The Book of 3 John

Introduction

Charles Dickens opened his 1859 book The Tale of Two Cities with these famous words:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

The extremes that Dickens describes seem at once contradictory and yet also illuminating. In every circumstance of life, there can be light and dark, good and evil, wisdom and foolishness.

We find that today. The pandemic has caused some to thrive and others to squander. Business, individuals, church and even government agencies have all be affected differently by this.

The contrasts also existed in the first century churches as some people demonstrated the graciousness of biblical community while others acted selfishly.

Today, as we look at the tiny letter of Third John, we are going to encounter a tale of two Christians.

Background

Over the last couple of weeks as we have considered the first two letters of John, we’ve been able to glean a bit of insight into the first century churches among whom John ministered. They wrestled with pressures from the outside and conflict within as they sought to live in light of the truth and love of God.

Here in the third letter, John gets very specific and personal as he writes this letter to a particular Christian - a man named Gaius. We don’t know much about Gaius except that he seems to be faithfully walking with the Lord.

It seems that the purpose of John’s letter is to

encourage Gaius to keep up the good work,

to communicate his concern over another Christian - Diotrephes, and

to commend a third Christian into Gaius’ care.

As we look at this book today, we’re going to reflect briefly on how these two Christians (Gaius and Diotrephes) are acting very differently. I do think it’s important to note that it seems like both of these men are brothers in Christ. One is being commended and the other is being criticized, but their salvation does not seem to be in question.

So let’s begin by considering...

Christian 1: The hospitality of Gaius (3 John 1-8)

In these opening verses, John expresses his hope for Gaius’ well being, but also encourages him for his hospitality.

3 John 1–8 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.

Based on what John is writing here, it seems evident that...

Gaius demonstrates a walk that talks

When I was in the youth group growing up, one of the youth leaders challenged us with these words:

Your walk talks and your talk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks.

The point of this simple phrase is that how we live and how we speak both communicate, but our lifestyle communicates louder or more clearly than our language.

John is encouraging Gaius here because he has received word from some brothers in Christ who stayed with Gaius who testified about Gaius’ life. They were recipients of his generous and gracious living. They could see that Gaius was “walking in the truth.”

This phrase “walking in the truth” came up last week in 2 John. What does it mean to walk in the truth? If you remember, much of what we discussed centered around the truth of Jesus Christ and the gospel; the truth of

who Jesus is (fully God and fully man),

why he came (to bring the Kingdom of God, to teach what life in the Kingdom is like, to invite people into kingdom life, to be an example, to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins, ),

what he did (died on the cross as the full payment for our sins and then rose from the grave - proving He had conquered the power of sin and death once and for all) and

why that matters. (His life and ministry established His church, he called out unworthy sinners like you and me so that we might be His ambassadors in the world - proclaiming by word and deed the good news of Jesus’ ministry)

Gaius not only held a personal faith, but he lived it out. His faith was making a difference in his daily decisions. He seemed to walk in truth with love.

A few weeks ago, when we studied the book of James, we briefly discussed one of James’ admonitions on an active faith.

James 2:14–17 ESV

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

What we have to realize is that our faith speaks. It speaks with our words. We can talk with love and compassion. We can talk with grace and mercy. But do we act that way?

Our faith speaks through our actions as well.

If you or I were the only Christians someone met, would they like what we communicated (by our word and our actions)? What is the reputation that our lives are leaving for Christ?

What is the reputation our church is leaving for Christ in Poolesville? I’ve heard differing opinions but I hope that people would see Jesus in us - in how we act, speak, live, serve, love, share and more!

Gaius’ walk resulted in hospitality

We don’t really get to understand the full details of what’s happening, but it seems that there were some men who were visiting in the region where Gaius lived and attended church. Some commentators suggest that these were sort of travelling teachers, sent by John and others to exhort the church.

Where Paul provided for his needs through making tents, these people were travelling purely by faith - trusting in God to provide for their needs through the generosity of other believers - one of them being Gaius.

So, Gaius appeared to open his home to these “strangers;” though they were really brothers in Christ.

Showing hospitality is not easy. It’s not convenient, but I think in being available to show hospitality the way that Gaius did, we make room for the gospel to be on display.

In our tale of two christians, we next come to...

Christian 2: The pride of Diotrephes (3 John 9-10)

After encouraging Gaius with the words we’ve seen, He provides some insight into some other things that have transpired.

3 John 9–10 ESV

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.

There are a few things that I think can notice about the situation with Diotrephes:

He is motivated by selfishness. John notes that Diotrephes likes to “put himself first.” We have no way of knowing what his role was in the church, but however it may be, Diotrephes seems to have gained a little authority and was using that to his advantage. He was putting himself between John and the church.

He silenced godly voices. Somehow, Diotrephes intercepted a letter that John wrote, preventing the church from benefiting from it. It’s as though he was threatened by the authority of John and refused to allow John’s voice to be heard.

He maligned John and the others publically - gossiping. Diotrephes seems to be making up falsehoods about John.

He refused to practice hospitality toward certain believers and expelled those who did want to show hospitality. Clearly, it seems like Diotrephes was threatened by something. He would not allow certain people to speak into the church.

Now - it’s easy to look at someone like Diotrephes and think “that’s not me,” but I think in reality, that could be any of us.

One commentator noted how he had seen a “Diotrephes” in a church lead the congregation to expel the pastor. In another place, he observed a “Diotrephes” actually lead the church in a split (Burges).

Unfortunately, I think I have spent a brief season as a Diotrephes - preventing certain voices and excluding certain people from some activities because I knew we were not aligned. It wasn’t a matter of doctrine or substance, but rather of style and preference. I was wrong and was corrected.

One thing we have to be careful about is that there is a difference between guarding the church from doctrinal error or sin and guarding the church from godly voices because of pride. One of the roles of elders is to guard the church from doctrinal error. But even this guarding, needs engagement and conversation. One of the elements of 2 John was the fact that there were people who were in doctrinal error - traveling teachers who wanted to infuse a falsehood in the church. John encouraged the church to exclude those people - the error had been clearly identified and those who were teaching that demonstrated an unwillingness to repent and come around to a biblical orthodoxy. Exclusion in that point is acceptable and is biblical.

We all have our own opinions. There will always be preferences that can lead toward division if we let them. There will be “hills worth dying on” - I think that people who act in the way that Diotrephes acted are choosing a poor hill on which to die - maybe it’s the color of carpet, or the style of sanctuary seating, or the Sunday morning schedule, or even some specific program.

John concludes his short letter with...

Advice and Application (3 John 11-15)

...for Gaius.

3 John 11–15 ESV

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.

There is an immediate admonition to avoid imitating the evil actions of someone. Based on the context, it seems like he’s referring to the actions of Diotrephes. Diotrephes may have been a charismatic leader. He may have been a good teacher, but it’s clear that his motives were misplaced.

We must be willing to follow people who demonstrate purity of intention and motives.

Beyond providing that advice, John seems to commend Demetrius, possibly the courier of this letter, as someone worthy of hospitality. There may be great deal of integrity in which Demetrius lives and acts.

Conclusion

As we close, I think it’s important for us to consider:

where do we need to act with the Kingdom minded hospitality of Gaius?

Where to we need to be willing to allow for what we may feel is our personal inconvenience be an opportunity for investment in others?

Where are we tempted to act with selfishness?

Where are we tempted to silence rather than engage because of our pride?

Where are we following ungodly examples?

Let’s pray.

Father, as we reflect on this short letter, we come to the recognition that this tale of two Christians is in us - it’s in me. Lord help us to act toward others in the way that you would have us act. We need your wisdom. Spirit, we need your guidance. Amen.

Memory Verse: 3 John 4

3 John 4 ESV

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

References:

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/1-3-john/

Burge, Gary M. The NIV Application Commentary: The Letters of John. Grand Rapids; Zondervan, 1996.

Crossway Bibles. The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008.

Dever, Mark the Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept, Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005

Gromacki, Robert G. New Testament Survey. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1974.

Stott, John R. W. The Epistles of John. TNTC. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974.