Encouraging one another: Col 4:17

At the end of his letter to the church at Colossae, Paul writes, “Say to Archippus, ‘Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.’” (Col. 4:17) It is unclear as to who Archippus was, but he may have been the same Archippus that Paul mentions in his letter to Philemon: “To Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker, and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house.” (Philemon 1:1-2) In this verse, Archippus may have been the son of Philemon and Apphia. Either way, Paul issues a gentle rebuke to Archippus for neglecting the ministry (service) he received from the Lord. What is interesting in this passage is that the Greek word translated “Say” is a second-person plural imperative (command). Paul was not speaking this command to a single person or a select group of leaders in the church; he was speaking to the entire church. Paul was saying, “You all say to Archippus…” The point is that we all have a responsibility to encourage and exhort one another. It can be tempting to want to relegate all ministry to the professional ministers, but God is calling each one of us to minister to each other and to encourage each other with the word and love of God.