Dear Church Family,
John proceeds in v9-10 of his third epistle with an abrupt change. In the first two sections he has rejoiced that his dear friend Gaius remains faithful to the truth of the Gospel and lives a life that demonstrates the reality of the Gospel. He also commends him for his hospitality to missionaries who have come to his area.
Gaius gets a strong warning from John about Diotrephes. All that we know about him is found in these two verses. John has nothing redeeming to say about him. In contrast to Jesus’ teaching that His followers are to be servants, deny themselves and follow Him, Diotrephes “loves to be first.” My paraphrase who be that “he worships the god of me, myself and I.” Diotrephes wanted “nothing to do with” John who was described as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” and a leading elder in the early church. Yet Diotrephes acted as a rule unto himself. He did not submit to the God-centered authority of others. All of this comes in just verse nine.
What John has said looks bad enough, but it gets worse. John warns that should he be able to visit Gaius and his church, he will confront Diotrephes over three blatant sins – sins that we should be careful to avoid in Christ’s church. First, malicious gossip marks his life. Gossip tends by definition to be malicious. God has given us tongues to praise Him and to build up others. We must tame our tongues, lest it be “a restless evil full of deadly poison” per James 3:8. Then, unlike Gaius in v5-8, Diotrephes refused to show hospitality to the brothers in Christ who came to the area ministering in the name of Jesus. He also practiced the ‘ministry of discouragement’ by telling God’s people to not welcome the brothers. Anyone who did might be excommunicated by Diotrephes as he practiced church discipline in an unbiblical way.
From a distance of almost two thousand years it appears that Diotrephes had not been transformed by the Gospel. He failed to live joyfully under God’s design for the church. Further, he served as his own lord rather that living in the service of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. His name means ‘nourished by Zeus” who was a god in Greek myth. I would hope anyone in Christ would have changed his name to honor the true and living God. We must beg God for the grace to not be like Diotrephes. Our call is to be used by our Savior to build up His church. Like Gaius we aim to remain faithful to the truth of the Gospel and lives a life that demonstrates the reality of the Gospel.
With great hope in His grace,
Pastor Gillikin