Why do we have Deacons? We can answer that by illustration as we go back to Acts 6:1–15. Imagine that we had no diaconate in an official sense – there was no one ordained to the office of deacon. And yet, as there was no one ordained to the office, the needs in all of those categories (mercy, outreach, finance, property and hospitality) continue in the life of the church, whether there are deacons or not, and there will be people that have a heart for those things, whether they are in an office or not in an office. So imagine that our mercy fund was not overseen by the diaconate, but we just kept a basket in the little office by my study, and people can put money in the mercy fund as they see fit. You come to church and you give to the collection, and you think, Oh, we need more mercy money, and so you put $50 in the mercy fund. But there are no deacons, so as mercy needs arise, every one of you has to make a decision about what needs are to be met. So maybe one person says, I saw that so-and-so was needing some shoes. Their shoes are worn out. I am just going to go get $50 out of the basket and give it to that person. There is no way of prioritizing what mercy needs ought to be met first. What needs are pressing? What needs should take priority? If every person here is a decision maker as to how that fund is to be used, do you think that it would be used well? It might be, but chances are it wouldn't be, because there is no way of gauging what is the most pressing need.  …

So the reason that we have deacons is they are the ones that Jesus Christ has set apart to lead in these aspects of service. It is not like only they should do hospitality, but there are hospitality needs that have to be organized, and they are the ones to organize it. There are financial needs in the life of the church, and the deacons are the ones that Jesus has said, You organize that. The property management – You organize that. The mercy and how mercy is distributed – You organize that. And the deacons are not the ones that only do the work, but the ones who organize it so that all of us may participate in the ministry of the church. Jesus has given deacons so that we can have leadership in service.¹

Nathan Eshelman