Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
– Colossians 1:1-8 English Standard Version1
The book of Colossians contains some beautiful passages. It is a letter written by Paul, and apostle of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote much of the New Testament, and the bulk of that material is written to people whom he had met personally. Colossians seems to be an exception to that. But let us not think that Paul’s indirect connection to the believers in Colossae was cause for any reduced compassion and concern for them.
Paul begins his letter in familiar fashion, introducing it from himself and from his younger companion, Timothy. Paul then goes immediately into gratitude mode for what he has “heard” about the believers in Colossae, namely their faith in Christ and mutual love. Has Paul seen this faith and love in person? It wouldn’t seem so. It seems more likely that Epaphras is Paul’s link to the Colossians believers (mentioned in 1:7 and 4:12).
It is not unreasonable to think that Paul had not been to Colossae himself. The accounts in Acts of his missionary travels contain no direct mention of him going there. Of the three journeys recorded in Acts, the first would not have taken him far enough west, and the second and third would not have brought him any closer than Ephesus, a good 120 miles away. Add to this what Paul says in Colossians 2:1, “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face.” It seems like Paul is making reference to multiple groups of believers who have one thing in common: they have never met in person.
Does this prove anything? Of course not. As the saying goes, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Just because we are not told that Paul went to Colossae doesn’t mean he couldn’t have. And from the things he writes we make conclusions that must be held modestly. The point is to notice Paul’s comprehensive concern when he thinks about the Body of Christ. Did Paul like some of the believers better than others? Possibly. The Thessalonians may have been his favorites; the Corinthians probably not. Some churches were obviously doing better than the others, but he loved them all deeply—even the ones he had never met.
We can even make note of how Paul recommends the communities of faith to connect with each other. In the Roman territory of Asia Minor, Colossae was one of three cities in relatively close proximity to one another, the other two being Laodicea and Hierapolis. Later in the letter (chapter 4) we will see Paul making reference to believers in all three of these cities. He even asks the Colossians to bear greetings for him to the believers in Laodicea, and for the congregations in both places to share with each other the letters Paul has written to them.
These observations are certainly not the key points from Paul’s letter, but they are not utterly insignificant. In our own day we have brothers and sisters in other locations whom we have never met. Some live just a short drive away. Personal connections do make our relationships stronger. Perhaps Paul’s example might inspire us to connect with a nearby congregation. At the very least, it can push us to expand our prayers and vision for ministry to include those we’ve never met.
- “Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”
↩︎
The Winding Path 