Be Tender Toward the Needy

632 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 1Ti 3:8 Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, The first qualification to serve as a deacon (church helper) is reverence. The word stresses a tenderness of feeling. Given the original work of deacons mentioned in Acts 6, one can see why this quality is first on the list! Ac 6:1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. 2 Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. 3 "Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; This duty of distributing the offering would require a tenderness to all in true need. This tenderness would also come into play in the caring of the sick and in-firmed! In the church of today, these kind of deacons are still needed. In many cases churches have become big businesses with multi-million dollar budgets, and huge building programs that often require taking on huge amounts of debt. The cost of operating a church today can come at the expense of helping the poor, and can even curtail the sending out of missionaries. Now I want to be careful here. I do not wish to speak evil of the so-called mega churches. No church is evil that stands on and preaches the Word of God! But I do want to say that in the midst of all these high cost operations, room must still be made for helping the poor and sending out evangelists! And that's where the deacons with the tender hearts come in. They serve on church boards and financial commissions in the congregation, maintaining that tender heart toward the poor and the unreached and see to it that these kind of expenses are not overlooked in the church! They see to, just like the very first deacons, that the widows were not “neglected in the daily distribution.”