“Tychicus, our dearly loved brother, faithful servant, and fellow slave in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know how we are and so that he may encourage your hearts” (Colossians 4:7-8 HCSB).
Tychicus is the first individual mentioned among the friends and acquaintances listed here in Colossians 4:7-15. Tychicus hailed from the Roman province of Asia, an area of the world that is roughly synonymous with the modern-day country of Turkey (see Acts 20:4). The wording of this passage indicates that Tychicus was tasked with the responsibility to deliver this letter to the Colossian church and perhaps some others as well.
You see, the New Testament Epistle to the Ephesians contains a passage that is virtually identical to the one we read here in Colossians 4:7-8 (see Ephesians 6:21-22). If Paul the Apostle intended his letters to the Colossians and Ephesians to be circulated among many first-century churches, then Tychicus may have been given the important responsibility of serving as Paul’s representative to several different congregations.
In this scenario, Tychicus would have been responsible for delivering one or more of Paul’s letters to each congregation. He would ensure that each letter was copied for use among the members of the local Christian community and then move on to his next destination. Judging from what we’ll read later in this chapter, that may have been Paul’s intent from the beginning.
It appears that Tychicus was well-suited for that assignment for the Scriptures tell us that he accompanied Paul on his third missionary journey and was later dispatched to minister in the town of Ephesus. In fact, Tychicus was so well-respected by Paul that he even considered placing Tychicus in a ministry position held by Timothy, his self-acknowledged “son in the faith” so Timothy could come and join him.
So while Paul is duly recognized as the human author of the Biblical Epistle to the Colossians, its important to recognize the contributions of others like Tychicus. If Tychicus had not been faithful to complete the work of delivering this God-inspired message to the church at Colossae, then the important theological truths contained within this letter may never have circulated beyond Paul’s inner circle.
His example reminds us that our faithfulness in completing the work that God has given us to do may produce greater results than we ever anticipated, even if that work may only involve the simple task of delivering a letter.