For The Sake Of The Name

Introduction

3 John 1–15 ESV

The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth. Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. Demetrius 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. I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, each by name.

Gaius: A True Disciple

A True Disciple’s Actions Line Up With Their Words (v.3)

We talked about this last week, but it’s important for our actions to line up with our words. Our actions demonstrate our beliefs. Or as John himself puts it in his first letter, “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.”

John says Gaius is walking in the truth. His words and his actions line up. He does what he says he will. He has integrity. All true disciples of Jesus strive for integrity, not hypocrisy.

Example?

A True Disciple Loves The Church (v.5-6)

Gaius was beloved because of the way he treated other brothers in the church. In fact, they testified to Gaius’s love before the church. So not only was he walking the walk, but others were talking him up.

General principle - If you do what you are supposed to do, people notice.

We are faithful to the cause of Christ, when we love others well (v.5). Whether they are missionaries, brothers or strangers, our call is to love them and we do that by serving them.

A True Disciple Supports The Mission (v.7-8)

The men John is talking about are missionaries. They are going out for the “sake of the name”. That’s the name of Jesus.

Whenever we get on mission with Jesus, we are going out for the sake of the name. ALL DISCIPLES ARE CALLED TO GO OUT FOR THE SAKE OF THE NAME.

You are either on mission for God, going out for the sake of his name…OR, you are on mission for yourself, going out for the sake of your name. What are you doing for the sake of the name??

It is already crystal clear what the church is to be about—namely, taking the gospel of Jesus to every distinct grouping of people on planet earth at all costs for the sake of his name.

Louie Giglio

John says we should support people who like these. So not only should we go as Jesus commanded, but we are commanded here to support those that are going. Those that give their lives for Jesus in service, should be supported by all true disciples. Those who lay down their lives on the mission field (whether foreign or local) should be supported.

Support includes these things - Giving them money, providing for any needs they may have, giving them a place to stay.

Contrast this with how John tells the Elect Lady in 2 John to handle the false teachers. Don’t let them in your house, don’t greet them, because if you do, you take part in their evil works. Here John is praising Gaius for welcoming the true missionaries of the church, because if you support those types of people he says in v8, “you become a fellow worker for the truth.”

John is also contrasting Gaius with another leader in the church named Diotrephes. He is essentially saying, Gaius, you are right in what you are doing, Diotrephes, you are wrong. Now this is important because in church, as well as in the world, you will have to stand for the truth.

Let’s look at Diotrephes in depth now…

Diotrephes: A Prideful Man

Prideful People Puts Themselves First (v.9)

When we are full of pride, like Diotrephes, we stop putting others first and start putting ourselves first. Diotrephes as a person of significance, perhaps even a leader, in this local church, yet he is not walking in truth.

This is a man in the church, who is refusing to support other Christian workers in their giftings. We see this in churches all the time, but especially small churches. People get a ministry and they refuse to let others join or support the work of others. Pride. This is my thing.

I want our church to be different. If you are a leader or serve in any ministry in this church, we should be looking to support others in every thing we do. This means, you don’t get selfish is someone comes in to our fellowship and can out-serve you in an area.

This means that we train others to do our job. We work ourselves out of jobs so others can serve and God will always open another door for us. We stay humble, teachable and trainable and always willing to serve. That’s the opposite of Diotrephes. He was prideful, putting himself first.

Prideful People Do Not Submit To Authority (v.9)

The pride of putting himself first means he doesn’t listen to authority. The Apostle John, a man who walked with Jesus, is being ignored because of the pride of this man.

Pride keeps us from listening to those that mean to help us. Every pastor/leader inevitably will deal with people like this. They know better than you and they will not listen to sound advice.

Sometimes this escalates into telling others not to listen to the leader or pastor. Either way, even the apostle John is struggling to deal with this person.

Unless we know how to obey orders, we do not have the right to give orders. Before a person exercises authority, he or she must know what it means to be under authority.

Warren W. Wiersbe

For My Generation - A generation that made a name for itself in rebelling against authority, this is is a common trait. And it may not be as aggressive as it was when I was as a teen, but it is still just as deadly form of pride. Nowadays, rather than aggressively fighting authority (Raging against the Machine protest marches), we have become passive aggressive against authority - we post memes, we have bumper stickers, we tweet about it.

We deny any forms of accountability, if someone tries to hold us accountable, we just cut them out of our lives.

In a church setting, prideful people shun authority. People would rather avoid difficult conversations than confront the issues. Church attenders have no respect for the elders or pastors in the churches and instead will gossip about them and slander them behind their back.

Prideful People Divide The Saints (v.10)

One of the key indicators of a prideful person is that they divide people rather than unite them. Instead of welcoming the brothers, like he should, he stops those that want to and he put them out of the church.

Diotrephes does not bring unity to the church, but disunity or division. This is a very easy way to spot people who are prideful, they seek to divide the church rather than unite it. Throughout the NT, we see that God wants his church united.

I’ve seen churches divide over everything from the carpet color to music style. These things ought not be. But let’s be honest, none of these things happen if people can learn to stop gossiping. They get mad at the color of the carpet, and they just gotta tell somebody and by somebody, I mean everybody. Diotrephes was someone that divided people.

Do not imitate what is evil…(v.11)

John here reminds us that we do not want to imitate people like Diotrephes. He has bad character and we are not to be like people like that. It would be easy to respond this way!

Instead, we should imitate those that do good. It’s important to note that John does not declare Diotrephes evil or good for that matter, but instead, he deals with his actions. John understood that our actions display what we truly believe.

Instead we should imitate someone good, someone like Demetrius, whom I am calling a faithful believer.

Demetrius: A Faithful Believer

Faithful Believers Live The Mission

Demetrius is given very little context here. Some commentators think that he is perhaps the person who delivered this letter to Gaius, so John is recommending him here as someone who lives out what John is encouraging Gaius to do.

The only information we have about Demetrius is found here in this text. And what do we find, he is a faithful believer. He had a good testimony.

Faithful Believers Have A Track Record (v.12)

Demetrius’s actions speak for themselves. He is being lauded as someone to imitate. In other words, Gaius, you are a good man, surround yourself with people who have the same track record, the same reputation.

Good company lifts people up. 1 Cor 15:33

1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

Faithful Believers Lives Are Testified To By Others

You don’t need to toot your own horn. Compared to Diotrephes who was prideful, Demetrius has the Apostle John telling others what a good person he is. If you are following Jesus and living holy lives, others will tell your story, you don’t have to.

But the reverse is also true. When we live evil lives, everyone knows. When we swindle people or treat them poorly, you can’t hide that. The truth comes out. So John says here that the Truth, testifies to what John is saying.

John in this short letter has given us three people to look at and he is asking us this question today…

Decision

Who Are You Going To Imitate?

Who are you going to model your life after?

Gaius - A True Disciple, someone who is walking in the truth and growing up in maturity in Christ?

Demetrius - A Faithful Believer, someone who’s actions testify to the type of man he is and others have noticed it?

Demetrius - A Prideful Man - Someone who looks after his own interests and follows his own agenda, caring not for the mission of God or the people of God.

Who are you? Do you see yourself in Diotrephes? Today is the day to repent and change. Put your truth in Jesus and walk in the truth.