It was not because the care of widows was unimportant that it was given to deacons. It was because ministry of mercy was so important that a new office was created. In and of itself, it would have been good for the apostles to show Christ’s love by serving tables and getting involved in the nitty-gritty of caring for widows. James, the Lord’s brother, who was in the Jerusalem church at this time, would write some years later, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (Jas. 1:27). Do not think for a minute that the office of deacon is a lesser office. As George C. Fuller puts it, “To denigrate the high office of deacon is practical heresy” (“The High Calling of Deacon,” in Resources for Deacons, by Timothy J. Keller, p. 11).
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