Do not imitate evil: 3 John (Day 148)

Pray

Lord, prepare me to receive your word. Clear my mind and warm my heart. Assure me of your loving purposes for me, and speak into my life today.

Read

Deuteronomy 1 Psalm 81 Psalm 82 Isaiah 29 3 John 1

Daily reflection: 3 John

If you’ve lived for any length of time you’ll have experienced a variety of leaders and leadership styles. Over the years, you’ve no doubt formed an opinion about the effectiveness of what you’ve seen. But what makes a good church leader?

John’s letter to Gaius, a faithful Christian whose church is under the influence of a man called Diotrephes, perfectly illustrates the difference between good and destructive leadership. There’s no mention of false teaching so it seems the problem with Diotrephes, ‘who likes to put himself first’ (verse 9), is his desire for power and the misuse of his influence.

This leads Diotrephes to behave in ways that hurt the church (verses 9–10). He refuses to listen to the counsel of John, his elder in the faith, and spreads lies to undermine his authority. He withholds hospitality and support from visiting believers, and threatens those who want to welcome them with excommunication from the church.

The way John pastors Gaius serves as a direct contrast. He loves Gaius and cares about his wellbeing (verse 2). He commends Gaius’ true faith (verse 3) and encourages the evidence of it he sees in his actions (verse 5). John’s motivation and greatest joy is to see believers ‘walking in the truth’ (verse 4), and working together to serve Christ (verses 7–8).

Diotrephes only serves himself. He may call himself a church leader but his actions are ‘evil’ and show he ‘has not seen God’ (verse 11). We’re not to be like him.

Pray

Dear God, thank you for those you’ve chosen to carry the huge responsibility of church leadership. May their motivation be to serve Christ and their greatest joy be seeing believers live for your glory. Lord, if we’ve been hurt by poor leadership, please heal and encourage us in our faith.