The tale of two men, Gaius and Diotrephes
“The Elder: To my dear friend Gaius: I love you in the truth.
I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes.”
3 John 1:1, 9a HCSB
John the elder is writing this letter to Gaius. John has also written a letter to Diotrephes but as far as I know we don’t have it. Maybe Diotrephes burned it or ripped it up.
I found this article laying out what I was wanting to say so instead of copying and pasting the whole thing I will just let you read it.
Who was Diotrephes in the Bible?
My biggest takeaway from these two guys is the polarized view of hospitality. Gaius was praised for welcoming and supporting the traveling Apostles and preachers. While Diotrephes would reject them and ostracizes those who welcomes those he does not. But John has other plans! He intends to show up and take care of Diotrephes. Reminds me of a response to a question proposed by Jesus in Matthew 21:41.
“He will completely destroy those terrible men,” they told Him, “and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his produce at the harvest.”
John heard Jesus say something similar later in life in response to another Church.
“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth.”
Revelation 3:15-16 HCSB
Jesus knows how to take care of His Church. Our best bet is to follow the example of Gaius and learn from the mistakes of Diotrephes.
“Therefore, we ought to support such men so that we can be coworkers with the truth.”
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