ETHNIC TENSIONS

The first thing to notice in this text is the reference to ‘the daily distribution of food’ (v. 1). This suggests that the sharing of resources had continued and evolved into a regular system to meet the needs of the poorest people within the believing community. Prominent among such destitute people were widows, whose plight was universal in the ancient world and whose care and support is a characteristic mark of religion in both testaments.1

The tension which arose when Hellenistic Jews complained about the neglect of their widows was a flashpoint which arose from a deeper problem. The underlying division was between Palestinian, Aramaic-speaking Jews native to Jerusalem, and diaspora Jews, often elderly people who had moved back to Judea to die in the holy land, who were Greek-speakers influenced by Hellenistic culture. These returnees were viewed with suspicion as incomers whose language suggested that they were tainted by contact with the gentile world. The problem closely parallels the ethnic and cultural tensions experienced by churches in the modern world, as migration brought African and Asian Christians into new surroundings.

What is striking is the response of the apostles and the congregation. They selected a group of people to administer the system, all of whom have Greek names! Indeed, Nicolas was a proselyte, so not even an ethnic Jew, meaning that the challenge was met by organizational change which recognized the multicultural nature of the body of Christ. This division of labor between those devoted to teaching and the managers of caring ministries suggests that church structure now reflected integral mission in which word and deed belonged together.

May God help us apply the lesson here to any cultural tensions arising in our churches.