How do we know if we are doing the work of Christ? What does it look like? I suppose that we could come up with a number of different answers to these questions. As Christians, we would certainly point to the scriptures in order to support the answer that we give.
- Some would say that in order to be doing the work of Christ we must be engaged in evangelism; this is without question part of the Christian mission. Jesus made this clear in texts like Matthew 28:18-20, and Mark 16:15.
- Other believers might respond that we are to minister to the physical needs of those who are less fortunate than we are. This is also clearly true. In His teaching in Matthew 25 : 35-40
Jesus spoke at length about how we should feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, and cloth the naked, along with some other things as well.
- Still other Christians might say that we have a personal responsibility to actively use the spiritual gifts that the Lord has given to us. Scripture also supports this. There is teaching about spiritual gifts in a number of places in the New Testament (Rom. 12; 1 Cor. 12-14; 1 Pet. 4).
In 1 Peter 4:10 the apostle tells us that we are to use whatever gift we have received from the Lord. All of the things that I have mentioned so far qualify as the work of Christ, that is, things He would want us to do, and all of them deal with serving others. But are these particular ministries the only things that qualify as the work of Christ? The answer to that question is no.
In the book of Philippians we are introduced to a man by the name of Epaphroditus; he is mentioned twice in the book (Phil. 2:25; 4:18). The apostle Paul calls our attention to him. If Paul had not mentioned him we may very well have never heard anything about him. Because Epaphroditus is mentioned only in this book we have limited information about him.
Paul tells us a number of things about this man. His opening statements reveal how he sees him; he views Epaphroditus as a brother in the Lord, a fellow worker, and a fellow soldier (Phil. 2:25. Stated simply he sees him as a fellow Christian minister. There is one thing that is not immediately clear from reading the English text of this verse.
The New International Version describes Epaphroditus as a “messenger.” The Greek word translated here as “messenger” is elsewhere translated “apostle.” Paul also tells us a couple of other things about this man.
- First, he was a messenger of the church at Philippi (Phil. 2:25).
- Second, we learn that he became ill, in fact quite ill, but the Lord had mercy on him and his illness was healed.
All of these facts are important pieces of information, but I would like to call your attention to something else that we learn in the text. In Philippian 2:30 : Paul says
that this man did the work of Christ, he almost died for doing it.
In the previous verse, Philippians 2:29, he says that
men like him should be honored.
So, what was it that Epaphroditus did which earned him such commendation from Paul? The answer is that he was a messenger (an apostle, yes, but not in the sense that we typically think of), Paul calls him that in Philippians 2:25.
In the last chapter of Philippians we find out what kind of messenger he was at this time. As far as we know he did not bring a message, or words, he brought goods. Philippians 4:18 speaks of them as gifts (note the plural) that he brought to supply Paul’s needs. He in some sense served as a delivery person, and this was a ministry! And what a ministry it was. Take a look at a Bible map of Paul’s missionary journeys and you will see that Philippi is a long way from Rome, where Paul was when he wrote the letter to the Philippians. It was both a long trip, and dangerous.
Delivering supplies may not sound like a particularly glamourous ministry. It was probably not a very high profile ministry, but it was necessary. Because of what Epaphroditus did the church in Philippi was able to supply Paul’s needs. He was the bridge between the two. We are not told exactly what items he brought to Paul, but they were almost certainly necessities. His delivery to Paul in some way ties in with Jesus’ instructions in Matthew 25, which I mentioned above.
There are times when we may be tempted to look down on certain ministries. In our view they are not important, or they do not seem especially spiritual (they are not preaching, teaching, or leading worship). Or, even less honorably, they are not ones in which people will take note of us.
These verses about Epaphroditus provide a corrective for this type of thinking. Paul said that Epaphroditus was doing the work of God and almost died for it.
Paul was writing under divine inspiration, he was not merely offering his own assessment of the situation in the letter, he was giving us God’s perspective.
One interesting feature about all of this is that Epaphroditus’ delivery to Paul has been remembered for over 2,000 years now. The memory of his service has been preserved in the letter to the church at Philippi.
We know nothing of anything else this man may have done, but we do know about this. This is his lasting legacy. He served Paul, the church in Philippi, and God. Never consider anything that you do in the service of Christ as insignificant.
Do everything for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31), for our labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Cor. 15:58) no matter how large or small it may seem.
John P. Lathrop – United States
John P. Lathrop is a graduate of Western Connecticut State University, Zion Bible Institute, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s Center for Urban Ministerial Education (CUME). He is an ordained minister with the International Fellowship of Christian Assemblies and has twenty years of pastoral experience.
