Colossians 4:17 has always been a curious verse to me. Paul has just finished his letter to
church in Colosse. Among greetings that are customary at end of his letters, he throws in what almost appears to be an afterthought: “Tell Archippus: ‘See to it that you complete work you have received in Lord.’”The Bible doesn’t tell us much about Archippus. The only other time he is mentioned is in book of Philemon where Paul refers to him as a fellow solider. I cannot help but wonder who he was and what kind of work he received from Lord. And why did Paul feel compelled to tell him to be sure to finish it?
Bear with me for a moment while I speculate. If Archippus had a special gifting from God, there were probably those around him who did not understand that gifting or were jealous of his ministry. Maybe Paul felt it was important to remind him to hang in there even if his faithfulness did not make him most popular guy around.
Another possibility is that Paul knew Archippus had a special gift but was not using it to fullest because of insecurities or self-doubt. By writing this message in a letter to whole church, Paul may have wanted to bolster Archippus’ confidence by publicly affirming his belief that Archippus was capable of living up to his calling.
Or maybe neither of these was true. Maybe Archippus was already doing very well in his ministry and Paul just wanted to encourage him to press on to greater heights. As an evangelist with an active ministry himself, Paul probably knew how easy it was to lose sight of big picture.
