2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
When we take the time to understand the events and people of the Bible on their historical level, we can add that to the didactic, cultural, spiritual, language usage, ethical, and other levels to come away with a more profound understanding of its content. That is why I try to write about all these aspects of studying this amazing gift from God. However, none of that means a thing unless we allow what we take in with our senses to be felt in our hearts and then taken one step further converting our beliefs into apostolic action. Paul most aptly put this in RO 12: 2 when he described what God’s will to happen is. “Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by the renewal of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God-what is good and pleasing to Him and is perfect.” In today’s passage, 3 JN:9-12, we get a glimpse into two people of the early church, Diotrephes and Demetrius, who exemplify the problems that sometimes came from some and the remarkable service of others. These people of so long ago demonstrate that they shared some of the same talents and caused the same problems sometimes seen in people today.
3 JN: 9-12, “I [our Elder] wrote a short letter to the church; but Diotrephes, who likes to be their leader, will not pay any attention to what I say. When I come, then, I will bring up everything he has done: the terrible things he says about us and the lies he tells! But that is not enough for him; he will not receive the Christian brothers when they come, and even stops those who want to receive them and tries to drive them out of the church! My dear friends, do not imitate what is bad, but imitate what is good. Whoever does good belongs to God; whoever does what is bad has not seen God. Everyone speaks well of Demetrius; truth itself speaks well of him. And we add our testimony, and you know that what we say is true.” This part of the Elder’s letter reminds me of Paul’s occasional comments about certain individuals, like Alexander, the silversmith, who caused “great harm” to him [see 2 TIM 4: 14-15]. Diotrephes was apparently a man who possessed a desire to control things, a thirst for power that was not bestowed upon him by God. We all have occasionally met up with and had difficulty with people like this on our own lives. My understanding is that Diotrephes was dictatorial, full of pride, and even went so far as to excommunicate members of the church who didn’t go along with him. Our Elder knew that some of his letters were being intercepted by Diotrephes in the furthering of the latter’s human agenda. Diotrephes was a man who had either forgotten or never knew that Jesus Christ is the Head of the church. He turned a deaf ear to the Holy Spirit in the way he exerted his leadership of the assembly.
By intercepting our Elder’s letters, Diotrephes demonstrated the principles Paul wrote about in RO 1: 18-21. “God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known. God punished them, because what can be known about God is plain to them, for God Himself made it plain. Every since God created the world, His invisible qualities, both His eternal power and His divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made. So those people have no excuse at all! They know God, but they do not give Him the honor that belongs to Him, nor do they thank Him. Instead, their thoughts have become complete nonsense, and their empty minds are filled with darkness.” Since our Elder taught the truth in his letters and Diotrephes intercepted them, then Diotrephes suppressed the truth. I have a lot of trouble with anyone who prevents people from having free access to the Scriptures or, for his own reasons, stops another person from carrying out service to God. That is exactly what Diotrephes did when he prevented other Christians from his assembly from offering hospitality to other believers passing through from out of the area.
3 JN: 12 mentions a man of contrast to Diotrephes; his name was Demetrius. While we don’t know this for sure, it is possible that Demetrius hand carried our Elder’s letter to Gaius, so that Diotrephes wouldn’t have a chance to intercept and suppress it. “Everyone speaks well of Demetrius; truth itself speaks well of him. And we add our testimony, and you know that what we say is true.” It is clear here that Demetrius when held to the standard that the truth sets, can be deemed in line with it and thus, acceptable to the Elder. More important than that is that this man can be deemed acceptable to God, Who, in His wisdom, set the standard for truth. I have long ago come to the conclusion that any person mentioned in the Scriptures is there for God’s reasons. We can learn lessons from the lives of these lesser known people, just as we can from the more well known ones. Sometimes the lesson is positive, as in the case of Demetrius, and sometimes it’s negative, as in the case of Diotrephes. Either way, God is conveying a message by their presence that we need for our own lives.
I have often said that the “disaster profile” for a church is the person who has time on his hands, lots of money to spend, and an insatiable thirst for power. I have watched such followers of the adversary wreck havoc and even destruction on congregations. That is why it is so crucial that a congregation not only say that Jesus Christ is the Head of it, but that it allow Christ to affect His leadership through the people that belong to it. It is the only way that we can live up to the Pauline teaching in EPH 4: 2-3, “Be always humble, gentle, and patient. Show your love by being tolerant with one another. Do your best to preserve the unity which the Spirit give by means of the peace that binds you together.” That is why we were given the talents (gifts) we have by God. EPH 4: 12, “He did this to prepare all God’s people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the Body of Christ.” Our challenge in our own lives as a part of a congregation is to unify and edify the Body of Christ. When we keep this in mind, we are in line with God’s will for us and will be richly blessed.
PRAYER: O Lord, even the least well-known names in the Scriptures are there because it is Your will that their lives should teach us a lesson about what to do or what not to do. No word in the Bible is wasted when we realize it’s importance to our spiritual growth. You have the power to call us to faith, to have granted us salvation through the death of Your Son on the cross, and to cause the Holy Spirit to indwell within us. We understand that such a process sets the stage for a conflict between our outer fleshly selves and our inner spiritual selves. Because You love us so much, You promise us that if we will use our free agency to make choices in line with Your will, that the spiritual self will be victorious. When we sin and then repent, turning away from that sin, You grant us forgiveness. When we make sin a lifestyle, You warn us that there will be negative consequences. We humbly approach You to dedicate ourselves to living our lives with the faithfulness, love, gentleness, patience, obedience, and trust in You that Christ modeled for us. We worship, glorify, magnify, honor, and praise You. In Christ’s name, amen.
I hope that today’s passage has made you believe that eventually the truth will win out over the lies, deceptions, and evil of the adversary and his followers. It ends with final greetings in 3 JN: 13-15, “I have so much to tell you, but I do not want to do it with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and then we will talk personally. Peace be with you. All your friends send greetings. Greet all our friends personally.” This victory of truth over lies can only happen, because it is the will of Jehovah Who loves each of us from the bottom of His divine heart. The lesson we can learn about meeting other believers face to face suggests that it is the way we will meet each other in heaven. God wants us not to use computers, voice mail, or any other excuse to avoid speaking with each other directly. When we use these technological advances for God’s work, we will not lose the direct contact God wants us to have with others. Trust and obey Him. Bask in the warmth of His love today and always. Peter and I also send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn