In the beginning of Acts 6, we find out that the widows of the community of Greek-speaking Jews are not receiving their daily distributions.  I have three thoughts from how this scene played out:

1) This hunger was a potential threat to the church’s testimony.

If true religion, as James notes (James 1:27), is to take care of the needs of the widow and the orphan, and the church isn’t even taking care of their own, that would be a stain.  There are many who read the “it is not right that we should give up teaching the Word of God to serve tables” part of this passage and then walk away from the tables, but the apostles did not do this.  They took up the injustice, gave it their time, and set the wheels of resolve in motion.  This may not seem ultra important living in the land of milk and honey, but here in Chad, the subjects of widows, orphans, neglect, and hunger is all over.

2) The appointed table servers were local believers.

This was obviously not a simple duty of bringing food to a table.  It involved listening to requests, discerning true needs, and properly apportioning the gifts of the church.  It would take quite a bit of wisdom and discernment.  So, who did they appoint?  Some of themselves, who knew Jesus’ teachings on these matters best?  The local Jews, who would be much more accustomed to the book of the Law and the ways of God in resolving such matters?  Nope, they recommended that the local group of followers “pick out from among you” and the names suggest that each one of these appointees were Hellenists.  They entrusted the young disciples to choose leaders, who would help resolve this matter.  This is helpful to note, so that when problems arise amongst Chadian believers, we don’t fall into the trap of thinking that we need to solve the problems (or that we’re even the best people for the job).  The Holy Spirit can lead young believers, just like He leads us or other believers.  Their cultural insights will also enable them to better understand all the complexities of a given situation.

A friend noted to me that the church was not simply encouraged to pick out the wealthy, or the oldest, or the most popular.  Rather, they were to look for those men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom…good guideline for all churches.

3) Feeding people may actually catapult the church forward.

If number one is true, and people going hungry might stain the church’s witness, then it makes sense that meeting one another’s needs so that no one is in want might actually be the means of launching the church forward and seeing many new believers added to its number.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence that immediately following this issue and resolution comes these words, “And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”  You want to see other religious leaders come to faith?  Let’s be faithful in administering to the everyday needs of our fellow man (especially the church) and who knows, maybe many of them will become “obedient to the faith”.

Maybe we’ll share some of the background at another time, but our family decided to set up some clay pots outside of our home for anyone passing by who is thirsty.  It has led to many interesting conversation with neighbors and others and we are hoping for many more.  Here is the water station: