At the Koinonia Blog the weekly feature “Monday’s with Mounce” includes an excellent induction of the topic of ministry and waiting on tables as read in Acts 6:2. Often gifts in the New Testament are structured in order of importance in our modern implementations. Rarely, do we see the gift of this or that exalted above Preaching/Teaching. Bill Mounce of ‘Basics of Biblical Greek’ fame states,
‘Is preaching more important than serving the widows? I know the quick, evangelical answer is, “Of course it is.” But what is James’ answer? “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their time of trouble.” What was Jesus’ model? Do we see him giving a significant priority to preaching over helping people? I don’t think so.’
You can read more on this post at Koinoniablog.