Have you heard the name, “Archippus”? Do you know that he is named in the Bible? The beautiful thing about Archippus is that he is mentioned only twice in the entire Bible (Colossians 4:17, Philemon 2). Yes, he is almost anonymous and yet mentioned by name!

I believe we are now in a season for the modern-day Archippus to arise – each a “nameless” saint and yet intimately known by our Heavenly Father, as written about in Say To Archippus, which also describes the Archippus Awakening initiative.

Archippus Awakening is about awakening saints in the body of Christ, that we may know and fulfil our God-given Kingdom assignments.

I believe the days of spiritual celebrities and superstars are over. In these last days, God will raise up the common man and woman to do great and extraordinary things in and through them.

These are the Archippuses of our day who will know their assignments and be obedient to fulfil them! An excerpt from the book:

Is the Church asleep?

In Singapore, when boys turn 18 years of age, they are automatically drafted into the army. That happened for me more than 30 years ago in March 1983.

Of all the military training, what is probably one of the most dreaded of any infantry soldier must be the defence exercise. Conducted over a few days, we had to occupy a given piece of ground, dig in and defend it at all cost.

After two days of digging, my section was tasked to set up an ambush. The “enemy” had advanced and would very likely move along this road, we were told. The instructor briefed us on ambush drills and we were duly positioned, well concealed and ready to strike when the “enemy” showed up.

After that, we waited, waited, and waited. 

Suddenly, a thunderous barrage of explosives jolted us out of our skin … more accurately, out of our slumber. And it wasn’t explosives but expletives from a very angry instructor!

While waiting to ambush the “enemy”, we had all but fallen asleep (yes, all). The “enemy” walked by, expecting to be shot upon, but nothing happened.

After a dressing down, we were given another chance to ambush the “enemy”. And guess what? We all promptly fell asleep again!

We may smile at this little episode from my own version of Army Daze but on a more serious note, a sleeping army is no laughing matter, is it? And yet, could this be the phenomenon in the Church of Jesus Christ today?

Everyone loves to know who he is in Christ but fails to recognise nor accept that being in Christ also means being engaged in battle. Somehow, this is seldom preached and as a result, many remain asleep to this fact.

When I shared Archippus Awakening with a sister over breakfast, her eyes lit up as she remarked, “We have to awaken a sleeping army.”

The greater mission

In the first mention of Archippus (Colossians 4:17) and its context, I have established that this is the time for Archippuses to awake to their ministry that they may fulfil it. We will now focus on the second mention of Archippus in Paul’s letter to Philemon:

“Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved friend and fellow labourer, to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:” Philemon 1-2

From this introduction, commentators have speculated if Apphia was Philemon’s wife, and Archippus, his son. We don’t know this for a fact and that is perfectly fine because Archippus’ relationship with Philemon is not the focus here.

What is of more significant interest to us is his relationship with Paul and the way the apostle referred to him as “our fellow soldier”. In other words, Archippus was openly recognised as one who fought alongside Paul for the purposes of the Kingdom of God.

What is noteworthy is that the only other time Paul used this term on another was in Philippians 2:25-30 where Epaphroditus was commended for knowing his assignment, sticking to it even in the face of poor health and possibly death, and fulfilling it.

Just as the church is made up of believers, an army is made up of soldiers. As in the case of my little ambush story, sleeping soldiers are not of much use insofar as fulfilling a mission is concerned.

One section of nine soldiers asleep may not seem much but that failed mission could jeopardise a higher mission of its platoon, weakening the company’s defensive position which might later result in an entire battalion, and even a brigade, being wiped out.

As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all fighting alongside one another. Every believer has an assigned task that contributes to the greater mission of the Kingdom of God. That’s what soldiers do and that’s what armies are for. When we miss this, we miss the entire picture of what it means to be saved for this glorious purpose!

When we are not busy with the agenda of the Kingdom, we become preoccupied with the agenda of the world. If we are not faithfully serving the mission of our King, we exist for and serve only ourselves.

Say To Archippus is available at $16 from the Archippus Awakening Online Shop (archippusawakening.org/shop): https://archippusawakening.org/product/say-to-archippus/. Until Jan 31, 2020, Salt & Light readers enjoy a 20% discount storewide with this promo code: S&L20OFF. (Shipping charges apply.)