Who are you imitating?
6/14/09
Lighthouse Assembly of God
Pastor Greg Tabor
Text: 3 John (NIV)
Let’s look at the introduction to John’s letter:
1The elder,
To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
2Dear 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. 3It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. 4I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
In these verses we are introduced to a man named Gaius. It is my understanding that Gaius was a very common name in the Roman empire. This man is singled out as being someone whom the apostle John, mentioned here as simply “The elder,” loves and heard good news about and is filled with joy about his life, which is being conducted in accordance with the truth. Gaius may have been a convert of John’s, being that he refers to him as one of his children in verse 4. Or he may simply be referring to him as one of his children because John is an apostle ministering to those in various churches and he looks upon those in these churches as children in the faith whom he is nurturing. In any case, like any pastor or parent, there’s no greater joy than that those under your care are “walking in the truth.” If you are a Christian parent in here surely you can’t possibly think of a greater joy than that your children are faithful in their walk with the Lord. And John experienced hearing the testimony of Gaius’ commitment to the truth via brothers that had come into contact with Gaius and now had come to where John was at.
5Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. 6They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. 8We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.
Now John commends his friend for his faithfulness in showing hospitality to those who are “strangers.” The very fact that he is acting in kindness and love towards these “strangers” reveals his true colors, so to speak, that he is a true Christian. He’s a Christian in action not merely in profession. It is obvious from the text that these “strangers” are traveling ministers. Verse 6 reveals to us that they had told the church where John was at about Gaius and his display of love to them via his hospitality. The second part of verse 6 through verse 8 is very insightful. John seems to reaffirm here what Gaius is already doing when he says, “You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.” He was already doing this, but it never hurts to reiterate it. John puts his stamp on how they are to be sent, “in a manner worthy of God.” They are to be treated right. Why is that the case? While people in general should be treated right, concerning these people Verse 7 tells us, “It was for the sake of the Name that they went out…” What is this referring to? The men Gaius is and should continue showing hospitality to are men that have evidently given their lives to the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And from this particular profession it is obvious they would receive no help from “the pagans.” In fact they were supposed to be reaching the pagans, not having their income supplemented by the pagans. They should support these men and by doing so become partners with them in their ministry. This reminds me of the blessing we have of having missionaries from various parts of the world come to our church and we are privileged to give them an offering and support them monthly. Beyond that we feed them and put them up in a hotel and insure that they are provided for when they minister at our church. We are obligated to do this and we should do this. We should treat them and others like them with the red carpet treatment.
9I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. 10So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.
We do not have the letter mentioned in this verse. Perhaps Diotrephes may have discarded it. What do you think about the description of Diotrephes? It says, “Diotrephes, who loves to be first…” Now, we could preach a sermon on that for a long time. It seems from this text that Diotrephes was evidently a church leader. What was his problem?
- He loved to be first.
- He ignored John’s leadership.
- He maliciously gossiped about John and others.
- He refused to welcome the brothers (the traveling ministers).
- He stops others in the church from welcoming the brothers.
- He puts people out of the church who welcome the brothers.
Diotrephes was on a power trip. The fact that his attitude was one of self-centeredness and unsubmissiveness made him unfit for any position of leadership. It was a bad enough abuse of power that John was planning on personally and publicly dealing Diotrephes when he arrived.
Diotrephes was a hindrance to the Kingdom rather than one who advanced it. From the little mentioned about him, it seems to me that he needed to understand the following words of Jesus:
“25Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Matthew 20:25-28 NIV
Diotrephes wasn’t a servant. He was self-serving. He’d forgotten who the Lord of the Church was and what His agenda was and had turned the Church into a place to advance himself instead.
11Dear 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.
John addresses Gaius as his friend and encourages him to not imitate what is evil but what is good. It is obvious here that John is telling Gaius not to imitate Diotrephes, and others like him. Gaius has not done this, but John is letting him know that Diotrephes is not someone to be followed. He is in error and John will deal with him and expose him publicly when he arrives. The Bible makes it clear that our outward conduct says a lot about what is in our heart. The NLT translates verse 11 as follows, “Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.” Those who are children of God will produce fruit in keeping with their profession. Those who are not children of God will reveal themselves as well with works of the flesh evident in their lives. A good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit. Of course Christians can sin. But we are not talking about merely the commitment of a sin or of sins, but rather living in sin. A Christian can and will at times sin, but a Christian will live a penitent life as well. But a person who lives their life controlled by the sinful nature is not someone who is redeemed.
It seems to me from our text that Diotrephes was showing himself to be someone who was not walking in the light. It seems that the last part of verse 11 was descriptive of him: “Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.” He was acting evil. And he who was throwing others out of the body of Christ may well have been outside of that body himself. How ironic to have thrown others out of the body who were truly still a part of the body, all the while yourself remaining in the body and not belonging there. I can’t say for sure Diotrephes wasn’t saved. Christians can disobey and be disciplined, but it seems a real possibility. At the very least, he is an example of someone not to be imitated.
12Demetrius 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.
Now John turns his attention to someone who, while he doesn’t say ‘imitate him,’ is obviously one who lives in stark contrast to Diotrephes. And it seems obvious to me that he is being presented as one who stands in contrast to Diotrephes and is thus someone to be imitated. Demetrius may have been the one who delivered the letter to Gaius, or he may have been someone in the church of which Gaius was a part. What does John say of Demetrius? He tells Gaius:
- Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone
- He is well spoken of by the truth itself. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament comments, “Here the truth is personified as a “witness” and John no doubt meant that Demetrius’ character and doctrine were in such conformity with that truth that the truth itself virtually spoke on his behalf.”
- John, and those with him, speak well of him.
Demetrius is a role model for others, including Gaius. And Gaius himself was obviously a role model as well. He was to maintain that walk in the truth. He was to continue showing kindness and love to those traveling to preach the Word everywhere. He was to not give in to the evil of Diotrephes, who John would oppose.
Conclusion
Question: Who are you imitating?
Paul told the Corinthians,
“14I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. 15Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.” – 1 Corinthians 4:14-17 NIV
He told the Philippians,
“Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.” – Philippians 3:17 NIV
“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” – Philippians 4:9 NIV
The apostle Paul was a role model for believers. He was more than just someone to think highly of, he was someone endeavoring to live his life in a way that was pleasing to God and in a way that modeled the Christian life for those he would mentor.
The author of Hebrews wrote,
“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” – Hebrews 13:7 NIV
And in our text today in 3 John, John gives us two really good role models in Gaius and Demetrius. And, of course, he gives us an example of a poor model in Diotrephes.
Perhaps you don’t relate completely to the details here, but you get the principles. The question is: who are you imitating?
Ultimately we are to be imitators of God. Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:1-2 NIV
“1Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
And as we see that lived out in the lives of Godly leaders we can find examples for how to apply God’s Word to our everyday living.
Again: who are you imitating? Are you imitating those with like spirit as Diotrephes or does your heart ache to be a Gaius and Demetrius? Even if you do not see people around you modeling the Christian life, you have an obligation to get into the Word of God and to take heed to the instructions for how to live and observe the lives of those who did walk the walk, and especially to observe our ultimate example, Jesus Christ.
