Upon reaching Acts 6, we will encounter a threat to the church that we have not yet seen. Thus far, the threats we have come across include external opposition and persecution and even the infiltration of unrepentant sin in the body, but it is likely that the threat at the beginning of ch.6 will be initially viewed as far less harmless in comparison—it is the threat of distraction.
To supply more perspective, this threat does not involve the apostles being distracted from their particular God-given roles with sinful or even frivolous things, but the temptation to be distracted by a good thing, namely meeting tangible needs of the body.
The implication is that there is a great danger to the advancement of the gospel when external threats are over-emphasized to the extent that there is a high level of ignorance towards internal threats. The internal threat highlighted in this passage is made obvious due to the repetition in the text, namely that the apostles and, by implication pastors, must not be distracted from spending the bulk of their time in prayer and ministry of the word through preaching, teaching and discipling. If that does occur, the sheep will not be kept nourished with healthy spiritual food and instead, be tossed to and fro by every wind and wave of doctrine.
This is why it’s so important to understand why Christ gives gifts of pastors/teachers to the church (Eph. 4:11); to build up the body of Christ for each member’s particular ministry (Eph. 4:12). If there is a distraction from that, Christian ministry is derailed.