Biblical Ministries for Women (Part 4)
10. Biblical job description of
a Deaconess's callng
Together with the great
Presbyterian John Calvin, we believe that -- quite distinct from the office
of male Deacon (cf. Acts 6:1-8
& Phil. 1:1 & I Tim. 3:8-10 & 3:12-13) – there is also the Biblical office of female
Deaconess. Rom. 16:1-2 & I Tim.
3:11 & 5:9-10 cf. Acts 9:36-41.
Scripture states that this job of female Deaconess centrally involves:
(a) general assistance in congregational affairs as diakonon tees
ekkleesias, see Rom. 16:1; (b) succouring many in need as prostatis
polloon, see Rom. 16:2; (c) providing comprehensive help en
pasin, I Tim. 3:11; (d) collaboration in promoting the gospel en
tooj euangeliooi suneethlee, Phil.
4:5; (e) teaching young women to become good homemakers, Tit. 2:3-5 cf.
I Tim 5:9-14; (f) caring especially for needy widows and orphans, I Tim.
5:4-10; (g) performing a ministry of constant praver, I Tim, 5:5; (h) combatting
frivolity, gossip, insobriety and unfaithfulness, I Tim. 5:11 cf.
5:4-16; and (i) performing good works, I Tim. 5:5,10 see W.C.F.
16:1-2 & 19:1-2 (such as washing or dressing ill persons or even dead
bodies, or providing shelter for needy believers such as strangers and widows
and orphans etc.).
Regarding such a Deaconess:
“She does not function in the office of Preacher; she plays no role in the
Eldership; but she is chosen to the office of Deaconess (I Tim. 5:9).” Thus the famous Dutch Presbyterian theologian,
Rev. Prof. Dr. Abraham Kuyper Sr.6
His eminent colleague Rev.
Prof. Dr. Herman Bavinck Sr.7 is
even more specific about “what Paul says in I Tim. 5:9-10. While also recommending that first the
family members (v. 4) and then the members of the congregation (v. 16) care for
the poor widows, in vv. 9-10 he mentions the election of a widow at least sixty* years old who had been the
wife of one husband.
“Many demands were made of
such a widow. She must have a reputation
for good works -- if she had children, she must have finished raising them and
educating them; she must have been hospitable (‘having washed the feet of
strangers’); she must also have helped the afflicted; and she must have been
diligent in every good work..”
Why indeed a minimum of
specifically sixty* years old? Perhaps
this was also because of one’s average life-expectancy. As it were: ‘six decades you shall labour
and do all your work; but in the seventh decade you shall sabbath from your
labours in the twilight of your life expectancy!’ Cf. Ex. 20:8-11; Lev.
25:2-10; Ps. 90:3-10. See too sections 5 to 7 above.
“From these verses [I Tim.
5:9-10], continues Bavinck, “it is to be concluded that this widow was called
to a special ministry within the congregation -- and was probably required to
visit the poor and the sick and those in jail as well as to educate orphans and
to give advice and direction to younger women.
For the contrast made in the following verses (11-16), commends this
viewpoint....
“Such female ministry as that
referred to here, is also frequently mentioned in later ecclesiastical
literature.... It was not just works of
mercy like care of the poor and visiting the sick which belonged to the duties
of these women. But their services were uti1ized also in
visiting women in their homes and acquainting them with the teaching of the
Gospel, and by working in situations where men could only operate with
difficulty on account of the ease with which evil rumours could arise.”
11. Biblical qualifications to be met before
becoming a Deaconess
The candidate for Deaconess
obviously needs to be trained and equipped for the above exacting job or
jobs. Here are the minimum
qualifications she must possess.
First, the candidate for
Deaconess must be female, I Tim. 3:11; just as a candidate for Eldership or for
Deaconhood must be male, I Tim. 3:1-10.
Second, she must not be young and inexperienced, but she must be mature
and possess a long-standing reputation for diligence in good works, I Tim.
5:9-14. Third, she must be grave or
serious; not a gossip or a loquacious speaker; she must be sober and temperate;
and she must be trustworthy or faithful in all things (I Tim. 3:11). Fourth, she should not have
marriage plans or marriage responsibilities; for her job as Deaconess is so
exacting that it is not simultaneously compatible with the proper demands
of a marriage career for a woman (I Tim.
5:9-15 cf. I Cor. 7:24-40). If a
Deaconess later falls in love and then desires to marry a Christian man, she
should do so -- but must then relinquish her Deaconesshood.
Fifth, if ever previously
married but now widowed the candidate for Deaconess must be of mature age and unlikely to remarry; if she
has children, they should be full-grown, so as not to need her attention
thereby distracting her from her
Deaconess work (I Tim. 5:9-14). Sixth,
she must also have a reputation for sexual morality; so that if a mature widow,
she must have been the wife of only one man during the course of that previous marriage (I Tim. 5:9); and if a
mature spinster, she must have a reputation for gravity and not for frivolity
(I Tim. 5:11 cf, 5:11-15. Seventh, she
must have a reputation for faithfulness in all things -- for hospitality, for
compassion, and for diligence in every good work (I Tim. 3:11 cf.
5:10). For the office of Deaconess for
which the candidate is being considered is a permanent job, and is to be
viewed as a lifelong career.
Rom. 16:1-2 & I Tim. 3:11 & 5:9-15.
To be continued.
To be continued.
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