The Lord’s church is made up of the most wonderful people on the face of the earth! Over the years, I have been tremendously impressed with so many of the deacons of the church, both at Palm Beach Lakes and in other congregations. Deacons have a special, God-given purpose in the church. The word “deacon” is from a Greek word that means “servant, minister.” These men are given specific tasks by the overseers of the church to carry out, in order that the work of the church (in evangelism, edification and benevolence) might be as effective as possible.
Overall, deacons are like anyone else in the church. There are some deacons who are strongly committed to their assigned tasks and give their all to meeting (and even surpassing) their assigned duties. On the other hand, there are some deacons who do the minimum needed for their assigned duty. And, of course, there are deacons in between these two extremes. I want to focus on that first category of deacons. In my lifetime in the church and in 25+ years of fulltime labor, I have been amazed by some amazing deacons!
I have seen amazing deacons who devoted much of their TIME to their task, and they did so willingly and gladly. Time is a precious commodity of which we often complain we “don’t have enough.” But I’ve seen deacons who gave and gave and gave of their time to the Lord and His church. They did not begrudge it. They did not seek special accolades for it. They just did it…for the Lord!
I have seen amazing deacons who put forth immense EFFORT to fulfill their tasks, and they do so willingly and gladly. They were not half-hearted or minimalists in their efforts. These men wanted the job done right, knowing that all things in the church reflect upon the Lord. They were not doing it for themselves but doing it…for the Lord!
I have seen amazing deacons SELFLESSLY SACRIFICE, in order to ensure the task was done right. Sacrificing their time has already been mentioned, but in addition, some have sacrificed their own resources (supplies, tools, money, etc.), their family time, their efforts on their own jobs, even their vacations to see that an assigned task was completed in the very best way it could be…for the Lord!
Most of the time these men work behind the scenes and very few people know what they do or how much they do. But the Lord knows! He talked about these kind of deacons when He said, “For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 3:13). Thank you to so many amazing deacons who work tirelessly…for the Lord!