seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
3 John 1:1 The elder,
To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3 It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
5 Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters,[a] even though they are strangers to you. 6 They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God. 7 It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. 8 We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.
9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. 10 So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.
11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God
12 Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.
13 I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.
a. 3 John 1:5 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family
So according to the easy English commentary.... there was indeed trouble in the church while John was still alive.
John had written a letter to the church where Diotrephes was a leader. In that letter, John had told the church about some men who were coming to teach. He wanted the church to help them. But the church had not received the letter. Perhaps Diotrephes had kept or destroyed that letter. Diotrephes would not help the teachers. He also did not allow other church members to help them.
Gaius was a friend of John. In the past, Gaius had been kind to the travellers who came to teach. They stayed in his home while they taught in his town. Afterwards they told their own churches how good Gaius had been.
John had already sent a letter to the church. Diotrephes was a local leader in that church. John would have sent the letter to Diotrephes for him to read it to the members. But the members never heard the contents of that letter. Perhaps Diotrephes destroyed it. We can guess what was in the letter. Probably in the letter, John asked them to help those whom John sent. Diotrephes refused to do as John had asked. He also would not let the members of the church help these visitors.
Gaius knew about that church. Perhaps he was a member of it. Or perhaps he was a leader in another church.
Diotrephes did not agree that John or other elders had authority in that church. His ambition was to be the only leader of that church. He loved the feeling of power as the person who led the church. He would not share this with John or any other person. Therefore, he did not respect John or those whom John sent. He would not give them a welcome or give them any help.
Diotrephes, with evil words, told lies about John and the other leaders in the church. Diotrephes accused John of things that Diotrephes knew were not true. Diotrephes tried to make people doubt John’s good character. Diotrephes was jealous of the authority that John had in the church. Diotrephes wanted that power in the local church to be his alone.
Worse than this, Diotrephes also refused to greet those who came to the church. As these Christian teachers came, he would not give them any help. He did not give them a welcome. He offered them no food and he provided no home for them. What he did was not how a Christian ought to behave. His actions forced these teachers to go elsewhere. So his actions did not help their work for the Lord.
Worse than all this, he prevented those who wanted to help the teachers. He warned them and he forbade them. He forced those that did not obey him to leave the church. As the leader, perhaps he had power to remove them from the church.
Well.... this was a rogue church. This is from enduringword.com.
Taking nothing from the Gentiles: The ancient world of the early church was filled with the missionaries and preachers of various religions, and they often supported themselves by taking offerings from the general public. But John said that these Christian missionaries should take nothing from the Gentiles (non-Christians). Instead of soliciting funds from the general public they were to look to the support of fellow Christians.
OK... I remember that lesson from Jesus.... this is how Jesus sent them out.
Mark 6:7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.
8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
John is pointing out that the leader of the church, Diotrephes, was wrong.
Now I have been in a lot of churches when the Missionary or the Revivalist came to town. There was always someone in the church who had a "guest" room and the food was prepared by other women in the church so that all the work didn't land on one family. It was cool to see them go to work. At one church I attended.... a band of carpenters came from another state to help us put up a new addition.... it was amazing to experience.
Back in the days of John.... there were teachers who would share..... and this cat Diotrephes didn't like giving up his powerful pulpit.... even for a day or two. He ran them out of town. He told lies about John. He bullied people in the church. It wasn't fun to go to his church... or that's what I'm seeing. This man knew a bully pulpit when he saw one.... and he saw a big one in the church.
I wonder how many churches were like the one John was writing to.... in his own day. I wonder if most of them went rogue.... since there was only ground delivery of the mail.... no phones.... no internet.... not TV ads to promote the truth.... no cable networks... no radio.... just the disciples.... walking from town to town without even an extra shirt.... just like Jesus sent the disciples out.... two by two.... witnesses.
Diotrephes was a bully with a pulpit.
