Lessons in labouring together
“And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.” (Col. 1:29)
The study of how Paul related to his companions in the service of Christ is revealing—and humbling. Before his conversion, he had been an ambitious man, making a career in religion and marked out for distinction in that career. His encounter with the glorified Christ on the road to Damascus changed all that.
Paul saw that his service for Christ was one in which the will of the Master was paramount. He saw himself as a master-builder, but the building was God’s and its plan was God’s. Paul and his companion builders were employed to work together. He thought of the work as spiritual agriculture, but the field was God’s, and the workers were companions together in the work as God required.
As he preached, Paul rejoiced to see souls saved and added to the great body of the redeemed. This figure of the church as the body of Christ became an important one in his thinking and writing. Of vital importance in this figure is the fact that Christ is the head of the body; His glory is the central priority. But a question may arise about whether some members of the body are to be elevated at the expense of others, as would happen in a man-made system.
Paul explains that a body does not function like that. If I bruise my little finger, I feel pain and my whole body is affected. Each member of the body has its own function, and, most importantly, each is valuable as it contributes appropriately to the welfare of all. To apply this, I learn that my spiritual gift is important not as it brings me profit or prominence, but as it helps and strengthens others to the glory of Christ. It is given to me for the glory of Christ and for the benefit of others.
Euodia and Syntyche
This teaching of Paul’s explains his behaviour and attitude towards those who served the Lord with him. Perhaps we remember Euodia and Syntyche (Php. 4) as two women who quarrelled, but Paul remembered how they had laboured with him in the gospel. He honored their contribution to the work for they were also serving the same Master, and Paul was a servant, not an overlord. Clement, who is mentioned in the same chapter, is spoken of with respect. He may have been obscure, and he certainly has no detailed mention in the epistle, but he was honored as a fellow labourer. How could Paul fail to honour people like these, “whose names are written in the book of life”? Many valuable servants of God in our day will never be mentioned by name in our Christian periodicals. They may not be important names in human reckoning, but in God’s reckoning—in His book—they are.
Mark and Aristarchus
Mark and Aristarchus have the distinction of being twice mentioned in Paul’s epistles: in Colossians chapter 4 and in Philemon verse 24. Mark had disappointed Paul because he had turned back during a very difficult mission, but Paul bore him no grudge for he recovered and went on serving faithfully after, as it were, a moment’s hesitancy. In Colossians 4, Aristarchus is also described as Paul’s fellow prisoner of war. This is the strict sense of the term by which Paul links this faithful servant of God with himself. It gave Aristarchus the honour of being able to say that he had been a fellow soldier with Paul. He had borne the hardship of warfare and the restriction of POW conditions along with the apostle. According to Ephesians 3, the honour which they shared was of being captives for the sake of Jesus Christ, but the glory in all of this belonged to the Commander, not to the serving men.
Demas and Luke
In his epistle to Philemon, Paul refers to Demas and Luke together as fellow labourers. Luke has the added distinction of later being noted as Paul’s sole companion in the final stage of his last imprisonment (2 Tim. 4:11). Paul and Luke seem to have been close companions in the Lord’s service. Luke was entrusted with the tremendous responsibility of writing by inspiration two vital books of the New Testament canon: the gospel which bears his name, and the Acts—lengthwise, more of the New Testament than any other author, including Paul. In a significant portion of the Acts narrative, Luke traveled with Paul, yet the only indication given to us that this is so is his repeated use of the word “we.” We can follow this easily in Acts, from their departure from Troas (16:11) to their arrival in Philippi (16:40). The same pattern is repeated in the journey from Philippi (20:5) to Jerusalem (21:18). Luke did not seek to bask in reflected glory. It must have been a tremendous boon to Paul, with his frequent bouts of ill health, to have a doctor with him. It is not surprising that Paul refers to Luke as “the beloved physician” (Col. 4:14). This description was not lightly bestowed on Luke. God chose Luke, unassuming and faithful, to write a history marked by the most consistent accuracy. Its value as evidence is especially seen when men seek to discredit it and find, to their discomfiture, that he is accurate where they have been inaccurate. The service of God deserves men who value accuracy and integrity. Paul and Luke were well-matched.
It is sad that Demas, listed beside Luke in the epistles to the Colossians and Philemon, did not prove so consistent. Faithfulness to the facts led Paul to relate that Demas had forsaken him, “having loved this present world” (2 Tim. 4:10). We must not reach assumptions about the precise meaning of this, but it seems that he found the hardships too much to bear and sought an easier path. Can we be critical, if we have perhaps never served in a way which demanded sacrifice?
Priscilla and Aquila
Sometimes people of the same profession or occupation also form close friendships in the service of God. This was the case with Paul and that worthy couple, Aquila and his wife Priscilla. We first meet them in Acts 18:2, while they are living in Corinth. They had been expelled from Rome by the Emperor Claudius along with all Jews. During his stay in Corinth, Paul stayed with them and worked at their shared occupation of tent-making. When Paul went on from Corinth, they accompanied him as far as Ephesus and they remained there after his departure. It appears from Romans 16:4-5 that they returned to Rome after the death of Claudius. An assembly in Rome was meeting in their home at the time Paul wrote the Roman epistle.
Aquila and Priscilla show us the power of a stable marriage. Circumstances demanded that they move house and travel to a distant city. They had at least two further changes of residence. In the narrative of Scripture, we find them always acting together in the service of God. It is not for us to decide that one of them was more spiritual than the other. The inspired record keeps them together and this is their great example for us. Paul calls them “my fellow workers” (Rom. 16:3) and mentions that they “laid down their own necks” for him. We are not told when this sacrificial loyalty to Paul was exhibited, but it may be taken as a good example of the kind of influence Paul had on faithful people. He who worked with his own hands to support himself as well as his fellow workers (Acts 20:34) would have led from the front, going into danger himself before urging others to do so. This reinforces Paul’s teaching about body unity. He was a team man, but the work was directed by Lord, not Paul.
You and I
We, too, are Paul’s fellow laborers (1 Cor. 3:9-10). Let us learn from these many lessons from those who worked with him in Scripture.