Honoring Faithful Ministers: A Lesson from Epaphras

The Faithful Minister

There is a man in the New Testament that most of us have not spent much time considering.

He does not have a letter named after him. He did not write a gospel. He was not martyred in a famous way or remembered for a great theological controversy.

His name was Epaphras. And the Apostle Paul calls him faithful.

A Gospel Tree in Colossae

In Colossians 1:3-8, Paul writes to a small congregation in a forgotten town. Colossae was a city the Roman road had passed by. The church there met in a house and probably numbered no more than fifty people. Read about this church here.

And yet when Paul prays for them, he cannot stop giving thanks (v3).

He has heard of their faith in Christ Jesus. He has heard of their love for one another (v4). The gospel had taken root in this little congregation and was bearing visible fruit.

Faith and love. Fruit on a Gospel Tree.

But fruit does not appear without a root. And a root does not form without a seed. And a seed does not get planted without a sower.

That sower was Epaphras.

What Paul Says About Him

Paul’s description of Epaphras is brief. But every word counts.

In verse 7 he writes this:

“He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf.”

He does not call him their eloquent minister. He does not call him their popular minister, or their impressive minister, or their influential minister.

He calls him their faithful minister.

That is the word Paul chose. That is the word that matters.

We get one more glimpse of Epaphras at the end of the letter. Paul writes in Colossians 4:12:

“Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.”

Epaphras was away from his people. He was with Paul in prison. And still he was on his knees for them.

He preached the gospel to them. He planted the seed. He prayed for them when he could not be with them.

He was faithful.

The Minister You May Be Overlooking

Most of us will never sit under the ministry of a “famous” preacher.

We will not fill a stadium. Our pastor will not have a podcast with a million subscribers. His books, if he writes any, will not top any lists.

But if he opens the word of God faithfully week after week, if he labors in prayer on your behalf, if he scatters the seed of the gospel in your congregation and trusts God for the growth — then you have something infinitely more valuable.

You have an Epaphras.

Paul did not thank Epaphras for his results. He did not commend him for his platform or his reach or his influence.

He called him faithful, and he thanked God for the work that took place through him.

For Those in the Pews

The fruit in your church did not come from nowhere.

Someone preached the word to you. Someone prayed for you when you did not know it. Someone scattered seed in your life and trusted God with the harvest.

You do not thank the canvas for the painting. You thank the artist.

But it is right and good to be grateful for the brush.

We are explicitly told to show honor to elders, and especially those who labor in preaching and teaching (1 Tim. 5:17).

If you have a faithful pastor—not a perfect one, not a famous one, but a faithful one—thank God for him.

And then go encourage him today.