Last year about this time, my oldest son had zero interest in sports. Come late October, it was all he could talk about. I’ll never forget coming home and him, as soon as I opened the door, running to me, PlayStation controller in hand, asking ever so gently, “Father, would you be so kind as to play Madden NFL 11 with me?” Well, that’s how I remember it anyway.He wants to play but it’s too late to sign up. We throw the ball in the apartment parking lot almost every afternoon and work on plays. He’s getting so good on Madden I have to actually try to beat him. Every Sunday afternoon we watched the Falcons together and when they played at night and he had to go to bed, the first thing he asked when he woke up was “did we win?” It was a glorious time and I couldn’t wait until the next football season.

Then out of nowhere, everything fell apart. The NFL lockout threatened the 2011-12 season. Until recently, I was afraid I was going to have to reduce myself to watch college football (don’t take offense, any football is better than no football). No training camp talk and no real negotiations for the longest time was killing me. How exactly does fantasy football work when there are no games? And to top it all off, my son came to me the other ay and said he wants to play soccer this fall in stead of football.

WHAT? That’s the wrong kind of football. All those European cartoons on PBS must have indoctrinated my son’s brain. Months of talks and practices and preparations and anticipation all thrown out the window. We were making such great progress. Now, it’s like we’re going backwards.

This makes me think of how the apostles responded to the first negative ripple in the otherwise euphoric early church. All the momentum and progress that had been made teaching and preaching the gospel was threatened by a small complaint from a Greek speaking pocket of Jews (Hellenists). Their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of money, food, and resources that was normally handled by the Apostles.  They were being neglected simply because the apostles didn’t speak Greek well and, if we’re being real, probably didn’t have a ton of extra time to recovering from all the beatings they were receiving.

In that one instance, choosing to take care of the Hellenist widows themselves instead of asking for help, would have been a huge step backwards. But they didn’t. They stuck to their giftedness and to the plan driven by the Holy Spirit and commissioned seven leaders more capable to do the task laid before them. In fact, by appointing seven proven leaders to help them out, it not only freed them to do what they do best, it also opened the door for seven other disciples to step into leadership roles originally occupied by the chosen seven.

Here are five things I get from this passage:

THE MORE YOU GROW, THE MORE YOU SHOW (v. 1)
Growth reveals strengths and weaknesses. I’m pretty sure this was not he last issue the early church had to face. The more they grew, the more problems they were going to have to deal with. Setting the standard early on was critical.

IF YOU WANT TO KEEP GROWING, YOU CAN’T STAY WHERE YOU ARE (v. 2)
Since we’re specifically talking about growing the Church, the term growing may throw you off so think of it as move or change or get better. The apostles knew changes had to be made to keep moving forward.

LET YOUR STRENGTHS LEAD, LET YOUR WEAKNESSES BE LED (v. 3-4)
The apostles spoke Hebrew, not Greek. It seems natural here but how often do we take on necessary tasks we don’t know how to do simply because no one else is doing it? Do what the disciples did. Find someone who will do a better job than you so you can focus on what do what you do best.

UNITED WE STAND WITH THOSE WHO ARE STANDING (v. 5)
Everyone thought is was a good idea though I’m pretty sure there were some, “but not me, I’m too busy, pick Steven.” Not everyone stands when called to lead. Those who cheer are just fans spectating but not participating.

One more thought from verse 5: I understand the apostles only asked for seven already proven leaders and seven were chosen. For the 8th, 9th, and 10th guys who really thought they should’ve been picked, it could be seen as a disappointment or it could have been seen as a chance to step into the now seven vacant roles previously held by Philip and the gang. How we stand often determines who we stand with.

LEAD BY FOLLOWING (v. 6-7)
It seems like the opposite. It’s the leader who leads, right? The most advanced and capable leaders are not leaders unless they have followers. So the key is in those that follow. It only takes one follower to show others how to follow and it is by that momentum is created. Momentum=mass x velocity. In other words, the amount of people who follow multiplied by the rate & condition of change is what produces true momentum. We lead others into a life-changing relationship by first following Jesus and his Word.

I’m grateful for the apostles willingness to put their foot down and keep pushing forward. I’m grateful the disciples were in agreement and had capable leaders ready to take on the new task laid before them. We can’t go backwards, we’ve got to live love to the next level. Now that the NFL has just about worked out it’s differences, I’ve got to apply these principles and get my son back on the football bandwagon. :)