Today’s Reading : Acts 6
My apologies, I wrote on the Acts 16 a couple of weeks ago instead of Acts 6. Here is the post for Acts 6. – Be Blessed.
Compromise is defined by Britannica as a way of reaching agreement in which each person or group gives up something that was wanted in order to end an argument or dispute. Delegation is defined as the act of transferring authority and responsibility for tasks to another person. It can also refer to a group of people chosen to represent others.
In the very beginning of Acts, we are given a narrative of how the church began. This is the beginning of the Christianity faith and so many things were happening at such a rapid pace. Jesus has been resurrected. Jesus spent time with the people for 40 days after his resurrection. Then the Apostles, who were the closest of the disciples to Jesus, also known as the 12, began to spread the gospel throughout the region. There was so much rapid growth that the main focus was to expand the Gospel.
In the previous chapters in Acts, we see how the people are growing in the word of God and how they are forming the community. They’re showing how the love for each other takes precedence over selfishness. In the previous chapter, we see how the spirit of God is everywhere and cannot be deceived. It shows how to be truthful, even when you are not wanting to give everything but just be truthful. This was seen with and Ananias and his wife,Sapphira.
As in Acts 6, Sometimes we get so overwhelmed with the newness of our journey, sometimes we forget about the small things. The small things are the foundation of what we do: taking care of the widows, the orphans, and the sick are the foundations of : love our neighbor and the mosaic religion.
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[a] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31
As the new religion is starting, we forgot about our widows and were reminded of this by the other religions, because they took care of our people. The founding Apostles were able to be in unison with the Holy Spirit and devise a compromise for this oversight.
They created a delegation of deacons and elders that would take the responsibility of caring for our most vulnerable population. The deacons/elders are: St. Stephen, St. Phillip, Prochours, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas. These individuals were chosen because of their dedication to the faith and the church. These individuals went on to become bishops and martyrs for the Christian church.
At the time of beginning of the new church, this could have been a time filled with confusion and chaos, but the Holy Spirit allowed the leaders of the early church to make sound decisions and delegate with purpose the delicate task of protecting and nurturing proper individuals.
There are many times in my life when chaos and confusion attempt to take over. There are times I’m trying to find compromise and delegation and it is very difficult. But from this chapter, I’m reminded that the Holy Spirit when invited can erase all confusion and chaos and bring harmony back to the basics.
Throughout this coming week, can we find the chance to ask the Holy Spirit to ease the chaos and confusion in our lives. And where this chaos and confusion is that the Holy Spirit gives us an ability to compromise and delicate the task to make it easier for us to show God‘s glory.
Be blessed.