PONDERING... What Will You Imitate? (3 John 9-12)

What Will You Imitate?

GIST: Hm...how about verse 11a: Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good.

SCRIPTURE: 3 John 9-12

This morning, we talked about persevering in sowing good seed. Tonight, I want to look at two examples from 3 John to help illustrate this point further. These are the last two testimonies in this letter, Diotrephes and Demetrius, and are tied together by verse 11. Here we are told that true Christians, those who know and have been changed by God, will imitate good rather than evil. Those who imitate evil, on the other hand, are not from God. This is the same idea we saw this morning with the sowing to the Spirit versus sowing in the flesh metaphor used in Galatians 6. Diotrephes is the example of the latter. He serves himself instead of God, which is the root of evil/sin. Demetrius, on the other hand, is set before us as an example of good. We basically learn nothing about him. Yet, what John chooses to tell us is vital. We are not to imitate his exact actions--that would verge on idol worship--so we do not need to see them. What was important is who he was in Christ.

So, tonight I just want to walk through each testimony and take some applications as we go.

1. THE DANGERS OF A DIOTREPHES

9 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 10 So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.

The situation here is pretty sad. Diotrephes apparently has some authority in the local church (which would have been a community of believers likely meeting in homes). However, he is abusing this power/influence. He refuses to recognize the authority of the apostles, those Jesus chose to spread the Truth (Gospel), and even speaks badly about them. Furthermore, not only does he refuse to help the traveling missionaries, but also kicks people out of the church who try. Clearly, there are some major issues here. But where does it all start? Look at verse 9 again: "...Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first..." He is sowing to the flesh rather than the spirit, and look at what he reaps.

1. Rejecting God-given Authority. He refuses to acknowledge the authority of John, the apostle. Now this might not seem like a huge issue. Why does he have to accept John's authority? Remember, Jesus chose to use the apostles to spread His good news. Without them, nearly the entire New Testament would be gone. John is not trying to execute ungodly or selfish leadership. We have seen from his Gospel and other letters, he leads by example and emphasizes the necessity of Christians knowing the Truth and living in Love. Rejecting John, in this context, is rejecting God's use of John. Why would he do this? Self-love rejects anything or anyone who threatens its autonomy and/or preeminence. We see that Diotrephes loves to be first, and this love is incompatible with Christian love.

Thoughts?

• What do you put first?
• How seriously do you take the authority of God's Word?
• What if you don't like what it says, or the implication of following its teaching?

2. Slandering the Name of Others. We don't know what exactly was being said against John and those associated with him. [However, it is interesting to point out that this is the only place this particular phrase is used in the New Testament (per Albert Barnes).] What is being said, nonetheless, is called wicked nonsense. He's gossiping and slandering the reputation of John and his associates. Why? He wants to be first, and he can't do that if others are held higher. So, now we see the furtherance of sin's destruction. He has already rejected God's authority. Now, he is bad-mouthing God's people--all in pursuit of preeminence.

Thoughts?

• Why do you gossip? I know we talked about this last week. As Christians, we like to package our gossip in Christianese. We’re not gossipping; we’re just "sharing the truth", or "sharing our concerns". Nope. Look at your heart (that includes me). Gossip is self-serving and destructive to its core. No one wins. You let anger and bitterness rule in your heart while tearing down someone Christ died to save. Anyone who is reading this, please take a moment to really let this sink in. There is no age or gender exclusion to this sin. From my observations, it effects us all. Pray for forgiveness, and stop. All of us.

3. Lacking Compassion and Hospitality. Here, Diotrephes is held in direct contrast with Gaius who serves through hospitality. Diotrephes refuses to accept these servants of God. Why? ... Yep, he wants to be first. Jealousy? I think so.

Thoughts?

• Look at the way you treat others. Do you have to be first?
• What priority does God being served have in your life...regardless of personal prestige?

4. Redefining the Church  This might seem like a stretch. How is he redefining the Church (yes, big "C"... the Church, the body of Christ)? Look at what he does when people want to help the traveling ministers. He kicks them out the local congregation! What is the purpose of the Church? This could be answered a number of ways, but the key purpose is to reflect and serve Christ. We are His body. We are His people. We are to use the gifts He has given each of us to serve His kingdom together. Are there reasons for the Church to execute discipline? Sure. But not for obedience... How does kicking people out of the church for trying to do exactly what Jesus has commanded us to do (love one another) fit with that picture? It doesn't. But when you're being driven by self-serving sin, it doesn't have to. It has to fit with...whatever you think benefits you. We cannot live like this.

Thoughts?

• Who are you serving?
• How do we determine, as a local church, what we should or should not be doing? Is God's Word our standard, or personal preference or gain?

We really need to ask ourselves these questions. Diotrephes was not some "outside" force. He was a prominent member of the church letting selfishness (sin) destroy himself and those around him. If we're honest, we've all probably seen these tendencies in our lives. Remember: "11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God."And this was set before us as an example of evil. Let’s look at an example of good.

2. THE DELIGHTS OF A DEMETRIUS

11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true.

I'll be brief on this one, but I think there is a lot we can glean from these fairly simple truths. And the fact that they are simple says a lot about the kind of life God wants from us. We only get one verse on this guy in the entire Bible, but that one verse speaks volumes. Demetrius sows in the spirit, and we see as a result he “has received a good testimony from..."

1. Everyone

Hold on a second. Is receiving a good testimony from the world a good thing? What about what Jesus said in John 15?

John 15:19  If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

The question to answer here is: why? Why does the world give good testimony? Though the immediate context might imply "everyone in the Church", it does not need to be limited to this. There are other references in Scripture which call for having this kind of reputation. Spurgeon's treasury of Scripture lists these companion verses which, I feel, cast light on this topic.

• "22 And they said, "Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say."" Acts 10:22
• "12 "And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there," Acts 22:12
• "12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one." 1 Thessalonians 4:12
• "2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach... 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil." 1 Timothy 3:2, 7

We are not to live like the world and, so, be loved by them for our kindred actions, or beliefs. Rather, we are to live in such a way that though the world may hate us for our convictions and despise our commitment to Christ Jesus, they will have to respect our conduct. Moreover, this character will be honored among fellow believers because it is imitating Jesus...the only real good.

2. And The Truth (Because of the Truth?)

But, why was Demetrius' conduct regarded as good by everyone? I think the second statement here is key. He had a good testimony "from the truth itself." This is a theme John brings up again and again in his writing; we are to walk in Truth. Our lives should be defined by our commitment to living like Jesus--The Truth. I know this might sound like vague rhetoric. But, let's try to make it practical here. Whoever Demetrius was, whatever his profession and personality, one thing we know: he loved Jesus and strove to live like Him. Which means, however it may have manifested itself, he loved God and loved people and lived to share this compassion by pointing others to the Truth of Jesus found in God's Word. Are you? Now, hold on to that thought, we'll come back to it in just a second.

3. And John

The last testimony John lists...is himself. Now this could strike you as super arrogant. Especially following the first two testimonies. Everybody speaks well of Demetrius. The Truth speaks well of Demetrius. I speak well of Demetrius. We were definitely building up until this point, so is John implying his testimony is somehow of greater weight than the other two. Nope. He does this in his Gospel account as well (see John 19:35), and I think he is making two points:

1. This is not hearsay. (And, yes, that is how you spell that word. And, yes, it does look weird. :P) By saying that he and his associates (like those who serve with him in the local congregation/church) add their testimony, he is letting Gaius know that he has personally experienced Demetrius' character and considers him to be a man of God.
2. He can be trusted. Again, you could take this as arrogance to say "and you know that our testimony is true", but you shouldn't. Though John speaks highly of Demetrius, we know that he too possessed a character that imitated good. He is not a righteous man because of his own prowess, but a man who, at this point, had dedicated the past fifty some odd years exclusively to Jesus. Gaius was his friend. He knew this. So, John is basically saying: You can trust me. I wouldn't lie to you.

TAKEAWAYS

We could take a lot away from these verses. Let's chew on a few.

1. What's your reputation?
• Of course, I don't care how popular you are. Neither should you. Yet, how are you perceived in the areas that matter? Do you have integrity? Do you work hard at everything you do? Do you show compassion/do people believe you when you say you care? Are you a good friend? Are you a faithful spouse/parent? Are you a gossip, a luster, a dirty-joke teller, a filthy show watcher, a bully, a liar, a cheater...? What would those who interact with you every day say about your character? I know you need to stop and ask yourself this question because you are a sinner... just like me. I know my heart (though not nearly as well as I should), and I know that those who see me everyday don't always see Jesus.
• Lord, so fill my heart with You that my overflow would be nothing less. (Ponder Luke 6:45)
2. What's your purpose? Are you living for the Truth, for Jesus?
• Just like we said this morning, unless your life has been transformed by Jesus Christ, no matter how hard you work to be "good", your heart will still be corrupt, and it will show. Why can I say this? Jesus did.
• 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Matthew 23:27-28
• 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20
3. Can you be trusted?
• I love that John ends this testimony, like his Gospel, by saying: You can trust me. I love this not because it shows us how awesome John was, but rather how incredibly Jesus changed him. John was a "son of thunder". He was young, impudent, and impulsive...but Jesus loved him. That love so changed him that he became known as "the apostle of love". He could be trusted not because of his great character, but his great Savior, to whom he had given due control over his life. Can I say that? Can you?