Where Do We Draw the Deacon Line?

I've been advocating that any person who serves the Bride of Christ should be an Elder or a Deacon. A common objection I get has to do with the line between what people perceive should be in the office of Deacon and what should be outside the responsibilities of that office. "Surely making coffee for the church doesn't fall within the responsibilities of a Deacon, does it?" I've been challenged more than once. This question exposes two avenues of thinking. The first is that some service to the Lord's Church is significant enough to require qualifications, while other service is not. In other words, the objector says that "making coffee is not important enough to require God's attention or concern." The second avenue of thinking is that we are free to decide where to place the line in a local church because God does not clearly given us the line. 

As Deacons assist the Elders in the shepherding and care of the congregation, many things may be helpful. At Redeeming Life Church, were I serve as an Elder, servants help prepare the Lord's Supper, which they help distribute during services. They help collect the offering, and others help count it and make a deposit. Servants help in the children's ministry and lead fellowship groups. We have people greeting, helping with security, making coffee, and translating the service into Ukrainian. We have people praying throughout the entire service in a small room beside our assembly hall. Servants play musical instruments and handle all the technical aspects of our audio-visual and online needs. There's help with accounting, cleaning, snow shoveling, and building maintenance during the week. Some of our servants visit seniors and shut-ins, host a monthly meal, make food, deliver meals, wash tablecloths and towels, and do maintenance at people's homes. All of these tasks serve the Body of Christ. 

As the entire local church exercises the gifts God has given them in service to one another, the Body functions as a whole. Should we ever say, "You're not as important; you're not as needed as me?" Surely, Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 12 prohibits this line of thinking! It's beautiful to see service as a faithful expression of love for one another and corporate worship toward God. "But what about qualifications?" someone might challenge me; "Are you advocating that the person making coffee should meet the qualifications of the Deacon in 1 Timothy 3:8-13?" Yes. I believe every Christian should aspire to meet these qualifications. To anyone who suggests otherwise, I'm curious why a believer would not be encouraged to grow into this standard. 

Some advocate that there are responsibilities in a local church that should fall within the Office of Deacon (or servant), and other duties that should not. But here's where it gets thorny. To what Scripture can I appeal to know where to draw the line? What's in and what's out? Therefore, it's safe to ask anyone who serves to meet the qualification of the Deacon. I suppose someone could argue that the Bible doesn't require such a thing, but neither does it prohibit such an approach. There is no scriptural argument that the Deacons serve the Lord's Supper and visit shut-ins but are not responsible for other service areas. That's nothing more than an appeal to tradition. 

Asking everyone who serves the Bride of Christ to meet the requirements of the office of Deacon does not diminish the role of the Deacon; it elevates it. It says that service to our Lord--any service--is valuable and important. Just as the title "Christian" should indicate one who believes and follows the biblical Christ, the title "Deacon" should indicate one who faithfully serves the Bride of Christ. We should welcome all qualified servants to the office of Deacon rather than allow tradition or pride to give an official title only a small group of people while overlooking the other qualified people as if they are second-class servants.