“Why do we have 3 John in our Bible?” I was asked this question during our concluding study on 3 John. It is a good question. We could ask that about any book in the Bible. We should ask, “Why did God choose to include this book in the canon of Scripture? What is so important in this book that He thought we would need it?” Some books like Exodus, Psalms, or Romans seem easy to answer. Exodus outlines God’s plans for how Israel was to relate to Him for the next 1,500 years. Psalms gives us examples of others talking to God both about their struggles and their successes. Romans traces God’s work in salvation in order to help believers become stable. But why a short little book like 3 John?
3 John is a letter from the elder (John)1 to “beloved Gaius.” He encourages Gaius about how he helped some believers who probably passed through the community where Gaius lived. He warns him about the behavior of Diotrephes a leader in their local church. He points him to the example of Demetrius who has also helped believers passing through.
Gaius was walking in the Truth (v. 3). He was setting his mind to his position in Christ so that he could experience freedom from the dominion of his sin nature (Jh. 8:31-34). Paul explains that we have this freedom when we walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), which we do by setting our minds on things from the Spirit (Rom. 8:4-5). In Romans 6:2-4, 11; 8:2 Paul laid out that our frame of mind involves our sharing in Christ’s death to the sin nature and now our life that we have in Christ Jesus. So, Gaius was doing this. The Truth then allows the believer to do works that are actually been done by God in or through the believer (Jh. 3:21). Others had come to John and gave personal testimony to seeing Gaius walking in the Truth.
God did a work in Gaius and that work was providing support for believers, some of whom Gaius had not previously known, hence they were “strangers” (v. 5). So, these people had experienced Gaius’ walking in Truth through the loving provisions he shared with them. These people appear to have been doing “missionary” work or some form of itinerant service. The importance of believers helping believers is that God does not want us to pay for doing His work by appealing to the unsaved. John writes, “taking nothing from the Gentiles, Gentiles being a reference to unbelievers (v. 7). Knowing this, we should support2 these people. By supporting them, John says we are their “co-workers.”
John then addresses a problem of a leader in the Church where we assume Gaius gathers with believers (v. 9). Diotrephes was a leader who liked the first place. He wanted the attention. He did not want to share the work with others. We may classify him as a Narcissist. Paul warned the Ephesians elders of this potential problem in their assembly (Acts 20:30). There are not unbelievers but one of their own, probably even an elder. People who are power-hungry often feel threatened by anyone who might be doing service. So it was with Diotrephes. He would not allow anyone in this church to help these other people (v. 10). If some did help them, he kicked them out of the church. This is not mentioned in Scripture as the authority of an elder.
Having pointed out this problem, John tells Gaius to imitate not the evil, being the activity and attitude of Diotrephes, but to imitate the good (v. 11). John points to a man named Demetrius who Gaius knew (v. 12). This man had a good testimony from the believers who had been in this church or had passed through at some time. We presume that Demetrius was more concerned with helping these people than his notoriety or authority. We should recall that John was witness to Jesus’ act of washing the disciples’ feet and then giving them the command to love as He had loved them (Jh. 13).
Gaius has done the right thing. John encourages him to continue doing so and to even support these believers as they go on their way. Gaius demonstrated genuine love for believers. Diotrephes has not done the right thing. He is concerned only for himself. Demetrius has also done the right thing. I wonder (this is my thought) if John points to Demetrius because he was one of the people whom Diotrephes kicked out of the church for helping these people. I wonder then if this is the reason that John has to assure Gaius that Demetrius is doing the right and he should imitate that same activity, even if it results in his being kicked out of the church.
This short letter reminds us that in any local assembly, we may find people doing God’s will while others are doing their will. In that context, it is important to recognize who is doing what God has told us to do: love one another. We need to beware of those who are self-serving, and if they impose wrong practices on us, we must still do the right thing. Though not allowed by self-seeking, self-important “leaders”, we should still be hospitable to our brothers and sisters in Christ and provide support especially for those who serve.
- John’s name is nowhere attached to the letter. He does not attach it to the gospel, or 1 and 2 John. Only Revelation has his name. Yet, statements in Revelation are repeated in his other writings arguing for his authorship. ↩︎
- The word “support” (NASB ’95) is a form of the word “taking” used in verse seven. In verse seven we have lambanō [λαμβανω] meaning “to take or receive.,” and in verse eight we have hupolambanō [υπολαμβανω] meaning “to take up or under.”
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