I recently took time to read and think my way through the apostle Paul’s letter to the early Christians in Colossae, the Bible book we now call Colossians. Colossae was a town about a hundred miles east of Ephesus. Ephesus was a major city on the west coast of what is now Turkey and a place the apostle Paul visited at least three times, on one occasion staying there for over two years. The gospel spread to Colossae, perhaps from Ephesus, just as it was spreading elsewhere in the world (Colossians 1:5-6). But there is no evidence that Paul ever visited Colossae. It was Epaphras who brought the gospel there (Colossians 1:7).

We sometimes think that Paul was the great apostle who brought the gospel to Asia and Europe. Our perception is skewed by two factors. The first is that Luke wrote a detailed account of Paul’s missionary journeys (in the book of Acts) and we do not have detailed accounts of other preachers of that era. The second is that Paul wrote detailed letters to a variety of churches that ended up in the New Testament. But Paul was just one of many spreaders of the gospel. He himself did not exaggerate his own importance. At the beginning of this letter, he declared that he was “an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God” (Colossians 1:1 NIV), but apostle was not a formal position and just meant someone who was “sent.” Paul also said that his letter to the Colossians was not just from him but also from Timothy. Paul described himself as God’s church’s “servant by the commission God gave me” (Colossians 1:25). Paul told the Colossians that the gospel had come to them just as “the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world” (1:6). The point was that the gospel was spreading in all directions. Paul could not take credit for this. He was just one of many Christians. The gospel was an organic movement that no one person could control or take credit for.

So why did Paul take it upon himself to write authoritatively to the Colossians? In the first place, Paul was an apostle—he had been commissioned by God to spread the gospel to gentiles. Second, Paul was known to the Colossians, having preached in that general area. Third, Paul was endorsed by Timothy and Epaphras, who had more direct experience with the Colossians.