Nice post by Daniel Kirk over at Storied Theology on the “deacons” of Acts 6 and how coming to the text asking the wrong questions (questions about church government and structure) can lead to missing some very important points. He rightly points out that two of these “deacons” are then highlighted preaching/evangelizing, not waiting tables—and that their appointment itself places them in the same role Jesus himself tried to exemplify before the Twelve in Luke. It’s a point often missed in Acts by those who only read the irenic surface of the book—Luke is not above subtly criticizing early leaders of the church, often in the very places he is also eulogizing the work of the Spirit through them. (For example, note that although he presents the growth of the Jerusalem church in glowing terms, that this church remains in Jerusalem rather than moving out to Samaria and the ends of the earth until the persecution is also a subtle criticism, since Jesus had commanded moving beyond Jerusalem.) Check it out: “The Seven: Not Exactly Deacons.”