Support Those Going Out the Door

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.

Scripture: 3 John 1-14/15

Sermon Title: Support Those Going Out the Door

           I don’t know that I’ve yet to come across another passage in the Bible where I can tell you I’m ending on two different verse numbers and mean the same thing. In the NIV 1984 edition, which is the pew Bible and what I read from, 3 John ends on verse 14 with 4 sentences. The newer NIV does the same as well as the old and new King James’ versions. But if you’re reading from the ESV or some other versions you may find verse 14 is only one sentence long and then the final blessing and greetings are verse 15. It’s understandable why editors would do this—while it’s all part of a closing message, these are different thoughts. Even the NIV has a paragraph break. This is a good reminder that chapter and verse numbers are things that have been added by other people into the text. They are not divinely inspired. They are meant to be helpers for readers. With that said, let’s hear from this whole letter that concludes our series on John’s writings.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, something I often hear in Christian ministry circles is how our faith is all about relationships. It might be said in regard to Christ and salvation—we must have a “personal relationship” with Jesus. I’ve heard it from colleagues as far as how they use their time. Some use it to describe how every Christian should live their lives—we should constantly be connecting with other people and building relationships with believers and non-believers alike, being intentional about each and every interaction.

But in that line of thinking, this focus is sometimes used as criticism against denominations, congregations, and individuals who have a strong emphasis on doctrine. We might not hear these exact words, but people have implied, “It’s nice that you know (or think you know) all that, that you care deeply about theology or the confessions, but if you don’t love others, if you don’t have relationships with people who are hurting, does that head knowledge matter?” If they’re right, that we don’t have love, then absolutely we have things to address. We shouldn’t pursue what’s meant by the term “loveless orthodoxy.” But some people take this criticism a step further, and they’ll ask if we’ve considered the negative impact our theology might have on someone else. If we get into situations talking about discipline, about holding people accountable, of calling for people to change how they live, those things end up being viewed as heavy-handed—not fit for relationships.

Why is that? Simply put, it’s because people have become convinced that relationships only involve people who honor, respect, tolerate, and affirm whatever another person chooses or believes. The thought of being in relationships where one person challenges another’s beliefs or choices or expects someone to commit to their own values gets labeled as judgmental or bigoted. Many people will avoid those relationships, surrounding themselves only with like-minded people.

There are times when that makes sense. In premarital counseling, I sometimes encounter couples who disagree on some thing or some things, and that’s okay. But there are certain things should agree on. Disagreement on certain matters is almost a guarantee to cause frustration and disappointment that will likely divide them over time. So, too, in companies—if a person disagrees with the core values and direction and practices of that company, they may not be a good fit. They likely won’t find satisfaction and may have conflict with co-workers. All these parts of relationships are important, knowing what they’re founded on, what’s expected, who’s involved.

As we return to our passage this morning, we begin with the understanding that relationships with other people, especially other Christians, are vital for us. One of the purposes of the New Testament is being a model for Christian living. As such, relationships and community are all over it. In the Gospels, John the Baptist can sometimes feel like a bit of a hermit out in the desert, but he clearly was interacting with those who came out to him. He had relationships; his ministry and message were not only for himself. Jesus and his disciples had relationships with individuals, groups, crowds, people from near and far, all ages, the most respected and some of the most rejected in society. The book of Acts tells us how the people of the early church “were together and had everything in common…Every day they continued to meet together…They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.” As the church spread, its members had a strong influence on the towns and societies it took root in. Many of the New Testament letters were written to specific groups of people, but were intended to be shared throughout the church.  No Christian should have had to consider themselves alone in the faith.

That wasn’t true just back then, but it remains true today. No Christian should consider themselves an island or that they’re the only one around, the only one left, the only one faithfully following God. We need the relationships and community. We need the fellowship, especially that which being part of a local congregation offers us.  

As significant as relationships with groups were, we also find close, personal, 1-on-1 relationships that developed in the New Testament. Many of Paul’s letters close with personal greetings to lists of people. Paul’s not trying to name drop or remember everyone’s names, but he recognized the different roles the people had and who he considered as co-workers for the gospel. Books like 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, these are letters written specifically to each of those individuals, dealing with things that were specific or contextual to them. 3 John is that kind of letter. John writes to this brother in the faith, Gaius or “Guy-os” to commend him. He confirms that his life is evidence of—it shows, the truth of the gospel. Gaius was encouraged for his faithfulness, his walking in the truth, and Demetrius is similarly commended later on.

All of this points out that relationships in which we encourage one another, especially in our faith, is an area we can and should continue to grow in throughout our lives. Sometimes we hear that a person has the gift of encouragement—it seems to come easier or more natural to them. They do it especially well. But all of us can encourage. Part of why we might struggle is that we don’t want to nurture a sinful pride in others; we don’t want them to get a big head. Or maybe we may feel that encouragement or giving someone praise is for extraordinary circumstances—why would we encourage someone for something they’re supposed to do? Part of encouraging others, even for things that should be normal patterns in our lives, can be a testimony that we’re doing things we should be doing. Perhaps by our encouragement, we’ll recognize a gift that someone may not have realized they have. While there is the potential for pride and arrogance, encouragement can be good for our growth, urging us to live in more God-honoring ways.

One final thing before we move on—while any Christian can encourage another for something they’ve noticed, we tend to have a deeper appreciation that comes from more substantial relationships. A person who’s been around us our whole lives or since we came to Christ or who we’ve accepted as a mentor or discipler, for them to encourage us is something that we tend to cherish more than others. I imagine that to have one of the apostles name you in their greetings or write you personally would have been quite a powerful encouragement. When we’ve fostered deep relationships, we can have a similar emphasis in another’s life. On the other side of the relationship, if the person who we’ve been mentoring or helping in some area of their faith expresses their gratitude to us, that’s also a rich encouragement. These relationships are vital for our growth.   

That brings us to our second point: love and encourage those who minister away from home. This is where we pick up a special encouragement that John offered to Gaius. Listen again to what’s written in verses 5 through 8, “Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.”

Evidently, some “traveling Christian workers,” as the ESV refers to them in a study note, had visited wherever Gaius was. We’d probably call them missionaries. They were brothers in the faith, brothers in ministry, but they were also strangers. We see throughout the history of the church there has been this regular occurrence of people moving to aid the needs of the church elsewhere. That’s not to say we can’t have homegrown pastors, teachers, or leaders, but already in the early church there was a moving around, a relocating of people for a period of time.

Those among us who do this kind of work need encouragement. It’s good for them to have people like Gaius wherever they end up, supporting them where they are. As a minister who didn’t grow up in Corsica, South Dakota or Baldwin, Wisconsin, there have been people who’ve come alongside of me, my family, and my ministry in those places, who have been a great encouragement. Missionaries, those are who I mean by “those going out the door,” they need and deserve encouragement and love from the broader church as well. Missionaries sacrifice quite a bit to take their calling—they leave home, they leave comforts, they leave families and friends. Other people in other lines of work do that, too, but missionaries do this because God has called and drawn them away and placed them somewhere for his purpose. That’s not to say there aren’t great benefits or that there are no comforts and enjoyments for missionaries.  We should hope there will be a wonderful reception and mutual edification, but there are hardships.   

Given that we’ve been able to host Tyler and Christina this morning, we have an opportunity to share in their circle of supporters and encouragers. As they travel around, making connections, it can be easy, if we have the means to just write a check once a year, once a month, whenever you’re able to. I’ve never met someone who had to raise their own support who said that financial support wasn’t an encouragement. It’s a huge encouragement. But we can also encourage the Helfers and others who are sent into the mission field by praying for them and keeping in touch about how we can pray. We can develop relationships in which we might be able to ask: are there struggles or trials or discomforts, are there doubts, are there other ways that we can partner alongside each other?

John credits Gaius not just with welcoming, but showing love and hospitality for the “strangers” who had come to testify where he was. There’s a recognition that the ministry was a communal work, a combined effort. We shouldn’t miss that in our own context. As we partner with the Helfers and the Kennedys, with Daniel Kibugi, Dirce Verburg, Nicole Doornink, and with other groups and individuals, we share in the work that they’re doing. If it wasn’t for the support of others, many missionaries and teachers and counselors in various organizations may not be able to do what they’re doing. The call to ministry, which several others of us have experienced in a long career or for shorter periods of time, it’s a wonderful thing that God has done, but it’s not something we sustain on our own. The support that is given, whether financial or through prayer or through encouraging contacts helps to enable and equip someone to bring the life-changing gospel to others. Even if you’re not the one going out and giving a sermon or doing the evangelism, God uses all his people in specific ways to continue growing his kingdom. Our commitments are part of a much bigger action and movement than just giving an offering or remembering a name.

We come to our final point, and it’s very brief: pursue humility, love, and hospitality in your relationships. If you’ve been here throughout this series or if you know the content of the Epistles of John, John’s rebuke of Diotrephes is not shocking. We heard the warning last week to keep false teachers from coming in, and we remembered how John has these repeated messages against false teachers, antichrists, heretics who would try to mislead the church. I don’t want us to overlook that: churches need to be protected by those who are leading and shepherding under Christ. We’ve been warned by Jesus that there are false prophets who will “‘come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.’” Paul talks about “the full armor of God,” which believers are to, “Put on…so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”

But with that in mind, this readiness, this alertness, this watching out for attacks, we are not to lose our heart. Diotrephes was keeping out, not welcoming, and working against the wrong people. John makes it clear, he wasn’t too busy—Diotrephes was being malicious towards him, towards someone who carried the truth. He was exalting and seeking to secure himself while dishonoring those who God had sent to him. That is not how a brother is to treat a brother.

Instead, we are to be humble, to love, and to show hospitality at the forefront of how we engage one another in and across the church. We’re not to be led astray by those who forsake the gospel; we are to continue defending and promoting the good news of Jesus Christ for sinners who will believe in him. We’re to do that in love, in sacrifice, in persecution. It’s easy to get angry and give up on certain people, but brothers and sisters, continue to love others in such a way that yearns for them to have salvation—both freedom in this life and eternity with God in the life to come.

As you’ve heard me say before, we must remember that God came to us and loved us. For some of us, we know how incredible that is, we know the quantity and quality of things that we committed against him and that we may still struggle with defeating. We’ve given God every reason to have nothing to do with us, yet he saved us. May he continue drawing us near to him, including by giving us the ability to love others well. May he draw more and more people each day in every part of the world to himself. And may he hold his church in perfect grace and truth. Amen.