-One last personal exhortation from Paul to a man named Archippus. Clearly a member of this assembly, he was associated with Philemon (Philemon 2 - some have suggested that Archippus could have been the son of Philemon and Aphia). But he was also connected to Paul in some way, as Paul calls him his fellow soldier. Epaphroditus (Philippians 2.25) is the only other ever to bear this title, possibly Timothy (2Timothy 2.3), so Paul must have had a very high opinion of Archippus. Regardless, Archippus had been given a ministry ‘in the Lord’, and he needed to watch out and pay attention to it so that he could fulfill it. A soldier was one who had been given a specific mission, a strategy for achieving some kind of victory, typically in defense of one’s own land or of conquering another. Archippus for his part likely had been charged by God (along with Paul) with either advancing the kingdom of God by conquering souls with the Gospel or with defending the kingdom from internal heresy and/or external attack. The battleground was most likely this assembly in Colossae, this one that met in Philemon’s home, as well as the surrounding community. Perhaps he struggled with fear or doubt or distraction of some form? He wouldn’t be the first, nor would he be the last to do so.
-And really, all those who follow Christ have been given a specific mission, some kind of a ministry, one which we are each expected fulfill (cf Matthew 25.14-29; Ephesians 4.11-13; 1Corinthians 3.10-15, 12.7). We each have a race to run and finish and win (1Corinthians 9.24, Hebrews 12.1, 2Timothy 4.7). In a race, runners are focused on exactly that - run, finish, win. When the gun goes off, I run. No detours, no stopping (unless doing so might somehow help me keep going), no dilly-dally. There is no time for anything else. It is not time to do anything else. 'Cept run. Do you and I know that we are in a race? Do we even know what it is? Do we know what God has given us to do? And are we aware that our faithful best efforts to run our own individual races contribute directly to how the team does? Our goal, our calling is both a solo and a team victory. So we must focus. Focus on the finish. Focus on the race, one foot in front of the other, every day another step forward towards the goal, the prize which awaits us. Focus on the One Who broke the tape first and is waiting for us there at the finish line. May God give us the grace each and every day to exert ourselves with every last ounce of effort towards breaking the tape where we can collapse into the arms of this One Who went before us and hear Him say, ‘Well done! Great race!’
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