Chapter 27
3 John 1:11-15
3 John 1:11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
In this epistle John has identified two very important characteristics of a Christian life, namely hospitality and humility. Many commentators refer to Diotrephes as an arrogant Christian. That statement should raise several red-flags as it should be considered an oxymoron. Christians should never be perceived as being arrogant, prideful, or conceited. There were three things a Diotrephes did that earned him the title of being arrogant: 1) would not accept John’s authority and attempted to attack John’s character; 2) he refused to offer hospitality or greet the traveling teachers as Gaius did; and 3) would not allow anyone else in his church to extend any hospitality to those itinerant teachers by threatening excommunication. This is certainly a good case of self-absorbed arrogance!
Perhaps Gaius was put out of the church himself or he ran the risk of following some church leader that was not truly a Christian, we don’t really know. On first glance we might think that John changed the subject between verse 10 and 11, but we will see that verse 11 will serve as a bridge between hearing about this less-than-effective church leader and an endorsement of a truly godly man.
John tells Gaius that he should not follow or imitate evil people such as Diotrephes but should instead follow good examples (read 2 Thessalonians 3:7-9; Hebrews 13:7). John repeats a similar phrase to what we wrote in 1 John 2:29 (everyone who practices righteousness knows of God) and in 1 John 3:6 (no one who abides in Him keeps on sinning). Here he says that whoever does good is from God and whoever does evil has not seen God. The word that is translated as ‘seen’ is Greek word ‘horaō’ which can also be translated “be acquainted with” or “experience.” We have heard from the epistle writers James, Peter, John, and Jude that our actions give evidence of our faith. This seems to be a common reoccurring theme in all of the later (after the book of Hebrews) epistles. In John’s writings he often emphasizes the need to eliminate sin in our lives (see 1 John 2:1-6) and focus on obeying God (see 1 John 5:1-5). Of course none of these writings, including John’s, are referring to us earning our redemption or any other works-based salvation (read Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16). One way to see it, is that our obedience to God gives “tangible evidence” to other people that our faith is real (read John 14:15, 21).
3 John 1:12 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.
We are introduced to Demetrius, the fourth person referenced in this epistle. Demetrius is a fairly common name (like the name Gaius), meaning “belonging to Demeter” (the Greek goddess of grain and harvest, the Romans called her ‘Ceres’). We read about a Demetrius in the story about a silversmith starting a riot in Ephesus (see Acts 19:23-41) and the shortened rendering of the name ‘Demas’ in several other locations in the Bible (see Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:10 and Philemon 24), however we do not know if he is the same as any of those. He could have been the leader of a neighboring church, one of the traveling teachers, or perhaps the person carrying the letter to Gaius, we simply know nothing more about this Demetrius than what John tells us in this epistle.
Seeing that verse 11 bridges from a bad example of leadership (Diotrephes) to a good example (Demetrius), John apparently is encouraging Gaius to follow Demetrius. Some Bible versions make this easier to see: “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. Everyone speaks highly of Demetrius, as does the truth itself…” (verse 11 and the first part of verse 12, NLT).
John begins by telling Gaius that Demetrius has received a good testimony from everybody. Undoubtedly referring to fellow believers, John is saying that many have stepped up and gave witness to the fact that Demetrius is a solid Christian. Now to solidify what that means or perhaps to clarify, John once again focuses on the importance of truth in action. He says that Demetrius has shown that he has embraced God’s truth not only in thought, but that he also lives the truth, with a God-fearing and God-pleasing way of living (see 1 John 1:6-7; 2 John 1:4 and 3 John 1:3). Then John adds his own endorsement along with a statement that he knows that Gaius can and will trust John’s opinion (see also John 21:24).
3 John 1:13 I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. 15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, each by name.
John closes his letter similarly to the way he closed 2 John, as he tells Gaius that he had a lot more he wanted to talk about but would rather see him face-to-face (see 2 John 1:12). Now that the critical time-sensitive issues have been addressed, he now concludes with a blessing of peace followed by saying that other friends sent their greetings and requests that Gaius personally greet their friends in return, each by name.
We see in this letter John presenting two examples of church leadership and Christian behavior. One as an example of what should be avoided at all costs and one that is godly. We need to understand that who we choose to follow and learn about God’s Word from while we are living on earth (such as a church pastor, mentor or teacher) is important. We are to never uncritically accept guidance, we are to make sure that they (and of course that includes us too) are following the ultimate ‘plumb line’ and model in life as we are all to follow our Lord and Savior, Jesus Himself. To do that we need to know the Word of God. Take time out of every day and spend it with Him and His Word. Jesus and every epistle writer addressed the very real issue of false teaching; these warnings are to be considered seriously by every Christian. All believers are responsible for their own knowledge intake (can’t blame poor theology on someone else), we simply cannot blindly accept teaching or listen to a teacher without comparing everything to God’s truth (regardless of source, history, or reputation).
The Bible gives us a great example to follow: “And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.” (Acts 17:11, NLT) Are you searching the Scriptures daily?