5. The Crisis of Organization Random or Guided Growth?
Alliance Witness, 1980-03-19, P.24-25.

WHEN the apostolic church began to grow rapidly in Jerusalem, the growth carried with it its own crisis. If the crisis had not been adequately taken care of, the growth of the movement could have caused its downfall.

The leaders of the Jerusalem church were alarmed by a sign of the crisis-murmuring (Acts 6:1). They turned the crisis into a blessing by a wise act: they had the church organized in a better way.

(1) And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

(2) Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

(3) Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

(4) But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

(5) And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

(6) Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

(7) And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith (Acts 6:1-7).

The leaders of the Jerusalem church were faced with at least nine potential tensions in the church. Each of these could have done much harm to the church, weakening her fellowship life, threatening her unity and diverting the energy of her leadership from its legitimate use, thus arresting her growth and progress.

There could have been

1. tension between spiritual ministry and administration (6:2)

2. tension between spiritual ministry and service of love (6:1)

3. tension caused by social differences among church members (6:1)

4. tension between rapid growth and growth pains (6:1)

5. tension between the insight of the leaders and the understanding of the church members (6:5)

6. tension caused by racial differences among church leaders (6:5)

7. tension between jobs and the right people for those jobs (6:3)

8. tension between human appointment and a sense of calling from God (6:3)

9. tension between work and prayer (6:4).

The tension between the insight of the leaders and the understanding of the church members was wisely handled by the leaders through effective communication (6:2-4). It is one thing for leaders to have a right judgment, but it is another for them to successfully pass it on to church members. Many leaders fail here.

It is interesting to notice that the apostles solved the problem of tension between jobs and the right people for them by listing the qualifications for the jobs, including both character and wisdom, which form a balanced combination. Good character is not the only key; wisdom, which includes the needed knowledge, is also indispensable.

All these tensions were dissolved by wise organization in the early church.

Good organization means

1. making arrangements to mobilize all manpower in the church

2. creating channels to release the power and work of the Holy Spirit

3. developing the best methods to use all resources, both spiritual and material

4. having programs for training and developing spiritual gifts

5. creating an effective system of communication between members and leaders and between all departments in a church

6. devising ways and means to avoid tension and waste in any area of church life, due to either overlapping or neglect

7. providing opportunities for fellowship and for outlets for service

8. setting up practical steps for church growth in order to carry out the Great Commission.

This kind of organization is greatly needed by all churches today.

It is spiritually immature to despise organization. God is a great organizer, as witnessed by the universe, His handiwork.

The Holy Spirit is a great organizer in providing spiritual gifts for all members of the living Body of Christ after the wonderful pattern of the human body, and in mapping out the strategy of world evangelization through missions across the centuries.

The Lord Jesus showed Himself a great organizer when He commanded the crowd of five thousand people to sit down in groups of fifty while He fed them all with five loaves of bread and two fish, and when He sent out His disciples two by two to preach the gospel of the kingdom of heaven.

We see many signs of strong organization in the apostolic church. For instance, it had great growth pains in the first weeks of its existence when at least eight thousand new converts were added to the fellowship. This tremendous influx of newcomers in such a short time must have created many big problems, which could have overwhelmed the whole church. Yet the church solved all of them and showed no signs of weakening.

Again, the apostolic church had to be well organized in order to handle the enormous offerings sent in by thousands of Christians who had sold all their possessions and given the entire proceeds from these transactions to the church. No scandal arose about the mismanagement of funds. On the contrary, as it is clearly recorded in Acts right after the account of the selfless act of giving on the part of church members, the leaders of the church were greatly respected by the common people (5: 13).

All these are great testimonies to the dedication as well as the wisdom and ability of the leaders of the early church to deal with both spiritual and temporal problems.

People get more and more organized in life as they mature. In the same way, no church is mature unless it is properly organized for effective witness and growth.

But organization if taken to extremes suffocates spiritual vitality rather than releasing it. It stereotypes and freezes spirituality; it produces clerks rather than leaders. We can be overorganized as much as under-organized.