A study that has always fascinated me is the “minor” characters whose names appear in sacred writ. The Holy Spirit saw fit to include these individuals in written revelation, and in some instances we know little or nothing about them. Some of those with brief mention were enemies of Christ, while others were contributors to His cause. Tychicus, who appears in five New Testament books, is one of the latter. A combined study of the verses about this brother yields the facts that he was a beloved brother, faithful servant, and fellow bond-servant of Paul (Eph. 6:21; Col. 4:7). He was trustworthy enough for Paul to send him to perform spiritual tasks (2 Tim. 4:12; Ti. 3:12). Consider three important qualities that, albeit brief, reveal the character of Tychicus.
He was beloved. What is required of one to be regarded as beloved? Consider the kind of attitude, type of speech, and specific actions necessary to be loved by other people. All of us know those we consider easy to love. Others we know are prickly and standoffish. How will you be remembered by those who knew you best or by those with whom you worked and worshipped? Much of what else we see of Tychicus no doubt contributed to how beloved a brother he was, but with the emphasis the New Testament gives to proper attitude surely that must have shone through in his life.
He was faithful. Along with being a beloved brother, Tychicus was a faithful servant. Barclay surmises from Acts 20 that Tychicus was likely the representative to carry the contribution to the poor saints in Jerusalem, and he goes so far as to call Tychicus the personal envoy of Paul (169). Given the timeline of Tychicus’ appearances, nearer the end of Paul’s life, this disciple played a prominent and visible role at a time that many abandoned him (cf. 2 Tim. 4:6). Some, as Curtis Vaughan points out, translate “faithful servant” as “trusted assistant” (Gaebelein, ed., 223). Clearly, Tychicus appears to have been supremely trustworthy, one that could be entrusted with tasks however great or small. What a great legacy for us, if we can leave behind the memory of a Christian who could be counted on to help in the cause of Christ!
He was a servant. Paul uses the word “doulos” (According to Zodhiates, “A slave, one who is in a permanent relation of servitude to another, his will being altogether consumed in the will of the other”; The complete word study dictionary, elec. ed.) to describe Tychicus. He was one who served the Lord along with Paul and the others. “Church work,” whatever it was at the moment, was never beneath this brother. He saw it as his duty and place, to spend himself serving the Lord. Is that how others think of us?
Melick gives a great summary of Paul’s description of Tychicus in Colossians 4:7, writing, “These qualities represent the best in Christian growth. All three descriptions occur with one article before them all, and they are joined by ‘and.’ This is an emphatic way to indicate that all belong together in this one man” (Vol. 32, elec. ed.). Oh, to be thought of as beloved, faithful, and servant-minded! When we see our place in the body of Christ as an active rather than a passive one, we are well down the road to being a Christian like Tychicus.
–Neal Pollard