In my 45 years of life as a pastor, I often encourage brothers and sisters to fulfill their civic duties. As Christians living in this world under the grace of God, we should also care about what’s going on in the world. I am not one who is particularly keen on politics, but I want to have some idea about current political developments. I spent some time watching the recent presidential debate between the Democratic and Republican candidates. After the debate, huge numbers of comments came from all directions. I didn’t have a sense of who will win the race, but I could sense that both candidates were working hard that night to tell the American people: “I can do a better job than my opponent.”
Last Sunday, the general membership meeting of our church was successfully concluded and a list of the new deacons for the next term was announced. Thank the Lord, no matter whether they are newly elected or incumbent, we will have a group of deacons serving the church with their gifts at each campus.
ECC’s general guidelines for the selection of deacons are based on 1 Timothy 3. When the early church was first established, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, the apostles elected seven deacons to manage the meals. The criterion they put forward was: “who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom” (Acts 6:3). Such criterion may make today’s pastors and elders feel a little nervous. In fact, among these seven deacons, Stephen, “a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8). He later became the first martyr for the Lord in church history. Another deacon, Philip, later became an evangelist. Having said that, the question is whether the standards for serving in ministry is too high and daunting. In Matthew 25, Jesus told the parable of three servants and how they served their master with their talents. In the parable, we learned that God only praised those showing goodness and faithfulness. Goodness is our basic mental attitude as Christians; faithfulness to the Lord is the way in which we should do our work. No matter whether one is the president of a country serving his/her people, or an employee working for an employer, only serving faithfully can s/he please those whom s/he serves. The same is true for Christians before God.
We should all pray earnestly for the deacons and co-workers of the church, hoping that they will all share the same attitude and dedication: “I will strive to do a better job in my service.” I am convinced that we have a group of co-workers who will not only work hard to meet the expectations of pastors and elders, but will also have the right attitude to serve God in His mission.
On the other hand, it is not enough just to do things well for people. Thank the Lord, God has been gracious to our church and He gives us many gifted brothers and sisters who have strong abilities in various fields to do good works. We must always be reminded that it is God whom we are serving. Otherwise, we could become biased, insistent on our own opinions, discouraged, or lose our heart in service. It is my hope that fellow deacons will always remember our original intention is to serve God.
(Translated  by Bob Tang)