📖 Mpango wa Huduma ya Mashemasi kwa Familia — Sehemu ya 2: Sifa na Tabia ya Mashemasi📖 Deacon Family Ministry Plan — Unit 2: Qualifications and Character of Deacons

Katika Sehemu ya 1 tulijifunza shemasi ni nini: mtumishi, aliyetengwa na kanisa ili kubeba mzigo wa utunzaji wa kivitendo ili huduma ya Neno iweze kusonga mbele. Lakini Agano Jipya kamwe halitosheki kutuambia tu kile shemasi anachofanya; linajali vilevile kile shemasi alicho. Utumishi katika kanisa kamwe si suala la utayari au upatikanaji tu. Mtu anayeshughulikia watu wa kusanyiko, fedha zake, huzuni zake, na siri zake lazima yeye mwenyewe awe mtu wa tabia iliyojaribiwa. Kwa hiyo katika sehemu hii tunageuka kutoka kwa kazi kwenda kwa mfanyakazi, na tunauliza swali moja: kanisa linaweza kwa haki kumtenga mtu wa namna gani kuwa shemasi?In Unit 1 we learned what a deacon is: a servant, set apart by the church to carry the load of practical care so that the ministry of the Word may go forward. But the New Testament is never content to tell us only what a deacon does; it is equally concerned with what a deacon is. Service in the church is never a matter of mere willingness or availability. The man who handles a congregation's people, its money, its sorrows, and its secrets must himself be a man of tested character. So in this unit we turn from the work to the worker, and we ask a single question: what kind of man may the church rightly set apart as a deacon?

Tayari tumeona jibu likianza katika Matendo 6, ambapo wale saba walipaswa kuwa “watu walioshuhudiwa kuwa wema, wamejaa Roho na hekima” (Matendo 6:3). Angalia tena kwamba hakuna hata moja kati ya alama hizo tatu lililokuwa ustadi wa utawala. Kazi iliyokuwa ikingoja kufanywa ilikuwa mgawanyo wa chakula wa kila siku; sharti lilikuwa ukomavu wa kiroho. Tangu siku ya kwanza kabisa, kanisa lilikataa kutenganisha utumishi wa kivitendo na utakatifu wa binafsi. Mtu alichaguliwa kwa jinsi alivyo kabla ya kuaminiwa kwa kile ambacho angefanya.We have already seen the answer begin in Acts 6, where the seven were to be “men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom” (Acts 6:3). Notice again that not one of those three marks was administrative skill. The work waiting to be done was the daily distribution of food; the requirement was spiritual maturity. From the very first day, the church refused to separate practical service from personal holiness. A man was chosen for what he was before he was trusted with what he would do.

Kwa nini kiwango kiwe juu hivi? Kwa sababu shemasi anasimama pale ambapo maisha ya kanisa ni nyeti zaidi. Anaingia majumbani wakati wa msiba, anashughulikia fedha zilizotolewa kwa kujinyima, na anasikia maungamo ambayo hakuna mtu mwingine atakayeyasikia kamwe. Mshiriki asiyejali anaweza kuijeruhi familia moja; shemasi asiyejali anaweza kuzijeruhi nyingi. Kadiri uaminifu unaowekwa ulivyo juu, ndivyo tabia inayohitajika ilivyo juu; na kwa hiyo kanisa humchunguza mtu kabla halijamkabidhi kazi.Why should the standard be so high? Because the deacon stands where the life of the church is most tender. He enters homes in their grief, handles money given in sacrifice, and hears confessions no one else will ever hear. A careless member may wound one family; a careless deacon may wound many. The higher the trust, the higher the character it requires; and so the church examines the man before it ever hands him the work.

Mtume Paulo alipokuja kuandika masharti ya kudumu kwa ajili ya huduma hii, alizichukua alama zile za mwanzo na kuzipanua kuwa picha kamili zaidi. Kwa mchungaji kijana huko Efeso aliandika, kwa maneno yaliyo wazi, tabia ambayo kanisa lazima liitafute:When the Apostle Paul came to write down the standing requirements for this office, he took those early marks and expanded them into a fuller portrait. To a young pastor in Ephesus he set down, in plain words, the character the church must look for:

Somo: sifa na tabia ya shemasi.Subject: the qualifications and character of the deacon.

Kauli Kuu: Mungu anadai kwamba shemasi awe mtu wa tabia iliyothibitika, msimamo thabiti wa imani, thamani iliyochunguzwa, na nyumba yenye utaratibu mzuri kabla kanisa halijamkabidhi utumishi wake.Proposition: God requires that the deacon be a man of proven character, sound conviction, examined worth, and a well-ordered home before the church entrusts him with its service.

Kutokana na kifungu hiki tutachota sifa nne ambazo kanisa lazima lidai kwa wale linaowatenga.From this passage we will draw four qualifications the church must require of those it sets apart.

I. Sifa ya TabiaI. The Qualification of Character

Paulo haanzi na kile shemasi anachopaswa kufanya bali na kile anachopaswa kuwa: “Vivyo hivyo mashemasi na wawe wastahivu, wasiwe wenye kauli mbili, wasiwe wenye kuzoelea ulevi, wala wenye tamaa ya fedha ya aibu” (1 Timotheo 3:8). Kwanza linakuja jambo moja analopaswa kuwa, kisha mambo matatu asiyopaswa kuwa.Paul begins not with what the deacon must do but with what he must be: “Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money” (1 Timothy 3:8). First comes a thing he must be, and then three things he must not be.

Ni lazima awe mstahivu — mtu mwenye uzito na heshima, anayechukuliwa kwa uzito kwa sababu yeye mwenyewe anayachukulia mambo matakatifu kwa uzito. Yeye si mzaha-mzaha wala si mtu asiye thabiti, bali ni mtu ambaye mwenendo wake unawafanya wengine wamwamini kwa mambo matakatifu. Kisha yanakuja maonyo matatu. Hapaswi kuwa mwenye kauli mbili — akimwambia mtu mmoja jambo moja na mwingine jambo jingine. Hii si hatari ndogo, kwa maana shemasi hutoka nyumba moja hadi nyingine, na lazima abebe ukweli ule ule, na kutunza siri zile zile, katika kila nyumba anayoingia. Mtu anayebadilisha maneno yake ili kumpendeza kila msikilizaji hivi karibuni atapanda machafuko na kuvunja uaminifu katika kusanyiko zima. Hapaswi kuwa mwenye kuzoelea ulevi — asiwe mtumwa wa tamaa, kwa maana mtu asiyeweza kuzitawala tamaa zake mwenyewe hawezi kuaminiwa kushughulikia ziara ngumu au hitaji nyeti. Na hapaswi kuwa mwenye tamaa ya fedha — kwa maana mara nyingi shemasi atashughulikia fedha za msaada za kanisa, na mtu anayependa fedha mapema au baadaye atawasaliti maskini wale wale aliotengwa kuwatumikia. Picha hii ni ya mtu ambaye tamaa zake za siri ziko chini ya udhibiti, ili aweze kuaminiwa katika utumishi wa hadharani. Tabia si kile mtu anachoonyesha jukwaani; ni jinsi alivyo wakati hakuna mtu anayemtazama.He must be reverent — a man of weight and dignity, who is taken seriously because he himself takes holy things seriously. He is not frivolous or unstable, but a man whose bearing makes others trust him with sacred matters. Then come the three warnings. He must not be double-tongued — saying one thing to one person and another to the next. This is no small danger, for the deacon moves from home to home, and he must carry the same truth, and keep the same confidence, in every house he enters. A man who shades his words to please each listener will soon sow confusion and break trust across the whole congregation. He must not be given to much wine — not enslaved to appetite, for a man who cannot master his own cravings cannot be trusted to master a difficult visit or a delicate need. And he must not be greedy for money — for the deacon will often handle the benevolence funds of the church, and a man who loves money will sooner or later betray the very poor he was set apart to serve. The portrait is of a man whose private appetites are under control, so that he may be trusted in public service. Character is not what a man shows on the platform; it is what he is when no one is watching.

Ona jinsi orodha hii ilivyo ya kivitendo. Kila kosa ambalo Paulo analitaja ni lile linalofanya uharibifu wake kimya kimya, kwa siri, kwa muda mrefu — ulimi uliolegea, kiu ya siri, kupenda fedha. Hizi si dhambi zinazomfanya mtu aondolewe jukwaani; ni dhambi zinazooza polepole huduma ya utunzaji kutoka ndani. Kwa hiyo kanisa lazima litazame chini ya uso na kuuliza si tu, “Je, mtu huyu anaweza kutumika?” bali “Je, mtu huyu ni mzima kabisa ndani na nje?”See how practical this list is. Every fault Paul names is one that does its damage quietly, in private, over time — a loose tongue, a secret thirst, a love of money. These are not the sins that get a man removed from the platform; they are the sins that slowly rot a ministry of care from the inside. So the church must look beneath the surface and ask not only, “Can this man serve?” but “Is this man sound all the way through?”

II. Sifa ya Msimamo wa ImaniII. The Qualification of Conviction

“wakiishika siri ya imani katika dhamiri safi” (1 Timotheo 3:9). Shemasi si tu mtu mwema mwenye tabia safi; yeye ni mtu anayeishika imani. “Siri ya imani” ni Injili iliyokuwa imefichwa zamani na sasa imefunuliwa katika Kristo — na shemasi lazima aishike kwa uthabiti na kibinafsi, si kama meneja aliyeajiriwa wa taasisi ya kidini, bali kama mwamini ambaye yeye mwenyewe anategemea kweli anayoitumikia.“holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience” (1 Timothy 3:9). The deacon is not merely a good man with clean habits; he is a man who holds the faith. The “mystery of the faith” is the gospel that was once hidden and is now revealed in Christ — and the deacon must hold it firmly and personally, not as a hired manager of a religious institution, but as a believer who himself rests on the truth he serves.

Na lazima aishike “katika dhamiri safi” — yaani, imani yake na mwenendo wake lazima vipatane. Ni jambo la kutisha na tupu kwa mtu kuitetea imani ambayo maisha yake ya kila siku yanaikana. Mafundisho ya shemasi na dhamiri yake lazima viwe na amani kati yao, ili kile anachokikiri kwa kinywa chake kithibitishwe na jinsi anavyoishi. Mtu aliyegawanyika — mzima kwa maneno lakini mzembe maishani — hawezi kuwaongoza watu wa Mungu, kwa sababu watafuata kile anachofanya muda mrefu kabla ya kufuata kile anachosema. Hapa, badala yake, kuna mtu unayeweza kumwamini na kumfuata, kwa sababu imani anayoikiri na mwenendo wake vinasimulia habari ile ile.And he must hold it “with a pure conscience” — that is, his belief and his behavior must agree. It is a terrible and hollow thing for a man to defend a faith his daily life denies. The deacon's doctrine and his conscience must be at peace with one another, so that what he confesses with his mouth is confirmed by the way he lives. A divided man — sound in word but careless in life — cannot lead the people of God, because they will follow what he does long before they follow what he says. Here, instead, is a man you can both trust and follow, because his creed and his conduct tell the same story.

Na usikose kuona jinsi shemasi anavyofundisha mengi bila hata kusimama kuhubiri. Anapoibeba Injili kutoka nyumba hadi nyumba kwa neno na kwa maisha, familia anazozitumikia huisoma imani ndani yake. Shemasi ambaye msimamo wake wa imani ni wa kweli na dhamiri yake ni safi anakuwa mahubiri ya kimya katika kila nyumba anayoingia — na hiyo ni aina ya kuhubiri ambayo kanisa zima linaihitaji.And do not miss how much the deacon teaches without ever standing to preach. As he carries the gospel from house to house in word and in life, the families he serves read the faith in him. A deacon whose conviction is real and whose conscience is clean becomes a quiet sermon in every home he enters — and that is a kind of preaching the whole church needs.

III. Sifa ya Thamani IliyothibitikaIII. The Qualification of Proven Worth

“Na hawa nao wajaribiwe kwanza, baadaye waitende kazi ya shemasi, wakiisha kuonekana kuwa hawana hatia” (1 Timotheo 3:10). Hapa kuna kinga kuu ya huduma hii, na mpangilio umewekwa na kamwe usigeuzwe: kwanza kujaribiwa, kisha kuaminiwa; kwanza kuthibitishwa, kisha kuwekwa. Kanisa halipaswi kumwekea mtu mikono kwa haraka (linganisha 1 Timotheo 5:22), likimkabidhi mwongofu mpya au mtu asiyejulikana utunzaji wa roho za watu kabla tabia yake haijaonekana kwa muda.“But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless” (1 Timothy 3:10). Here is the great safeguard of the office, and the order is fixed and must never be reversed: first tested, then trusted; first proven, then placed. The church is not to lay its hands on a man hastily (compare 1 Timothy 5:22), handing a new or unknown convert the care of souls before his character has been seen over time.

Neno “wajaribiwe” halimaanishi mtihani wa maandishi; linamaanisha maisha yanayotazamwa — mtu anayeangaliwa katika majaribu ya kawaida ya maisha ya kanisa mpaka kusanyiko liweze kusema juu yake, “Hana hatia.” Tazama jinsi mtu anavyotumika katika mambo madogo, nawe utajua kama umwamini kwa mambo makubwa.The word “tested” does not mean a written examination; it means a life observed — a man watched in the ordinary trials of church life until the congregation can say of him, “He is blameless.” Watch how a man serves in small things, and you will know whether to trust him with large ones.

IV. Sifa ya Nyumba Yenye Utaratibu MzuriIV. The Qualification of a Well-Ordered Home

Sifa ya shemasi inafika zaidi yake mwenyewe hadi kwa watu wa nyumbani mwake: “Vivyo hivyo wake zao na wawe wastahivu, wasiwe wasingiziaji, wawe na kiasi, waaminifu katika mambo yote. Mashemasi na wawe waume wa mke mmoja, wakiwasimamia watoto wao na watu wa nyumbani mwao vizuri” (1 Timotheo 3:11–12).The deacon's qualification reaches past himself to his household: “Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well” (1 Timothy 3:11–12).

Mstari wa 11 umesomwa kwa njia mbili na wafasiri waaminifu, na kanisa lenye unyenyekevu linapaswa kuzijua zote mbili. Wengine wanachukua “wake zao” kumaanisha wake za mashemasi, ambao wanashiriki kwa karibu sana katika huduma hii ya utunzaji kiasi kwamba wao pia lazima wawe wastahivu, wasiwe wasingiziaji — wasiwe wabebaji wa umbea kutoka nyumba hadi nyumba — wawe na kiasi, na waaminifu katika mambo yote. Wengine wanalichukua neno lile lile kumaanisha “wanawake” — wanawake ambao wenyewe wanatumika katika nafasi ya kishemasi, kile ambacho makanisa mengine yamekiita mashemasi wa kike (deaconesses), wakimwonyesha Fibi, anayeitwa mhudumu (diakonos) wa kanisa lililoko Kenkrea (Warumi 16:1). Sarufi inaruhusu masomo yote mawili, na makanisa yanayomcha Mungu yametofautiana kwa dhamiri njema. Kilicho nje kabisa ya ubishi ni kwamba wanawake waliofungamana kwa karibu na huduma hii ya utunzaji lazima wenyewe wawe wa kuaminika, kwa maana watasikia huzuni zile zile na kutunza siri zile zile kama mashemasi wanaotumika pamoja nao.Verse 11 has been read in two ways by faithful interpreters, and a humble church should know both. Some take “their wives” to mean the wives of the deacons, who share so closely in this ministry of care that they too must be reverent, no slanderers — no carriers of gossip from house to house — temperate, and faithful in all things. Others take the same word to mean “the women” — women who themselves serve in a diaconal role, what some churches have called deaconesses, pointing to Phoebe, who is called a servant (diakonos) of the church at Cenchrea (Romans 16:1). The grammar allows both readings, and godly churches have differed in good conscience. What is beyond all dispute is that the women closely bound to this ministry of care must themselves be trustworthy, for they will hear the same sorrows and keep the same confidences as the deacons they serve beside.

Kisha Paulo anadai kwamba shemasi awe “mume wa mke mmoja” — mtu wa uaminifu katika ndoa na uadilifu usiogawanyika — na mtu anayewasimamia “watoto wao na watu wa nyumbani mwao vizuri.” Hoja ni ile ile ambayo Paulo anaitumia kwa askofu hapo juu kidogo: nyumba ya mtu ndiyo uwanja wa kuthibitisha kufaa kwake kuitumikia nyumba ya Mungu. Kama hawezi kuiongoza, kuipenda, na kuipanga familia yake mwenyewe, bado hayuko tayari kuaminiwa na familia ya kanisa. Mtu aliye mwaminifu katika ufalme mdogo wa nyumba yake analipa kanisa sababu nzuri ya kumwamini katika kazi kubwa zaidi ya utumishi.Then Paul requires that the deacon be “the husband of one wife” — a man of marital faithfulness and undivided integrity — and one who rules “their children and their own houses well.” The reasoning is the same that Paul applies to the overseer just above: a man's home is the proving ground of his fitness to serve the household of God. If he cannot lead, love, and order his own family, he is not yet ready to be trusted with the family of the church. The man who is faithful in the small kingdom of his home gives the church good reason to trust him in the larger work of service.

Hili si dai kali. Linatambua tu kwamba neema zile zile ambazo mtu anahitaji ili kuichunga nyumba — uvumilivu, uaminifu, mamlaka ya upole, kujikana — ndizo neema hasa atakazohitaji ili kuitumikia familia pana zaidi ya Mungu. Nyumba si jaribio lililotengana na huduma; ni mazoezi yake ya kwanza.This is no harsh demand. It simply recognizes that the same graces a man needs to shepherd a home — patience, faithfulness, gentle authority, self-denial — are the very graces he will need to serve the wider family of God. The home is not a separate test from the ministry; it is the first rehearsal of it.

HitimishoConclusion

Paulo anamalizia si kwa tishio bali kwa ahadi: “Maana wao waliotumika vizuri katika kazi ya shemasi hujipatia daraja nzuri, na ujasiri mwingi katika imani iliyo katika Kristo Yesu” (1 Timotheo 3:13). Shemasi anayetumika vizuri anapata mambo mawili. Anapata daraja nzuri — nafasi ya heshima na sifa njema katika kanisa na mbele za Mungu. Na anapata ujasiri mwingi katika imani — uhakika mtakatifu unaokua ndani ya mtu anapojimimina katika utumishi wa uaminifu. Utumishi kamwe haumpunguzi mtu; unamkuza.Paul ends not with a threat but with a promise: “For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 3:13). The deacon who serves well gains two things. He gains a good standing — an honored place and a good reputation in the church and before God. And he gains great boldness in the faith — a holy confidence that grows in a man as he pours himself out in faithful service. Service never diminishes a man; it enlarges him.

Kusanya sifa hizo nne na picha inakamilika. Shemasi lazima awe mtu wa tabia iliyojaribiwa, msimamo thabiti wa imani, thamani iliyothibitika, na nyumba ya uaminifu — kielelezo kile kile tulichokutana nacho kwanza katika Matendo 6, ambapo wale saba walipaswa kuwa na sifa njema, kujaa Roho, na kujaa hekima. Kiwango ni cha juu, na kimekusudiwa kuwa hivyo, kwa maana shemasi si mtu wa kujitolea anayejaza nafasi tu bali ni mtumishi anayebeba utunzaji wa watu wa Mungu. Katika Sehemu ya 3 tutafuatilia jinsi huduma hii ya kibiblia ilivyochukua umbo katika maisha ya Wabaptisti wa Kusini na kuzaa Mpango wa Huduma ya Mashemasi kwa Familia. Lakini msingi umewekwa hapa, nao ni msingi ule ule ambao Paulo na mitume waliuweka: kanisa lazima liwachague mashemasi wake si kwanza kwa kile wanachoweza kufanya, bali kwa kile ambacho, kwa neema ya Mungu, tayari wako.Gather the four qualifications and the portrait is complete. The deacon must be a man of tested character, sound conviction, proven worth, and a faithful home — the very pattern we first met in Acts 6, where the seven were to be of good reputation, full of the Spirit, and full of wisdom. The standard is high, and it is meant to be, for the deacon is not a volunteer filling a slot but a servant carrying the care of God's people. In Unit 3 we will trace how this biblical office took shape in Southern Baptist life and gave rise to the Deacon Family Ministry Plan. But the foundation is laid here, and it is the same foundation Paul and the apostles laid: the church must choose its deacons not first for what they can do, but for what, by the grace of God, they already are.

Basi kila kanisa limpime mtu kabla halijalipima hitaji. Hitaji linaweza kungoja kidogo; mtu asiyefaa katika nafasi ya kuaminiwa anaweza kufanya madhara ambayo miaka mingi haitayaondoa. Chagueni polepole, chagueni kwa maombi, na chagueni kwa ajili ya tabia — na Mungu atalipa kanisa Lake watumishi wanaostahili kitambaa cha kutumikia wanachokibeba.Let every church, then, weigh the man before it weighs the need. A need can wait a little; a wrong man in a trusted office can do harm that years will not undo. Choose slowly, choose prayerfully, and choose for character — and God will give His church servants worthy of the towel they carry.

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