“Tychicus, a beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me.”
The second description of Tychicus is that he was a “faithful minister.”
“faithful minister”
The second depiction of Tychicus is a “faithful minister.” He was a brother and a beloved brother; he was not only a minister but also a faithful minister. He served God; he was of use to the church at Colosse and the apostle Paul.
Tychicus was not a well-known member of Paul’s team. He was not a famous person on the crew, but that does not mean he was unsuccessful. The emphasis here is on his character rather than his personality.
God does not require that we be brilliant or clever in the ministry. We do not have to be original. God does not expect us to become famous or popular. He does not even envision success from us. However, He does expect us to be faithful (1 Cor. 4:1,2).
By the use of “faithful,” Paul describes the quality of Tychicus’ work. When it comes to our ministry, God values faithfulness more than anything else. Tychicus was “Mr. Ordinary” on the team. He lived a monotonous life. No one would have written about him in the Christian magazines of the day. Neither was there an ounce of Madison Avenue blood in his body. Our generation of Christianity loves to focus on personality and charisma, not character. Today, it seems to make no difference whether a person is off doctrinally as long as he has a pleasing personality. It is one big brotherhood at the expense of truth.
It was not a popular thing to be a Christian in the first century. To be a believer was not fashionable. Being a friend of a man in jail for preaching the gospel was not a very favored position to take. That might cost a Christian something. Tychicus was willing to pay that price.
Tychicus was no scintillating personality. He was steady, solid, stable, and faithful. He did the little jobs as unto the Lord. He did not deem it below himself to carry the epistle of Colossians to Colosse. He took up the slack where others would not. It takes a big man to do the little assignments. He did them day in and day out. No one patted him on the head and told him how great he was. No one interviewed him for a publication.
Principle:
God wants us to be faithful in our ministry.
Application:
Tychicus was a man Paul could count upon. That is what God expects of us. He wants faithfulness. Many today are faithless.
How would someone describe your ministry? Faithful? Faithless? Can people trust you to deliver the goods? Can people count on you to do the job?
Today it costs us relatively little to minister the gospel faithfully. No one persecutes us. No one puts us in jail for preaching the gospel. No one ostracizes us for our witness for Christ today, yet there is more unfaithfulness in ministry today than in Paul’s day. God is looking for people upon whom He can count to do His ministry.
God has a plan for your life right where you are. Living the Christian life in the day-to-day humdrum of life is challenging. No one goes to the Christian wife, who washes dishes day in and out, to get her testimony about how she lives the Spirit-filled life. No one asks her how difficult it is to face the boredom of washing dishes every day. No one interviews her about the thrill of sweeping the floor every day. However, she is in the plan of God, and all God expects of her is faithfulness. When she does her housework as unto the Lord, she is a person with purpose.
