Churches Need Churches like People Need People
Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters who are in Laodicea and to Nympha and the church that meets in her house. And after you have read this letter, have it read to the church of Laodicea. In turn, read the letter from Laodicea as well. And tell Archippus, “See to it that you complete the ministry you received in the Lord.” I, Paul, write this greeting by my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.
This is the closing signature of Paul’s letter to Colossae, and he gives them some directions that help us validate other books of the Bible and see how the early church communicated. The people mentioned at the end are also mentioned in other letters from Paul called the Prison Epistles. Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon were all carried through the region by this group. We don’t have a letter to the Laodiceans because it was either lost or it is actually the Book of Ephesians, or because Laodiceans is just too hard to pronounce.
The various churches depended on each other for growth and survival. Numerous times refugees fleeing persecution in one city would be hosted by Christians in another. People like Archippus would either be left behind by Paul to lead the church or rise up from the local believers. They could get training and encouragement as long as Paul or other Apostles (traveling church planters) were around, but otherwise, the depended on such letters carried by others. They might have known that Paul was in prison, or it may have been a surprise for them when this group arrived with the letters.
The early church would have to go out of their way to carry word to Laodicea and Nympha to pass on Paul’s message. They would have to decide if they were going to act on Paul being in prison or go over the teachings he wrote to them quick. This letter and this teaching had to make it to the other cities and they would not open the letters to the other cities without them. Not only did the church in Colossae learn and grow from what was taught at their church, but they needed everything taught at the surrounding churches too.
We aren’t any different today. It’s no mistake that area pastors come up with similar themes to cover around the same time. As God speaks to His people and they listen, it would be fitting for people across town from each other to be reading and growing in the same ways. What if that was our commendation at the end of church on Sunday? “There’s my sermon, now go and ask everyone else what their preacher said on Sunday.” It might start a revolution! Just as one church can’t save a whole. city, one pocket of us can’t fully grasp the whole of scripture without talking it through with others. Find an excuse and go for it! Talk about everyone else’s church and see what God is showing us collectively. See how it fits in with what’s going on at OneLife and you’ll be encouraged that God is working in us all.