Lives of Scripture

Archippus was part of the church at Colossae, known from two brief mentions in Paul's letters. In the letter to Philemon, addressed jointly to Philemon, Apphia, and Archippus, Paul calls him "our fellow soldier" (Philemon 1:2) -- the same word Paul uses of Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25), marking Archippus as someone actively laboring in gospel work alongside Paul, not merely a bystander. In Colossians, written from prison, Paul closes with a direct, public charge relayed through the whole congregation: "say to Archippus, 'Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it'" (Colossians 4:17). Paul does not specify what this ministry was, and later guesses -- that Archippus was Philemon's son, or held a pastoral office at Colossae -- go beyond what the text states. What is clear is the exhortation's tone: not exactly a rebuke, but a pointed, public reminder, delivered secondhand through the church itself, that a ministry received "in the Lord" must actually be carried through, not merely begun. Paul trusted the congregation to hold Archippus accountable to finish what he'd been given.