“Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers” (Philemon 1:23-24).
The apostle Paul stands like a spiritual giant. He wrote a great portion of the New Testament, planted churches where the gospel hadn’t yet been preached and brought the good news about Jesus from Asia to Europe. Yet, he couldn’t have done all he did by himself. He was always part of a team. Not only that, but he also knew it!
We know some information about Epaphras and Aristarchus but not enough to form a full biography. Mark and Luke wrote the Gospels that carry their names and Demas ultimately abandoned his ministry. Whatever else we can say about this ministry team it is clear that Paul was the leader and the most prominent personality.
We also know that in the Church there is no “star of the show” but Jesus. Christianity is teamwork. We each bring our spiritual gifts, our faith and the talents God has given us and we cooperate for the purpose of seeing others come to faith in Christ. Paul couldn’t do what God called him to do without the help of others and neither can we. Whether we work in public view or behind the scenes we are part of a team helping the world to see Jesus. In the end, it’s all about Him.
