Colossians 4:17
And say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.”
Tag: Retirement Only Comes After Fulfillment
The above verse is found in the closing of Paul’s letter to the church at Colossae. Paul is sending some remarks to the entire church about individuals in that church. Imagine how Archippus must have felt when he hears his name read out load to the entire church. We are not told much about him or what his specific ministry is all about. We don’t know if he is young and was tempted to give up on the faith, or if he was old and and the hardships and difficulties of the faith were taking a toll on him to given in and give up. We only know that Paul tells him.
There is not a word in this verse that should be ignored or assumed. The tense of each word carries incredible meaning for us. But, the length of this blog does not allow a complete breakdown of each word.
There are three principles, however, that must be mentioned, that flow from this small, but impactful, verse:
1). “Fulfill” the Ministry God Gives Us! We are not to do something half way. We are to plēroō it. We are to make sure we complete the ministry gives us. We are to “carry it to the full.” Notices that Paul told the same thing to young Timothy:
2 Timothy 4:5
As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Christ completed His ministry for us and it resulted in our salvation:
John 17:4
I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
We too are to complete the work God gave us to do. The thought, for the believer, in regard to the work God have us would be this: “No retirement without fulfillment. No completion until the day of glorification.”
2). We have be given a “Ministry” - We will be accountable for “that” Ministry. God has prepared good works, before we were saved, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10). Note what one commentator says about this concept of “ministry:”
“Ministry (diakonia) - Paul reminded Archippus that his ministry was a gift from God, and that he was a steward of God who would one day have to give an account of his work. Since the Lord gave him his ministry, the Lord could also help him carry it out in the right way. Ministry is not something we do for God; it is something God does in and through us. The NT introduces a radically new attitude toward ministry. Diakonia is not the activity of a lesser to a greater, but is the lifestyle of a follower of the Lord Jesus.”
3). Our Ministry is Received from the Lord. Our service to God is a gift we get from God, as being “in” the Lord. This is a key concept. We are “in” Christ - any ministry we have, therefore, is “in Christ.” Note:
1 Corinthians 3:9
For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
Is it not great to read that we labor “with” God. We don’t simply work for a Master, but, in reality, God gives us a ministry to work along some with Him. We received it in the same way we receive oxygen. It comes through the faith in our lungs and enables us to breath the labor we do for Him. This ministry is not something we make up. It is not something we develop skills for, it is a ministry given to us that uses our skills. The world (and much of the Church) has this all backwards. Our ministry, as believers, comes to us as we walk in and with Christ.
We must fulfill the ministry given to us as believers in Christ. It is charge to the end of our lives. There is no retirement from this ministry. There is no self made ministry. We are to take the gift of ministry God gives us and through Him and for Him we are to fulfill that ministry.
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