“Useful … for ministering” (ASV) offers an accurate, final evaluation of the status and service of Mark. The word ministry (diakonia) stresses not the office but the service rendered. Mark had demonstrated his power of organization and practical usefulness; so Paul felt that Mark was just the man he now needed in Rome. Although not gifted with outstanding abilities, Mark had proved himself “a practical subordinate.”35 Mark always appears in the position of subordinate. He contentedly devoted his