Nobody Gets Overlooked: The Standard Jesus Set for His Church
Three Habits That Leave No One Behind: Pray, Notice, Act.
Pastor Kevin Wade
When a church is growing and things are going well, it’s only a matter of time before problems start showing up. Sounds backwards, right? But that's exactly what we see in Acts chapter 6.
The early church was exploding. People were coming to faith in Jesus left and right. And then – a complaint. Some widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. Not intentionally, maybe, but it was happening. And the apostles didn't brush it off. They didn't say, “Not our problem.” They said, “This is wrong. Let's fix it.”
Here's what I love about that response: They didn't spend a lot of time analyzing all the reasons why it happened. They just said, “There's a problem, we know it's wrong, let's put a plan in place.” That's a good model for all of us.
But there's something deeper going on here that I don't want us to miss – especially when it comes to why they cared so much about those widows in the first place.
Women Matter to God
In Genesis 1:27, we see that God created mankind – male and female – in His image. Both men and women are bearers of the imago Dei – the image of God. They are equal in importance and significance. While we have different roles and functions, we are equal in worth and value before God.
That's not a modern idea. That's a creation idea.
When a church is growing and things are going well, it’s only a matter of time before problems start showing up. Sounds backwards, right? But that's exactly what we see in Acts chapter 6.
The early church was exploding. People were coming to faith in Jesus left and right. And then – a complaint. Some widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. Not intentionally, maybe, but it was happening. And the apostles didn't brush it off. They didn't say, “Not our problem.” They said, “This is wrong. Let's fix it.”
Here's what I love about that response: They didn't spend a lot of time analyzing all the reasons why it happened. They just said, “There's a problem, we know it's wrong, let's put a plan in place.” That's a good model for all of us.
But there's something deeper going on here that I don't want us to miss – especially when it comes to why they cared so much about those widows in the first place.
Women Matter to God
In Genesis 1:27, we see that God created mankind – male and female – in His image. Both men and women are bearers of the imago Dei – the image of God. They are equal in importance and significance. While we have different roles and functions, we are equal in worth and value before God.
That's not a modern idea. That's a creation idea.
Jesus is our model for esteeming women
Jesus modeled it perfectly. Think about how many times in the Gospels Jesus went out of His way for women:
Even on the cross, in His dying moments, Jesus made sure His widowed mother would be cared for.
There’s not room to fully explore this in a short blog (listen the message to learn more), but Jesus’ attitude toward women defied the surrounding culture of patriarchy and chauvinism. At best, women were second-class citizens. Jesus’ actions turned cultural conventions upside down.
The apostles watched all of that. They knew the law of Moses, which commanded care for widows and orphans. They heard Jesus. And when women were being overlooked in their own church, they said, “This cannot stand.”
Jesus modeled it perfectly. Think about how many times in the Gospels Jesus went out of His way for women:
- Healing Peter's mother-in-law
- Raising the son of the widow in the village of Nain
- Speaking to the woman at the well
- Defending the woman caught in adultery
- Granting Mary (not his mother) status as a disciple who could learn from him.
Even on the cross, in His dying moments, Jesus made sure His widowed mother would be cared for.
There’s not room to fully explore this in a short blog (listen the message to learn more), but Jesus’ attitude toward women defied the surrounding culture of patriarchy and chauvinism. At best, women were second-class citizens. Jesus’ actions turned cultural conventions upside down.
The apostles watched all of that. They knew the law of Moses, which commanded care for widows and orphans. They heard Jesus. And when women were being overlooked in their own church, they said, “This cannot stand.”
What This Means For Us
Here's where it gets practical. The apostles recognized something we need to hold onto: It's the responsibility of the whole church – not just the leaders – to make sure nobody is overlooked. They gathered the entire congregation and said, “This is your problem to solve, too. You find seven people to oversee this. We all own this together.”
That means a few things for each of us:
Here's the beautiful part. When the church did it right – when they cared for the overlooked, when they operated as one family, when they stayed faithful to the Word and to prayer –the Word of God kept spreading (Acts 6:7). The number of disciples kept increasing. Even Jewish priests were coming to faith in Jesus. Why? Because the Christians were actually living it out. They were caring for each other the way the law always said to.
That's the witness. Not just our preaching – but our living.
Nobody gets overlooked in the family of God. That's the standard Jesus set and one the early church strove to follow. And it's what we're called to do as well, until the Lord returns.
Here's where it gets practical. The apostles recognized something we need to hold onto: It's the responsibility of the whole church – not just the leaders – to make sure nobody is overlooked. They gathered the entire congregation and said, “This is your problem to solve, too. You find seven people to oversee this. We all own this together.”
That means a few things for each of us:
- First, look around you. Who in our church, neighborhood or circle might be slipping through the cracks? The widow who's eating alone. The single mom who can't catch a break. The person who shows up every week but never gets checked on. If you see a need, don't assume someone else is handling it.
- Second, stop waiting to be asked. The early church didn't wait for the widows to fill out a form. The complaint arose and the people acted. We can ask ourselves: Who can I serve this week?
- Third, pray like it matters – because it does. The apostles said their core job was the ministry of preaching and prayer. Prayer drove everything they did. Before they appointed the seven, they prayed. Before they laid hands on them, they prayed. If we want God to move in our church, in our families, in our communities, then we have to be a people of prayer.
Here's the beautiful part. When the church did it right – when they cared for the overlooked, when they operated as one family, when they stayed faithful to the Word and to prayer –the Word of God kept spreading (Acts 6:7). The number of disciples kept increasing. Even Jewish priests were coming to faith in Jesus. Why? Because the Christians were actually living it out. They were caring for each other the way the law always said to.
That's the witness. Not just our preaching – but our living.
Nobody gets overlooked in the family of God. That's the standard Jesus set and one the early church strove to follow. And it's what we're called to do as well, until the Lord returns.
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