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Part 5: 3 John

Scripture

3 John

1 The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.

2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

5 Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, 6 who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

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.

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.

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.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Sermon Recap

John is writing to a man named Gaius, most likely not any of the other Gaiuses mentioned in the New Testament — it was one of the most common names in the Roman Empire. The letter opens with John praying that Gaius would be well both physically and spiritually. Pastor Sam noted this isn't throwaway pleasantry. John is pushing back against the Gnostic idea that the spiritual is all that matters and the physical is bad. Both the body and the soul matter to God. The practical question this raises: where do our deepest joys actually tend to land? Career success, finances, and physical health, or the spiritual condition of the people we love?

The letter gives two contrasting examples of how to partner with others for the gospel. Diotrephes is the cautionary tale. He puts himself first, refuses to submit to apostolic authority, spreads slander, and shuts out anyone he disagrees with — basically the opposite of Philippians 2. Gaius is the model. He opens his home to traveling preachers who are strangers to him, loves them practically, and supports their work. John's point is that their shared faith makes them family, not strangers. It makes them coworkers. And it makes love the natural mark of how they work together. The brothers who visited Gaius didn't report back on the quality of the accommodations. They testified about his love.

So how do we love our spiritual family well when life is already full? Pastor Sam pointed to identity. John calls himself "the disciple whom Jesus loved" five times in his gospel — not to claim special status, but because being loved by Jesus was the most important thing about him. That identity is what drives his love for others. The same logic runs through 1 John 4: we love because he first loved us. Hurt people hurt people, but people who know they are beloved by God become people who love others. Every challenge in this passage, God has already done first — he welcomed us as family when we were strangers, he worked for our salvation, he sees and saves us body and soul. That's the foundation for everything else.

One Thing: Love your spiritual family as you work together for the gospel.

Discussion
Questions

Connecting

  1. Have you ever had to work closely with a family member? How did that go?
  2. What's a job title or role in your life that feels really important to how you see yourself?

Considering

  1. In verses 5-8, what does Gaius actually do for the traveling brothers, and what does John say that makes it more than just good hospitality?
  2. Comparing Diotrephes in verses 9-10 with Philippians 2:1-4, what specifically is Diotrephes getting wrong?

Confessing

  1. Where do you find your deepest joy — in the physical and material things of life, or in the spiritual growth of the people around you?
  2. Is there someone in your spiritual family you've been treating more like a stranger or a coworker than a sibling?

Committing

  1. What would it look like this week to love someone in your life group or ministry team in a way that costs you something?
  2. How would your interactions with your spiritual family change if "beloved" was the first thing you remembered about yourself?

Next Steps

As part of our annual theme, Deep & Wide, we invite our church family to go deeper in relationship with God so that we can be the greatest blessing to one another and the world around us. Each week, we will follow up from the sermon with simple, practical steps to help us receive God’s blessing and apply the truths of the gospel more deeply into our lives.

Part 5: 3 John

  1. Reflect on where you tend to find your greatest joy and ask God to reorder your affections where needed.
  2. Identify one concrete way to support someone working for the gospel — a missionary, a ministry, or someone in your own church.
  3. Sit with 1 John 4:10-12 this week and let the logic of it sink in: we love because he first loved us.