Ekklesia Then & Now: Paul's Co-workers

Paul's Co-workers: Demas

This is the fifth in a continuing Ekklesia Then & Now series on the individuals Paul referred to as sunergos sunergos (co-workers). Previous installments have been Priscilla and Aquila (ET&N 62), Aristarchus (63), Euodia and Syntyche (66), and Clement (70). The purpose of the series is to examine the biblical and extrabiblical information about these people and their lives to determine what lessons they hold for today's Christian. Additional installments of this series will include Epaphroditus, Jesus Justus, Luke, Mark, Philemon, Timothy, Titus, Urbanus.

Among the letters Paul wrote to churches while under house arrest in Rome are two he sent to Colossae, one to the church as a whole, the other to Philemon, a church leader. In each, he adds greetings from several of his companions, including one named Demas (Colossians 4:14 and Philemon 24). In the more personal letter to Philemon, he refers to Demas (as well as Mark, Aristarchus, and Luke) as his fellow worker (sunergos sunergos). As noted before in this series, this was not a label Paul threw around casually, seemingly reserving it for his closest companions.

Iit is not likely that Paul would include greetings from someone who did not share his commitment to Christ and spreading the Gospel. Furthermore, when Paul left Jerusalem under guard to be transported by ship to Rome, Luke reports that only he and Aristarchus are with the apostle, so we can conclude that Demas, who seems to have been a Thessalonian, had heard about Paul's confinement and traveled to the capital, as others did, to be with him—no small commitment in those days. Paul may have been confident of his release, but just being a Christian in Rome represented considerable risk. From this evidence, we can be very confident that at the time Paul wrote these letters, Demas was a close associate of Paul and a faithful Christian.

It comes as a major disappointment therefore, when Paul, waiting for death in a Roman prison just three of four years later, reports to Timothy that "Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia" (2 Timothy 4:10). Why did this man, honored as a co-worker and apparently risking everything to be near Paul, later desert him? The answer seems simple: he was "in love with this present world," according to Paul, but just what does that mean?

Before tackling that question, it may be easier to determine what Paul did not mean. There is no suggestion that Demas fell away or lost his salvation. If that were the case, Paul being the kind of person he was, undoubtedly would have said so. Some commentators have suggested that Demas is a contraction of Demetrius and that Paul's Demas is the same person as the Demetrius in 3 John 1:12, where John says he "has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true."

John's comment seems to refer to someone about which there was some question, and Paul's letter was written to Timothy in Ephesus. If somehow Demas had made his way to Asia, and people there were familiar with Paul's comment, it would make sense for John to update the information about Demas. That conclusion, however, is pure conjecture, and placing Demas in Ephesus is a stretch.

The reason for Demas' departure from Rome is the subject of considerable disagreement among commentators. Adam Clark claims that the expression "this present world" (Greek, to nun aion) "is generally to be understood as signifying, either the Jewish people, or the system of Judaism." He therefore concludes that Demas preferred Judaism to Christianity. Clark further claims that Demas' departure could not have involved a desire for secular gain, claiming that Demas surely would have counted the cost before becoming a Christian.

Matthew Henry suggests that it was either fear or secular matters that pulled Demas away. In this second imprisonment, Paul knew he was likely to be executed. He knew his end was near. Nero had instituted a serious persecution of Christians to divert attention away from rumors that he had started the fire that devastated Rome in 64. In Paul's fist confinement, he was probably nothing more than a curiosity to Nero, now he was a target. Being associated with Paul would be extraordinarily dangerous, and fear would not be an unreasonable emotion. Paul comment about "loving this present world" could certainly indicate that Demas feared for his life and, rather than facing it bravely with Paul, he chose to flee.

Henry's second suggestion—that Demas departed to deal with some secular or family affair, seems highly unlikely. I doubt Paul would have been so uncharitable. After all, Paul strongly advised Christians to take care of their immediate families (see 1 Timothy 5:8). In their commentary, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown state that Demas' motivation "seems to have been love of worldly ease, safety, and comforts at home." This view of Demas as some kind of dilatant is excessively harsh given the hardships that Demas must have previously encountered in earning the "co-worker" label, and there is no evidence his decision was merely based on seeking comfort. Paul was apparently released from confinement in about 62 and may have traveled to spread the Gospel to Spain as was his stated desire (Romans 15:28). Later, he returned to Rome and was eventually executed there. Demas, although he left before Paul's execution, was there both times. These are not actions of someone who is merely seeking comfort.

John Gill is kinder toward Demas, observing "his faith might be right, though low, and his love sincere, though not fervent." While Demas' actions were not admirable, they may not deserve to be unanimously condemned. Paul himself tells us that people are given different gifts by God through the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12:11). Paul even suggested that faith by measure is given as a manifestation of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:9). Perhaps Demas was not given the kind of faith that allowed him to face severe persecution.

It would take enormous faith—the kind Christians like Paul, Polycarp, Ignatius, Blandina, and Perpetua possessed—to face the kinds of tortures Nero meted out, which the Roman historian Tacitus describes: "Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car" (The Annals 15:44). He even claimed such cruelty created a "feeling of compassion" for the victims.

Probably the harshest critic of Demas was Epiphanius (ca 315-403), who placed Paul's former co-worker alongside Ebion and Cerinthus as one of the foremost heretics of the early church. Epiphanius, however, may have been referring to the characterization of Demas in The Acts of Paul and Thecla, an apocrypha book, where he is an envious hypocrite who turns on Paul for money. There is simply no genuine basis for Epiphanius' treatment of Demas.

Such condemnation may be the result of the early church's view on martyrdom, which many saw as the highest form of service. Some even sought martyrdom, but when they succeeded, were they necessarily serving the purposes for which God created them? Certainly, some martyrdoms—like that of Polycarp, for example—furthered the Kingdom. Tertullian said that the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church, but not all Christians can be seed. The church also needs weeders, cultivators, waterers, and sowers. If every Christian were martyred, who would be left to spread the Gospel?

In an e-mail exchange few months ago, one ET&N subscriber used the example of Demas to suggest there is a difference between being a Christian and being saved. "As long...as (Demas) stayed 'in the present world,' the subscriber claimed, "he would NOT be saved." If we cannot be saved if there are times in our lives when are too much in the world and not enough in the Kingdom, is there really hope for any of us? Is Jesus' sacrifice insufficient to cover our sins?

Why did Demas really leave Paul? What did he do on returning to Thessalonica? How did he live out his Christian life? Was he saved? Tradition has demonized Demas even to the point of suggesting he became a pagan priest, but we'll never know the answers to any of these questions (at least not in the present world). Of one thing, however, we can be sure: God's grace is more than sufficient to have forgiven Demas and used him for whatever purposes God desired.

Every Christian struggles with the tug between faithfulness and the secular world. We are all, in one way or another, hypocrites. If Demas' faith was insufficient to face persecution, which of us is good enough to judge him from what little we know? In reality, Demas may be one of the most realistic biblical models of the average Christians because many of us can identify with him. We tend to sharply divide New Testament characters into members of a biblical "Hall of Fame" such as the apostles, Stephen (see Acts 6:8-7:60), and Prisca and Aquila, and a "Hall of Shame" such as Judas Iscariot, Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) and Simon (Acts 8:9-24). But it is certain that every individual in the New Testament had his or her strengths and weaknesses. After all, how would we classify Peter if we read only Mark's Gospel, in which our last glimpse of him is his denial of Jesus (Mark 14:66-72), or Galatians, where Paul accuses him of hypocrisy (Galatians 2:11-14)?

The issue is not really Demas' abandonment of Paul—we can all agree that it demonstrates some shortcoming in Demas. The issue is really what Demas did from there, just as we admire Peter for what he did after his denial of Jesus. Scripture does not provide the answer concerning Demas, and tradition is suspiciously hyperbolic. For my part, I believe Demas fled out of fear for his life in "this present world," but I also believe that, having spent considerable time with and worked alongside Paul, he would not have thrown away his salvation. I suspect he returned to Thessalonica where he served God in ways he was gifted. Like the rest of Paul's co-workers in this series, I hope to meet Demas and greet him as a brother who, like all of us, fell short at times but who loved Jesus and served God. What matters for all of us is what we do after we fall short.

I suppose there will be those who claim I only believe this about Demas to make myself feel okay about my own substantial shortcomings, and perhaps they'd be right. But thank God our salvation does not depend on which way the balance falls between our sins and our acts of faith, kindness, and mercy. It depends totally on the grace of God, and that is the only hope we have. What a glorious hope!

(New Testament Apocrypha: Letters)

Comments posted on the ET&N blog

From Janice in Ohio:

Thanks for sharing the letter about the church in Gaul. It is encouraging to see that even in a man-dominated world, the faith and bravery of Christian women was celebrated and preserved. Blandina goes on my list of heroines!

Unsure about or don’t agree with something in Ekklesia Then & Now? First, be a Berean (Acts 17:10-11). If you still disagree, respond so we can all share in the discussion!

NEXT ISSUE: Early Church Father: Ignatius (July 25)

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