Epaphrus, A Faithful Servant

In his letter to the church at Colossae, the Apostle Paul was inspired to commend Epaphrus, a man who had been involved in Christian service to the Colossians, as being a "faithful servant of Christ". Throughout Paul's letters one would see that Paul did not make such statements lightly. He was a man much about proven character and not just words.

There is not a lot of scripture concerning this man Epaphrus, but it seems that what we have is quite telling. In Colossians 1:3-8, Paul wrote, "We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit." And in Colossians 4:12-13 we read, "Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. For I testify for him that he has a deep concern for you and for those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis."

From these verses and their context, we gain some insight as to why the Apostle Paul would refer to Epaphrus as a "faithful servant of Christ". Consider these three points. First of all, he had been God's vessel or instrument in the sharing of the gospel of Christ with the people in Colossae. Having been a good steward of the gospel, He had declared unto them the "word of truth". Secondly, it appears that he had been a defender of the gospel of grace. Seemingly aware of it's importance and led by the Spirit, he taught the Colossions in a manner which they "understood the grace of God in truth". And thirdly, though imprisoned for his faith in Christ, out of a God inspired "deep concern" for others, he continued to serve the Colossian believers by "laboring earnestly" for them in his prayers.

Although it is not intented to be a complete list of qualities that might be seen in a faithful servant, in Epaphrus we can learn the following. That a "faithful servant of Christ" is one who lives and shares the gospel of Christ, defends and teaches the gospel of grace, serves in whatever situations they find themselves in and is a person of earnest prayer. The place of service and specifics of it may change but the heart of the faithful servant remains the same. May God so work in our lives that we might be found to be faithful servants of Christ. To God be the glory!