III John 1:9-14
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. (v. 10) John really takes Diotrephes to task, charging him with four counts of wrongdoing. I wonder how Diotrephes ascended to his position of church “leadership”, effectively using dictatorial means to subjugate his congregation. Just now in re-reading my comment I started to speak out against someone I knew in church leadership who tended to exert undue influence over others, but I was reminded not to speak ill against “the Lord’s anointed” (using I Samuel 24:6, but a bit out of context). It is clearly appropriate for someone like the apostle John to call out someone like Diotrephes – John has “the chops” to do so. The rest of us need to be careful in speaking out against our church leaders.
Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. (v. 11a) I’m reminded of Paul occasionally suggesting that his readers imitate him (I Corinthians 4:16, 11:1; Philippians 3:17, 4:9). John is less pointed than Paul, speaking more generally of imitating “good”, but I suspect that John’s readers would be able (like Paul’s readers) to apply “good” to this elder apostle!
And so we end RTB 2020. What a year! Happily moving on to 2021. Come join me…!!
Slava Bohu!
Well said! I wondered if Diotrephes believed or convinced himself that what he was doing was for the “good” of the church there, that he needed to protect them from ones who were going astray…
Our minds are very tricky things and can convince us of falsehoods (use the current election as an example; take your pick for which individuals believe falsehoods). We must continue to go back to Jesus’ words and actions, to the truth of the Gospel. The Holy Spirit will always point to Jesus the Lord Christ. And Jesus points us to the Father.