Serious Wake Up Call

Has God ever gotten a message to you, specifically?

It doesn’t happen often; typically God speaks to us via the Bible, as we open and study it.  His Word gets specific to us when we apply what we learn to our daily lives.

But imagine this: you’re reading the Bible, perhaps not quite as focused as you ought to be, when your name appears in the text.  Not just someone else who has your name.  Your name. Like God is, in front of all the millions of other Bible readers, giving you a message.

Would you pay attention?

I think I would, and for a first-century fellow named Archippus, he got just such a wake-up call.  At the tail end of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, this verse appears:

“And say to Archippus, ‘Be sure to carry out the work the Lord gave you.’”

Think about the context here.  Paul sends his letter to the church, and the pastor gets up to read it aloud.  After about an hour of reading about the joys of Christian living, the suffering of Jesus, the way of good character, and a little deep theology, the pastor pauses for a moment, as if his eyes don’t quite believe what they’re seeing. 

“Um.  Archippus?  O.K.  It says, ‘And say to Archippus . . . “

I can picture all the heads in the room turning toward the poor guy, who is now frozen in his seat, his eyes wide.  Talk about accountability.

Of course, it doesn’t stop there.  Copies of that letter were circulated to other churches, and many Christians made copies for themselves and to share with friends.  And on each of them, the message rings loud and clear to Archippus; in fact, it is still printed today – in hundreds of languages across the world.

It would be hard to ignore the message.  I imagine he achieved some level of local fame, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was asked regularly, “Hey Arch, how’s that ‘work the Lord gave you’ coming along?”

The Bible doesn’t record what happened, but my hunch is that he took the message to heart.  Wouldn’t you?   In fact, we don’t even know what the “work” God gave

Archippus was. Church-planter?  Doctor?  Family man?  Food service? Accounting?  Men’s ministry?  Business owner? Small group leader?  There’s no way to know. 

This story begs an interesting question, though.  What work has God given to me?  To you?

Although it doesn’t appear in our Bibles, I think it’s legitimate to substitute our name in for Archy and consider the verse carefully.  God says, “Tell ____________,  ‘Be sure to carry out the work the Lord gave you.’”

I know a lot of people who are willing to do God’s work, but they don’t know where to start.  They’re not sure what God has called them to do, so they’re in a holding pattern.  Others have an idea, but they’re afraid to take action.  Today is the day, “Archippus.”

Begin by reading Colossians 3 in the Bible.  God has already given us instructions to follow.  When we begin to take them seriously, I’m confident he’ll pass the specifics of his plan along as well.  If we aren’t obeying what we already know to do, why would God tell us more? 

Next, read Matthew 28:19-20 carefully and ask this question: “How, in my life, can I fulfill this commission?” Make a list of ideas and have the courage to try them.

Finally, pray for God’s direction and power.  Pray that He will use you to make a big impact on the world.

Do that, and you’re well on the way to carrying out God’s work. 

Take it as a wake up call.

Archippus?  Are you listening? 

Comments

[Steven Michael]

How many people of today are given the name Archippus?

[DanJ]

I've never heard of that name being used these days. Maybe "Archie" on occasion.

I wonder if 2000 years from now people will laugh about our strange names.