A Good Testimony

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Last week we looked at John’s simple instruction to imitate what is good. It seems simple enough, but in our world today, there are many things that compete for our attention. Avoid what is evil; imitate what is good. If that’s a person, so be it as long as they are imitators of Christ. Authentic Christians do good because we are of God. This morning, John mentions another name and closes out his letter.

Take a close look at 3 John 12-15.

We start off with an example of a do gooder. We looked at what Gaius did, then we looked at what Diotrephes did and how John responded to that, now we have another example. Look at v. 12 which is really connected back to v. 11. Diotrephes is connected to, “what is evil” while a man named Demetrius is connected to, “what is good.” We don’t have an abundance of information about Demetrius. His name was pretty common in the first century. There is one other man named Demetrius in the N.T. back in Acts 19:24. He was a silversmith that made shrines to a worthless goddess named Artemis (Diana). He publicly opposed Paul and the Gospel so it is unlikely that this is the same man. All we know about this Demetrius is what is found here in 3 John. Unlike the four negative things about Diotrephes, John tells us three positive things about Demetrius. “Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone.” Wow – everyone, all inclusive. This doesn’t mean everyone in the whole world. This is everyone who has come in contact with Demetrius: everyone in his community, neighborhood, church, workplace. He’s not one type of person at work and someone else at church. This isn’t a used to be a good testimony; it isn’t about what Demetrius used to do. Received is in the perfect tense which gives the idea that Demetrius has been like this for some time and still is. This good testimony is who he is, what he is about. It means a good reputation. This same phrasing was used during selection of the first deacons in Acts 6:3, of Cornelius in Acts 10:22, of Timothy in Acts 16:2, of Ananias in Acts 22:12 and is the same phrased used in the hall of faith of Hebrews 11. Demetrius walked the walk that he talked.

Demetrius has received a good testimony, “from the truth itself.” Remember truth is a major theme for John. His devotion to the truth was evident in his life and evident to all those he came in contact with. Notice the pronoun “itself.” Some suggest this refers to Jesus remembering that He described Himself as the way and the truth in John 14:6. 1 Jo. 5:6b, “It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.” Perhaps when you line up his life up with Scripture, it matches up.  Remember Jo. 17:17, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” While we cannot for certain say exactly who or what itself refers to, we know that anyone who would observe Demetrius would come to the same conclusion about him.

John and his colleagues, “add our testimony.” If everyone’s testimony is not enough, if the testimony from the truth itself is not enough, John puts his stamp of approval on Demetrius too. It is a personal recommendation about the authenticity of Demetrius. He was the opposite of Diotrephes. Why does John feel the need to talk about Demetrius? Perhaps it was Demetrius who carried this letter to Gaius. Diotrephes practiced evil because that’s who he is. Demetrius practiced good because that’s who he is. He was consistent. He was steadfast. He was authentic.

John tells us three good things about Demetrius and concludes that by saying, “You know that our testimony is true.”If you want to doubt everyone else, fine, but you know that we speak the truth. Our word is golden. Some people have the attitude, “I don’t care what people think.” While that may be true to a certain extent, we need to ask ourselves why we don’t care. Demetrius had a good reputation in the church and in the community. He was well respected because he consistently acted in a godly manner. Don’t think I’m taking liberty with the Scriptures here. He received a threefold verification of his character. It came from outside the church, from the truth, and was verified by the elder and his colleagues. Demetrius is an example to follow and is a total contrast to the behavior of Diotrephes.

We now come to John’s final words. As he said in 2 John, he had more to write, but wanted to wait until he could be there face to face. As John is writing these final thoughts, you get the feeling that he really loves Gaius. He’s looking forward to spending some time with him. Remember though, this isn’t totally a feel good letter. John is really concerned with Diotrephes’ behavior and he is going to address it in person according to v. 10. Tit. 3:10 says, “Reject a factious man after a first and second warning.” Factious means inclined to dissentions. That’s Diotrephes. Rom. 16:17, “Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.”  John’s not letting this situation go hoping it will fix itself. For us, the application is the same. If there are issues around us as there will certainly be, we can’t just complain hoping it will go away. Something that I am often engaged in is conflict resolution. Situations rarely resolve themselves and we’ve got plenty of guidance in Scripture how to deal with these matters, but ignoring them is not one of them. John was, “Not willing to write them down with pen and ink.” If you think about this, it isn’t strange. He wanted to let Gaius know that he knew what was going on and to keep doing what was right, just as he had been. We should have the desire and courage to handle issues at the lowest level possible. John will deal with the issue just as soon as he can get there.

John tells Gaius, “I hope to see you shortly, and we will speak face to face.” This is nearly identical to what he wrote in his second letter. He wants to spend time with Gaius, to encourage him, to commend him, to tell him good job. Getting a note of encouragement is great, but it doesn’t beat sitting down over a cup of coffee or sharing a meal. Real relationships take effort and take time. The ever growing arena of social networking is leading to shallower and shallower relationships; impersonal relationships. Absolutely use social media to its fullest, but don’t think that writing on someone’s wall or mentioning them on Twitter is the same thing as talking face to face. John wanted to see Gaius face to face and we should have that same longing to spend time with the people that we love; with the people that love us. John finishes by saying, “Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.” Even amidst the trials at the hand of Diotrephes, John says peace to Gaius. Rom 5:1 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” No matter the situation you’re in, the suffering you’re enduring, the heartache you feel, you have a peace that passes all understanding because that peace comes from Jesus Christ.

We looked at John’s final words, but I have some final thoughts. As we bring John’s letter to a close, I’d like to highlight a couple of important aspects. Abraham Lincoln once said, “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.” Nu. 32:23 says, “Be sure your sins will find you out.” Cain couldn’t hide from God. David couldn’t hide from Nathan. Judas couldn’t hide his betrayal of Jesus. At one time I’m sure the people around Diotrephes thought he was the real deal. We don’t know the time line of his behavior in the church, but one thing is for sure, it became apparent who he really was and what he was all about. You can probably fool me, but the Lord knows who you really are. You cannot keep your real identity secret forever. Is. 53:6 says, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” The good news is that Christ is not finished with us.

We’ve looked at three people that were involved in a local church. Gaius’ church was not without problems and neither is ours because it is filled with people. Until Christ comes back, we’ll continue to battle our human will, but we don’t have to give in to it. If you profess to be a child of God, there must be evidence to support it. Not evidence of what you used to do or used to be, but a continual transformation into what God wants you to be. We are being transformed minute by minute and day by day into Christ. Change is inevitable so the question becomes, “How much am I going to let Jesus change me?” Am I going to be like Diotrephes who wants to be first, or am I going to let Jesus be in control of my life? It’s a great question and only you can answer it.

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

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Last week we answered the question of what’s in a name. For the name Diotrephes, it meant control and power; it meant ungodly, oppressive leadership. It meant ignoring clear, biblical teaching and authority. In short, the name Diotrephes means nothing good. This morning, John gives us a simple instruction.

We’ll look at just one verse today. 3 John 11 says, “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.”

We have quite a contrast. John again calls Gaius beloved in v. 11. It is a term of endearment, but it’s also a transition word as he shifts back to speaking to Gaius. John has just spoke of what Diotrephes was all about. He laid out what Diotrephes had done and why that was wrong. One thing is clear. John tells Gaius, “Do not imitate what is evil.” In other words, don’t be like Diotrephes. He acted with evil thoughts, evil motives, evil actions. Do not imitate him. Don’t get the wrong idea here. Gaius has not done evil; in fact he’s done the opposite. Remember what John said in vs. 3 and 5. Gaius was, “walking in truth.” And he was, “acting faithfully.” “Do not imitate what is evil.” Although in context John is definitely talking about the actions of Diotrephes, the application is much broader. For us, I think John is saying avoid bad examples. Imitate comes from the Greek word mimeomai where we get our English word mimic. Don’t mimic what is evil.

We have a propensity in America to want to be like other people. We want to play basketball like Michael or Lebron. To play baseball like Albert Pujols or A. Rod. We tend to imitate who or what is popular. In the 70s it was Farah Fawcett hair and jogging suits. In the 80s it was Princess Di hair and pastel t-shirts, and member’s only jackets. In the 90s it was the Rachel haircut and grunge. In the first decade of the 2000s it was pointy toed shoes and we all voted for Pedro. Advertisers take advantage of our desire to be like whoever is popular and they get celebrities to endorse their products so we’ll buy their stuff. Elevating celebrities is generally not a good thing. Imitation isn’t wrong: imitating what is evil is wrong. The word evil has a very broad application. It is an adjective which means it is used to describe a noun or pronoun. So in context John really is saying do not imitate Diotrephes. Go back and read vs. 9-10 to help you remember what is going on. John tells Gaius, “Do not imitate what is evil.” Ex. 23:2, “You shall not follow the masses in doing evil.” Is 1:16, “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil.”

The contrast. “Do not imitate what is evil, but what is good.” This is a pretty clear command. Don’t be like Diotrephes who loves to be first, who loves to oppress and control. Imitate what is good. It is okay to imitate people. Paul told the people in the church at Corinth to, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.” (1 Cor. 11:1) Follow the example of Paul. Why is it okay to be like Paul? “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.” (Phil. 3:17) Paul didn’t make his own way; he followed the pattern of Christ. We have so many people today that want to do their own thing. They want to ignore the clear teaching of Scripture and cover it under that “God is leading me” umbrella. Follow Paul because he follows Christ. He even told us in Gal. 1:8, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed.” Paul was not a do as I say not as I do kind of guy.

Take a look at 1 Cor. 1:2:1-5. Did Paul just use words? No, he demonstrated the power of God in his life and it was life turned upside down for Christ. “Do not imitate what is evil, but what is good.” It’s not enough just to not imitate what is evil, we must imitate what is good. Here’s another quality that seems to have changed over time so we need to go to the source that is unchanging. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.” (2 Tim. 3:16) Don’t pattern yourself after what is evil; pattern yourself after what is good. Don’t think your example doesn’t matter. Good or bad, people are watching you and will imitate you if they like you, respect you, or are under your authority. We need to walk the walk. Rom. 8:4 tells us to walk according to the Spirit. Gal. 5:16 says to, “Walk by the Spirit and you won’t carry out the desire of the flesh.” Paul is an example of what we ought to follow. 1 Thes. 1:6, “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” 1 Thes. 2:14, “For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea.” Notice in both verses, the Thessalonians became imitators. Paul was their example, and they were examples to others.

The proof. “The one who does good is of God.” Plain and simple . . . or is it? Good deeds done apart from Christ are just good deeds. We don’t do good deeds to get saved, we do good deeds because we are saved. Tit. 2:7, “In all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified.” The caveat to that is do good deeds with purity in doctrine and dignified. Right motives, right attitude, right spirit. 1 Jo. 2:29, “You know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.”  The only way we can imitate what is good is if we have a relationship with Christ. “The one who does evil has not seen God.”  This is a great phrase. The person that does evil has not seen God in a spiritual sense. This is what they are engaged in. They are powerless to do anything about what they do. John 3:20, “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” This is present tense; it is what they are about. This reminds me of 1 Jo. 3:6: “No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.” You cannot experience a spiritual awakening and continue to practice what is evil.

Notice in this entire letter, John never one time says that Diotrephes is evil. John didn’t attack Diotrephes with wicked words. John stated what he did was evil. What he did is not in keeping with someone who wants to grow in Christ, who wants to hear from God, who submits to the authority in his life. What kind of church would it be if everyone in it imitated Diotrephes? What kind of church would C4 be if everyone imitated me . . . or you? Rom.12:21 says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” This gives us the idea that evil is lurking around waiting for an opportunity to overcome you. But we, through the power of Christ, can overcome that evil with good. 1 Pet. 5:8 warns us to, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Don’t get caught off guard.

It’s not enough to avoid evil. As authentic children of God, we must imitate what is good, what is right, what is pure. We must imitate Christ.

John’s Condemnation

Last week John praised Gaius for his hospitality. He made sure some traveling evangelists had what they needed to further the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. Because of his hospitality and what he did for them, Gaius shared in their work. He may not have gone with them, but his care for their needs was instrumental in their work. This morning, instead of more praise, John offers a scathing indictment on the behavior of someone in the church.

In 3 John 9-10, Johns says, “I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church.”

What’s in a name? Normally if you’re mentioned by name in Scripture, that’s a pretty cool thing. Diotrephes is an exception. This is the only place in the entire Bible where this name occurs. What can we conclude about that? Is that so unusual? If the situation concerning Diotrephes was not occurring, it is unlikely this letter would have been written. This letter gives us some insight in how to handle a difficult situation. When you think of John, you can’t help but think of love and truth. But this is the same John with his brother James that Jesus gave the nickname Sons of Thunder. There was a reason for that so let’s see why.

According to v. 9, John had written a letter to the church. What letter and what was in it we don’t know. It couldn’t be John’s second letter because we’ve looked at that. The major theme of that letter was to instruct the church to walk in truth and don’t take part in providing for false teachers. As we saw in vs. 5-8, Gaius was commended for hosting some evangelist/missionaries in his home. Now we come to Diotrephes and find a stark contrast in his behavior compared to Gaius. Somewhere between John’s pen and paper and the church, the letter was intercepted, or perhaps was read and then Diotrephes led the church to ignore what was said or reject it completely. We’re not sure, but John’s third letter is in response to Diotrephes’ actions.

There is little information about Diotrephes, so what do we know? The name Diotrephes was not a common one. His name means cherished by Zeus. That doesn’t sound like a big deal, but Zeus was the head pagan god, a god of mythology. Diotrephes was in some position of leadership in the same city or area where Gaius was. Whether he was a pastor, or deacon, or elder we don’t know, but given how John describes him, we must assume that he wielded some power. So what does John say? The disciple whom Jesus loved described Diotrephes as someone, “Who loves to be first.” John is not talking about someone who wants to be first in line. He’s not talking about someone who likes to sit in the front. He’s not talking about Diotrephes’ competitive nature. John is not talking about how Diotrephes loves to be the best at what he does. This is not a good description. This is a condemning description of someone who has the appearance of being a Christian, professes to be a Christian, but is most assuredly a fraud.

Diotrephes, “loves to be first among them.” Another translations phrases it as, “likes to put himself first.” John was the last living Apostle and there was a shifting in the church as it grew. Authority and responsibility was shifting to local leadership. It was Paul that left Titus in Crete to appoint elders in every city. Was this a power struggle between him and John? Was Diotrephes a local bishop or pastor trying to gain independence for his congregation? We simply do not know enough about this situation. What we do know is that Diotrephes’ attitude was not consistent with what is expected of people in his position whatever that may have been.

Diotrephes, “loves to be first among them.”“Loves to be first” is an interesting phrase that occurs in the N.T. only here. It means he loves to have preeminence. Col. 1:17-18 tells us that, “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.  He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.” Diotrephes placed himself even before the Lord. He wants to be first; he wants to be in charge; he wants to make the decisions, and he is not looking for input. Perhaps he wanted the church to be autonomous, to get out from under the authority of John the elder and Apostle, but this autonomy wouldn’t be for the church’s good. It would serve only to glorify Diotrephes. We can only surmise what exactly was going on in the church. But this is for sure: all the wrong motives for leadership are wrapped up in this man named Diotrephes. So what’s the big deal? There have been power struggles in the church before, we see this in today’s church too. Is this just a case of exercising one’s will? Here’s the kicker. John tells Gaius that Diotrephes, “Does not accept what we say.” That’s a big problem. John wrote a letter that was either discarded or ignored. There is nothing in Scripture that we can choose to ignore. Given the context of 3 John, it seems likely the lost letter contained something about hospitality. John commended Gaius for his hospitality to the brethren, especially when they were strangers. There are no doctrinal issues that John addresses in this letter, so it is unlikely the controversy is due to some doctrinal differences. This is definitely a spiritual issue between John and Diotrephes.

How does Diotrephes attack? John says, “For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does.” The “if” here is not a word of condition. In this case it means when. John is not going to let these actions go unresolved. He’s not going to ignore it, the love Apostle is going to handle it when he gets there. Some will say we just need to get along. What about grace? You don’t want to be judgmental. What John says next gives us an indication of the seriousness of the matter. John tells Gaius that Diotrephes is, “Unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church.”

John mentions four things that Diotrephes does. First, he unjustly accuses John and his colleagues with wicked words. What Diotrephes does has become a classic attack, perhaps even the standard for attacking. Diotrephes attacked their character, not their doctrine. He didn’t attack their doctrine because there was not Scriptural basis for it. He tried to discredit John. Diotrephes attacked without substance – exactly what this type of person does. Unjustly accuse means to talk nonsense. Other translations say, gossip maliciously, spread false charges, and my favorite, talking wicked nonsense. Over the years, I have been on the receiving end of this diotrephic [my new word] type of accusation. I have been accused of:  cussing a blue streak, having no right to go on a mission trip because I wasn’t telling anyone here about Jesus, saying things I did not say, speaking things which are true, but with the wrong tone of voice, not praying for someone when I should, stealing, sinning by teaching a Bible study, and last, but not lease, using the wrong Bible!

Oddly enough, no one has ever accused me of teaching a different way to heaven besides Christ. No one has ever accused me believing the Bible wasn’t true. No one has ever accused me of not preaching about heaven, hell, money, or any other type of controversial topic. That’s what a Diotrephes type of person does – talk nonsense. He doesn’t receive the brethren. Diotrephes wants to sever all ties from the very people that John sends out – people with sound biblical doctrine. People that John endorses. It doesn’t matter what they say, Diotrephes separates himself from the truth. He forbids people who want to exercise hospitality from doing so. It’s just another way he exerts his power. He tells people what they can and cannot do. He puts them out of the church. Diotrephes didn’t want any outsiders coming to his church and finding out what was going on. He tried to ruin the reputation of anybody who might question his authority and his way of running the church. He liked things the way they were and he will do whatever it takes to prevent change. You’ve got to ask yourself, “Who would want to be part of this church anyway?” It must be extremely oppressive to be part of this fellowship. Back in the first century, there was not a church on every corner.

It’s not about doctrine or about who is right or wrong – it’s about control. It’s about winning. Anybody that disagrees with you, toss them out of the church. John 9 relates the account of a blind man that Jesus healed. There was much disagreement among the Pharisees. They didn’t believe the miracle that had occurred instead insisting that the man was not blind. The blind man was consistent in his story (because it was the truth) so what did the Pharisees do? Jo. 9:34 says, “They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” So they put him out.” The phrase “put him out” is the same as is used in 3 John. It carries the idea of using physical force. This is what Diotrephes is doing and it is not good. I encourage you to read to accounts of what a servant leader really is. The first is in Matt. 20:25-28 and the second is found in Matt. 23:1-12.

John is going to deal with the issue. 1 Tim. 5:20, “Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.”  Diotrephes behavior cannot and will not be ignored. John Stott wrote, “Self-love vitiates all relationships. Diotrephes slandered John, cold-shouldered the missionaries and excommunicated the loyal believers – all because he loved himself and wanted to have the preeminence. Personal vanity still lies at the root of most dissensions in every local church today” (Letters of John, 231).

These two verses highlight the main issue John is dealing with. It will not be swept under the rug, it will not be ignored. John will deal with it the way he knows best – in truth and in love.