30 September 2005 Devotion for Today "Tychicus" Colossians 4:7-8

30 September 2005  Devotion for Today  “Tychicus”  Colossians 4:7-8

 

^“7 Tychicus, a beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. ⁸ I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts, ⁹ with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you all things which are happening here.”  Colossians 4: 7-8

 

The late Ray Stedman, writing on this passage, says about Tychicus: “Tychicus was one of a band of young men and women who accompanied Paul on much of his ministry. There were no seminaries in those days, so training was done in the most effective way of all---through continual, on-the-job, personal relationships. This involved taking people along on journeys and teaching them what was important and how to respond to situations. Four years in a seminary today could not possibly equal one or two years of this intense, personalized training with the apostle Paul himself. Tychicus, who was from Thessalonica, traveled widely with Paul. He was part of the delegation chosen by the churches of Macedonia to accompany the apostle when he took to Jerusalem the special offering that had been collected for the poor and needy saints there. Later, Paul sent him to Ephesus to take Timothy's place in that city, and possibly also, as the letter to Titus suggests, Tychicus was sent to Crete.”

 

The first thing that Paul says about this man Tychicus, besides being beloved, is that Tychicus was faithful.  As an associate in Paul’s ministry and later as a pastor in Ephesus and in Crete, this man was certainly one of the jewels in Paul’s crown.  Faithfulness is perhaps one of the best things that can be said about someone, especially a pastor.  The average person will not remember but just a few things a preacher has preached.  He will not remember all of the great building triumphs or administrative feats.  One will not remember the degrees and academic prowess possessed by the minister, or his skills of counseling or teaching.  The greatest thing that can be said about a man of God is this: “He was there!” 

 

Tychicus was such a man.  That is what Paul means by faithfulness.  We thing of faithfulness so much today as marital fidelity.   But Paul’s meaning transcends this to describe the faithfulness of a friend and a minister who is not thinking of your church as “the jumping off place” or “stepping stone” to build his career.  He doesn’t consider you as a means to get that big church. He looks at you as the people with whom he desires to spend his whole life serving and loving.  Faithfulness means holding on to that letter of resignation just a little bit longer, to know that Christ’s faithfulness enabled Him to bear the cross for us sinful ingrates.  Faithfulness is being there the way Christ was there for us.  Tychicus didn’t get the plum spots of the church, but I am sure the people he ministered to felt that way about him.

 

You may not be a pastor, but if you are a Christian, you are a minister.  Do you have the kind of “stick-to-it-tiveness” attitude that Tychicus had?  Remember that the crown of life, Jesus says in Revelation 2, belongs to those who are faithful unto death.  Have a blessed day.

 

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@earthlink.net

 

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