond relationships.” The apostles could have split the church 12 ways into smaller, simpler churches where, perhaps, more organic care responses would have seen everyone looked after - where we didn’t have to overcome this challenge of scaling up with structure and systems. Or even further, down into household sized churches where everyone could know everyone and things could be a simple and as organic as possible.
But that’s not their response. It’s true that smaller churches are simpler and more relational - they have their own strengths - but If you wanted to argue smaller churches are fundamentally better churches, that it’s God’s plan and pattern for each church to stay small, this passage is a bit of a problem. ‘Cause that’s not the way the cookie crumbles.
Here’s another way the apostles could have gone at it: if the difficulty is a lack of connection between the Helenist and Hebraic sides of the church, the tensions between them always just below the surface and quick to emerge anytime there’s even a little friction, then the apostles could have just split things along ethnic or cultural lines and solved the problem.
But no - the complexity of a diverse and integrated church with all the tensions and challenges that brings, is something they choose over breaking the church into “silos” where people talk the same way, think the same way, sing the same way. Diversity is part of God’s plan for the church, part of the beauty of the church - even though it’s difficult - like when we don’t sing just the kind of songs you like, or do things in just the kind of way you like. When you feel that friction, that rub, remember it is God’s plan - and it’s worth it because of the greater beauty and richness of a diverse church.
So through these paths not taken we’ve seen there are multiple non-negotiable priorities. Care is not just an optional extra. And we’ve seen there’s no fundamental problem with a larger church; it is more complex, but that’s not necessarily bad. And we’ve seen that diversity is worth keeping, even though splitting off into our own silos might make life smoother.
But what of the path the apostles did take? What does that show us? People build a whole lot on this short passage and I want to take a moment to explore some of that.
If you’ve been around church, perhaps you’ll have heard of the title “deacon” before, as an office or a role within the church. It comes from the Greek word “diakonos” which means servant, agent or assistant. It’s specifically mentioned as a church role just a few times in the bible - 1 Timothy 3 is the only extended discussion and that’s focused on qualities to look for in someone rather than what they actually do. As a result, this passage here in Acts is often used to define the role of deacon, and often that’s understood as taking care of practical things so others can take care of spiritual things. So in lots of churches you might find a deacon responsible for upkeep of the building or the like to free others up for bible teaching or pastoral care.
Two reasons not to draw those conclusions from this passage:
First, although that Greek word shows up here, it’s not as a formal title, not in a way that helps us confidently figure out what the office or role might be. It’s used to describe both the work of serving tables - distributing food or money, the work that’s handed onto these 7 - and the work of serving the word, the role the apostles retain. If you track that word and its relations around the bible, you’ll find the apostle Paul often describe his role or his work this way. It’s not clear these were deacons.
Second, if this passage defines the role of deacon, and that’s limited to practical things as opposed to spiritual things, it’s decidedly odd that what follows immediately on from this reorg are the stories of Stephen and Phillip, two of these 7 appointed here, who are doing decidedly spiritual things like working miracles, debating theology, preaching about Jesus, and casting out demons. That’s hardly fixing the roof.
Much though we would like it, the bible doesn’t give us a detailed church operations manual. There are a few things which are clearly laid out for us, patterns which we see in church after church. But there’s a lot of variety in these earliest churches too. If God had meant to give us a “franchise manual,” to be followed precisely - you know, the sort of detailed playbook you get when you start a chain restaurant or the like, we’d have that - but we don’t.
Deacons are never specifically mentioned in this Jerusalem church - we hear of elders receiving financial aid for the church in chapter 11, and elders leading the church alongside the apostles in chapter 15. Perhaps the survivors of these seven in time became those elders? There are “other leaders” specifically mentioned outside of the apostles and elders - but there’s no Jerusalem deacons mentioned.
So I think we’re probably overshooting if we draw many conclusions about “right” or “biblical” organisation within the church from this passage. We see the church needs to hold on to multiple priorities, priorities which are often competing. We see it’s ok to grapple with growing pains, we’re not just to avoid them. We see, when the apostles are beyond what they can manage themselves, that they enlarge the circle and bring others into leadership. And we’ll see these other leaders grow beyond just serving at tables.
And I guess most importantly, we should see that this reorg, this expansion of leadership, enables the church to break through the growth barrier, to overcome these growing pains.
So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
Even the religious elite, the religious insiders from Judaism, are being drawn into this wonderful community.
Well, so what? What does this mean for us here at Hope City, two millennia later?
First, if you’re feeling growing pains, they’re real. If you’ve been around a while, do you feel the sadness of not knowing everyone and everything that’s going on? Do you even feel like you used to be on the inside but now you seem to be on the outside? Or if you’re newer, does everyone seems nice enough, but you can’t quite figure out how to get connected, how to find your place? Perhaps you are feeling the pain of parts of church life which don’t work as well as they used to now we’re bigger - or running into things which really ought to be solved problems in a church our size but instead are still clunky and broken? It’s all real.
I think perhaps I have felt our growing pains most acutely of all in these last few years - not that I’m looking for pity! But I really see and feel all the bits that are broken or just not working well as we grow - and I have had it rubbed in hard that I can’t manage it all, that it’s beyond me. Feels very Acts 6!
The solution isn’t to put on the brakes, give up on some of our core priorities, or break up the party. What we need is to do a bit of growing up - and to have grace with one another as we work our way through these growing pains.
We’re only three years old as a church which seems a bit young to be talking about growing up - but a bit over a year ago we added some additional structure to the church with what we called directors - not a bible word, but structure which has really helped us keep focus on more aspects of our mission as a church rather than being limited by just what I could manage to keep on top of myself. It begins to make it possible for us to focus on our gatherings and our mission, on caring for our church family and growing in our faith. It means we can say “both/and” to our priorities rather than collapsing into “either/or” thinking, where it seems we can only do one or the other.
A few months back we spoke about our plans for a next step, adding team leaders under our directors to continue to share out the load, and invite more of us to find a place to use our gifts and spread our wings within the church. That’s moving forward behind the scenes and we’ll start to put our first team leaders in place soon.
I’m sure we raised some eyebrows by using terms which feel more like they come from the workplace than from the bible, terms which might leave you feeling like we’re importing business thinking into what is in no way a business. But I think today’s passage really is an invitation to organise to keep the mission advancing, to draw more people into serving and leading as a church. And perhaps there’s an encouragement for us here too: that as we invite people to take on what might seem like small tasks - serving tables perhaps - stepping into that could be the path to bigger things - like it was for Stephen and Phillip.
Maybe you feel like you’d like to take a step forward this morning - or you see someone around you that you think should be invited to step up? Why not drop me a note - I’m matt@hopecityedinburgh.org and I’d love to hear from you. Maybe you’re right at the edge of Hope City, still exploring, and you’re intrigued to learn a bit more? We have something called NewHere just for you - no commitment, 45 minutes, a tour of what we’re about and how things work, and an opportunity to ask your questions - just sign up at hopecityedinburgh.org/events . Maybe you just need reassurance that what you’re feeling really is growing pains, not a sinking ship! In that case, celebrate that we’ve grown - even if it hurts! - and can I ask for patience and grace while we try and put things in order? We really do hope to grow past these pains!
Let’s pray together.