In Colossians 1:28 Paul wrote, “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.” Here he states his goal for ministry, which we would do well to imitate:

Paul said he wanted to proclaim Christ (Whose pre-eminence is the focus of the Book of Colossians) and to admonish and teach “every man.” The Greek for “man” here is singular. It was not just “all mankind” in general that Paul hoped to reach, but “every (individual) man.”

He also indicated that he desired to “present every man complete in Christ.” The word “complete” here is the Greek “teleios”, which means “mature.” It is used to describe an animal or plant which is full-grown, mature. So it was not just “converts” that Paul was shooting for, but mature Christian disciples.

Thus we find an important balance in Paul’s ministry goal. It speaks of both the WIDTH he desired (every individual man) and the DEPTH (maturity in Christ).

This balance should characterize our own ministry efforts as well. It is not enough to seek to reach many; we must seek to present them mature in Christ as well. And we must also not be content to bring only a few to maturity; we should seek to reach “every man” — as many as we can. We should be satisfied with nothing less than this same balance of width and depth that we find in Paul’s ministry goal in Colossians 1:28.