Purged of Clergy

When the racist issue of Hellenistic Jewish widows being treated poorly compared to the Hebraic Jewish widows in Acts 6 developed, the apostles responded. They called for 7 sons from Hellenistic families to take up the responsibilities of distributing food to their widows daily. The apostles’ stated rationale was that it would be inappropriate for them to “neglect the word of God” to wait on tables.

Here are a few problems with their opinion:
• Jesus repeatedly stopped teaching to feed people
• Jesus taught them that the greatest among them would be the servant of all
• The apostles thought that that they were the only people who were qualified to do “real” ministry, which was proven not to be true when they laid their hands on the seven young men and those men were filled with powerful gifts
• When the persecution broke out in the wake of Stephen’s murder by the Jewish leaders, everyone but the apostles was run out of Jerusalem spreading ministry everywhere they went, indicating that the clergy mindset was hindering the work of the body of Christ. The congregations in Antioch, who sent Paul and Barnabas out into the earth on purpose, were birthed by the ministry of those cast out of Jerusalem by the persecution, leaving the 12 apostles behind.
• The only “secular” work in the Kingdom of Heaven is something that is different from what our King has set us in place to do; every believer has an important ministry, and a Spiritual gift is required to make it possible, even if it is waiting tables
• “Holy” and “sacred” mean, “set apart.” Temple prostitutes are called “holy women” more than once in Scripture. What the “set apart” is “set apart to” is what makes it good or bad, clean or dirty. As Paul pointed out in 2 Timothy 2:20-21, a chamber pot is an unclean vessel, but it is sacred to its unclean duty. Our work must be considered worship, and must be sacred based on that, not on the activities it includes.
• The Acts of the Apostles became the stories of apostles other than the 11 + Matthias after the persecution separates them from the body. The others mentioned as doing apostolic work then include Paul, Andronicus, Junia and Barnabas.