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
This is from the easy English site.
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 now wrote to ask Gaius to continue this good work. He told Gaius that this is right. We should help Christian teachers who come to us. As we help them, we are workers with them. And we join in with their good work. But the behaviour of Diotrephes was bad.
Then John told Gaius that Demetrius was a good man. Perhaps Demetrius brought this letter to Gaius. Demetrius might also be one of the teachers that John sent to that place.
There were Christians who travelled to the churches to teach. John may have sent these Christians on their journeys. They may even have stayed in Gaius’s house. When they returned to John they told him about Gaius.
These Christians told John that Gaius was loyal to the truth of the gospel. He lived in the truth. His life showed that he believed the Lord Jesus Christ. Gaius was living as a real Christian should live.
In fact, Gaius was not John’s child. But John described Gaius as if Gaius was John’s own child. Maybe John led Gaius to believe in the Lord Jesus. Nothing gave John more pleasure than when his children were living in the truth. To live in the truth is more than to agree with it. It means to allow the truth to affect every part of the life. The truth is that Jesus Christ is Lord. To live in that truth is to live as God wants us to live.
John again called Gaius his dear friend. Then, he praised Gaius for his good deeds. Gaius saw it as his duty to help other Christians. He did what he could for them. He was true to what he believed. He was ready to receive all who were Christians. When they came to him, he always helped them. It made no difference whether he knew them or not. He helped them even if they were strangers to him.
Some of those whom Gaius had helped had returned to their own church. They told the church about Gaius and the help that he had given them. They did not merely say that Gaius had helped them. They also spoke about the love that Gaius had shown to them. Gaius had acted in this way because he loved them as his own brothers. Christian love was the reason that he helped them. He helped all who came to him.
John asked Gaius to help these Christians. This was because they were going to serve Christ. Their own church sent them to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. As they travelled, they had to depend on the help of Christians. They had no other resources to live on. In each place, they needed food and somewhere to stay. They would not ask for help from those who did not believe in Christ.
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.
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.
At a meeting of the church, John wanted to accuse Diotrephes. There, John would tell the church what Diotrephes had done. Perhaps some members were not aware of these problems. John would take action against Diotrephes. Maybe he would remove Diotrephes from leadership in the church.
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.
John told his dear friend Gaius what to imitate. Gaius should do what is good. He should not do what is evil. What Diotrephes was doing was evil. Gaius should not copy that. What Gaius was doing to help the visitors was good. This is what Christians ought to do. John did not think that Gaius would do evil things. Instead, John encouraged Gaius to continue his good deeds.
Here, John wrote about another man called Demetrius. John told Gaius that Demetrius was a good Christian.
Probably Demetrius brought this letter from John to Gaius. In verse 12, John introduced Demetrius so that Gaius would give Demetrius a welcome.
All the Christians who knew Demetrius spoke well about him. They said that he was a good man. He lived as a true Christian should live. The manner of his life proved that he believed the gospel of Christ. John and the other leaders knew Demetrius and spoke well about him. They had confidence in Demetrius and they trusted him.
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.
Prating against us with malicious words: Diotrephes not only failed to receive John and the other apostles, but he also spoke against them. His malicious gossip against the apostles showed what kind of man he really was.
“The Greek verb which is here translated ‘gossiping’ comes from a root which was used of the action of water in boiling up and throwing off bubbles. Since bubbles are empty and useless, the verb eventually came to mean indulgence in empty or useless talk. This was the nature of Diotrephes’ slander, though, of course, the words were no less evil in that they were groundless.” (Boice)
“The word signifieth… to talk big bubbles of words… it is a metaphor taken from over-seething pots, that send forth a foam; or… from overcharged stomachs, that must needs belch.” (Trapp)
Putting them out of the church: Diotrephes not only used his influence to forbid others from showing hospitality to John or his associates; he even tried to excommunicate those who tried to show such hospitality.
"To begin with, a man named Diotrephes had assumed an unwarranted and pernicious authority in the church, so much so that by the time of the writing of this letter John’s own authority had been challenged and those who had been sympathetic to John had been excommunicated from the local assembly. Moreover, due to this struggle, traveling missionaries had been rudely treated, including probably an official delegation from John.” (Boice)
The example of Diotrephes shows that those who love to have the preeminence also love to use whatever power they think they have as a sword against others.
Right off the bat... I find it interesting that the term Gentiles in this book, according to enduringword.com, means non-Christian now rather than non-Jewish. So Gentile use to mean anyone who was not a direct descendant of Jacob [whom God renamed Israel.... Joseph's dad... coat of many colors Joseph]. Now John is apparently using it to mean anyone who is not a Christian.
Some preachers think they can do no wrong.... and this guy Diotrephes was one of those people. Somehow he got it in his head that the Apostle John was a nobody. He got it in his head that he, Diotrephes, alone knew how to run his church and he didn't need John sending outsiders. I assume he took his duty to protect the church very seriously. I assume he didn't want anyone "diluting the gospel" as he knew it. Of course, by his actions, it's unlikely that he really got the Gospel at all. The commentaries say that Diotrephes was power hungry. He was also a liar, apparently. Apparently he spread gossip about those who defied his rule over the church. According to the commentary, John says Diotrephes is so power hungry that he dares anyone in the church to help those sent by the Apostles. If any of the members of his church helped a traveling teacher... they would be thrown out of his church.
On the other hand.... there was a man named Gaius in the church. Now Gaius had an excellent Christian reputation. He would help in any way he could. He knew the Apostle John and he was willing to help anyone John sent. Apparently John has to send Demetrius to the area to help out.
John sent letters and funding through these traveling teachers too. Back when Paul was in Corinth, he was busy sending funding back to Jerusalem. The churches were networked by these traveling teachers. The letters sent from the Apostle John, Apostle Peter, and Disciple Paul were hand delivered and read to the church by those traveling teachers.
After warning Gaius about Diotrephes, John wrote that another Believer, Demetrius, was on the way. Demetrius would probably hand deliver this letter, turned Book of the Bible, to Gaius. That would make this a letter of introduction. Now... if Diotrephes tried to lie on Demetrius, and throw him [and all who helped him] out of the church.... Gaius could stand up for him. Demetrius was also a good guy. John gave Demetrius his personal recommendation.
The church back in the days of John was a lot different than it is now. The church was a place where people came to share with the less fortunate. It was a place where widows and orphans were treated with respect. Of course women were still second class citizens but in the church, they could teach as well as cook, clean, and have babies. In the Christian church, a slave could be an Elder. In the days of John, the church was not a nice white building with a cross topped steeple... or a grand cathedral. In the days of John, the church was a rented or donated building where the less fortunate and downtrodden could get food, healing, and hope.
In the days of John.... Christians were hunted, jailed, and murdered. They were not at all liked by anyone. To put a Christian teacher out on the street alone was dangerous. On top of that Nero [yep the fiddler emperor] spread lies about the Christians. He said they were responsible for burning Rome to the ground [telling people he was 35 miles away when it started]. He also told people that Christians ate their babies and had wild orgies. Being a Christian in the days of the Apostle John, Gaius and Demetrius, with a guy like Diotrephes around was extremely dangerous. It wouldn't surprise me if Diotrephes actually turned those traveling teachers over to the Roman guard.
The Apostle John was planning a trip to Gaius's church. John says, in this letter, that he plans to call Diotrephes out in front of everyone. My guess is Diotrephes will not take it lightly. The Bible doesn't tell me how that "prayer meeting" went. This is the only time Diotrephes is mentioned. Gaius, on the other hand is mentioned in Romans too. Good guy.....
In these days of COVID-19 there is a lot of talk about going to church or closing the church. I have friends who have stopped physically showing up on Sunday morning. Their church offers an online sermon. There are others who say they have to go in person.... because "wherever two are gathered" needs to happen. There are some who will go maskless, depending on "I got God" to keep them safe. And there are some who believe that the church is just a building and they insist on social distancing and masks. I'm pretty sure there are good Christians on both sides of the mask issue. My point isn't about the mask... it's about the diversity in the church. Some are guarded and others are grounded.... but which is which?
I'm pretty sure Diotrephes had a lot of support from members of the church...... not just the ones who were afraid of being thrown out... but others who thought what he was teaching was true. Problem is... what he was teaching was bad for the church... it was exclusionary. I wonder.... if that were to happen today... if a faction were to infiltrate every Christian church and take over the teaching.... would the church sing out? Would they even know?
Diotrephes probably received John's letters. No doubt the traveling teachers that he ran out of town delivered messages to be read to the church. No doubt, according to this letter, Diotrephes chose not to share those letters. The membership was left ignorant. Are the teachers and preachers in the church today withholding the real Gospel.... reading and reciting only those verses designed to open the wallets of Believers..... and leaving the rest as inconsequential.... spreading exclusionary messages instead?
Is the modern church guarded or grounded?
