3 John 1-15 Kinds Of People In A Church

John wrote to his friend Gaius about a people problem in his church.  Gaius wasn’t the problem.  He was an encourager who practiced practical ministry, assisting true ministers through hospitality.  My commentary listed several motivations for doing this:  It honors God, it witnesses to the lost, it’s an obligation that we have if we are obeying God, and it makes us a joint worker in furthering the gospel.

But John couldn’t say the same about Diotrephes.  He was a dictator who sought to rule the local church.  He was motivated by pride.  According to my commentary, “Many churches have members who insist on being the boss and having their own way … Sometimes it is the pastor who assumes dictatorial powers and forgets that the word minister means a servant.  But sometimes it is an officer, perhaps a longtime member of the church who thinks he or she has seniority rights … Whenever a church has a resident dictator in its membership there are bound to be problems … The Holy Spirit is grieved when the members of the body are not permitted to exercise their gifts because one member must have his own way.”

Diotrephes wouldn’t receive John, he lied about John, and he rejected John’s associates.  “To break personal fellowship with a brother because I disagree with his circle of friends is going beyond Scripture,” my commentary said.  Diotrephes even disciplined those who disagreed with him.  “Church discipline is not a weapon for a dictator to us to protect himself,” my commentary warned.

It also said that church dictators are easy to recognize.  “They like to talk about themselves and what they have done for the Lord.  They also have a habit of judging and condemning those who disagree with them.  They are experts in putting labels on other Christians and classifying them into neat little categories of their own invention.  They base their fellowship on personalities.”

But then there was Demetrius.  “He walked in the truth and obeyed the Word of God … He was a man of God and John was not ashamed to confess it … He was the kind of man who, like Gaius, would support the truth and submit himself to authentic, spiritual authority.  He was one we should emulate.”

“When God’s people love Him, the truth, and one another, then the Spirit of God can work in that assembly to glorify Jesus Christ.  But when any member of that assembly, including the pastor, becomes proud and tries to have the preeminence, then the Spirit is grieved and He cannot bless.  The church may outwardly appear successful, but inwardly it will lack the true unity of the Spirit that makes for a healthy fellowship,” my commentary said.

Father, work out Your will in our church.  Help each of us to be more like Gaius and Demetrius.  Deal with any Diotrephes we may have, so that Your Spirit will not be grieved and can still bless our fellowship!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford