The apostle Paul was not referring to baptism when he wrote Timothy, “Never lay your hands hastily upon any man,” but was referring to the action of appointing a man to a congregational assignment of service and the responsibility that went with it. (1 Tim. 5:22; compare 1 Timothy 3:1-15.) Paul himself, along with Barnabas, had been ‘set apart’ for a certain work by holy spirit. The body of elders at Antioch, in recognition of this, then “laid their hands upon them.”​—Acts 13:1-5; compare the action of the apostles in ‘appointing’ the “seven certified men” to handle a certain assignment of service, as recorded at Acts 6:1-6.

At Colossians 4:17 (NE) Paul gave “this special word” to Archippus: “Attend to the duty [di·a·ko·niʹa; ministry, NW] entrusted to you in the Lord’s service, and discharge it to the full.” While all the other disciples there in Colossae were servants of God, Archippus had evidently received some kind of specific assignment of service, doubtless accompanied by the laying on of hands by a body of elders.