Titus 3:12-13 (ESV)
When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at
Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Do your best to speed
Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing.
There are several interesting observations in this verse, like the fact that
very few people are identified by their career except the lawyer. I don’t know
the significance of that, but what stands out to me is the number of people referenced
in these verses. Paul’s ministry was never a one-man-show. It wasn’t about him.
Paul could have travelled to Crete, but he sent Artemas and Tychicus instead.
Paul was wintering in Nicopolis, but he wanted Titus there with him. We don’t
know where Zenas and Apollos were going, but Titus was to see to it that they
had everything they needed for their trip. Whatever they were doing, Paul didn’t
feel the need to be there. For Paul, ministry was never about him. Whenever we
see a ministry about a particular person, whenever someone needs to always have
center-stage it concerns me. Ministry is service. Those in ministry are called
to serve, not to command nor to be served. Take a look at those in “ministry”
who have fallen in recent years. To a person their ministries had become about
them. For those in ministry, guard your heart against that need to be needed.
For the rest of us, honor your leaders but don’t make them gods. Ministry is
about Jesus. It’s not about us.
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