Acts 6:1

Church growth creates problems. If you do not want the problems that come with growth, then quit growing. Sadly enough, today many congregations have done just that. They do not have the problems growth brings, because they are not doing the things that bring growth. The early church had not reached a size of contentment. Their numbers were continuing to increase and their first major difficulty came with the increase.

The nature of their problem has its roots in their Jewish tradition. It was Jewish tradition that widows were first the responsibility of their sons and daughters. In the event that there were no immediate family members to meet their needs, society expected extended family to step up and accept the responsibility. Only in the event that there was no family at all, did the local community step in to see that no one went hungry.

The Hellenistic Jews were ones who spoke Greek and originally came from locations other than Israel. Many of them were elderly couples that had returned to Israel because they wanted the homeland to be the place of their burial when they died. Often the husband would die first, and the widow, having left all her family members behind, would have no support system. Because of Jewish tradition, they did not go hungry. The Jewish society as a whole took responsibility for them.

The new church did not yet have a unified system of governance. They were growing so fast they found themselves with responsibilities they did not have a system in place to meet. Because they were Christians, the traditional Jewish society was no longer feeding their widows. The Hebraic Jewish Christians were continuing to meet their family responsibilities and feeding their own widows. There was no system to help the Hellenistic Christian widows. The Hellenistic Christians complained, and they were right to do so. When growth creates a problem, Christians acknowledge its existence.

Christians are not afraid of problems. God helps us grow; He will help solve the problems growth creates.