Colossians 4:7-18 – Teamwork

As Paul draws his letter to a close, he mentions the various members of his ministry team. All through the book of Acts when we studied it, we saw Paul working together with other people. Only for a brief time in Athens, while waiting for other members of the team to arrive, did Paul work alone. All the rest of the time from the moment he was sent out by the church in Antioch, he worked together with a team of at least one other person.

I think this is an important lesson for us to learn. It’s not just Paul, it’s all through the Bible that we see the idea of teamwork. Adam and Eve, Moses and Aaron, David and Jonathan, Proverbs (27:17 for example), Ecclesiates 4:9-11, we are told time and again that it is better to work together than alone.

We often talk about this, especially with guys, when talking about accountability. That’s appropriate, but it’s only the beginning. We should be partnered with others in ministry. All of us are called to minister in one way or another. The pastor isn’t the minister in the church. The pastor’s job is to equip the saints (that’s all of us) for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12).

This week we’ll learn from the Apostle Paul that ministry should always be done by a team.

I read the biography of Adoniram Judson, the missionary to Burma. He always had a team with him. Maybe just his wife for a short time, but they were always looking for, and encouraging, other couples to join them in the work.

Here in this passage, Paul concludes his letter to the Colossians by giving them some information about the team that is with him.

Remember that Paul is in Rome, in prison. His intention had been to visit Rome and find financial support for a mission trip to Spain, and area at that time unreached by the Gospel. This would be like going to Washington DC looking for support to go to Iran on a mission trip.

He ends up in prison, and his goal then is a pardon from the emperor (president) and the salvation of the military officers holding him prisoner.

This is the team he has gathered around himself to accomplish these tasks. Let’s look at what kind of people Paul picked out to be on his team.

Tychicus

He has sent the letter to the church in Colossae (and Ephesus [Philemon as well?]) by the hand of Tychicus. Tychicus is from Asia Minor (Acts 20:4). He had earlier accompanied Paul on his last trip to Jerusalem, probably as one of the custodians of the financial gift being sent to the church in Jerusalem. Many Christians throughout the gentile regions gave money for the church in Jerusalem, Tychicus gave of himself. He left his home, family, friends, and church to travel with Paul on a long journey that could have resulted in death. Four years later, he’s still with Paul. This time in a Roman prison.

Besides carrying the letter to Colossae, Paul also trusted Tychicus with the letters to the Ephessians and Philemon. Tychicus was to deliver the letters, give a report on Paul’s circumstances (missionary report), and be an encouragement to them as they try to process and practice all that Paul has written them in the letter.

No seminary degree, no special medical training like Luke, just an ordinary guy who is willing to run errands for Paul. Yet look at what Paul says about him.

He is a “beloved brother.” Paul said that. What does it take to serve alongside the Apostle Paul for four years as an errand boy, to have Paul refer to you as a much loved brother? This guy’s attitude and heart must have been incredible. Paul was sending him with the letters not only because he was faithful and trustworthy, but also because he could encourage those to whom Paul had written.

He is a “faithful minister.” This is the deacon word, it means servant. Tychicus had a servant’s heart. He was willing to do whatever Paul needed him to do. Deliver a letter, pastor a church (taking over for Timothy when Paul wanted his company). No complaining, no grumbling about “this isn’t what I want to do,” he just serves in whatever way Paul asks him to.

He is a “fellow servant [bondservant or slave] in the Lord.” With a servant’s heart he assists Paul, but he is completely owned by Jesus. This guy is sold out for the Lord!

If it hadn’t been for Tychicus, we wouldn’t be reading this letter (Colossians).

Onesimus

Onesimus has a different story than Tychicus. He is a runaway slave (see Philemon 10, 16) who met Paul in Rome and came to the Lord. He is now returning to make things right between himself and his owner, Philemon. 

Onesimus has a sinful past. He ran away. He stole. Yet he became a Christian and heads back to his master to make amends. He is a changed man. A runaway slave of whom Paul writes that he is a “faithful and beloved brother.” In his letter to Philemon, Onesimus’ owner, Paul states that Onesimus is his child in the faith, that he is useful to Paul and he would have liked to have kept Onesimus with him, and staggeringly that he is “my very heart.” Paul tells Philemon that if Onesimus owes him anything for having run away, the punishment was death by the way, to just charge it to his (Paul’s) account! Paul’s heart for Onesimus could stem from the fact that Paul also came from a non-glorious background and was a changed man by the grace of Christ. I imagine he identifies with Onesimus quite a bit. And he loves him like a son.

Ignatius (an early church father), writing sometime before 117 AD (when he was killed), tells us that Philemon freed Onesimus who became the pastor of the church there in Colossae, and later moved to Ephesus and became a pastor of the church there, taking leadership after Timothy died. Onesimus was later arrested and taken to Rome during the reign of Emperor Trajan. He was martyred in 109 AD, either by stoning or beheading (there are conflicting reports). ¹

That is a changed life indeed. What a testimony to the grace of God!

Aristarchus

A native of Thesolonica (Acts 20:4), Aristarchus is a Jew (v11). He is also a prisoner along with Paul. Aristarchus has been with Paul since Paul lived in Ephesus for three years. It was there that Aristarchus was first arrested for his Christian faith and association with Paul. Yet he faithfully stayed by Paul’s side all the way to a Roman prison.

So closely did Aristarchus bind his fate with Paul’s, that tradition holds that he was beheaded, along with Paul, by Roman Emperor Nero.

We are told of nothing Aristarchus did. He didn’t deliver any letters. He didn’t pastor any churches. He was company for Paul even in the worst of times. That was his calling. And he fulfilled his calling. I imagine his thanks from Paul, and his reward from Christ, are great.

Mark

The author of the Gospel bearing his name, The cousin of Barnabas, Mark was an eye witness to many of the events of Jesus life, possibly including his post-resurrection appearance in the upper room (if indeed it was his house in which the apostles were gathered). It was the home of his mother in which the believers were gathered for prayer in Acts 12 when Peter was miraculously rescued from prison.

He had accompanied Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey, but had left in the middle of trip. Right when the going got tough, he bailed. He was there when the trip wasn’t life threatening, but when it got a little rough, he headed home. His departure later sparked a division between Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15:37) when choosing companions for their second trip. Barnabas wanted to take Mark again, but Paul refused, on grounds that Mark was a quitter.

It seems Paul had reconciled himself to Mark by the writing of this letter. This is 11 or 12 years after that first trip and apparently Mark has changed. He’s not a quitter anymore. Not only does God take people with sinful backgrounds and change them. He takes Christians who fail, or give up, and changes them as well. And he uses Mark from this point on.

What happened to change Mark? Probably Peter. In 1 Peter 5:13, Peter refers to Mark as his son. Peter, you may remember, was a quitter too, until Jesus changed him. He related to Mark and Mark is changed. About six years later, Mark sits down and writes one of only four Scriptural biographies of Jesus. What a change!

Paul asks Timothy to bring Mark with him to Rome near the end of his life in 2 Timothy 4:11. This guy who gave up and went home. This guy who couldn’t hack it. This momma’s boy who wimped out. Bring him along with you Timothy, because he’s useful to the ministry now. He’s changed.

Tradition holds that Paul later sent Mark to Colossae as he suggested he might in Colossians 4:10, and that from there Mark traveled to Africa where he established a church in Alexandria Egypt. It is held that in 68 AD, Egyptian people, upset over the departure from traditional Egyptian idolatry, tied Mark to several horses and dragged him through the streets until he died.

Jesus called Justus

We know very little about this guy. We know he was a Jew. His name was Jesus in Greek, or Joshua in Hebrew. Jesus is kind of a tough name to walk around with. How do you live up to that? Paul says he was named Jesus, but also called Justus. That comes from the Latin word for just or righteous. He’s called “The righteous one.” Wow! What a reputation. And that’s really all we know about him.

But we call ourselves Christians, little Christs, or Christ-like ones. How are you doing living up to that name? Would anyone call you the righteous one?

 

At this point Paul adds a little note of a personal nature. The last three men, Aristarchus, Mark, and Justus, he names are Jews. The only Jews who have joined his gospel work. It saddens him I think that there are only three. His heart was for his countrymen to come to Christ. So he’s saddened that only three have joined him as missionaries. But he’s also very comforted by these three.

Epaphras

The founder of the church in Colossae, Epaphras traveled to Rome to speak with Paul concerning the theological errors being taught there and seek counsel on how to deal with the situation.

Again, Paul calls Epaphras a servant, or slave, of Christ. This guy is sold out 100%. And he’s a prayer warrior. He’s on his knees struggling in prayer. His prayer is that the Colossian believers would mature in their faith, and come to understand Scripture.

In verse 13 it says that Epaphras has “worked hard” for the believers in that area (Laodicea and Hierapolis are within 10 miles of Colossae). It curious that the translators choice those words. Everywhere else that Greek word appears, they translate it as “pain” or “agony”. I would take it to mean that he is in agony of spirit and heart for these people he cares for so deeply. That is the reason he struggles in prayer for them, because he loves them enough to hurt for them at a deep level.

We talked about struggling in prayer when we looked at Colossians 2:1, where Paul said that he also struggled for them in prayer. The Greek word is agonizomai, from which we get our english word ‘agonize’. It is often translated ‘strive’ or ‘fight’. So Epaphras is the prayer warrior in the group. He’s on his knees hurting for people.

Luke

Look back at the books of Acts. On Paul’s first missionary journey his is sick frequently. When he meets Luke though, he decides to take him along quite often on the remainder of his mission trips. Luke was the first medical missionary. He’s a doctor. Paul was his primary patient. Luke didn’t go to seminary, he went to medical school, but that skill was used by God. He was an educated man. God used him to minister to Paul, and to write well over one-third of the New Testament. And he was a gentile! The only gentile to write part of the NT. His writings are historically precise and accurate. He mentions 32 countries, 54 cities, and nine islands without a factual or historical error.

A Greek document written in the late 2nd century as a book introduction to his Gospel, says Luke was a native of Antioch, a physician, disciple of Paul, unmarried, and died at the age of 84.

Demas

Demas is mentioned three times in the NT. Here, Philemon 24 where he is called a “fellow worker” with Paul, and lastly in 2 Timothy 4:10. I don’t know how long Demas was with Paul as a “fellow worker” but he’s obviously there during this imprisonment. The passage in 2 Timothy gives us his sad story though. Paul writes to Timothy

Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. – 2 Timothy 4:10

Demas was there for a while, working alongside the Apostle and these other men, but he loved the world. He lost sight of the future hope that Paul mentions so often and loved the present world, and so he left the work. He deserted Paul during a time when Paul was suffering in prison and soon to die.

At the end here in verse 15, Paul greets the believers in Laodicea and specifically Nympha, who hosts a church in her/his home. Scholars are divided as to Nympha’s gender. It seems the name was used for both men and women with a very slight difference of accent marks being the only distinguishing feature. The manuscripts are divided and there are no extra-biblical sources to consult. It doesn’t really matter.

The point is that the church had no building to meet in, so they met in homes. It was that way, for the most part, until the third century.

The letter was to be read aloud for all to hear, and then sent on to the surrounding churches. Each church would make a copy to keep for themselves before sending on the original. This explains why we have thousands of copies of the NT books, but not the originals. They would have gotten worn out being passed around.

The “letter from Laodicea” is taken by some to be the book of Ephesians, but by others to be a letter that was lost. I tend to think it was Ephesians simply because it would have been copied like the rest and how could all the copies have been lost?

Archippus appears to have been Philemon’s son (Philemon 2). This letter has just been read aloud for everyone to hear. Paul closed the letter with this list of faithful men with diverse backgrounds and skill sets, and now he says, “Archippus, pay attention. These guys were faithful. Follow their example.”

We need to take that to heart ourselves. Each of these guys on the team was different. They had different backgrounds, different skills, different gifts, different ministries, but they were all important, and they were all faithful (except for Demas).

Each of us should look to our own background, how can I relate to others from/in similar circumstances? Our own skills, what has God equipped me to do? Our own gifts, what spiritual gifts has God given me and how should they be used? And find our niche in the ministry. We are all called to minister. The question isn’t “Am I called?” the question is “What am I called to? What work does God have for me to do?”

He has some work of the ministry for each of us. Find your calling and devote yourself to it.

 

¹ http://www.serbianorthodoxchurch.net/cgi-bin/saints.cgi?view=367579991073